JP2006133006A - On-vehicle content reproduction device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an on-vehicle content reproduction device for proposing to users that contents are reproduced in conformity to an occupant lineup on a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: A control part 10 determines whether any occupants exist or not based on the occupant lineup on the vehicle detected by an occupant lineup detection part 15, for example, and displays information on both of music contents and image contents stored in an HDD 11 as a content list on a display device 16 when determining that some occupants exist while displaying only information on music contents on the display device 16 when determining that no occupants exist. Further, the control part 10 calculates forecast travel time to a destination to display information on contents, whose reproduction time is shorter than the travel time, as a content list on the display device 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle content playback apparatus that plays back music content and video content stored in a storage device such as a hard disk drive or bridge media.

  In recent years, in-vehicle audio apparatuses that play back music content stored in a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) and music content stored in bridge media such as IC (Integrated Circuit) storage media have become widespread. Further, an in-vehicle navigation device having a music content playback function has been developed, and an in-vehicle navigation device capable of storing music content in a free space of an HDD in which map data is recorded and reproducing the music content, An in-vehicle navigation device that can reproduce music content recorded on a bridge medium has been put into practical use.

  Since storage devices such as HDDs and bridge media have a large storage capacity, not only music content but also video content can be stored. Therefore, in the future, in-vehicle AV (audio / visual) devices and in-vehicle navigation devices (hereinafter referred to as “in-vehicle content playback devices”) that can play back music content and video content stored in these storage devices. ) Is expected to spread. Note that the driver cannot view video content such as movies while the vehicle is running. Therefore, only those who are not driving, that is, passengers, can view the video content while the vehicle is running.

  Normally, the playback time of music content is short, so even if the vehicle arrives at the destination while the music content is being played by the in-vehicle content playback device, the user can finish listening to the music content after a short while Can do. However, since the playback time of video content is generally longer than that of music content, if the vehicle arrives at the destination before the playback of the video content ends, the user often stops playback halfway. It will be a serious viewing.

In order to solve such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-365061 obtains an estimated time (traveling estimated time) until arrival at a destination from an in-vehicle navigation device, and music recorded in the HDD. A mobile electronic system is described in which one or a plurality of contents are automatically selected and reproduced from the contents and video contents so that the reproduction ends within the estimated traveling time.
JP 2002-365061 A

  However, in the mobile electronic system described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-365061, the content is selected only by the reproduction time, and therefore the video content may be selected even when only the driver is on board. . However, as described above, since the driver cannot view the video content while the vehicle is running, it is useless to reproduce the video content.

  In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle content playback apparatus that proposes to a user to play back content that matches the vehicle occupant configuration.

  The above-described problems include display means, content storage means for storing music content and video content, occupant configuration detection means for detecting the configuration of an occupant on the vehicle, and music content stored in the content storage means. And control means for playing back video content, the control means determines the presence or absence of an occupant other than the driver based on the output of the occupant configuration detection means, and determines that there is an occupant other than the driver. Sometimes music content and video content stored in the content storage means are selected, information on those contents is displayed on the display means, and stored in the content storage means when it is determined that there is no passenger other than the driver. The selected music content is selected, and information on the content is displayed on the display means. To resolve the vehicle content reproducing apparatus according to claim and.

  In the present invention, occupant configuration detection means for detecting the configuration of an occupant riding in the vehicle is provided, and the control means determines whether there is an occupant (passenger) other than the driver based on the output of the occupant configuration detection means. judge. When it is determined that there is an occupant other than the driver, the music content and the video content stored in the content storage unit are selected, and information on the content is displayed on the display unit. For example, when the user selects content desired to be reproduced from information displayed on the display means, the control means starts reproduction of the selected content. Therefore, when there is an occupant other than the driver in the vehicle, both music content and video content can be reproduced.

  On the other hand, when there is no passenger other than the driver in the vehicle, only the music content is selected, and only the information on the music content is displayed on the display means. Accordingly, it becomes impossible to reproduce the video content, and there is no useless operation of reproducing the video content when only the driver is present.

  However, some video content can be enjoyed only by sound (audio signal), such as music video, so even if there is only a driver in the vehicle, this type of video content can be played back. It is preferable to make it. For example, a setting storage unit capable of setting a specific type of video content as an exception is provided, and even if there is no occupant other than the driver, when the exception is set in the setting storage unit, the specific type Video content may be selected.

  Further, it is preferable that the reproduction of the content is completed before the vehicle arrives at the destination. This is because, for example, the estimated traveling time until the vehicle arrives at the destination is acquired by the estimated traveling time acquisition means, and only the information of the content whose playback time is shorter than the estimated traveling time among the contents to be selected is displayed on the display means. This is realized by displaying.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle content playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to an in-vehicle navigation device having a function of reproducing music content and video content will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle content reproduction apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a control unit 10, an HDD 11, an operation unit 12, a GPS receiver 13, a self-contained navigation sensor 14, an occupant configuration detection unit 15, a display device 16, and a D / A. A (digital / analog) converter 17, a speaker 18, a setting storage unit 19, and a guide route storage unit 20 are included.

  As shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. 2, the HDD 11 stores a map data storage area that stores electronic map data obtained by digitizing information such as the position, shape, and name of roads and facilities, and music contents that store music contents. A storage area and a video content storage area for storing video content are provided.

  The music content is stored as music data compressed using an audio signal compression technique such as MP3 (MPEG1 Audio Layer 3). As shown in FIG. 3, each music content includes data such as a song name, album name, playback time (hour: minute: second), artist name, and music genre (for example, ROCK, J-POP, etc.) as additional information. Each is added. The video content is stored as video data (including audio data) compressed using a video signal compression technique such as MPEG2. As shown in FIG. 3, each video content includes a title name, playback time (hours: minutes: seconds), director name / actor name / artist name, and video genre (for example, Western movies, music videos, TV programs, etc.) Data is added as additional information. Note that additional information other than the playback time is not essential for both music content and video content, and may be added as necessary.

  The control unit 10 is constituted by a microcomputer, and executes processing necessary as a navigation device and an AV playback device as described later according to a program.

  The operation unit 12 is provided with various operation buttons and the like for operating the in-vehicle content reproduction apparatus. In the present embodiment, the operation unit 12 includes a touch panel 12a disposed on the front surface of the display device 16 as shown in FIG. When the user's finger touches the touch panel 12a, a signal corresponding to the contact position of the finger is output from the touch panel 12a to the control unit 10.

  The GPS receiver 13 receives a signal from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite, detects the latitude / longitude of the current position, and outputs the result to the control unit 10. The self-contained navigation sensor 14 includes a gyro 14a that detects the rotation angle of the vehicle, and a travel distance sensor 14b that generates a pulse signal at every constant travel distance. The control unit 10 detects the current position of the vehicle based on signals output from the GPS receiver 13 and the self-contained navigation sensor 14. For detecting the current position of the vehicle, a technique called map matching that uses the map data to correct the detected position is also used.

  The occupant configuration detection unit 15 is configured by seat sensors provided in each seat (seat) of the vehicle. When the occupant sits on the seat, an occupant detection signal is output to the control unit 10 from the seat sensor of the seat. Based on this signal, the control unit 10 can determine in which seat the occupant is present. Instead of the seat sensor, an occupant configuration detection unit may be a sensor that detects the use state of the seat belt or a device that detects an occupant configuration by performing image processing on an image of a camera that captures a vehicle interior.

  The display device 16 is configured by a liquid crystal panel, for example, and displays an image corresponding to the image signal output from the control unit 10. The D / A converter 17 converts the digital audio signal output from the control unit 10 into an analog audio signal, and supplies the analog audio signal to the speaker 18 via an amplifier (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the setting storage unit 19 sets whether or not to use “estimated travel time” (ON / OFF) and whether to use “exception of video content” (ON / OFF). ) Setting is stored. As will be described later, when the “estimated travel time” setting is on, the control unit 10 extracts the content that will be played back within the estimated travel time and displays the information on the display device 16, and when it is off, Information on the content recorded in the HDD 11 is displayed on the display device regardless of the estimated travel time. In addition, “exception of video content” is to enable playback of video content that can be enjoyed only with music (audio) even when there is no video, such as music video, when there is no passenger other than the driver. This is the setting. When this setting is turned on, the control unit 10 handles a specific genre of video content in the same way as music content except that the codec used for reproduction is different. In this embodiment, it is assumed that “music video” is set as the video content of a specific genre for which exception processing is performed.

  The guide route storage unit 20 stores a guide route from the departure place to the destination. In the electronic map data used in the navigation device, the road is expressed as a set of vertices (nodes) expressed in latitude and longitude. The guide route storage unit 20 stores a node train from the departure point to the destination. The control unit 10 uses the data stored in the guidance route storage unit 20 to calculate the estimated travel time from the current position of the vehicle to the destination.

  In the vehicle-mounted content playback device of the present embodiment configured as described above, an outline of the operation as a navigation device will be described below.

  First, the control unit 10 detects the current position of the vehicle and the direction of the vehicle based on the signal output from the GPS receiver 13 and the signal output from the self-contained navigation sensor 14. The control unit 10 reads out map data around the current position of the vehicle from the HDD 11, generates a map image using the map data, displays the map image on the display device 16, and also displays the current position of the vehicle on the map image. A vehicle position mark indicating is displayed. Thereafter, the control unit 10 moves the vehicle position mark on the map image or scrolls the map image as the vehicle moves.

  When the user operates the operation unit 12 to set the destination, the control unit 10 uses the current position of the vehicle as the departure point, and searches for a guidance route from the departure point to the destination using the map data stored in the HDD 11. The guidance route obtained by the search is stored in the guidance route storage unit 20. And the control part 10 outputs guidance information suitably with a driving | running | working of a vehicle, and guides a vehicle to drive | work along a guidance route to the destination.

  Next, the operation as an AV playback device in the in-vehicle content playback device of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation when the content stored in the HDD 11 is played back by the in-vehicle content playback device of the present embodiment.

  First, in step S11, when the user operates the operation unit 12 to instruct content reproduction, the process proceeds to step S12. Then, the control unit 10 determines whether there is an occupant (passenger) other than the driver on the vehicle based on the output of the occupant configuration detection unit 15. In step S12, when it is determined that there is a passenger in the vehicle (when YES), the process proceeds to step S13, and when it is determined that there is no passenger (when NO), the process proceeds to step S16. Here, it is determined that there is a passenger and the process proceeds to step S13.

  In step S13, the control unit 10 selects all contents stored in the HDD 11 as selection targets. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S14, and the control unit 10 checks the setting storage unit 19 to determine whether or not the “estimated travel time” setting is ON. When the “estimated travel time” setting is on (YES), the process proceeds to step S19, and when it is off (NO), the process proceeds to step S15. Here, it is assumed that the “estimated travel time” setting is off. In this case, the process proceeds from step S14 to step S15, and all the contents selected as selection targets in step S13 are set as selection candidates. The additional information of the contents of the selection candidates is read out to create a content list and displayed on the display device 16 To do.

  FIG. 7A is a diagram showing an example of a content list displayed on the display device 16 at this time. When there is a passenger and the “estimated travel time” setting is off, as shown in FIG. 7A, all the music content and video content information stored in the HDD 11 has a long playback time, for example. Are displayed in order. In this embodiment, only information of four contents can be displayed on one screen, but when the scroll buttons 21 and 22 are pressed, the contents list is scrolled up and down. When a desired content is selected from the content list, the content reproduction is started.

  When it is determined in step S14 that the “estimated travel time” setting is ON (YES), the process proceeds to step S19 to determine whether the predicted travel time can be calculated. When the calculation of the estimated travel time is not possible (in the case of NO), that is, when the destination is not set and the guide route is not stored in the guide route storage unit 20, the process proceeds from step S19 to step S15. In step S15, all the music content and video content selected in step S13 are set as selection candidates, and additional information of the selection candidate contents is read out to create a content list, which is displayed on the display device 16. Also in this case, as shown in FIG. 7A, all music content and video content stored in the HDD 11 are displayed on the display device 16 in order from the longest playback time, for example. When a desired content is selected from the content list, the content reproduction is started.

  In step S19, when the estimated travel time can be calculated (in the case of YES), that is, when the guide route is stored in the guide route storage unit 20, the process proceeds to step S20. In step S20, the control unit 10 calculates the estimated travel time from the current position of the vehicle to the destination.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S21, and the control unit 10 has a playback time shorter than the estimated travel time among the contents (all music contents and video contents stored in the HDD 11) selected in step S13. Are extracted as selection candidates. Here, it is assumed that the estimated traveling time is 11 minutes. In this case, music content and video content whose playback time is within 11 minutes are extracted as selection candidates.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S <b> 22, and the control unit 10 reads the additional information of the selection candidate content, creates a content list, and displays the content list on the display device 16. FIG. 7B is a diagram showing an example of a content list displayed on the display device 16 at this time. When there is a passenger and the “estimated travel time” setting is ON (however, when the guidance route is set), as shown in FIG. 7B, the music contents stored in the HDD 11 and Information of content whose playback time is shorter than the estimated travel time is displayed in a list from the video content. In FIG. 7 (b), the selection candidate contents are displayed in order from the longest reproduction time. When a desired content is selected from the content list, the content reproduction is started. Note that the content list may display the difference between the estimated travel time and the content playback time.

  Next, a case where there are no passengers other than the driver, that is, no passengers will be described.

  When it is determined in step S12 that no passenger is present in the vehicle (NO), the control unit 10 proceeds to step S16. In step S <b> 16, the control unit 10 checks the setting storage unit 19 to determine whether the “video content exception” setting is on. When the “video content exception” setting is on (YES), the process proceeds to step S17, and when it is off (NO), the process proceeds to step S18.

  When the process proceeds to step S <b> 17, the control unit 10 selects all music contents and video contents of a specific genre (music video in the present embodiment) among the contents stored in the HDD 11. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S14.

  On the other hand, when the process proceeds from step S16 to step S18, the control unit 10 selects only music content from among the content stored in the HDD 11. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S14, the control unit 10 checks the setting storage unit 19 to determine whether or not the “estimated travel time” setting is on. When the “estimated travel time” setting is on (YES), the process proceeds to step S19, and when it is off (NO), the process proceeds to step S15.

  When the process proceeds to step S15, all the contents selected as the selection target in step S17 or step S18 are set as selection candidates, the additional information of the contents of the selection candidates is read out, a content list is created, and displayed on the display device 16. .

  FIG. 8A shows a case where there is no occupant (passenger) other than the driver, and when the “video content exception” setting is on and the “estimated travel time” setting is off, It is a figure which shows the example of the content list displayed. In this case, among the contents stored in the HDD 11, information on all music contents and video contents of a specific genre (music video) is displayed in order from the longest reproduction time, for example. When a desired content is selected from the content list, the content reproduction is started.

  FIG. 8B shows a case where there is no occupant (passenger) other than the driver, the “video content exception” setting is off, and the “estimated travel time” setting is off on the display device. It is a figure which shows the example of the content list performed. In this case, information of all music contents among the contents stored in the HDD 11 is displayed in order from the one with the longest reproduction time, for example. When a desired content is selected from the content list, the content reproduction is started.

  On the other hand, when the process proceeds from step S14 to step S19, it is determined whether or not the estimated travel time can be calculated. When the calculation of the estimated travel time is not possible (in the case of NO), that is, when the destination is not set and the guide route is not stored in the guide route storage unit 20, the process proceeds from step S19 to step S15. In step S15, the music content selected in step S17 or step S18, or the music content and the video content of a specific genre are selected as candidates. Then, the additional information of the selection candidate contents is read out to create a contents list and displayed on the display device 16. In this case as well, a content list as shown in FIG. 8A or FIG. 8B is displayed depending on whether the “video content exception” setting is on or off.

  In step S19, when the estimated travel time can be calculated (in the case of YES), that is, when the guide route is stored in the guide route storage unit 20, the process proceeds to step S20. In step S20, the control unit 10 calculates the estimated travel time from the current position of the vehicle to the destination.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S21, and the control unit 10 extracts a content whose reproduction time is shorter than the estimated traveling time from the contents selected in step S17 or S18, and sets it as a selection candidate. Next, the process proceeds to step S <b> 22, and the control unit 10 reads the additional information of the selection candidate content, creates a content list, and displays the content list on the display device 16.

  FIG. 9A shows a case where there is no occupant (passenger) other than the driver, and when the “video content exception” setting is on and the “estimated travel time” setting is on, the display device 16 It is a figure which shows the example of the content list displayed. In this case, among the contents stored in the HDD 11, the information on the music content whose playback time is shorter than the travel time and the video content of a specific genre (music video in this embodiment) is displayed in order from the longest playback time, for example. Displayed on the device 16. When a desired content is selected from the content list, the content reproduction is started.

  FIG. 9B shows a case where there is no occupant (passenger) other than the driver, and when the “video content exception” setting is off and the “estimated travel time” setting is on, the display device 16 It is a figure which shows the example of the content list displayed. In this case, among the contents stored in the HDD 11, information on music content whose reproduction time is shorter than the estimated travel time is displayed in order from the longest reproduction time, for example. When a desired content is selected from the content list, the content reproduction is started.

  In the present embodiment, as described above, when there is a passenger, both the music content and the video content stored in the HDD 11 are displayed on the display device 16 as selection candidates. When the “content exception” setting is off, only the music content is displayed as a selection candidate on the display device 16. This avoids a useless operation of playing video content when there is no passenger. In addition, if the “estimated travel time” setting is turned on, only information on content whose playback time is shorter than the predicted travel time is displayed on the display device 16, so that content playback is possible even when the destination arrives. Since it does not end, it is possible to avoid halfway viewing.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, even when there is no passenger, by setting the “video content exception” setting to ON, it is possible to enjoy only music (audio signals) such as a music video. Since video content that can be played back is possible, there is a high degree of freedom in content playback.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the content list indicating the content information whose playback time is shorter than the estimated traveling time is displayed on the display device 16 when the “estimated traveling time” setting is turned on has been described. The user may be able to select a plurality of contents from the list. When multiple contents are selected, the total playback time of those contents is automatically calculated and the difference from the estimated travel time is displayed on the display device 16, and the total playback time of the contents exceeds the estimated travel time For example, a warning is displayed on the display device 16. In addition, when the “estimated travel time” setting is turned on, content information whose playback time is longer than the estimated travel time is added near the end of the content list, and these contents are scrolled by scrolling the content list. May be selected.

  In the above embodiment, the content of the selection candidates is displayed on the display device 16 in order from the longest reproduction time. However, the past reproduction history is automatically recorded, and the content with high reproduction frequency is displayed. Alternatively, the content of an artist with a high reproduction frequency or the content of a genre with a high reproduction frequency may be displayed in order. Furthermore, the IC tag and fingerprint recognition device built into the vehicle key, or the camera and image recognition technology that captures the interior of the vehicle are used to identify the occupant and display the occupant's favorite content in the content list with priority. You may make it do.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the present invention is applied to an in-vehicle navigation device having a content reproduction function has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to an in-vehicle AV reproduction device. In this case, it is preferable that the in-vehicle AV device can acquire the estimated travel time from the in-vehicle navigation device or the like.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the case where the storage device for storing the music content and the video content is the built-in HDD has been described. However, the music content and the video content may be stored in a removable HDD or a bridge medium. It is.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an in-vehicle content playback apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the storage area of the HDD. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing additional information of music content and video content. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a touch panel arranged on the front surface of the display device. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating data set in the setting storage unit. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation when the content stored in the HDD is played back by the in-vehicle content playback device of the present embodiment. FIG. 7A is a diagram showing a display example of a content list when there is a passenger and the setting of “estimated travel time” is OFF, and FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a content list when the setting of "time" is ON. FIG. 8A is a diagram showing a display example of the content list when there is no passenger, the “video content exception” setting is on, and the “estimated travel time” setting is off, and FIG. ) Is a diagram illustrating a display example of a content list when there is no passenger, the “video content exception” setting is off, and the “estimated travel time” setting is off. FIG. 9A is a diagram showing a display example of the content list when there is no passenger, the “video content exception” setting is on, and the “estimated travel time” setting is on. ) Is a diagram illustrating a display example of a content list when there is no passenger, the “video content exception” setting is off, and the “estimated travel time” setting is on.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... control unit,
11 ... HDD,
12 ... operation part,
12a ... touch panel,
13 ... GPS receiver,
14 ... Self-contained navigation sensor,
15 ... occupant configuration detection unit,
16 ... display device,
17 ... D / A converter,
18 ... Speaker,
19: Setting storage unit,
20: Guidance route storage unit.

Claims (4)

Display means;
Content storage means for storing music content and video content;
Occupant configuration detecting means for detecting the configuration of the occupant riding in the vehicle;
Control means for playing back music content and video content stored in the content storage means,
The control means determines the presence or absence of an occupant other than the driver based on the output of the occupant configuration detection means, and when it is determined that there is an occupant other than the driver, the music content and video stored in the content storage means Information about the contents is displayed on the display means, and when it is determined that there is no occupant other than the driver, the music content stored in the contents storage means is selected as a selection target. An in-vehicle content reproduction apparatus characterized in that information is displayed on the display means. Furthermore, the vehicle has an estimated traveling time acquisition means for acquiring an estimated traveling time until the vehicle arrives at the destination,
The in-vehicle content reproduction apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means displays only information of content having a reproduction time shorter than the estimated traveling time among the content to be selected on the display means. Furthermore, it has setting storage means capable of setting a specific type of video content among the video contents stored in the content storage means as an exception,
The control means may select the specific type of video content as the selection target when an exception is set in the setting storage means even when there is no passenger other than the driver. The in-vehicle content playback device according to 1 or 2. The in-vehicle content reproduction apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the content storage means is a removable storage device.

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