JP2010078354A - Apparatus and method for operating onboard instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an input operation from being interrupted when a vehicle shifts from a stop state to a traveling state. <P>SOLUTION: An operating apparatus of an onboard instrument includes: a switch input information processing part 103 for inputting a character through a manual operation and recognizing the input character; a voice input part 101 for inputting a voice by the utterance of a user; a voice recognition part 102 for recognizing the voice input by the voice input part 101; and a vehicle state determination part 105 for determining the traveling state of one's own vehicle. When it is determined that the vehicle has shifted from a stop state to a traveling state by the vehicle state determination part 105, the input operation by the switch input information processing part 103 stops to allow the voice input part 101 to perform an input operation after the stop. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation device for an in-vehicle device and an operation method for the in-vehicle device with an improved input operation function.

Conventionally, as this type of technology, for example, those described in the following documents are known (see Patent Document 1). This document describes a technique for restricting a manual input operation to a navigation device when the vehicle is running in a vehicle navigation device that performs route guidance or the like.
Japanese Patent No. 3748042

  In the conventional navigation device described above, manual input operation is restricted or prohibited when the vehicle is traveling. For example, before the input operation is completed, the manual input operation is performed with the vehicle stopped. When the vehicle starts and enters the running state, the input operation that has been performed is interrupted in an incomplete state, and the input operation cannot be continued while the vehicle is running, which impairs the convenience of the user. There was a fear.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide an on-vehicle apparatus operating device that has improved input operation functions by avoiding interruption of input operation due to running / stopping of the vehicle, and It is to provide a method for operating an in-vehicle device.

  In order to achieve the above object, when a character is input manually by the first input means and the detection means detects that the host vehicle has shifted from the stopped state to the traveling state, the first input means The character input operation by the input unit is stopped, and the user is prompted to input the continuation of the input operation after the stop by the voice by the utterance by the second input unit.

  According to the present invention, since the voice input operation by speech is urged following the stop of the character input operation, the input operation can be performed even if the character input operation by the first input means is stopped during traveling. Thus, it is possible to continue the input operation while avoiding the interruption, improving the input operability and improving the convenience for the user.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The best embodiment for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an operating device for an in-vehicle device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. A first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and a second embodiment described after the first embodiment are embodiments in which the operation device for an in-vehicle device according to the present invention is applied to an in-vehicle navigation device. The navigation device includes a voice input unit 101. A voice recognition unit 102, a switch input information processing unit 103, an input control unit 104, a vehicle state determination unit 105, a subsequent data estimation unit 106, a response generation unit 107, a screen display unit 108, and a voice output unit 109. Yes.

  In FIG. 1, a voice input unit 101 is composed of a microphone or the like, and collects and inputs a voice generated by a user who uses this apparatus such as a vehicle occupant. The speech recognition unit 102 refers to the recognition grammar 110 and recognizes the speech acquired and input by the speech input unit 101 using an existing speech recognition technology. The recognition grammar 110 is a database in which grammar and words (dictionaries) used for speech recognition are described. Such a database is stored in advance in a storage device.

  The switch input information processing unit 103 has a function as an interface when a user inputs to the apparatus by a manual operation, and includes, for example, a touch panel for inputting characters with a tentacle. The switch input information processing unit 103 has a recognition function for recognizing input characters.

  The input control unit 104 receives the voice input input from the voice input unit 101 and recognized by the voice recognition unit 102 and the character input recognized by the switch input information processing unit 103 and receives both recognized inputs. Combine and recognize the input as a whole. The input control means 104 determines an input operation as the present apparatus based on the running / stopped state of the vehicle.

  The vehicle state determination unit 105 determines whether the vehicle is running or stopped based on a vehicle speed signal provided from a vehicle speed sensor (not shown) provided in the vehicle. The determination result is given to the input control unit 104. The subsequent data estimation unit 106, when the input method is changed, that is, when the input by the utterance is changed from the input by the manual operation, the input (manual operation input) completed data given from the input control unit 104 and the route Based on the database of the map DB (database) 111 and the word (dictionary) DB (database) 112 used for guidance etc., the data to be accepted (valid data) among the input data is determined. The map DB 111 is a database for associating data input by the user such as facility names and addresses with points (locations), and the word DB 112 is for decomposing data registered in the map DB 111 into words. These are databases of words (dictionaries) to be used, and these databases are prepared by being stored in a storage device in advance.

  The response generation unit 107 generates response information including guidance information to be presented to the user according to the next operation to be executed by the apparatus determined by the input control unit 104. The screen display unit 108 includes a display such as a liquid crystal display or a monitor, for example, and outputs guidance information related to screen display among the response information generated by the response generation unit 107. The voice output unit 109 is configured by a speaker or the like, and outputs guidance information related to voice output among the response information generated by the response generation unit 107.

  The above-described units other than the voice input unit 101, the switch input information processing unit 103, the screen display unit 108, and the voice output unit 109 are a CPU, a storage device, and an input / output device necessary for a computer that controls various operation processes based on a program. Including an existing application specific integrated circuit such as an ASIC or FPGA, which is realized by a microcomputer or the like having resources such as, and is designed so that the operation processing of the present invention described below can be realized as necessary. You may make it comprise.

  Next, the operation procedure of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The operation procedure described below is based on the manual operation up to that point when the vehicle starts running while the user is performing manual input using a switch or touch panel while the vehicle is stopped. This is a procedure for selecting whether to change to voice input operation by utterance.

  First, before describing the change of the input operation with reference to FIG. 2, the purpose of the user performing the input by the manual operation before the change will be described. By grasping the purpose of this manual operation, the processing capability by voice input after the change is improved.

  The navigation device has various functions such as setting destinations and waypoints, searching for facilities near the current location and destination, registering information obtained by setting and searching, and editing operations as functions performed by manual operation. It has been.

  For example, the user needs to input a destination when requesting route guidance from the current location to the destination. As a procedure for such an operation, first, for example, from a menu screen displayed on the screen display unit 108. Select the item “Set Destination”, and on the next menu screen after selection, for example, the following selection menu is displayed. By selecting one of the displayed selection menus, the selected menu is displayed. The input scene corresponding to is specified and the destination is set. As a selection menu for setting and inputting the destination, for example, “telephone number”, “address”, “facility name”, etc., where the telephone number, address, and facility name are entered in letters, or from previously registered locations Select and set “Registration location”, for example, “Facilities search” that is set by selecting from the search results of searching for nearby facilities such as convenience stores and gas stations, and select and set from the search history searched in the past “Search history” or the like.

  As described above, when performing an input operation, for example, by inputting an address of a destination in characters and setting the destination, the input scene is specified, so that a recognition image prepared in advance according to the specified input scene is used. The use of grammar can improve the efficiency of recognition processing.

  The input scene is specified based on the acquired scene information by acquiring scene information for specifying the input scene. The scene information indicates which one of the functions provided in the navigation device is being performed. An individual ID is assigned to each input scene, and the process of what operation the input scene is based on this ID. Is uniquely identified to identify and identify the input scene.

  In the input scene specified as described above, the navigation apparatus determines whether the vehicle is in a traveling state by the vehicle state determination unit 105 (step S101). As a result of the determination, if it is determined that the vehicle is not in the running state, the manual input operation so far is continued without presenting the change in the input operation (step S102), while it is determined that the vehicle is in the running state. If it is, the confirmation screen is displayed on the screen display unit 108 (step S103), the manual input operation is stopped, and the input operation is continued by voice input by the user's utterance instead of the manual input operation. It is confirmed whether or not to perform (step S104). As the confirmation screen, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, a confirmation message 32 (pop-up is displayed, for example, "Do you want to continue voice input?" Screen) and allow the user to select from the “Yes” or “No” selection menu.

  In such confirmation, if “No” is selected in the selection menu, or if a predetermined time has passed without any selection, it is considered that there is no intention to continue the input operation, The confirmation message 32 is erased from the screen (step S105), the user is informed that the input operation is interrupted by traveling, and a manual character input is not accepted.

  On the other hand, when “Yes” is selected from the selection menu and the intention to continue the input operation is confirmed, the user subsequently selects a range of information to be input by voice input (step S106). As a selection method, for example, as shown in FIG. 3B, the user can select a selection menu 33a, 33b, 33c displayed on the menu screen 31.

  In this selection, a request is made to set an acceptance range in consideration of the ease of speech utterance with respect to already input data that the user has input by character input (selection menu 33a shown in FIG. 3B). When the input data is confirmed, the input range that is accepted and valid by the apparatus at the start of voice input is determined (step S107).

  As an input scene, for example, when setting the destination, assuming that the name of the facility is manually input by characters, for example, when the characters “Tokyo” are input, the vehicle starts and enters the running state. Then, the recognition process of the character string input with reference to the recognition grammar corresponding to the input scene is started. In this recognition process, the character string “Tokyo” is recognized as “Tokyo”, but the last character “to” is, for example, a character meaning “city” of Tokyo Metropolitan University, or “travel tourism”. It is not possible to recognize whether it is a character that means “t”.

  In such a case, if the characters following “Tokyo” are input by voice after the characters “Tokyo” entered manually, in the case of the above, it is necessary to say “Ritsugiga” In the latter case, it is necessary to say “Label Kankan”. Such an utterance is difficult for the user to speak, and even if there is more than one character, it is easier to say if it says “Toridaigaigaku” or “Tobaru Kankou”.

  Therefore, in consideration of the ease of speaking by voice utterance, the input character string is distinguished from the character string “Tokyo” that can be recognized as a word and the character string “and” that cannot be recognized as a word, and cannot be recognized as a word. The character string “to” is also input by voice utterance again. Therefore, in such a case, for the input data “Tokyo”, the character string “Tokyo” is the effective input range, and the input data “to” is not accepted. The input is invalid, and the user is prompted to input voice again by speaking.

  Next, the recognition grammar 110 used in speech recognition is read based on the input acceptance range determined as described above (step S108). Subsequently, when the reading of the recognition grammar 110 is completed and speech can be made, guidance for prompting the user to input subsequent information is output (step S109). After that, when the user's utterance is detected as in the normal voice input operation, a voice recognition process is performed based on the previously read recognition grammar 110 (step S110).

  On the other hand, when the user wants to take over the entire manual input range as the acceptance range in the previous step S106 (selecting the selection menu 33c shown in FIG. 3B), the subsequent input is continuously set. In order to recognize the utterance content input by voice based on the syllable input grammar, the recognition grammar 110 corresponding to the grammar for continuous syllable input is read (step S111). Thereafter, the same processing as in the previous steps S109 and S110 is executed to perform voice recognition processing.

  On the other hand, if the user does not wish to transfer the input data in the previous step S106, the input grammar 110 is read according to the input scene in which the input operation was performed with characters after discarding all the input data. (Step S112). Thereafter, the same processing as in the previous steps S109 and S110 is executed to perform voice recognition processing.

  Next, a recognition grammar selection procedure prepared for each input scene will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  As mentioned earlier, since the input scene is identified based on the scene information, first, the ID of the scene information assigned to each input scene when the input operation is changed is acquired (step S401). Thereafter, an input scene is identified based on the acquired ID, and subsequent functional ranges subsequent to the identified input scene are searched and determined (step S402).

  As the functional range in the input scene, for example, in an input scene in which a destination is input, as shown in FIG. 5, a telephone number search, an address search, a name search, a search history, a registered location search, a peripheral facility search, and a peripheral facility search Range of functions such as a convenience store and a gas station for searching nearby facilities. The recognition grammar 110 prepared in advance corresponding to the name of the function shown in FIG. 5, for example, selected from the determined function range following the current input scene is selected and read (step S403).

  As described above, in the first embodiment, when the vehicle shifts from the stopped state to the traveling state, the navigation device is urged to continue the input by the voice of the user's utterance instead of the manual character input. Thus, it is possible to avoid interruption of the input operation. As a result, the user can complete the input without delay when the user needs the input. On the other hand, when the input operation is interrupted as in the past, when the input operation is resumed after the interruption, there is no need for the input and the data input until then is canceled or the input is interrupted. Although there is a risk of checking the input data, the first embodiment can avoid such a trouble.

  In addition, when the input operation is continued by utterance, the user can select the acceptance range to be accepted as the recognition target among the manually input character strings. The user can input voice by speaking.

  When the voice is input by utterance, the acceptance range is determined based on the word boundary, so that the user can easily speak and the recognition rate of the input voice can be increased.

  By specifying the input scene, it becomes possible to prepare and refer to an optimal recognition grammar according to the input scene in advance, so that the speech recognition rate and the recognition speed can be improved.

  Furthermore, when prompting continuation of the voice input, the user can be selected by confirming whether or not the continuation is continued, and thus the convenience of the user can be achieved.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure of operation processing in the navigation apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and shows a processing procedure of step S107 in FIG. 2 of the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 2, as in the case of the process shown in FIG. 2, when a 50-sound input such as a search for a spot name or an audio music search is performed by a manual input operation, an input operation by voice utterance is performed from the manual operation. In setting the effective range of the input by the manual operation before the change, the input character string is first set as the search target character string (step S601). Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the number of characters in the search target character string is one or more (step S602). If there is only one character as a result of the discrimination, the input information is discarded and invalidated, and it is assumed that there was no input before the change, and the user is prompted again for all inputs by voice utterance (step S603).

  On the other hand, if there are two or more characters, it is searched whether the entire character string is a word string composed of one or more words registered in the word DB 112 with respect to the character string to be searched. (Step S604). If there is no matching word string as a result of the search, the last character of the search target character string is deleted (step S605), and then the process shown in the previous step S604 is executed again. If such a process is repeated and there is a matching word string, it is searched whether or not there is a partial word string in the search target character string (step S606).

  If the partial word string is not included as a result of the search, it is subsequently searched whether or not the entire search target character string is a partial word string of another word (step S607). If it is a partial word string of other words as a result of the search, if all of the input is accepted, it will be difficult to utter only the remaining part, so the entered data will not be accepted and discarded Then, it is invalidated and the user is prompted again for all inputs by voice utterance (step S603).

  On the other hand, if it is not a partial word string of another word, the input is accepted within the range of the search target character string, and all the input data are validated (step S608).

  If the result of the search in the previous step S606 is that the partial word string is included and is composed of a plurality of word strings, it is subsequently determined whether or not the last word string is a partial word string. (Step S609). As a result of the determination, if it is not a partial word string, the range that is not a partial word string at the end of the word is discarded and invalidated, and the remaining part is validated as an accepted range, and the input is confirmed (step S610).

  On the other hand, if the word string at the end is a partial word string, then it is searched whether there is a word including the end part in the word DB 112 (step S611). As a result of the search, if a word including the ending part is registered in the word DB 112, an input other than the ending part is set as the acceptance range (step S612). On the other hand, if the corresponding word is not registered in the word DB 112, all the input character strings are valid as the acceptance range and the input is confirmed (step S613).

  As described above, in the second embodiment, when the input operation is changed from the manual input to the voice input and the subsequent information is input by the voice input, the manual operation is performed in consideration of the ease of speaking. The acceptance range is determined from the entered information. That is, in the case of speech utterance, since utterance is basically performed in units of words, it is determined whether or not the input character string becomes a word boundary by referring to a database prepared in advance. Only the range of the character string that is quite impossible is set as the acceptable range of input.

  As a result, the input speech is more severely restricted from syllable units to word units, thereby improving the recognition accuracy of information input by speech. In the case of syllable unit input, it is difficult to detect the correct utterance section with voice recognition software due to unnecessary pause length or disturbance of intonation, and speech recognition will end in the middle of voice input. There is a risk that the first utterance (the head of the utterance) that is not detected is lost, resulting in an input result different from the user's utterance. By using word-by-word input, it is possible to reduce utterance detection defects in speech input. Thereby, it becomes possible to improve the recognition rate of the voice input by the utterance.

  In addition, the operation device of the in-vehicle device and the operation method of the in-vehicle device of the present invention are not limited to the navigation device and the operation method described in the first and second embodiments. For example, in the in-vehicle audio device, the music piece is selected. It is possible to apply to the operation method which performs, and the same effect can be acquired.

  It should be noted that the correspondence between the configuration requirements of the above-described embodiment and the configuration requirements in the claims is as follows: the voice input unit 101 is the second input unit, and the voice recognition unit 102 and the recognition grammar 110 are the second recognition unit. The switch input information processing unit 103 is the first input unit, the first recognition unit, the vehicle state determination unit 105 is the detection unit, the input control unit 104 is the third recognition unit, the input control unit 104, and the following. The data estimation unit 106, the response generation unit 107, the screen display unit 108, the voice output unit 109, the map DB 111, and the word DB 112 constitute input changing means.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the operation | movement process which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the screen at the time of changing an input. It is a flowchart which shows the reading procedure of the recognition grammar in an input scene. It is a figure which shows the function name of the recognition grammar which can be selected by an input scene. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the operation | movement process which concerns on Example 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Voice input part 102 ... Voice recognition part 103 ... Switch input information processing part 104 ... Input control part 105 ... Vehicle state determination part 106 ... Subsequent data estimation part 107 ... Response generation part 108 ... Screen display part 109 ... Voice output part 110 ... Grammar for recognition 111 ... Map DB
112 ... Word DB

Claims (5)

First input means for inputting characters by manual operation;
A second input means for inputting a voice uttered by the user;
First recognition means for recognizing a character input by the first input means;
Second recognition means for recognizing the voice input by the second input means;
Third recognition means for recognizing an input combining a character recognized by the first recognition means and a voice recognized by the second recognition means;
Detecting means for detecting the traveling state of the host vehicle;
When the detection means detects that the host vehicle has shifted from the stopped state to the running state, the input operation by the first input means is stopped, and the input operation after the stop is performed by the second input means. An in-vehicle device operating device, comprising: an input changing means for prompting the user. The input changing unit receives a character string input before the input operation of the first input unit is stopped, determines a receiving range of a character string to be recognized, and determines the received receiving range. The in-vehicle device operating device according to claim 1, wherein character input input after the character string is not accepted, and the input that is not accepted is urged to be input by speech. The in-vehicle device operating device according to claim 2, wherein the input changing means determines the accepting range by allowing a user to select a character range input by the first input means. The input changing means has a character string recognized as a word as a boundary, a character string recognized as a word as an acceptance range, and a character string not recognized as a word as an unacceptable range with respect to the tail of the input character string The operating device for on-vehicle equipment according to claim 2, wherein: Input characters by manual operation, detect the running state of the host vehicle, and when the host vehicle is moving from the stopped state to the running state when entering characters, stop the character input operation, A method for operating an in-vehicle device, characterized by prompting a user to input a continuation of an input operation after the stop by voice by speech.

Images