JP2012078497A - Input device for vehicle, input method for vehicle, and input program for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an input device for a vehicle, an input method for the vehicle, and an input program for the vehicle, which can improve operability for input during the running of the vehicle.SOLUTION: The input device 1 for a vehicle includes: a manual input part 61 configured to receive manual input from a user; a voice input part 62 configured to recognize the voice of a user and receive a voice input; a user specifying part 63 configured to specify a user; and an input control part 64 configured to limit reception of manual input by the manual input part 61 when limiting condition for limiting the reception of manual input is satisfied. If the user specified by the user specifying part 63 is not the driver of the vehicle, the input control part 64 also receives manual input from the manual input part 61 in addition to the reception of voice input from the voice input part 62 even when the limiting condition has been satisfied.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle input device, a vehicle input method, and a vehicle input program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a car navigation system or the like, a voice recognition device is used for receiving input such as destination setting in route guidance by recognizing a user's voice.

  For example, a speech recognition device that performs speech recognition in consideration of the presence of passengers other than the driver has been proposed. Prior to the execution of the speech recognition process, this speech recognition apparatus determines whether or not the number of occupants is 1, and if the number of occupants is 2 or more, the speech recognition apparatus may reduce ambient noise that causes a reduction in the recognition level in speech recognition. Since the passenger's utterance can be cited as a cause, prior to voice recognition, an alert is issued to request cooperation in order to create an environment suitable for voice recognition (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2001-166794 A

  By the way, in the conventional car navigation system, since the driver concentrates on the driving operation of the vehicle, acceptance of manual input during driving is limited, but for passengers who are unrelated to driving operation, voice input In some cases, manual input is more operable than manual input. However, in the conventional apparatus as described above, there is no choice but to perform voice input even when a passenger unrelated to the driving operation performs input, and there is room for improvement in operability.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides an input device for a vehicle, an input method for a vehicle, and an input program for a vehicle that can improve operability during input during traveling. Objective.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the vehicular input device according to claim 1 includes a manual input unit that receives a manual input from a user and a voice input by recognizing the user's voice. A voice input means for accepting, a user identifying means for identifying the user, and an input control means for restricting acceptance of manual input by the manual input means when a restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is satisfied. When the user specified by the user specifying means is not a driver of the vehicle, the input control means includes the voice input means even if the restriction condition is satisfied. It is also possible to accept manual input by the manual input means in addition to accepting voice input by.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vehicular input device according to the first aspect, the user specifying means specifies the user based on a place where the voice is uttered.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicular input device according to the first or second aspect, in which the audio output means for outputting information by voice and the display output means for outputting information by display And the input control means outputs a question via the voice output means, and when input of an answer to the question is accepted via the voice input means, the input control means corresponds to the accepted answer Information is output via the voice output means, and when the user specified by the user specifying means is not a vehicle driver, the number of items of the question to be output is a predetermined number or more. If so, the question is output via the display output means.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicular input method, wherein a manual input step for receiving a manual input from a user, a voice input step for recognizing the voice of the user and receiving a voice input, and the user are specified. A user specifying step, and an input control step for restricting acceptance of manual input in the manual input step when a restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is satisfied. In the case where the user specified in the person specifying step is not a driver of the vehicle, the manual input step in addition to the reception of the voice input in the voice input step even if the restriction condition is satisfied It is also possible to accept manual input at.

  A vehicle input program according to claim 5 causes a computer to execute the method according to claim 4.

  According to the vehicular input device according to claim 1, the vehicular input method according to claim 4, and the vehicular input program according to claim 5, the input control means is specified by the user specifying means. If the user is not a vehicle driver, in addition to accepting voice input by the voice input means, manual input by the manual input means can be used even if the restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is satisfied. Since reception is also possible, for example, both voice input and manual input by a passenger unrelated to the driving operation can be received, and operability at the time of input can be improved.

  According to the vehicular input device according to claim 2, the user specifying means specifies the user based on the place where the voice is uttered, so that the user tries to input using the vehicular input device. The position of the person can be reliably identified.

  According to the vehicle input device of the third aspect, the input control means has a predetermined number of questions to be output when the user specified by the user specifying means is not a driver of the vehicle. If the number is greater than or equal to the number, the question is output via the display output means. For example, when a passenger who is unrelated to the driving operation is a user, the display output means promptly displays a predetermined number of questions. Therefore, the user can grasp the contents, and the operability at the time of input can be further improved.

It is a block diagram which illustrates the input device for vehicles concerning an embodiment. It is a flowchart of an input process. 3 is a flowchart of input processing following FIG. 2. It is the figure which illustrated the display which displayed and output the question. It is the figure which illustrated the display which displayed and output the question. It is the figure which illustrated the display which displayed and output the question.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a vehicle input device, a vehicle input method, and a vehicle input program according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited by this embodiment.

(Constitution)
First, the configuration of the vehicle input device according to the embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a vehicle input device according to this embodiment. The vehicle input device 1 is mounted on a vehicle and includes a speaker 10, a display 20, a microphone 30, a hard switch 40, a touch panel 50, a control unit 60, and a data recording unit 70 as shown in FIG. Yes. In the following description, a person who performs various inputs using the vehicle input device 1 is referred to as a “user”. This user includes a driver of a vehicle on which the vehicle input device 1 is mounted and a passenger other than the driver.

(Configuration-Speaker)
The speaker 10 is sound output means for outputting information by sound based on the control of the control unit 60. The specific form of the sound output from the speaker 10 is arbitrary, and a synthesized sound generated as necessary and a sound recorded in advance can be output.

(Configuration-Display)
The display 20 is a display output unit that outputs information by display based on the control of the control unit 60. The specific configuration of the display 20 is arbitrary, and a known flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display can be used.

(Configuration-microphone)
The microphone 30 converts the sound into an electrical signal and outputs it to the control unit 60, and constitutes a sound input means together with a sound input unit 62 of the control unit 60 described later. As the microphone 30, for example, by using a plurality of directional microphones having directivity in different directions, it is possible to specify from which direction the sound is input.

(Configuration-Hard switch)
The hard switch 40 receives various manual inputs from the user when pressed by a user's finger or the like, and constitutes a manual input unit together with a manual input unit 61 of the control unit 60 described later. The hard switch 40 is configured using, for example, a known push button, and is disposed, for example, around the display 20.

(Configuration-touch panel)
The touch panel 50 receives various manual inputs from the user when pressed by a user's finger or the like, and constitutes a manual input unit together with a manual input unit 61 of the control unit 60 described later. The touch panel 50 is formed to be transparent or translucent, and is provided on the front surface of the display 20 so as to overlap the display surface of the display 20. As this touch panel 50, for example, a publicly known touch panel provided with operation position detecting means by a resistance film method or a capacitance method can be used.

(Configuration-control unit)
The control unit 60 is a control unit that controls the vehicle input device 1. Specifically, the control unit 60 is a CPU, various programs that are interpreted and executed on the CPU (a basic control program such as an OS, and the OS is started on the OS. And an internal memory such as a RAM for storing the program and various data. In particular, the vehicular input program according to the present embodiment is substantially installed in the vehicular input device 1 via an arbitrary recording medium or network, thereby substantially configuring each unit of the control unit 60.

  The control unit 60 includes a manual input unit 61, a voice input unit 62, a user specifying unit 63, and an input control unit 64 in terms of functional concept. The manual input unit 61 is a manual input unit that receives manual input from the user via the hard switch 40 or the touch panel 50. The voice input unit 62 is a voice input unit that recognizes the voice of the user input from the microphone 30 and receives the voice input. The user specifying unit 63 is a user specifying means for specifying a user. The input control unit 64 is an input control unit that controls reception of various inputs from the user. The input control unit 64 controls input acceptance in an interactive format with the user. Specifically, the input control unit 64 outputs a question through the speaker 10, and when input of an answer to the question is received through the microphone 30 and the voice input unit 62, it corresponds to the received answer. Information is output through the speaker 10. Details of processing executed by each unit of the control unit 60 will be described later.

(Configuration-Data recording part)
The data recording unit 70 is a recording unit that records a program and various data necessary for the operation of the vehicle input device 1, and uses, for example, a magnetic recording medium such as a hard disk (not shown) as an external storage device. It is configured. However, any other recording medium including a semiconductor storage medium such as a flash memory or an optical recording medium such as a DVD or a Blu-ray disk can be used instead of or together with the hard disk. The data recording unit 70 records acoustic data and the like used when the voice input unit 62 performs voice recognition.

(Processing-Input processing)
Next, an input process executed by the vehicle input device 1 configured as described above will be described. 2 and 3 are flowcharts of the input process (in the following description of each process, step is abbreviated as “S”). This input process is executed after the vehicle input device 1 is powered on, for example.

  When the input process is started, the input control unit 64 determines whether or not the vehicle input device 1 is set to accept voice input (SA1). Whether or not the vehicular input device 1 accepts voice input is set, for example, by manual input via the hard switch 40 or the touch panel 50 in advance, and the setting content is stored in a RAM (not shown). To do.

  When the vehicle input device 1 is not set to accept voice input as a result of the determination of SA1 (SA1, No), the input control unit 64 receives manual input from the user to the hard switch 40 and the touch panel 50. It waits until there is (SA2, No), and when there is a manual input from the user (SA2, Yes), it is determined whether a restriction condition for restricting acceptance of the manual input is satisfied (SA3). For example, when it is a “restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input” that the vehicle is traveling, the input control unit 64 determines that the vehicle speed specified based on an input from a vehicle speed sensor (not shown) is a constant speed (for example, 5 km / h) or more, it is determined that the vehicle is running and that “restriction conditions for restricting acceptance of manual input” are satisfied.

  As a result, when the restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is satisfied (SA3, Yes), the input control unit 64 needs to restrict acceptance of manual input by the manual input unit 61. The unit 61 returns to SA2 without accepting manual input.

  On the other hand, when the restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is not satisfied (SA3, No), the input control unit 64 does not need to restrict acceptance of manual input by the manual input unit 61, and the manual input unit A manual input is received by 61 (SA4). Thereafter, the control unit 60 ends the input process.

  If the vehicle input device 1 is set to accept voice input as a result of the determination of SA1 (SA1, Yes), the user specifying unit 63 detects the utterance by the user based on the input from the microphone 30. If the user utters (SA5, Yes), the user is identified based on the location where the voice is uttered (SA6). For example, the user specifying unit 63 compares the sound pressures input to the plurality of directional microphones 30 having directivity in different directions, and the sound is generated from a place in the directional direction of the directional microphone 30 having the highest sound pressure. Identified as And the user specific | specification part 63 specifies that a user is a driver, for example, when the speech utterance place which the said user specific | specification part 63 specified is a driver's seat, and the sound utterance place is other than a driver's seat. In this case, the user is identified as a passenger other than the driver. Note that the content of the utterance to be detected in SA5 is arbitrary. For example, a voice (for example, a voice with “voice input”) for instructing the vehicle input device 1 to accept input in an interactive format is passed through the microphone 30. The user specifying unit 63 determines whether or not it has been input.

  Subsequently, the input control unit 64 determines whether the user specified by the user specifying unit 63 in SA6 is a vehicle driver (SA7). As a result, when the user specified by the user specifying unit 63 in SA6 is not the driver of the vehicle (SA7, No), the input control unit 64 performs manual input based on a restriction condition that restricts acceptance of manual input. The restriction is released (SA8). That is, since the user who performs the input is considered to be a passenger other than the driver, the input control unit 64 is in a case where a restriction condition for limiting acceptance of manual input is satisfied (for example, when the vehicle is traveling). ), It is also possible to accept manual input by the manual input unit 61 in addition to reception of voice input by the voice input unit 62. In this case, the input control unit 64 causes the RAM to store a setting content indicating that the manual input restriction is released based on a restriction condition that restricts acceptance of manual input, for example.

  Next, the input control unit 64 determines whether or not the number of questions to be output via the speaker 10 is greater than or equal to a predetermined number when receiving an input in an interactive format (SA9). Here, the “question to be output via the speaker 10” is a question to be output from the speaker 10 in order to request an affirmative or negative answer (for example, a question such as “Do you want to end route guidance?”) In addition to a question to be output from the speaker 10 in order to request some answer (for example, a question such as “Where is the destination?”), The input control unit 64 causes the speaker 10 to output a plurality of options. A plurality of options for causing the user to select a desired option from the output options (for example, a plurality of functions that can be selected by the user, such as “return to home”, “destination search”, etc.) are also included. To do. The “number of questions to be output via the speaker 10” is, for example, the number of questions that the input control unit 64 outputs from the speaker 10 in order to request an answer from the user, as well as the input control unit 64. Includes a number of options for causing a user to select a desired option from the output options. The “predetermined number” means, for example, the number of items (for example, three items) to the extent that the user can listen to questions output from the speaker 10 continuously.

  As a result of the determination in SA9, when the number of questions to be output via the speaker 10 is greater than or equal to a predetermined number (SA9, Yes), the input control unit 64 causes the question to be displayed and output via the display 20 (SA10). ). 4 to 6 are diagrams illustrating the display 20 that displays and outputs a question. 4 to 6 show a case where a plurality of functions that can be selected by the user (for example, “return to home”, “destination search”, etc.) are displayed on the display 20.

  Returning to FIG. 2, the input control unit 64 causes the question to be output by voice through the speaker 10 (SA11). For example, in the example of FIGS. 4 to 6, the input control unit 64 reads a plurality of functions (for example, “return to home”, “search for destination”, etc.) that can be selected by the user via the speaker 10.

  In SA7, when the user specified by the user specifying unit 63 in SA6 is a vehicle driver (SA7, Yes), the input control unit 64 is set so that the driver does not need to look at the display 20. Causes the question to be voice output via the speaker 10 without displaying the question via the display 20 (SA11).

  In SA9, when the number of questions to be output via the speaker 10 is not equal to or greater than the predetermined number (less than the predetermined number) (SA9, No), the input control unit 64 determines the question output from the speaker 10. Can be heard by the user, and the input control unit 64 outputs the question via the speaker 10 without outputting the question via the display 20 (SA11).

  After the processing of SA11, the process proceeds to FIG. 3, and the input control unit 64 determines whether or not sound is input to the microphone 30 (SA12).

  As a result, when no sound is input to the microphone 30 (SA12, No), the input control unit 64 determines whether there is a manual input from the user to the hard switch 40 or the touch panel 50 (SA13). .

  As a result, when there is no manual input from the user to the hard switch 40 or the touch panel 50 (SA13, No), the process returns to SA12, and the input control unit 64 determines again whether or not sound is input to the microphone 30. (SA12).

  On the other hand, when there is a manual input from the user to the hard switch 40 or the touch panel 50 (SA13, Yes), the input control unit 64 determines whether or not a restriction condition for limiting acceptance of the manual input is satisfied. Determine (SA14).

  As a result, when the restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is not satisfied (SA14, No), the input control unit 64 does not need to restrict acceptance of manual input by the manual input unit 61. The unit 61 accepts manual input (SA15). FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a manual input acceptance state when a restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is not satisfied. That is, when the restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is not satisfied, for example, when the vehicle is stopped, as shown in FIG. 4, the input control unit 64 determines whether or not the user is a driver. Regardless, the manual input unit 61 accepts manual input from any user.

  Returning to FIG. 3, when the restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is satisfied (SA14, Yes), the input control unit 64 restricts the input control unit 64 from restricting acceptance of manual input in the process of SA8. It is determined whether or not the manual input restriction based on the condition is released (SA16). For example, the input control unit 64 refers to the RAM, and when the setting content indicating that the manual input restriction based on the restriction condition for restricting the acceptance of the manual input is stored in the RAM, the input control unit 64 is manually operated. It is determined that the manual input restriction based on the restriction condition for restricting the input acceptance is released.

  As a result, when the input control unit 64 cancels the manual input restriction based on the restriction condition that restricts the acceptance of manual input (SA16, Yes), even if the restriction condition is satisfied, the voice input is performed. Since it is possible to accept manual input by the manual input unit 61 in addition to reception of voice input by the unit 62, the input control unit 64 causes the manual input unit 61 to accept manual input (SA15). FIG. 5 exemplifies an input reception status when the restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is satisfied and the restriction on manual input is released. That is, when the user specified by the user specifying unit 63 in SA6 of FIG. 2 is a passenger other than the vehicle driver, the manual input restriction is canceled by the input control unit 64 in SA8. For example, even when the vehicle is running, the input control unit 64 causes the manual input unit 61 to accept manual input from the user as shown in FIG.

  Returning to FIG. 3, when the input control unit 64 has not released the manual input restriction based on the restriction condition that restricts the acceptance of manual input (SA16, No), the input control unit 64 uses the manual input unit 61 to perform manual input. Therefore, it is necessary to limit the reception of the sound, and the process returns to SA12 without allowing the manual input unit 61 to accept the manual input, and it is determined again whether or not sound is input to the microphone 30 (SA12). FIG. 6 illustrates an input reception status when the restriction condition for restricting the acceptance of manual input is satisfied and the restriction for manual input is not released. That is, when the user specified by the user specifying unit 63 in SA6 of FIG. 2 is a driver of the vehicle, the manual input restriction is not released by the input control unit 64 in SA8. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, the input control unit 64 does not allow the manual input unit 61 to accept manual input from the user.

  Returning to FIG. 3, in SA12, when voice is input to the microphone 30 (SA12, Yes), the input control unit 64 recognizes the voice of the user by the voice input unit 62 and accepts voice input (SA15). . That is, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, whether or not the user is a driver or whether or not a restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is satisfied (for example, whether or not the vehicle is running). First, the input control unit 64 recognizes the voice of the user by the voice input unit 62 and accepts the voice input. The voice input unit 62 recognizes the user's voice using a known voice recognition technique.

  After the process of SA15, the control unit 60 ends the input process. It should be noted that an input of an answer to a question displayed and output via the display 20 at SA10 or a question output via the speaker 10 at SA11 is accepted via the manual input unit 61 or the voice input unit 62 at SA15. In such a case, the input control unit 64 outputs information (for example, information on the selected function) corresponding to the accepted answer via the speaker 10 or the display 20.

(effect)
As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the user specified by the user specifying unit 63 is not a driver of the vehicle, the input control unit 64 satisfies a restriction condition for limiting acceptance of manual input. Even if the voice input is performed, manual input by the manual input unit 61 in addition to reception of the voice input by the voice input unit 62 is possible. Both can be received and the operability at the time of input can be improved.

  In particular, since the user specifying unit 63 specifies the user based on the place where the voice is uttered, it is possible to reliably specify the position of the user who intends to input using the vehicle input device 1.

  Further, when the user specified by the user specifying unit 63 is not a vehicle driver, the input control unit 64 displays the question on the display 20 when the number of questions to be output is a predetermined number or more. For example, when a passenger who is unrelated to the driving operation is a user, by displaying a predetermined number of questions on the display 20, the contents can be immediately grasped by the user. The operability at the time can be further improved.

[Modifications to Embodiment]
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the specific configuration and means of the present invention can be arbitrarily modified and improved within the scope of the technical idea of each invention described in the claims. Can do. Hereinafter, such a modification will be described.

(About problems to be solved and effects of the invention)
First, the problems to be solved by the invention and the effects of the invention are not limited to the above contents, and may vary depending on the implementation environment and details of the configuration of the invention. May be solved, or only some of the effects described above may be achieved.

(About User Identification Department)
In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the user specifying unit 63 specifies the user based on the place where the voice is uttered, but the user is specified by another method or a combination of other methods. May be. For example, the user specifying unit 63 may specify the user by combining the direction in which the voice is uttered and the output from the seating sensor (not shown) installed in each seat of the vehicle. In this case, for example, if there is an utterance from a direction other than the driver's seat and it is specified that there is a passenger in the passenger seat based on the output from the seating sensor, the user is specified as a passenger in the passenger seat To do. On the other hand, when there is an utterance from a direction other than the driver's seat and it is specified that there is no passenger in the passenger seat based on the output from the seating sensor, the user is specified as a passenger in the rear seat. When the user is identified as a passenger in the rear seat, the input control unit 64 may not allow the manual input unit 61 to accept manual input from the user.

(About input processing)
In addition to the processes in the input process described in the above embodiment, the input control unit 64 specifies the input direction of manual input based on a camera or proximity sensor (not shown) provided in the vicinity of the touch panel 50. It may be. In this case, for example, when the vehicle is traveling, when the restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is satisfied, the input control unit 64 causes the manual input unit 61 to perform only manual input from the passenger seat side. You may make it accept.

  In the above-described embodiment, when the number of questions to be output via the speaker 10 is equal to or greater than the predetermined number (SA9, Yes), the input control unit 64 displays and outputs the question via the display 20. As described above, a screen for manual input may be displayed on the display 20. For example, a scroll bar for moving the screen displayed on the display 20 based on an input via the touch panel 50 may be displayed on the display 20.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input device for vehicles 10 Speaker 20 Display 30 Microphone 40 Hard switch 50 Touch panel 60 Control part 61 Manual input part 62 Voice input part 63 User specific part 64 Input control part 70 Data recording part

Claims (5)

Manual input means for accepting manual input from the user;
Voice input means for recognizing the user's voice and receiving voice input;
A user specifying means for specifying the user;
An input control means for restricting acceptance of manual input by the manual input means when a restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is satisfied,
When the user specified by the user specifying means is not a driver of the vehicle, the input control means is configured to input voice by the voice input means even when the restriction condition is satisfied. In addition to accepting, it is also possible to accept manual input by the manual input means,
Vehicle input device. The user specifying means specifies the user based on a place where the voice is uttered;
The vehicle input device according to claim 1. Voice output means for outputting information by voice;
Display output means for outputting information in a display,
The input control means causes a question to be output via the voice output means, and when an input of an answer to the question is accepted via the voice input means, information corresponding to the accepted answer is output as the voice When the number of items of the question to be output is a predetermined number or more when the user specified by the user specifying means is not a vehicle driver, Outputting a question via the display output means;
The input device for vehicles according to claim 1 or 2. A manual input step for accepting manual input from the user;
A voice input step for recognizing the user's voice and receiving voice input;
A user identification step for identifying the user;
An input control step for restricting acceptance of manual input in the manual input step when a restriction condition for restricting acceptance of manual input is satisfied, and
In the input control step, when the user specified in the user specifying step is not a vehicle driver, the voice input in the voice input step is performed even when the restriction condition is satisfied. In addition to accepting, it is also possible to accept manual input in the manual input step,
Input method for vehicles.   The vehicle input program which makes a computer perform the method of Claim 4.

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