JP2016131009A - Display control device, projection device, display control method, display control program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display control device that prevents a troublesome change in display, such as sudden deletion of details of the display and contributes to improvement of safety in driving.SOLUTION: A display control device 100 comprises an input part 121 that receives a result of recognition performed by a recognition device 110 recognizing a change in environment on the periphery of a vehicle, and a control part 122 that controls an image creation device 130 to create a first predetermined image showing a first presentation image when displayed on a display medium 140. The control part 122 uses, on the basis of a result of recognition, the image creation device 130 to switch the first presentation image to a second presentation image having a lower image sharpness than that of the first presentation image on the display medium 140 so that the image sharpness is gradually reduced over a predetermined time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a display control device, a projection device, a display control method, a display control program, and a recording medium.

  In recent years, since various types of information are displayed on a display mounted on a vehicle, a driver may watch the display for a long time while the vehicle is traveling. For this reason, there is a possibility that confirmation of the situation in front of the vehicle by the driver may be delayed or impossible due to a long gaze by the driver. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle display device for reducing such a possibility.

  The vehicle display device disclosed in Patent Document 1 erases the display content of the display when the distance between the host vehicle and the front vehicle or the obstacle becomes narrow, and the display is placed in the instrument panel. Store and block the display surface of the display. Thereby, the driver's attention to the front of the vehicle can be alerted.

JP 2002-264692 A

  However, in the vehicle display device described in Patent Document 1 described above, the display content of the display is suddenly erased, so that the driver who is viewing the front scenery of the vehicle is concerned about the display change and is troublesome. was there.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a display control device, a projection device, a display control method, a display control program, and a recording medium that do not cause troublesome display changes that cause display contents to be suddenly erased and contribute to improvement of safe driving. It is.

  A display control device according to an aspect of the present invention includes an input unit that receives a recognition result from a recognition device that recognizes environmental changes around a vehicle, and a first predetermined image that represents a first presentation image when displayed on a display medium. A control unit that controls the image generation device so as to generate an image, and the control unit uses the image generation device based on the recognition result, from the first presentation image on the display medium. A configuration is adopted in which the second presentation image having a lower image sharpness than the first presentation image is switched so that the image sharpness gradually decreases over a predetermined time.

  A projection device according to an aspect of the present invention includes an image generation device that generates a predetermined image and outputs the predetermined image to a display medium, an input unit that receives a recognition result from a recognition device that recognizes environmental changes around the vehicle, A control unit that controls the image generation device to generate a first predetermined image representing a first presentation image when displayed on the display medium, the control unit based on the recognition result Using the image generating device, the image sharpness gradually increases over a predetermined time from the first presentation image to the second presentation image having a lower image sharpness than the first presentation image on the display medium. A configuration of switching so as to be lowered is adopted.

  A display control method according to an aspect of the present invention includes a step of controlling an image generation device to generate a first predetermined image representing a first presentation image when displayed on a display medium, and an environment around the vehicle Receiving a recognition result from a recognition device for recognizing a change, and using the image generation device based on the recognition result, the image sharpness from the first presentation image to the first presentation image on the display medium. And a step of switching to a low second presentation image so that the image sharpness gradually decreases over a predetermined time.

  A display control program according to one aspect of the present invention includes a process for controlling an image generation device to generate a first predetermined image representing a first presentation image when displayed on a display medium, and an environment around the vehicle Processing for receiving a recognition result from a recognition device for recognizing change, and based on the recognition result, using the image generation device, the image sharpness from the first presentation image to the first presentation image on the display medium And causing the computer to execute a process of switching to a second presentation image with a low image quality so that the image sharpness gradually decreases over a predetermined time.

  A recording medium according to an aspect of the present invention records a display control program that is executed in a display control device in a display system that includes a recognition device that recognizes environmental changes around a vehicle and an image generation device that generates a predetermined image. A computer-readable non-transitory recording medium, wherein an image is generated so as to generate a first predetermined image representing a first presentation image when displayed on the display medium to a computer of the display control device. A process for controlling the generation apparatus, a process for receiving a recognition result from the recognition apparatus, and the first presentation image from the first presentation image on the display medium using the image generation apparatus based on the recognition result. A display control program that executes a process of switching to a second presentation image having a lower image sharpness than the image so that the image sharpness gradually decreases over a predetermined time. Take the recorded configuration the ram.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to contribute to the improvement of safe driving without causing a troublesome display change that the display content is suddenly erased.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the driving assistance system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the flow of the determination process of the control part shown in FIG. The figure which shows an example of the change of TTC with time passage The figure which shows a mode that a pattern image is smoothed The figure which shows a mode that the example of the image displayed on a display medium is smoothed The flowchart which shows the flow of the sharpness fall process of the display control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the principle of alpha blend which generates the transition picture The flowchart which shows the flow of the sharpness recovery process of the display control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the driving | running system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. Illustration for explaining information display elements The flowchart which shows the flow of the sharpness restoration process of the display control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. The figure which shows the mode of the sharpness fall process and sharpness recovery process in Embodiment 2 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the driving system which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. Diagram showing the coordinate system based on the driver's head position Figure showing an example of a gaze point Diagram showing position coordinates for each partial area Diagram showing the distance between the point of interest and the position coordinates for each partial area The flowchart which shows the flow of the sharpness fall process of the display control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. The figure which shows the mode of the sharpness fall process in Embodiment 3 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the driving assistance system which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the display position of a some display medium The flowchart which shows the flow of the sharpness fall process of the display control apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention. The figure which shows the mode of the sharpness fall process in Embodiment 4 of this invention. Diagram for explaining the distance in the depth direction The figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the computer which implement | achieves the function of each part by a program

  In general, a region with high visual acuity in the human visual field is called a central visual field, and is said to be a range of about 1 degree around the point of sight. The area outside the central visual field is called the peripheral visual field, and the visual acuity decreases as the distance from the gazing point increases, and the visual acuity decreases to about 20% of the central visual acuity at an eccentric angle of 10 degrees. Study on cognitive ability "Kengo Sato, Kazuhiko Yamamoto, Kunito Kato: ITE Technical Report Col.33, N0.34, 2009). Based on such visual characteristics, the change in display is possible only when the person is gazing at the display by changing the display so that it can be recognized in the human central visual field but not in the peripheral visual field. Can be recognized.

  The present inventor has arrived at the present invention by paying attention to the above-mentioned visual characteristics. That is, the gist of the present invention is to make the driver gaze at the front of the vehicle by reducing the visibility of the image displayed on the display in a manner that is not noticed unless the image is watched.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, in the embodiment, components having the same function are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a driving support system 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the driving support system 100 will be described as applied to a vehicle.

  The driving support system 100 includes a recognition device 110, a display control device 120, an image generation device 130, and a display medium 140. In addition, the display control device 120 includes an input unit 121 and a control unit 122.

  The driving support system 100 includes a detection device (not shown). The detection device is, for example, a sensing camera or a radar that is mounted inside or outside the vehicle. When the detection device is a sensing camera, the sensing camera captures the foreground of the vehicle. When the detection device is a radar, the radar senses the surrounding environment of the vehicle. The detection device outputs information such as a foreground image or a sensing result to the recognition device 110.

  The recognizing device 110 recognizes a change in the environment around the vehicle on which the driving support system 100 is mounted every predetermined time. Specifically, the recognition device 110 recognizes a predetermined object that appears around the vehicle (for example, in front of the vehicle) based on information output from the detection device. The target object is, for example, a moving body (a vehicle, a person, a bicycle, a two-wheeled vehicle, etc.), a road structure (a white line on a road, a sign, a road marking, a curb, a guardrail, a traffic light, a power pole, a building, etc.). When the detection unit is a sensing camera, the recognition device 110 performs pattern matching on peripheral information (for example, foreground image) and recognizes an object. When the detection device is a radar, the recognition device 110 extracts and recognizes an object by a recognition method using clustering or the like. The recognition device 110 outputs the recognition result to the input unit 121. The recognition result is information related to the moving body and road structure described above, and includes the distance, relative speed, relative angle, and the like between the host vehicle and the moving body or road structure. In addition, since the object recognition technique in the recognition apparatus 110 is a well-known technique, the detailed description is abbreviate | omitted here.

  Note that the recognition device 110 may recognize, for example, weather, illuminance, and the like as changes in the environment around the vehicle, in addition to the object.

  The input unit 121 receives the recognition result output from the recognition device 110 and outputs it to the control unit 122.

  Based on the recognition result output from the input unit 121, the control unit 122 determines whether the driver needs to gaze ahead of the vehicle. The necessity of the driver's attention to the front of the vehicle is determined based on, for example, the risk of collision between an object including another vehicle existing in front of the vehicle and the host vehicle. Details of the determination method in the control unit 122 will be described later.

  When the display control device 120 is activated, for example, after the engine is turned on, the control unit 122 normally displays an image to be displayed on the display medium 140 until it is determined that the driver needs to gaze at the front of the vehicle. The image generation device 130 is controlled so that (hereinafter referred to as “normal image”) is displayed on the display medium 140. When it is determined that the driver needs to watch the front of the vehicle, the control unit 122 sets the target sharpness of the image displayed on the display medium 140 to be lower than the initial sharpness of the normal image, and sets the target sharpness that has been set. The image generation device 130 is controlled to reach the degree. The target sharpness is set according to a method for reducing the sharpness. For example, when the sharpness is lowered by smoothing the image by image processing, the filter size of a smoothing filter (described later) used for smoothing the image may be used as the target sharpness. On the other hand, when it is determined that the driver does not need to gaze at the front of the vehicle, the control unit 122 sets the target sharpness of the image displayed on the display medium 140 to the initial sharpness of the normal image, and sets the target The image generation device 130 is controlled to reach the sharpness.

  The sharpness may be rephrased as a degree of blur (blurring). That is, when the control unit 122 determines that the driver needs to gaze ahead of the vehicle, the control unit 122 sets the degree of target blur of the image displayed on the display medium 140 to be higher than the initial degree of blur of the normal image. Then, the image generation device 130 is controlled so as to reach the set degree of target blur. On the other hand, when the control unit 122 determines that the driver does not need to gaze at the front of the vehicle, the control unit 122 sets the degree of target blur of the image displayed on the display medium 140 to the initial degree of blur of the normal image, The image generating apparatus 130 is controlled so as to reach the set degree of target blur.

  The image generation device 130 sequentially generates transition images in which the sharpness is gradually changed so as to reach the target sharpness set by the control unit 122, and outputs the generated transition image to the display medium 140.

  The display medium 140 is used in a vehicle and displays a transition image generated by the image generation device 130. Examples of the display medium 140 include a head up display (HUD), an electronic room mirror display, an electronic side mirror display, a meter display, a center display, an HMD (Head-Mounted Display or Helmet-Mounted Display), and a glasses type. Display (Smart Glasses) and other dedicated displays.

  Further, the HUD may be, for example, a windshield of a vehicle, a glass surface provided separately, a plastic surface (for example, a combiner), or the like. The windshield may be, for example, a windshield, a vehicle side glass, or a rear glass. In either case, the image is displayed on the display medium 140.

  Further, the HUD may be a transmissive display provided on the surface of the windshield or in the passenger compartment. The transmissive display is, for example, a transmissive organic EL display or a transparent display using glass that emits light when irradiated with light of a specific wavelength. The driver can view the display on the transmissive display at the same time as viewing the background.

  In the present embodiment, the display control device 120 may include the image generation device 130 and be configured as a projection device. Further, the projection apparatus may include a display medium 140.

  Next, the determination process in the control unit 122 described above will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of determination processing of the control unit 122. This flow is performed at a predetermined time interval such as 10 msec or 100 msec, for example, and is repeatedly performed while the vehicle engine is ON, for example.

  The input unit 121 receives a recognition result of objects around the vehicle (step S201), and the control unit 122 has another vehicle (hereinafter referred to as a “front vehicle”) ahead of the host vehicle based on the recognition result. It is determined whether or not to perform (step S202). When the vehicle ahead is present (step S202: YES), the control unit 122 calculates a collision time (TTC: Time To Collision) until the vehicle collides with the vehicle ahead (step S203). TTC is calculated as D / ΔV [seconds] using the relative distance D [m] of the preceding vehicle to the host vehicle and the relative speed ΔV [m / sec] of the preceding vehicle to the host vehicle. On the other hand, when there is no preceding vehicle (step S202: NO), the control unit 122 ends the determination process.

  The control unit 122 determines whether or not the TTC is equal to or less than T_th which is a threshold for determining the collision risk (step S204). If TTC is equal to or less than the threshold T_th (step S204: YES), it is determined that there is a collision risk, and the process proceeds to step S205. On the other hand, when TTC exceeds the threshold value T_th (step S204: NO), it is determined that there is no collision risk, and the process proceeds to step S207.

  If it is determined in step S204 that the TTC is equal to or less than the threshold T_th (step S204: YES), the control unit 122 also determines whether the TTC one point before (hereinafter referred to as “TTC_t−1”) is equal to or less than the threshold T_th. It is determined whether or not (step S205).

  In step S205, if TTC_t-1 one point before exceeds T_th (step S205: NO), there is no collision risk before one point, and the collision risk occurs for the first time at this point. Determines that the driver needs to gaze at the front of the vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as “the driver needs to gaze ahead of the vehicle”) (step S206), and ends the determination process.

  In step S205, when TTC_t-1 before one time point is equal to or less than T_th (step S205: YES), there is a collision risk both at one time point and at the current time point. In this case, since there is no change in the necessity of the driver's gaze ahead of the vehicle, the control unit 122 ends the determination process.

  On the other hand, when the TTC exceeds the threshold T_th in step S204 (step S204: NO), the control unit 122 determines whether TTC_t−1 one point before is also equal to or lower than the threshold T_th (step S207). .

  In step S207, when TTC_t-1 one point before is less than or equal to the threshold value T_th (step S207: YES), there is a collision risk before one point, and the collision risk disappears at the present time. For this reason, the control unit 122 determines that the driver does not need to gaze at the front of the vehicle (hereinafter also referred to as “the driver does not need to gaze at the front of the vehicle”) (step S208), and the determination process Exit.

  In step S207, when TTC_t-1 one time before exceeds T_th (step S207: NO), there is no collision risk both before and one time, and in this case, the determination process ends. Note that the threshold T_th in step S204, step S205, and step S207 may be a value such as 4 seconds or 5 seconds, for example.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a change in TTC over time. In FIG. 3, the vertical axis represents TTC, and the horizontal axis represents time. The line graph shown in FIG. 3 is obtained by plotting TTC calculated each time the flow of FIG. 2 is performed at a predetermined time interval and connecting them with a line.

  FIG. 3 shows that TTC falls below the threshold T_th from time a to time b, and TTC exceeded the threshold T_th from time c to time d.

  For example, when the determination process of FIG. 2 is performed at time b, YES is determined in step S204, and NO is determined in step S205. As a result, it is determined that the driver needs to watch the vehicle forward.

  Further, for example, when the determination process of FIG. 2 is performed at time d, NO is determined in step S204, and YES is determined in step S207. As a result, it is determined that there is no need for the driver to watch the vehicle forward.

  When the control unit 122 determines that there is a need to gaze ahead of the vehicle, the target sharpness of the image displayed on the display medium 140 is set lower than the initial sharpness of the normal image, and the set target sharpness is set. The image generation device 130 is controlled so as to reach. On the other hand, if it is determined that there is no need to gaze ahead of the vehicle, the control unit 122 sets the target sharpness of the image displayed on the display medium 140 to the initial sharpness of the normal image, and sets the target sharpness thus set. The image generation device 130 is controlled to reach the degree.

  Here, a method for reducing the sharpness of an image will be described. There are various methods for reducing the sharpness of an image, such as applying a low-pass filter to the image and smoothing the image. In this embodiment, a method for smoothing an image will be described as an example. To do.

  The image generation device 130 reduces the sharpness of the image using a smoothing filter that smoothes the image. For example, the image generation device 130 obtains an average value of pixel values in a specific area such as 3 × 3 pixels and 5 × 5 pixels with the target pixel as the center, and sets the obtained average value as the pixel value of the target pixel. Set. As a result, the image generation device 130 can generate an image that looks blurred as if it is out of focus. In the smoothing filter, the image generation apparatus 130 can set the degree of smoothing more strongly by increasing the smoothing range (3 pixels or 5 pixels, etc., hereinafter referred to as “filter size”). it can.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing how the pattern image is smoothed, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing how the example of the image displayed on the display medium 140 is smoothed. FIG. 4A is an original image of a pattern image, and FIG. 4B shows an image with a relatively high sharpness (relative degree of blur) obtained by applying a weak smoothing process to the original image of FIG. 4A. FIG. 4C shows an image with low sharpness (high degree of blur) obtained by subjecting the original image of FIG. 4A to strong smoothing processing. 5A is an original image of an example of an image displayed on the display medium 140, and FIG. 5B is a relatively high sharpness (blurred image) obtained by performing weak smoothing processing on the original image of FIG. 5A. FIG. 5C shows an image with low sharpness (high degree of blur) obtained by applying a strong smoothing process to the original image of FIG. 5A.

  Note that FIG. 4C may be obtained by performing a weak smoothing process on the image of FIG. 4B. The same applies to FIG. 5C.

  Next, the sharpness reduction process performed by the display control device 120 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of sharpness reduction processing of the display control apparatus 120 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. When it is determined that the driver needs to gaze ahead of the vehicle, the control unit 122 performs a sharpness reduction process described below.

  The control unit 122 designates the filter size in the smoothing filter as the target sharpness when reducing the sharpness of the image (step S301). For example, values such as 3 pixels, 5 pixels, and 11 pixels are set.

  The control unit 122 uses, for example, 1 second and 1.5 seconds as a transition time T_transition, which is a time required to transition the image from the image currently displayed on the display medium 140 to an image with a target sharpness. A value such as 2 seconds is set (step S302).

  The image generation device 130 receives the display image displayed on the display medium 140 as an original image when there is no need for the driver to gaze ahead of the vehicle (step S303), and smoothes it to the set target sharpness. A target image is generated (step S304).

  The image generation device 130 generates a transition image so as to transition from the original image to the target image (step S305). In order to generate the transition image, for example, a technique such as α blend that combines the original image and the target image at a predetermined ratio may be used. Details of the transition image generation will be described later.

  The image generation device 130 outputs the generated transition image to the display medium 140 (step S306), and determines whether or not the transition time T_transition set after the generation of the transition image has started (step S307). If the transition time T_transition has not elapsed (step S307: NO), the process returns to step S305. If the transition time T_transition has elapsed (step S307: YES), the sharpness reduction process is terminated.

  Details of the transition image generation will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 7, the horizontal axis represents time, and the vertical axis represents the ratio of the original image and the target image to the transition image generated by α blending. The solid lines L1, L3, and L5 are the ratio a that the target image occupies with respect to the generated transition image, and the two-dot chain lines L2, L4, and L6 are the ratio b that the original image occupies with respect to the generated transition image. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 7, at time 0 second, the ratio b occupied by the original image to the generated transition image is 1.0, and the ratio a occupied by the target image is 0. In contrast, when the transition time T_transition has elapsed, the ratio b occupied by the original image to the transition image is 0, and the ratio a occupied by the target image is 1.0. From time 0 to T_transition, the ratio b occupied by the original image decreases from 1.0 to 0, and the ratio a occupied by the target image increases from 0 to 1.0. At any time, the ratio a + ratio b (the ratio a indicated by the solid line L1 + the ratio b indicated by the solid line L2 or the ratio a + indicated by the solid line L3 + the ratio b indicated by the solid line L4 or the ratio a + solid line indicated by the solid line L5) The ratio b) indicated by L6 is 1.0. In FIG. 7, the ratio b occupied by the original image in the transition image and the ratio a occupied by the target image are linearly increased or decreased, but there is a transition image that is not perceived by the driver watching the front of the vehicle. As long as it is generated, the increase / decrease of the ratio may not be linear.

  As described above, the image generation device 130 generates a transition image by changing the ratio of blending the original image and the target image. For example, when the ratio of the original image to the transition image at a certain time is b_t and the ratio of the target image is a_t, the pixel value at the coordinates (x, y) of the transition image is the original image (x, y) × b_t + target image (x, y) × a_t.

  Next, the sharpness recovery process performed by the display control device 120 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of sharpness recovery processing of the display control device 120 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. When it is determined that the driver does not need to gaze ahead of the vehicle, the control unit 122 performs a sharpness recovery process described below.

  The control unit 122 uses, for example, 1 second as a transition time T_transition for recovering the sharpness from the image whose sharpness is currently displayed on the display medium 140 to the original image before the sharpness is reduced. Values such as 1.5 seconds and 2 seconds are set (step S401). This value is set to such a value that the driver does not perceive a change in display when the sharpness is restored.

  The image generating apparatus 130 receives display image data currently displayed on the display medium 140 (step S402), and also receives original image data before reducing the sharpness (step S403).

  The image generation device 130 generates a transition image so as to transition from the current display image to the original image (step S404), and outputs the generated transition image to the display medium 140 (step S405). In order to generate the transition image, for example, a technique such as α blend that combines the current display image and the original image at a predetermined ratio may be used.

  The image generation apparatus 130 determines whether or not the transition time T_transition set after the generation of the transition image has started (step S406). If the transition time T_transition has not elapsed (step S406: NO), the process returns to step S404, and if the transition time T_transition has elapsed (step S406: YES), the sharpness recovery processing ends.

  As described above, in the driving support system 100 according to the first embodiment, when the driver needs to gaze ahead of the vehicle, the sharpness of the image displayed on the display medium 140 is reduced. Thereby, the driver who is gazing at the image displayed on the display medium 140 perceives the change of the image and gazing at the front of the vehicle. On the other hand, a driver who is gazing at the front of the vehicle and watching an image displayed on the display medium 140 in peripheral vision perceives a change in the image on the display medium 140 that decreases or recovers sharpness over a predetermined transition time. Without paying attention to the display medium 140. As a result, it is possible to prevent the driver from paying attention to the display unnecessarily and to contribute to the improvement of safe driving without causing a troublesome display change that the display content is suddenly erased.

  In the present embodiment, TTC is used when determining the necessity of gaze the driver ahead of the vehicle. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and based on the inter-vehicle distance D [m] When the distance falls below a predetermined threshold, it may be determined that the driver needs to watch the vehicle ahead. Further, after determining the necessity of gaze ahead of the vehicle of the driver based on the TTC or the inter-vehicle distance D, the amount of change (ΔTTC, ΔD) per unit time of the TTC or the inter-vehicle distance D is calculated, When the amount of change is large, it may be determined that the situation is more dangerous, and the transition time T_transition may be set shorter than a preset time.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an operation system 600 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 9 differs from FIG. 1 in that a display element information acquisition unit 601 is added, the display control device 120 is changed to the display control device 620, and the input unit 121 and the control unit 122 are changed to the input unit 621 and the control unit 622. This is the point.

  The display element information acquisition unit 601 acquires information about each display element constituting the display image displayed on the display medium 140 (hereinafter referred to as “display element information”), and outputs the acquired display element information to the input unit 621. To do. FIG. 10 shows a display image, examples of display elements 701 to 704 constituting the display image, and an example of information acquired by the display element information acquisition unit 601.

  The display element information acquisition unit 601 acquires information types (guidance system information, driving support system information, convenience system information), information on display methods (icons, characters), and the like as information about the display elements 701 to 704.

  The input unit 621 receives the display element information from the display element information acquisition unit 601 and outputs the display element information to the control unit 622.

  The control unit 622 sets the target sharpness and the transition time based on the information of each display element included in the display element information. The guidance system information is information indicating, for example, road guidance and the name of the current location. The driving support system information is, for example, information that the driver needs to check regularly for safe driving, such as traffic information (congestion information or accident information), accident-prone intersection information, or a relatively short period of time. It is information that needs to be handled at home. The convenience system information is information such as the current time, the distance to the destination, and the time required to reach the destination.

  When the control unit 622 determines that the driver needs to gaze ahead of the vehicle, the control unit 622 sets the target sharpness of the image displayed on the display medium 140 to a low value and reaches the set target sharpness. The generation device 130 is controlled. On the other hand, when it is determined that there is no need for the driver to watch the vehicle forward, the control unit 622 sets the target sharpness of the image displayed on the display medium 140 to be high and reaches the set target sharpness. The image generation device 130 is controlled. Further, the control unit 622 changes the transition time in the sharpness recovery process according to the information type output from the display element information acquisition unit 601.

  In the present embodiment, a projection device including at least the display control device 620 and the image generation device 130 may be configured. Further, the projection device may include a display medium 140.

  Next, the sharpness recovery processing performed by the display control device 620 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the flow of sharpness recovery processing of the display control apparatus 620 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. However, in FIG. 11, the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

  The input unit 621 receives display element information from the display element information acquisition unit 601 (step S901). The control unit 122 sets a transition time according to the display element information received by the input unit 621 (step S902). For example, when the information type included in the display element information is driving support system information, the control unit 622 sets a short transition time. In the first embodiment, the transition time T_transition for restoring the sharpness has been described as being set to 2 seconds, 2.5 seconds, 3 seconds, or the like. For example, 1 second, 1.5 seconds, 2 seconds, etc. are set as values that are faster than the transition time of the information type and are not perceived by the driver.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a state of sharpness reduction processing and sharpness recovery processing in Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 12A shows the state of sharpness reduction processing. Since it is necessary for the driver who is gazing at the display medium 140 to promptly look at the front of the vehicle, as shown in FIG. 12A, a uniform transition time is set for all the display elements, and all the displays are displayed. The sharpness of the element decreases at the same time. On the other hand, FIG. 12B shows the sharpness recovery processing. As FIG. 12B shows, the sharpness of the driving assistance system information, which is important information, is recovered earlier than other information.

  As described above, the driving support system according to the second embodiment recovers the sharpness of display elements (driving support system information) having a high degree of importance earlier than other display elements. This avoids a situation in which, when the driver gazes at the display medium 140 in a state where there is no need to gaze at the front of the vehicle, information with high importance cannot be visually recognized because the sharpness has not recovered. be able to.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which the sharpness restoration processing is changed based on the information type of the display element has been described. However, based on the display method of the display element, the transition time of the display element that is character information is shortened. It may be set so that sharpness is restored faster.

  Also, when the sharpness reduction process is performed, if the display element information is character information, the target sharpness is set lower (intensified blurring) by setting the target sharpness lower than when the display element information is an icon. You may control so that visibility may be reduced and the effect which makes a driver | operator gaze ahead of a vehicle may be strengthened.

(Embodiment 3)
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an operation system 1100 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. 13 differs from FIG. 1 in that a gaze point estimation unit 1101 and a display position information acquisition unit 1102 are added, the display control device 120 is changed to the display control device 1120, and the input unit 121 and the control unit 122 are input units. It is a point changed into 1121 and the control part 1122.

  The gaze point estimation unit 1101 estimates a point (hereinafter, referred to as “gaze point”) that the driver should pay attention to when driving, and outputs an estimation result to the input unit 1121. In general, since the driver drives while gazing at the front of the vehicle, the vanishing point of the foreground image may be set as the gazing point. The gaze point is, for example, predetermined coordinates in a coordinate system including a horizontal angle and a vertical angle [degree] with respect to the driver's head position as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 15 shows an example of a gazing point. As the gazing point, a vanishing point calculated by a known technique such as optical flow is used. In this case, the vanishing point coordinates are indicated as (X_VP, Y_VP). Here, X_VP represents a horizontal angle, and Y_VP represents a vertical angle. In general, since the driver is driving while gazing at the front of the vehicle, the gazing point estimation unit 1101 may simplify the process by using a preset fixed value as the vanishing point coordinates. In addition, the gaze point estimation unit 1101 may use the vanishing point of the image estimated from the steering information of the host vehicle as the gaze point.

  The display position information acquisition unit 1102 divides the displayed image into a plurality of arbitrary areas (upper and lower divisions, right and left divisions, and the like). When the display position information acquisition unit 1102 divides an image, the display position information acquisition unit 1102 acquires display position information of each divided region (hereinafter referred to as “partial region”), and outputs the display position information to the input unit 1121. The display position information is, for example, predetermined coordinates in a coordinate system composed of a horizontal angle and a vertical angle [degree] with reference to the driver's head position as shown in FIG. For example, it is assumed that the display position information is stored in advance in a memory (not shown).

  FIG. 16 shows position coordinates for each partial region. In the example of FIG. 16, the HUD 1501 corresponds to the display medium 140 and is installed in front of the driver's seat. Then, when the display area of the HUD 1501 is divided vertically, the center coordinates 1502 (outlined +) of the upper partial area are set as the position coordinates of the upper partial area, and the central coordinates 1503 (+) of the lower partial area are set as the lower part. The position coordinates of the partial area are used.

  The input unit 1121 receives the estimation result from the gaze point estimation unit 1101 and receives the display position information from the display position information acquisition unit 1102. Then, the input unit 1121 outputs the estimation result and the display position information to the control unit 1122.

  The control unit 1122 calculates the distance between the gazing point coordinates indicated by the estimation result output from the gazing point estimation unit 1101 and the position coordinates indicated by the display position information of the partial area output from the display position information acquisition unit 1102. Specifically, the control unit 1122 has a distance D1 [degree] of the center coordinates 1502 (X_DPU, Y_DPU) of the upper partial region illustrated in FIG. 16 with respect to the vanishing point VP (X_VP, Y_VP) illustrated in FIG. Similarly, the distance D2 [degree] of the center coordinates 1503 (X_DPD, Y_DPD) of the lower partial region shown in FIG. 16 is calculated (see FIG. 17). The control unit 1122 sets the target sharpness of the partial region to be lower or sets the transition time to be shorter as the distance from the gazing point is longer. That is, for a display image displayed at a location close to the point of interest, the target sharpness is set to be relatively high, or the transition time is set to be relatively long.

  If the sharpness of the display image near the gazing point suddenly decreases, the driver gazing in front of the vehicle perceives a change in the display image, and the driver's attention to the front of the vehicle is obstructed. there is a possibility. Therefore, with the above settings, the display control device 1120 can suppress a sudden change in the image and prevent the driver from unnecessarily paying attention to the display image.

  In the present embodiment, a projection device including at least the display control device 1120 and the image generation device 130 may be configured. Further, the projection device may include a display medium 140.

  Next, the flow of sharpness reduction processing performed by the display control apparatus 1120 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the input unit 1121 receives a gaze point estimation result from the gaze point estimation unit 1101 (step S1301), and receives position coordinates for each partial region of the display image from the display position information acquisition unit 1102 (step S1302). Then, the input unit 1121 outputs the received gaze point estimation result and position coordinates for each partial region to the control unit 1122.

  The control unit 1122 calculates the distance between the gazing point and the position coordinates of each partial area (step S1303), and sets the target sharpness and transition time for each partial area based on the calculated distance (step S1304). .

  The image generation device 130 generates a transition image for each partial region so as to transition from the current display image to the target image (step S1305). In order to generate the transition image, for example, a technique such as α blend that combines the current display image and the target image at a predetermined ratio for each partial region may be used.

  The image generation apparatus 130 integrates the generated transition images for each partial area as a single display image (step S1306), outputs the integrated image to the display medium 140 (step S1307), and starts generating the transition image. Then, it is determined whether or not the longest transition time T_transition has elapsed among the transition times T_transition set for each partial region (step S1308). If the longest transition time T_transition has not elapsed (step S1308: NO), the process returns to step S1305. If the longest transition time T_transition has elapsed (step S1308: YES), the sharpness reduction process is terminated.

  FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a state of sharpness reduction processing according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. FIG. 19 shows an example in which the display image is divided into three partial areas, an upper part, a middle part, and a lower part (see FIG. 19A). FIG. 19B shows a display example when setting is performed such that the target sharpness decreases as the distance from the gazing point VP increases. That is, the sharpness in the upper partial area closest to the gazing point is the highest, the sharpness in the lower partial area farthest from the gazing point is the lowest, and the sharpness in the middle partial area is between these.

  As described above, in the driving support system according to the third embodiment, the displayed image is divided into a plurality of regions, and the target sharpness is lowered or transitioned as the position coordinates of the divided partial regions are farther from the gazing point. The time is set short, and the closer the position coordinate of the partial area is from the gazing point, the higher the target sharpness or the longer the transition time. Thereby, for example, when the display medium 140 with a large screen size is installed in front of the driver, the driver who is gazing at the front of the vehicle does not perceive the change of the image, and is gazing at the display medium 140. It is possible to perceive a change in the image only when the image is present. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the driver from paying attention to the display medium 140 unnecessarily, without contributing to a troublesome display change in which the display content is suddenly erased, thereby contributing to an improvement in safe driving.

(Embodiment 4)
FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a driving support system 1700 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. 20 is different from FIG. 13 in that the display medium 140 is changed to a plurality of display media 140-1 to 140-N.

  The display media 140-1 to 140-N are a plurality of in-vehicle displays such as a head-up display, a meter display, and a center display. An example of the display position of the display media 140-1 to 140-N is shown in FIG.

  The display position information acquisition unit 1102 acquires the position information of the display media 140-1 to 140 -N, and outputs the acquired position information to the input unit 1121. Each position information is assumed to be stored in advance in a memory (not shown), for example.

  The input unit 1121 receives the position information of the display media 140-1 to 140 -N, and outputs the received position information to the control unit 1122.

  The control unit 1122 determines the target sharpness and transition time of each display medium based on the position information of the display media 140-1 to 140-N. Specifically, the control unit 1122 calculates the distance between the gazing point coordinates and the position information of the display medium, as in the case where the partial area in the third embodiment is replaced with a display medium, and the distance from the gazing point is The longer the display medium, the lower the target sharpness of the displayed image, or the shorter the transition time.

  In the present embodiment, a projection device including at least the display control device 1120 and the image generation device 130 may be configured. In addition, the projection device may include display media 140-1 to 140-N.

  Next, the sharpness reduction process performed by the display control apparatus 1120 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the flow of sharpness reduction processing of the display control apparatus 1120 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. However, in FIG. 22, the same reference numerals as those in FIG.

  The input unit 1121 receives the position information of the display media 140-1 to 140-N from the display position information acquisition unit 1102 (step S1901). The position information of the display medium is information indicating the center coordinates of the screen of the head-up display, meter display, and center display, for example. The input unit 1121 outputs the received position information of each display medium to the control unit 1122.

  The control unit 1122 calculates the distance between the gazing point and each display medium using the gazing point and the position information of each display medium (step S1902), and the display media 140-1 to 140-140 based on the calculated distance. The target sharpness and transition time for each -N are set (step S1903).

  The image generation device 130 generates a transition image so as to reach the target sharpness over a predetermined transition time for each of the display media 140-1 to 140-N (step S1904), and the generated transition image is displayed on the display medium. Output to 140-1 to 140-N (step S1905).

  FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a state of sharpness reduction processing according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. FIG. 23 shows a display example when setting is performed so that the target sharpness is lower as the display is located farther from the gazing point. That is, the sharpness of the display closest to the gazing point is the highest, the sharpness of the display farthest from the gazing point is the lowest, and the sharpness of the display at an intermediate distance between these is between these.

  As described above, in the driving support system of the fourth embodiment, when the plurality of display media 140-1 to 140-N are installed in the vehicle, the target sharpness decreases as the display media is farther from the point of sight, or The transition time is set shorter, and the closer the display medium is to the point of sight, the higher the target sharpness or the longer the transition time. As a result, the driver who is gazing at the front cannot perceive the change of the image, and the driver who is gazing at the display medium 140 can be gazed at the front of the vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a driver from paying unnecessary attention to the display media 140-1 to 140-N without contributing to an improvement in safe driving without causing annoying display change such that display contents are suddenly erased. Can do.

  In the present embodiment, the distance of the display medium is calculated using a vertical and horizontal coordinate system centered on the driver's viewpoint, but the distance in the depth direction may be taken into consideration. Good. For example, as shown in FIG. 24, the gaze point estimation unit 1101 holds in advance a distance D_GP [m] in the depth direction from the driver to the gaze point GP (Gaze Point) that the driver should gaze at as a predetermined value. Keep it.

  On the other hand, the distances D_HUD1 and D_HUD2 from the driver to the position where the HUD display image appears to be displayed are acquired by the display position information acquisition unit 1102. In FIG. 24, it is assumed that the display image of HUD1 appears to be displayed 2m ahead when viewed from the driver, and the display image of HUD2 appears to be displayed 10m ahead. The control unit 1122 obtains the differences between D_GP and D_HUD1 and D_HUD2, respectively, thereby obtaining distances D1_depth [m] and D2_depth [ m] can be calculated.

As shown in FIG. 17, the control unit 1122 calculates the vertical angle and horizontal angle distances D1 and D2 of the gazing point, and then calculates the distance including the depth direction using the depth direction distances D1_depth and D2_depth. To do. D1, D2 [degrees] and D1_depth and D2_depth [m] are different in unit. For example, after normalization by dividing each by a predetermined reference value d (such as 90 °) and d_depth (such as 100 m), By adding the distances, the distance including the depth direction can be calculated. Specifically, the distance D between the gazing point and the HUD 1 can be calculated by the following equation (1).
D = D1 / d + D1_depth / d_depth (1)

  FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a computer that realizes the functions of the respective units in the above-described embodiments by a program. The computer 2100 includes an input device 2101 such as an input button and a touch pad, an output device 2102 such as a display and a speaker, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2103, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 2104, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 2105. . The computer 2100 also reads information from a recording medium such as a hard disk device, a storage device 2106 such as an SSD (Solid State Drive), a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk Read Only Memory), or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory. 2107, a transmission / reception device 2108 that performs communication via a network is provided. Each unit described above is connected by a bus 2109.

  Then, the reading device 2107 reads the program from a recording medium on which a program for realizing the functions of the above-described units is recorded, and stores the program in the storage device 2106. Alternatively, the transmission / reception device 2108 communicates with the server device connected to the network, and causes the storage device 2106 to store a program for realizing the function of each unit downloaded from the server device.

  Then, the CPU 2103 copies the program stored in the storage device 2106 to the RAM 2105, and sequentially reads out and executes the instructions included in the program from the RAM 1105, thereby realizing the functions of the above-described units. Further, when executing the program, the RAM 2105 or the storage device 2106 stores information obtained by various processes described in each embodiment, and is used as appropriate.

  In each of the above embodiments, the driving support system has been described as applied to a vehicle. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the driving support system may be applied to a moving body such as a ship or an aircraft.

  The display control device, the projection device, the display control method, the display control program, and the recording medium according to the present invention are useful for contributing to the improvement of safe driving without causing a troublesome display change in which the display content is suddenly erased. is there.

110 recognition device 120, 620, 1120 display control device 121, 621, 1121 input unit 122, 622, 1122 control unit 130 image generation device 140, 140-1 to 140-N display medium 601 display element information acquisition unit 1101 gaze point estimation Unit 1102 Display position information acquisition unit 2101 Input device 2102 Output device 2103 CPU
2104 ROM
2105 RAM
2106 Storage device 2107 Reading device 2108 Transmission / reception device 2109 Bus

Claims (15)

An input unit that receives a recognition result from a recognition device that recognizes environmental changes around the vehicle;
A control unit that controls the image generation device to generate a first predetermined image that represents the first presentation image when displayed on the display medium;
With
The controller is
Based on the recognition result, using the image generation device, the first presentation image is gradually changed over the display medium from the first presentation image to the second presentation image having a lower image sharpness than the first presentation image over a predetermined time. Switch to lower image sharpness,
Display control device. Recognition of environmental changes around the vehicle
Recognition of a predetermined object appearing in front of the vehicle,
The controller is
When the object is recognized in front of the vehicle, the image generation device is used to gradually sharpen the image from the first presentation image to the second presentation image on the display medium over a predetermined time. Switch to lower the degree,
The display control apparatus according to claim 1. The control unit sets a target sharpness of the image, and performs control to change the sharpness of the image so as to reach the target sharpness after a predetermined time has elapsed.
The display control apparatus according to claim 1. The control unit sets the target sharpness lower than the sharpness of the original image when the driver needs to watch the front of the vehicle.
The display control apparatus according to claim 1. The control unit performs setting to return the lowered sharpness to the sharpness of the original image when the driver does not need to watch the front of the vehicle.
The display control apparatus according to claim 1. The controller determines that the driver needs to watch the front of the vehicle when the collision time until the vehicle collides with the vehicle ahead or the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle ahead is less than a predetermined value.
The display control apparatus according to claim 1. The control unit sets the predetermined time to be shorter as the collision time until the vehicle collides with the vehicle ahead or the change rate of the inter-vehicle distance with the vehicle ahead is larger.
The display control apparatus according to claim 3. The input unit receives display element information included in a display image and information indicating the importance of the display element,
The control unit sets the target sharpness or the predetermined time for each display element according to the importance of the display element.
The display control apparatus according to claim 3. The control unit calculates the distance between the gazing point that the driver should watch and the display image, and the longer the calculated distance, the lower the target sharpness, or the shorter the predetermined time,
The display control apparatus according to claim 3. The control unit calculates a distance between the gazing point and the partial region into which the image is divided, and sets the target sharpness lower or sets the predetermined time shorter as the calculated distance is longer. ,
The display control apparatus according to claim 9. The control unit calculates a distance between the gazing point and images displayed on a plurality of display media,
The longer the calculated distance, the lower the target sharpness, or the shorter the predetermined time,
The display control apparatus according to claim 9. An image generation device that generates a predetermined image and outputs the predetermined image to a display medium;
An input unit that receives a recognition result from a recognition device that recognizes environmental changes around the vehicle;
A control unit that controls the image generation device to generate a first predetermined image representing a first presentation image when displayed on the display medium;
With
The controller is
Based on the recognition result, using the image generation device, the first presentation image is gradually changed over the display medium from the first presentation image to the second presentation image having a lower image sharpness than the first presentation image over a predetermined time. Switch to lower image sharpness,
Projection device. Controlling the image generation device to generate a first predetermined image representing the first presentation image when displayed on the display medium;
Receiving a recognition result from a recognition device for recognizing environmental changes around the vehicle;
Based on the recognition result, using the image generation device, the first presentation image is gradually changed over the display medium from the first presentation image to the second presentation image having a lower image sharpness than the first presentation image over a predetermined time. A step of switching so that the image sharpness is low,
A display control method including: Processing for controlling the image generation device to generate a first predetermined image representing the first presentation image when displayed on the display medium;
Processing for receiving a recognition result from a recognition device for recognizing environmental changes around the vehicle;
Based on the recognition result, using the image generation device, the first presentation image is gradually changed over the display medium from the first presentation image to the second presentation image having a lower image sharpness than the first presentation image over a predetermined time. Switching to reduce the image sharpness,
A display control program that causes a computer to execute. A computer-readable non-transitory recording medium recording a display control program executed in a display control device in a display system including a recognition device that recognizes environmental changes around a vehicle and an image generation device that generates a predetermined image With respect to the computer of the display control device,
Processing for controlling the image generation device to generate a first predetermined image representing the first presentation image when displayed on the display medium;
Receiving a recognition result from the recognition device;
Based on the recognition result, using the image generation device, the first presentation image is gradually changed over the display medium from the first presentation image to the second presentation image having a lower image sharpness than the first presentation image over a predetermined time. Switching to reduce the image sharpness,
A recording medium recording a display control program for executing