JP2016168927A - Information display system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information display system capable of suppressing degradation in driver's discernment of important information by displaying the important information in a readily recognizable area by priority.SOLUTION: An information display system of the present invention that displays information by projecting an image onto an information display area having light transmittancy includes a memory part that stores a priority level, which is defined for an image, on the basis of the importance of information displayed through projection, a determination part that determines a luminance of a background in the information display area, and a control part that controls an image, which is projected onto the information display area, on the basis of the priority level and background luminance. When the information display area includes an area of a first background luminance and an area of a second background luminance lower than the first background luminance, the control part projects an image, which is given a higher priority, onto the area of the second background luminance.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an information display device mounted on a vehicle.

  As an information display device mounted on a vehicle, a so-called head-up display type that displays information on a vehicle windshield (or front windshield glass) by projecting images such as vehicle speed, the presence or absence of pedestrians, and information signs. The device is known.

  In a head-up display type information display device, information is displayed by projecting an image on a light-transmitting windshield. Therefore, when the background luminance at the position of the windshield on which the image is projected is high (the background is bright and dazzling), there is a problem that it is difficult for the driver to visually recognize the information displayed at that position.

  Therefore, a technique has been proposed in which the level of the background luminance of the windshield is determined, and an image that is about to be projected onto an area with a high background luminance is moved to an area with a lower background luminance and then projected. See, for example, US Pat.

JP 2008-285105 A

  However, in the information display device described in Patent Document 1, all images that are about to be projected onto an area with a high background luminance are all moved and projected onto an area with a lower background luminance. For this reason, if the size (area, shape, etc.) of the area where the background brightness is low is smaller than the size (area, shape, etc.) of the image to be projected, all of the information conveyed by the image is the area where the background brightness is low. In some cases, it cannot be displayed. In such a case, it is not displayed in an area with low background luminance in a state where important information can be recognized, and the visibility of important information (meaning, content, etc.) by the driver may be reduced.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and information display that can suppress a reduction in the visibility of important information by a driver by preferentially displaying important information in an easily recognizable area. An object is to provide an apparatus.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is an information display device that displays information by projecting an image on an information display area having optical transparency, based on the importance of information displayed by projection, A storage unit that stores the priority defined in the image; a determination unit that determines background luminance in the information display area; and a control unit that controls an image projected on the information display area based on the priority and the background luminance. And the control unit includes an image having a high priority when the information display area includes an area with the first background luminance and an area with the second background luminance lower than the first background luminance. It projects on the area of this.

  In the information display device according to the present invention, the storage unit stores the priority defined in the image based on the importance of the information displayed by the projection. For example, high priority is defined for information important to the driver. For one piece of information, only one image may be provided, or a plurality of images may be provided. In the information display device, the determination unit determines the background luminance in the information display area where information is displayed. For example, the determination unit determines whether the area is a first background luminance area or a second background luminance area lower than the first background luminance. As the first background luminance, for example, a value that the driver feels bright and dazzling is preferable. In this information display device, based on the priority and the background luminance, the control unit prioritizes when the information display area includes the first background luminance area and the second background luminance area. An image having a high degree is projected onto the second background luminance area. Thereby, important information can be preferentially displayed in a place where the background is not dazzling. Therefore, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the visibility of important information by the driver.

  As described above, according to the information display device of the present invention, since important information is preferentially displayed in a place where it is easy to recognize, information display in which a reduction in visibility by a driver is suppressed can be performed.

1 schematically illustrates a configuration of an information display device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which illustrated simply the image which displayed various information on the display part 60 The figure explaining the example of a setting of the priority which the memory | storage part 51 memorize | stores The figure which illustrated simply the image which displayed the vehicle speed information 201 and the pedestrian pop-out information 202 on the display part 60 (display mode 1) The figure which illustrated simply the image which displayed the vehicle speed information 201 and the pedestrian pop-out information 202 on the display part 60 (display mode 2)

[Overview]
The information display device of the present invention defines the priority based on the importance of information displayed by projection on an image projected on a windshield or the like using a head-up display mechanism. When projecting a high priority image, if the background brightness of the windshield position to be projected is so high that the information displayed by the projection cannot be recognized, the projection position is set to a windshield position with a lower background brightness. Change to and project the image. Thereby, the fall of the visibility of important information by a driver can be controlled.

[Configuration example of information display device]
Hereinafter, an embodiment of an information display apparatus provided by the present invention will be described in order with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an information display device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the information display device 1 according to the present embodiment includes a vehicle information acquisition unit 10, a vehicle surrounding information acquisition unit 20, a background luminance acquisition unit 30, a map database 40, a head-up display control unit 50, And a display unit 60. First, each configuration provided in the information display device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  The vehicle information acquisition unit 10 acquires vehicle information related to the host vehicle. The vehicle information includes, for example, information such as the moving speed (vehicle speed) of the vehicle, the traveling direction of the vehicle, and the current position of the vehicle. For example, a speed sensor is used to acquire the vehicle speed. For example, a yaw rate sensor or a steering sensor is used to acquire the traveling direction of the vehicle. For example, a global positioning system (GPS) is used to acquire the position of the vehicle. The vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 10 is output to the head-up display control unit 50.

  The vehicle periphery information acquisition unit 20 acquires vehicle periphery information related to the periphery of the host vehicle. This vehicle periphery information includes, for example, information such as the preceding vehicle, pedestrians and bicycles, road signs, travel lane markings, traveling direction guidance, and surrounding facility guidance. For example, a radar (laser radar, millimeter wave radar, etc.) or a camera (image sensor camera, stereo camera, etc.) is used to acquire the preceding vehicle, pedestrians and bicycles, road signs, and travel lane markings. For example, the current position of the vehicle acquired by the GPS and the data stored in the map database 40 are used to acquire the traveling direction guidance and the surrounding facility guidance. The vehicle periphery information acquired by the vehicle periphery information acquisition unit 20 is output to the head-up display control unit 50.

  The vehicle surrounding information acquisition unit 20 basically acquires information about the front periphery of the host vehicle, but may acquire information about the rear periphery and the side periphery of the host vehicle. In this case, a radar or a camera installed toward the rear or side of the vehicle is used.

  The display unit 60 is, for example, a vehicle windshield having optical transparency. Information is displayed by the head-up display control unit 50 in a predetermined area of the display unit 60 (hereinafter referred to as “information display area”). More specifically, an image defined in advance for displaying information is projected onto the information display area of the display unit 60 by the head-up display control unit 50, so that information that can be visually recognized by the driver is displayed on the display unit 60. Is displayed.

  The background luminance acquisition unit 30 acquires the background luminance in the information display area of the display unit 60. The background luminance is the luminance that penetrates the display unit 60 from the outside of the vehicle and enters the vehicle, for example, the luminance that is observed when the display unit 60 is observed from the inside of the vehicle. For obtaining the background luminance, for example, an image sensor camera (not shown) or the like installed in the passenger compartment or the like with the imaging surface directed in the traveling direction of the vehicle is used. The background luminance acquisition unit 30 acquires the background luminance in the information display area of the display unit 60 from the image captured by the image sensor camera. The background luminance can be acquired in units of pixels, units of a predetermined size, and the acquisition resolution is not particularly limited. Information on the background luminance acquired by the background luminance acquisition unit 30 is output to the head-up display control unit 50.

  The map database 40 is composed of a recording medium such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), an SD card (Secure Digital card) card, or an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The map database 40 includes map data (for example, roads, national highway numbers, intersection names, lane signs, etc.) necessary for navigation, and data (eg, logos, names, business hours) related to facilities and places existing on the map data. Etc.) are stored. Data stored in the map database 40 is used by the head-up display control unit 50.

  The head-up display control unit 50 controls the information display area of the display unit 60 to display information by projecting a predetermined image at a predetermined position. The predetermined image to be projected and the predetermined position are vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 10, vehicle peripheral information acquired by the vehicle peripheral information acquisition unit 20, background luminance acquired by the background luminance acquisition unit 30, and the map database 40. Based on the data stored in the data, a calculation process, a selection process, and the like are performed. The determined predetermined image is projected to a predetermined position using an augmented reality (AR) technique or the like. For example, the head-up display control unit 50 projects a predetermined image on the information display area surface of the display unit 60 by visible light from a projector (not shown) arranged in a dashboard or an instrument panel. Thus, information is displayed at a predetermined position on the display unit 60.

  The head-up display control unit 50 typically includes an electronic control unit (ECU: Electronic Processing Unit) configured by a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, an input / output interface (all not shown), and the like. Control Unit). The head-up display control unit 50 functions as a storage unit 51, a determination unit 52, and a control unit 53, which will be described later, by the CPU reading and interpreting and executing a program stored in the memory.

[Information display control in information display device]
Next, information display control performed on the information display area of the display unit 60 by the head-up display control unit 50 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram exemplarily showing an image displayed on the information display area of the display unit 60 as an example of information whose display is controlled by the head-up display control unit 50. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of setting priority for an image defined for displaying information stored in the storage unit 51 of the head-up display control unit 50.

  The storage unit 51 of the head-up display control unit 50 defines the priority indicating which information is to be displayed preferentially for displaying various types of information displayed in the information display area of the display unit 60 in order to display the information. Stored in units of recorded images. This priority is set in advance according to the necessity of visual recognition by the driver of the vehicle. For example, for the important information that is strongly required to be visually recognized by the driver, that is, greatly related to the safe driving of the vehicle, a high priority is set to an image defined for displaying the information. In the example of FIG. 2, information on vehicle speed, information on pedestrians predicted to jump out, and the like are set with high priority. Further, for example, for information that is normally required for visual recognition by the driver, that is, to some extent involved in the safe driving of the vehicle, an intermediate priority is set to an image defined for displaying the information. In the example of FIG. 2, navigation arrow information indicating the direction of travel by navigation with arrows, guidance sign information such as a driving lane, and visibility support information indicating a division of the driving line are targets for setting intermediate priorities. . For example, information that is not particularly required for visual recognition by the driver, that is, information that is not so much involved in the safe driving of the vehicle, is set to a low priority for an image defined for displaying the information. In the example of FIG. 2, information on peripheral facility information or information related to vehicles displayed in a peripheral view (ambient) is a low priority setting target.

  Here, as the unit of the image for setting the priority, the following two types can be considered. In each information, an image to be projected on the display unit 60 by the head-up display control unit 50 is defined in advance. Therefore, one priority may be set for this image. For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, one priority is set for the entire image 100 defining the pedestrian pop-out information. In this case, since the pedestrian pop-out information is very important information for the driver, a high priority is set for the image 100.

  Or the image prescribed | regulated in order to display one information may be divided | segmented into a some image, and a priority may be set to each of this some image. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, an image 100 that defines pedestrian pop-out information is divided into three images 101, 102, and 103. In this case, the image 102 showing a symbol for calling attention and the image 103 for informing the position (foot) of the pedestrian are very important as information for informing the pedestrian who jumps out, so these images have high priority. Is set, and an intermediate priority is set for the other images 101.

  As described above, this priority may be stored in the storage unit 51 of the head-up display control unit 50 in advance in association with each image defined for displaying various types of information. Alternatively, every time information to be displayed is acquired from the vehicle information acquisition unit 10 or the vehicle surrounding information acquisition unit 20, the head-up display control unit 50 may analyze the information and set the priority. For example, not all pedestrians take dangerous actions such as jumping out. For this reason, the pedestrian movement pattern is judged with a radar or a camera, etc., and a high priority is set in the image for displaying the information of the pedestrian who is likely to jump out on the roadway, and information on the pedestrian walking on the sidewalk The priority can be set low for an image for displaying.

  Note that the information illustrated in FIG. 2 is an example, and the type and number of information to be simultaneously displayed in the information display area of the display unit 60 are not particularly limited. In addition, information other than those exemplified (information on warning lights as a high priority, information on air conditioner set temperature as a low priority, etc.) may be displayed in the information display area of the display unit 60.

  The determination unit 52 of the head-up display control unit 50 determines the background luminance acquired by the background luminance acquisition unit 30. Specifically, the determination unit 52 has an information display area of the display unit 60 that is an area having the first background luminance (hereinafter referred to as “high background luminance area 60H”) and a second lower than the first background luminance. It is determined whether or not an area having background luminance (hereinafter referred to as “low background luminance area 60L”) is present. The first background luminance is luminance that the background is bright and dazzling, and the information displayed on the display unit 60 is difficult for the driver to visually recognize.

  When information to be displayed in the information display area of the display unit 60 is generated, the control unit 53 of the head-up display control unit 50 sets the priority set to the image defined to display the generated information and the image. The background luminance of the display unit 60 at the projection position is acquired from the storage unit 51 and the determination unit 52. Then, the control unit 53 controls the display mode of the generated information by changing the projection method of the image in the information display area of the display unit 60 based on the acquired priority and the background luminance. Examples of the display mode control include the following two methods.

<Display mode 1>
FIG. 4 is a diagram exemplarily showing an image of the display unit 60 in which the vehicle speed information 201 and the pedestrian pop-out information 202 are displayed in the information display area as important information (high priority image). FIG. 4 shows a case where the determination unit 52 determines that the high background luminance area 60 </ b> H is formed in the information display area of the display unit 60.

  As shown in FIG. 4A, it is assumed that the vehicle speed information 201 and the pedestrian pop-up information 202 are not overlapped at all with the high background luminance area 60H even if they are displayed at specified positions in the information display area of the display unit 60. . In this case, the control unit 53 controls the projection of the image so that the vehicle speed information 201 and the pedestrian pop-out information 202 are displayed as they are at the specified positions (FIG. 4A).

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, when the vehicle speed information 201 and the pedestrian pop-out information 202 are displayed at specified positions in the information display area of the display unit 60, a part of each information is a high background luminance area 60H. Assume a case where they overlap. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4C, the control unit 53 is displayed in a position where the vehicle speed information 201 and the pedestrian pop-up information 202 do not overlap with the high background luminance area 60H, that is, in the low background luminance area 60L. To control the projection of the image. Such display control is executed by shifting the display positions of the vehicle speed information 201 and the pedestrian pop-out information 202 or reducing the display size.

<Display mode 2>
The display mode 2 can be applied to the case where an image defined for displaying one piece of information is divided into a plurality of images, and priority is set for each of the plurality of images (see FIG. 3B). reference). FIG. 5 is a diagram simply illustrating an image of the display unit 60 in which the vehicle speed information 201 and the pedestrian pop-out information 202 are displayed in the information display area as important information (an image having a high priority), as in FIG. 4. is there. However, FIG. 5 is different in that the range of the high background luminance area 60H determined by the determination unit 52 is larger than that in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, when the vehicle speed information 201 and the pedestrian pop-out information 202 are displayed at specified positions in the information display area of the display unit 60, a part of the pedestrian pop-out information 202 becomes a high background luminance area 60H. The case where it overlaps with is assumed. In this case, the pedestrian pop-out information 202 is desired to be displayed in the low background luminance area 60L, but the low background luminance area 60L is too narrow to secure an area where the entire pedestrian pop-out information 202 can be viewed. Therefore, in this case, the control unit 53, as shown in FIG. 5B, among the plurality of images defined for displaying the pedestrian pop-out information 202, the images 102 and 103 set with high priority. Only (see FIG. 3B) is controlled to be projected into the low background luminance area 60L.

[Effect of the embodiment]
In the information display device 1 according to the present embodiment described above, the priority based on the importance of the displayed information is set in the image projected to display the information in the information display area of the display unit 60. When the background luminance at the original position where the image with high priority is to be projected is the high background luminance area 60H where it is difficult to visually recognize information, the background luminance of the image with high priority is higher than that of the high background luminance area 60H. The projection is performed by changing the position to the low background luminance area 60L. That is, important information is preferentially displayed in a place where recognition is easy (low background luminance area 60L). Therefore, it is possible to prevent a phenomenon that important information cannot be recognized because the outside of the display unit 60 is dazzling. Thereby, the fall of the visibility of important information by a driver can be controlled.

[Modification]
In the above-described embodiment, only a part of an image having a high priority is displayed in the low background luminance area 60L among information that part or all of the information overlaps with the high background luminance area 60H. However, even if an image with a high priority is displayed in the low background luminance area 60L, an image with a high priority may be displayed in the low background luminance area 60L as long as the display space is sufficient.

  In the above embodiment, the priority categories are described as three categories of high, medium, and low. However, the priority categories may be two categories of high and low, or four or more categories.

  In the above embodiment, the background luminance in the information display area of the display unit 60 is the high background luminance area 60H that is the first background luminance, and the low background that is the second background luminance that is lower than the first background luminance. The brightness area 60L was divided into two. However, the low background luminance area 60L may be further subdivided according to the luminance value. In this case, the low background luminance area on which the image is projected can be distributed according to the priority of the image.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is useful in an information display device mounted on a vehicle when it is desired to suppress a reduction in the visibility of important information by a driver.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information display apparatus 10 Vehicle information acquisition part 20 Vehicle periphery information acquisition part 30 Background luminance acquisition part 40 Map database 50 Head-up display (HUD) control part 51 Memory | storage part 52 Judgment part 53 Control part 60 Display part 100-103 Image 201 Vehicle speed Information 202 Pedestrian pop-out information

Claims (1)

An information display device that displays information by projecting an image on an information display area having optical transparency,
Based on the importance of information displayed by projection, a storage unit that stores the priority defined in the image;
A determination unit for determining background luminance in the information display area;
A control unit that controls an image projected on the information display area based on the priority and the background luminance;
When the information display area includes an area having a first background luminance and an area having a second background luminance lower than the first background luminance, the control unit displays the image having a high priority as the second background luminance. An information display device that projects onto an area of background luminance of the screen.