JP2019206262A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a display device that can reduce a feeling of strangeness given to a person who visually recognizes in notification of existence of an object in a dead angle zone.SOLUTION: For instance, a display device constituted of a head-up display device displays a superimposed image that can be visually recognized as a virtual image superimposed with a foreground of a vehicle 1 by a driver. The display device comprises specifying means that specifies a dead-angle object B in a dead-angle zone to the driver and a front object F causing the dead-angle zone, and display control means that controls a display position and a display distance of a contents image C in a display area of the superimposed image on the basis of information on the object. The display control means, when the dead-angle objects B is specified, displays the contents image C indicating existence of the dead-angle object B and controls the display position so that the contents image C is visually recognized at a position of the dead-angle object B, and controls the display distance so that the contents image C is visually recognized at a side closer to the vehicle 1 than a tip Ff of the front object F.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a display device.

  As a conventional display device, Patent Document 1 discloses a display device that displays an image that is visually recognized by a viewer (mainly a driver of a vehicle) as a virtual image that overlaps the front landscape of the vehicle. Patent Document 2 discloses a display device that displays a stereoscopic image.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-60445 JP 2001-197524 A

  By the way, it is preferable from the viewpoint of safety if it is possible to inform the viewer of the presence of a blind spot object (for example, a pedestrian or a forward vehicle located in the blind spot) that becomes a blind spot for the viewer (mainly the driver of the vehicle). In order to notify the presence of the blind spot object, for example, a notification image indicating the presence of the blind spot object is displayed in a three-dimensional manner based on the distance from the vehicle to the blind spot object, and superimposed on the forward object. A method to do this is conceivable. However, in this method, it is assumed that the notification image is displayed in front of the actual front object as viewed from the viewer, which may cause a sense of discomfort.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a display device that can reduce a sense of discomfort given to a viewer when notifying the presence of a blind spot object.

In order to achieve the above object, a display device according to the present invention includes:
A display device that displays a superimposed image that is visually recognized by a viewer as a virtual image that overlaps a front landscape of a vehicle,
Object information acquisition means for acquiring object information indicating at least a position of the object, which is information related to an object existing in the front landscape;
Identifying means for identifying a blind spot object that becomes a blind spot for the viewer based on the object information and a forward object that causes the blind spot;
Display control means for performing display control of the superimposed image, and controlling a display position and a display distance of the content image in a display area of the superimposed image based on the object information,
When the blind spot object is specified, the display control unit displays the content image indicating the presence of the blind spot object, and controls the display position so that the content image is visually recognized at the position of the blind spot object. At the same time, the display distance is controlled so that the content image is visually recognized on the vehicle side from the front end of the front object.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the discomfort given to a viewer when alert | reporting presence of a blind spot object can be reduced.

It is a figure for demonstrating the mounting aspect to the vehicle of the head-up display (HUD) apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the display system for vehicles. It is a flowchart which shows an example of a display control process. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating a vehicle, a front object, a blind spot object, and another object. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the content image which shows presence of a blind spot object.

  A display device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The display device according to the present embodiment is a HUD (Head-Up Display) device 10 included in the vehicle display system 100 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the HUD device 10 is provided inside a dashboard 2 of the vehicle 1, and not only information related to the vehicle 1 (hereinafter referred to as vehicle information) but also information other than vehicle information is integrated. The driver D is notified. The vehicle information includes not only information on the vehicle 1 itself but also information on the outside of the vehicle 1 related to the operation of the vehicle 1.

  The vehicle display system 100 is a system configured in the vehicle 1, and includes a HUD device 10, a peripheral information acquisition unit 40, a front information acquisition unit 50, a viewpoint detection unit 60, and an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 70. With.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the HUD device 10 emits display light L toward the windshield 3 subjected to the combiner process. The display light L reflected by the windshield 3 goes to the driver D side. The driver D can visually recognize the image represented by the display light L as the virtual image V in front of the windshield 3 by placing the viewpoint in the eye box E. That is, the HUD device 10 displays the virtual image V at the front position of the windshield 3. Thereby, the driver D can observe the virtual image V superimposed on the front scenery.

  The HUD device 10 includes the display unit 20 and the control device 30 shown in FIG. 2 and a reflection unit (not shown).

  The display unit 20 displays a superimposed image that is visually recognized by the driver D as a virtual image V under the control of the control device 30. The display unit 20 includes, for example, a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) type LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), a backlight that illuminates the LCD from behind, and the like. The backlight is composed of, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode). The display unit 20 generates the display light L when the LCD illuminated by the backlight displays an image under the control of the control device 30. The generated display light L is emitted toward the windshield 3 after being reflected by the reflecting portion. The reflection part is composed of, for example, two mirrors, a folding mirror and a concave mirror. The folding mirror folds the display light L emitted from the display unit 20 and directs it toward the concave mirror. The concave mirror reflects the light L toward the windshield 3 while expanding the display light L from the folding mirror. Thereby, the virtual image V visually recognized by the driver D is an enlarged image displayed on the display unit 20. Note that the number of mirrors constituting the reflecting portion can be arbitrarily changed according to the design.

  In the following description, the display unit 20 displaying an image visually recognized by the driver D as the virtual image V is also referred to as “displaying a superimposed image”. In addition, the fact that the control device 30 performs display control of the display unit 20 is also referred to as “performs display control of a superimposed image”. In addition, the display unit 20 is not limited to the one using an LCD as long as it can display a superimposed image, such as OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes), DMD (Digital Micromirror Device), and LCOS (Liquid Crystal On Silicon). A display device may be used.

  The control device 30 includes a microcomputer that controls the overall operation of the HUD device 10, and includes a control unit 31, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 32, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 33. Moreover, the control apparatus 30 is provided with the input / output circuit for communicating with a drive circuit and the various systems in the vehicle 1 as a structure which is not shown in figure.

  The ROM 32 stores an operation program and various image data in advance. The RAM 33 temporarily stores various calculation results and the like. The control unit 31 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 31a that executes an operation program stored in the ROM 32, and a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) 31b that executes image processing in cooperation with the CPU. In particular, the ROM 32 stores an operation program for executing display control processing described later. A part of the control unit 31 may be configured by an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Moreover, the structure of the control apparatus 30 and the control part 31 is arbitrary as long as the function demonstrated below is satisfied.

  The control unit 31 drives and controls the display unit 20. For example, the control unit 31 drives and controls the backlight of the display unit 20 with the CPU 31a, and drives and controls the LCD of the display unit 20 with the GPU 31b that operates in cooperation with the CPU 31a.

  The CPU 31a of the control unit 31 controls the superimposed image based on various image data stored in the ROM 32 in cooperation with the GPU 31b. The GPU 31b determines the control content of the display operation of the display unit 20 based on the display control command from the CPU 31a. The GPU 31 b reads image part data necessary for configuring one screen to be displayed on the display unit 20 from the ROM 32 and transfers it to the RAM 33. Also, the GPU 31b uses the RAM 33 to create picture data for one screen based on the image part data and various image data received from the outside of the HUD device 10 by communication. Then, when the GPU 31b completes the picture data for one screen in the RAM 33, the GPU 31b transfers the picture data to the display unit 20 in accordance with the update timing of the image. Thereby, the superimposed image visually recognized by the driver D as a virtual image V is displayed on the display unit 20. In addition, a layer is assigned in advance to each image constituting an image visually recognized as the virtual image V, and the control unit 31 can individually control display of each image.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 31 controls the display position of the content image C and the display distance of the content image C within the display area of the virtual image V. In addition, the dotted line frame which the virtual image V has shown in FIG. 5 shows the display area of the virtual image V, and the content image C is an image visually recognized as a virtual image in the said display area. This is synonymous with displaying the content image C in the display area of the superimposed image on the display unit 20 that displays the superimposed image visually recognized by the driver D as the virtual image V.

  The control of the display position means that the control unit 31 controls the display unit 20 so that an image is displayed at an arbitrary position in the display region of the virtual image V as viewed from the driver D. In this embodiment, in particular, the control unit 31 controls the superimposed image so that the content image C is superimposed and viewed at the position of the blind spot object B specified as described later, as shown in FIG. A blind spot object B shown in FIG. 5 is an object located at a blind spot by the forward object F, and is not actually visible to the driver D. The content image C is an image for notifying the existence of the blind spot object B that is actually not visible to the driver D in this way.

The display distance control is a control of how far the content image C is displayed from the vehicle 1 when viewed from the driver D. That is, the control of the display distance is that the control unit 31 controls the display unit 20 so that the content image C is visually recognized at a position facing a predetermined distance in front of the vehicle 1. The control of the display distance is realized by the control unit 31 being able to control the display of various images (in particular, the content image C here) in the display area of the virtual image V in a manner having a depth. For example, in order to display the blind spot object image in a manner having the depth, 3D image data is stored in the ROM 32 in advance, and the position of the blind spot object B that can be calculated from the object information or the blind spot from the own vehicle 1 is displayed. Based on the distance to the object B, the content image C is controlled to be drawn using a perspective method (for example, a one-point perspective method). Further, by arranging the display surface of the display unit 20 (an LCD display surface or a screen in the case of using DMD or LCOS) with an inclination, a virtual surface on which the virtual image V is displayed (on the display surface of the display unit 20). The content image C may be given depth by setting the corresponding surface) to be tilted forward with respect to the vertical direction of the vehicle 1. In this case, in consideration of the projection of the image desired to be viewed from the viewpoint of the driver D onto the virtual plane, the control unit 31 may perform drawing control in a manner in which the blind spot object image has a depth. As the viewpoint position of the driver D, the control unit 31 may use an assumed viewpoint position stored in advance in the ROM 32, or may use the viewpoint information from the viewpoint detection unit 60.
In this embodiment, as will be described later, the display control is performed so that the content image C is viewed at the position of the blind spot object B as the display position, but the display distance is closer to the own vehicle 1 than the actual position of the blind spot object B. To control.

  The CPU 31a of the control unit 31 communicates with each of the peripheral information acquisition unit 40, the front information acquisition unit 50, the viewpoint detection unit 60, and the ECU 70. As the communication, for example, a communication method such as CAN (Controller Area Network), Ethernet, MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport), or LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling) is applicable.

  The peripheral information acquisition unit 40 acquires information about the periphery (external) of the vehicle 1, and communicates between the vehicle 1 and a wireless network (V2N: Vehicle To cellular Network), and communicates between the vehicle 1 and another vehicle (V2V). : Vehicle To Vehicle), communication between the vehicle 1 and pedestrians (V2P: Vehicle To Pedestrian), and communication between the vehicle 1 and roadside infrastructure (V2I: Vehicle To roadside Infrastructure). That is, the peripheral information acquisition unit 40 enables communication by V2X (Vehicle To Everything) between the vehicle 1 and the outside of the vehicle 1.

  For example, (i) the peripheral information acquisition unit 40 includes a communication module that can directly access a WAN (Wide Area Network), an external device (such as a mobile router) that can access the WAN, an access point of a public wireless LAN (Local Area Network), and the like. A communication module for communication is provided, and Internet communication is performed. The peripheral information acquisition unit 40 includes a GPS controller that calculates the position of the vehicle 1 based on a GPS (Global Positioning System) signal received from an artificial satellite or the like. With these configurations, communication by V2N is enabled. (Ii) In addition, the peripheral information acquisition unit 40 includes a wireless communication module compliant with a predetermined wireless communication standard, and performs communication using V2V or V2P. (Iii) In addition, the peripheral information acquisition unit 40 has a communication device that wirelessly communicates with roadside infrastructure, and is installed as an infrastructure from a base station of a driving safety support system (DSSS), for example. Object information and traffic information are acquired via the roadside apparatus. As a result, communication by V2I becomes possible.

  In this embodiment, the peripheral information acquisition unit 40 is an object that indicates the position, size, attribute, and the like of various objects such as vehicles, traffic lights, and pedestrians that exist outside the vehicle 1 (hereinafter also referred to as the own vehicle 1). Information is acquired by V2I and supplied to the control unit 31. The object information is not limited to V2I, and may be acquired by any communication of V2X. In addition, the surrounding information acquisition unit 40 acquires traffic information including the position and shape of the surrounding road of the vehicle 1 by V2I and supplies the traffic information to the control unit 31. Further, based on information from the GPS controller of the peripheral information acquisition unit 40, the control unit 31 calculates the position of the host vehicle 1.

  The forward information acquisition unit 50 is, for example, a stereo camera that captures a landscape in front of the vehicle 1 or a LIDAR (Laser Imaging Detection And Ranging) that measures the distance from the vehicle 1 to an object positioned in front of the vehicle 1. A distance measuring sensor, a sonar that detects an object located in front of the vehicle 1, an ultrasonic sensor, a millimeter wave radar, and the like are included.

  In this embodiment, the forward information acquisition unit 50 transmits forward image data indicating a forward landscape image captured by a stereo camera, data indicating a distance to an object measured by a distance measuring sensor, and other detection data to the CPU 31a. To do.

  The viewpoint detection unit 60 includes, for example, an imaging unit (for example, a stereo camera) that captures the face of the driver D and generates imaging data, and an image processing unit that performs image processing of the captured data. Is detected. For example, the viewpoint detection unit 60 detects the viewpoint position of the driver D by a known image analysis method such as a pattern matching method, and transmits viewpoint position information indicating the detected viewpoint position to the CPU 31a.

  Note that the viewpoint detection unit 60 may detect the viewpoint position based on one of the eyes of the driver D, or may detect the center of gravity of both eyes. Further, the viewpoint detection unit 60 may estimate the line-of-sight direction of the driver D based on the detected viewpoint position. Further, the viewpoint detection unit 60 may detect the direction of the face of the driver D by a known image analysis method and supply data indicating the direction of the face to the control unit 31. The viewpoint detection unit 60 may be an imaging unit, an electrooculogram sensor, or a motion sensor mounted on a wearable device worn by the driver D on the head. The viewpoint position and the face orientation can be detected from the imaging data obtained by the imaging means in the same manner as described above. The electrooculogram sensor detects the viewpoint position of the driver D based on the measured electrooculogram. Moreover, a motion sensor consists of 1 or a combination of an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, and a geomagnetic sensor, for example, and detects the direction of the driver | operator's D face. In addition, it is good also as a structure which the control part 31 detects the viewpoint position etc. of the driver | operator D based on the signal from an imaging means or various sensors. If the presence of the blind spot object B can be specified as will be described later, the control unit 31 may use any of information indicating each of the viewpoint position, the line-of-sight direction, and the face direction of the driver D.

  ECU70 controls each part of the vehicle 1, for example, transmits the vehicle speed information which shows the present vehicle speed of the vehicle 1 to CPU31a. Note that the CPU 31a may acquire vehicle speed information from a vehicle speed sensor. In addition, the ECU 70 transmits a measured amount such as the engine speed, warning information of the vehicle 1 itself (fuel reduction, engine oil pressure abnormality, etc.) and other vehicle information to the CPU 31a. Based on the information acquired from the ECU 70, the CPU 31a can display an image indicating the vehicle speed, the engine speed, various warnings, and the like on the display unit 20 via the GPU 31b. That is, as shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the content image C, an image V1 indicating vehicle information can be displayed in the display area of the virtual image V.

(Display control processing)
Subsequently, a display control process for displaying a content image C indicating that the blind spot object B exists at the position of the blind spot object B existing further forward of the forward object F as viewed from the own vehicle 1 is described with reference to FIG. explain. The display control process is executed by the control unit 31 and is continuously executed in a state where the ignition of the vehicle 1 is turned on, for example.

  When the display control process is started, first, the control unit 31 acquires object information from the peripheral information acquisition unit 40 (step S1). Subsequently, the control unit 31 determines whether or not there is a blind spot object B that becomes a blind spot for the driver D based on the acquired object information (step S2).

  Here, FIG. 5 shows an example in which a vehicle (for example, a truck or the like) traveling in front of the host vehicle 1 is a front object F that causes a blind spot. In this example, a vehicle, a pedestrian, or the like at a position that becomes a blind spot by the front object F is the blind spot object B. In step S2, it is determined whether or not there is such a blind spot object B.

  In step S <b> 2, first, the control unit 31 specifies the front object F by a known image analysis method such as a pattern matching method based on the front image data acquired from the front information acquisition unit 50. Further, the control unit 31 specifies the position and size of the peripheral object of the host vehicle 1 based on the object information acquired by the V2I from the roadside infrastructure via the peripheral information acquisition unit 40. Further, the control unit 31 specifies the viewpoint position of the driver D based on the viewpoint information acquired from the viewpoint detection unit 60. Then, if the identified peripheral object is at a position where it overlaps with the front object F as viewed from the driver D, the control unit 31 determines that the peripheral object is the blind spot object B, that is, determines that the blind spot object B exists. To do.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the vehicle 1, the front object F, the blind spot object B, and the like. In this example, the first blind spot object B1 and the second blind spot object B2 as the blind spot object B are located in front of the forward object F, and the non-dead spot object that is not located in the blind spot by the forward object F when viewed from the own vehicle 1. NB is located. Using this example, the control unit 31 first identifies the objects represented by the symbols B1, B2, and NB as peripheral objects of the host vehicle 1 in the process of step S2, and among these objects, the driver D sees them. Then, the object at the position overlapping the front object F is specified as the blind spot object B (the first blind spot object B1 or the second blind spot object B2).

  Note that the method of specifying the presence of the blind spot object B is not limited to the above-described method. For example, the object information from the peripheral information acquisition unit 40 is not limited to V2I, and may be acquired by any communication (at least one of V2N, V2V, and V2P) in V2X. The identification of the front object F is not limited to the one based on the front image data, and may be based on a detection signal from a sonar, an ultrasonic sensor, or a millimeter wave radar. The identification of the front object F may also be performed based on the object information from the peripheral information acquisition unit 40. Further, the viewpoint position of the driver D may not be specified based on the information from the viewpoint detection unit 60, the viewpoint position of the driver D that is assumed in advance is stored in the ROM 32, and the control unit 31 A viewpoint position may be used. The blind spot object B is not limited to a moving object such as a person or a vehicle, and may be a traffic light, a road sign, or the like. The traffic lights and road signs can be specified based on traffic information that can be acquired by the V2I via the peripheral information acquisition unit 40.

If it is determined in step S2 that there is a blind spot object (step S2; Yes), the control unit 31 calculates the relative speed between the vehicle 1 and the front object F and various distances (step S3). When determining the relative speed, for example, the control unit 31 calculates the speed of the host vehicle 1 based on the position information of the host vehicle 1 acquired by the GPS controller of the surrounding information acquisition unit 40 and its time stamp. In addition, the control unit 31 calculates the speed of the front object F based on the position information of the front object F included in the object information acquired from the peripheral information acquisition unit 40 and its time stamp. Then, the control unit 31 calculates a relative speed from the speed of the host vehicle 1 and the speed of the front object F. Note that the control unit 31 may acquire the speed of the host vehicle 1 from the ECU 70. The control unit 31 may calculate the relative speed based on information from the front information acquisition unit 50, such as time differentiation of the distance detected by the distance measuring sensor.
As various distances, the control unit 31 determines that the distance X from the host vehicle 1 to the front object F and the blind spot object B from the host vehicle 1 (here, the blind spot object B identified in step S2 is the second blind spot shown in FIG. 4). The distance Y to the object B2 is calculated. The control unit 31 also obtains the distance (Y−X) between the front object F and the blind spot object B by subtracting the distance X from the distance Y. For example, the control unit 31 acquires the distance X from the vehicle 1 to the front object F from the distance measurement sensor of the front information acquisition unit 50. Further, the control unit 31 calculates the distance Y from the own vehicle 1 to the blind spot object B based on the object information from the surrounding information acquisition unit 40 and the position of the own vehicle 1.

Subsequently, the control unit 31 specifically determines whether or not the relative speed calculated in step S3 is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed stored in the ROM 32 in advance (step S4). When the relative speed is equal to or higher than the predetermined speed (step S4; Yes), it can be estimated that the forward object F exhibits some behavior with respect to the own vehicle 1 and that the driving of the own vehicle 1 requires attention. As will be described later, the content image C is displayed on the display unit 20 (step S6).
On the other hand, when the relative speed is less than the predetermined speed (step S4; No), the control unit 31 determines whether or not the distance X from the vehicle 1 to the front object F is equal to or greater than a predetermined value stored in the ROM 32 in advance. (Step S5). When the distance X is less than the predetermined value (step S5; No), it can be estimated that the forward object F is close to the host vehicle 1 and needs attention to the driving of the host vehicle 1, and therefore the control unit 31 performs content as described later. The image C is displayed on the display unit 20 (step S6).

  A plurality of predetermined speeds and predetermined values as threshold values are prepared in the ROM 32, and the control unit 31 determines the speed of the host vehicle 1, the driving scene, and the type of blind spot object B (for example, person, vehicle, etc. It is preferable that an appropriate value can be set according to the moving object). For example, (i) In a scene in which the vehicle 1 is traveling on an automobile-only road such as an expressway, a predetermined value as a threshold value of the distance X is set longer than in other scenes because the speed of the traveling vehicle is high. ii) In a scene at night or in the rain, it is difficult to see the outside scene, so the predetermined speed is set lower than in other scenes. (iii) When the blind spot object B is a vehicle or other moving object, The predetermined value is set to be longer than when the person is a person.

  In step S6, the control unit 31 performs display control so that the content image C indicating the presence of the blind spot object B is visually recognized at the position of the blind spot object B as shown in FIG. As shown, display control is performed so that the display distance is visually recognized closer to the vehicle 1 than the front end Ff of the front object F (step S6). By doing so, the driver D visually recognizes the content image C closer to the own vehicle 1 than the actual position of the blind spot object B, so that the content image C is far ahead of the front object F as a real object. Discomfort caused by the display can be reduced.

  Specifically, in step S6, the control unit 31 controls the display position of the content image C based on the position coordinates of the blind spot object B specified in step S2, and from the own vehicle 1 calculated in step S3, the blind spot object B. The display distance of the content image C is controlled on the basis of the distance obtained by reducing the distance Y up to a predetermined amount. Thereby, the content image C can be visually recognized nearer the own vehicle 1 than the actual position of the blind spot object B. The content image C is not limited to the graphic or icon shown in FIG. 5, and may be any as long as the presence of the blind spot object B can be notified. If the object information that can be acquired through the peripheral information acquisition unit 40 includes the attributes of the blind spot object B (for example, the vehicle type, the shape and lighting color of the traffic light, the height of the pedestrian, etc.) An image showing the object B may be displayed as the content image C. For example, when the blind spot object B is a car, the content image C may be an image representing a picture of a car or an image capable of recognizing a vehicle type (such as an auto four-wheeler or a motorcycle). The control unit 31 generates data (table, formula, image parts, etc.) for generating the content image C according to the distance from the vehicle 1 to the blind spot object, and the position and attribute of the blind spot object B indicated by the object information. ), The display control of the content image C may be performed. The data may be stored in the ROM 32 in advance.

  In step S <b> 6, it is more preferable that the control unit 31 controls the display distance so that the content image C is visually recognized closer to the vehicle 1 than the rear end Fr of the front object F. By doing so, it is possible to prevent the content image C from being sunk into the front object F and being visually recognized, and to reduce the sense of incongruity of the displayed content image C.

  When it is determined that the control unit 31 is No in step S4 and Yes in step S5, it can be estimated that there are relatively few caution factors regarding the driving of the host vehicle 1, so the content image C is not displayed (in the display region of the virtual image V). (Step S7). By doing so, it is possible to prevent the content image C from being displayed more than necessary and causing trouble to the driver D.

  In step S6, the control unit 31 displays the content image indicating the blind spot object B as the distance between the front object F and the blind spot object B (distance (YX in the case of the second blind spot object B2)) is shorter. It is preferable to increase the visibility of C. In this way, the driver D can intuitively recognize the attention level of the blind spot object B. Here, when the first distance and the second distance longer than the first distance are considered as the distance between the front object F and the blind spot object B, for example, (i) the second distance is The size of the content image C at the first distance is increased compared to the case, and (ii) the luminance and saturation of the content image C at the first distance are increased compared to the case of the second distance. For example, the control unit 31 stores a table in which the distance between the front object F and the blind spot object B and data related to the visibility of the content image C (size and display brightness) are stored in advance in the ROM 32. Referring to the visibility of the content image C may be changed according to the distance between the front object F and the blind spot object B.

  Further, a plurality of blind spot objects B are specified in step S2, and as shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of blind spot objects B are objects ahead of the first blind spot object B1 (distance Z from the host vehicle 1) and the first blind spot object B1. When the second blind spot object B2 (distance Y (Y <Z) from the own vehicle 1) close to F is included, the control unit 31 in step S6 includes the first content image C1 indicating the first blind spot object B1 and the first content image C1. You may make it display the 2nd content image C2 which shows 2 blind spot object B2 on the display part 20. FIG. In this case, the control unit 31 preferably increases the visibility of the second content image C2 rather than the first content image C1. The visibility of the content image C is the same as described above. In this way, the driver D can intuitively recognize the attention level of the plurality of blind spot objects B.

Further, a plurality of blind spot objects B are identified in step S2, and as shown in FIG. 4, the plurality of blind spot objects B are a first blind spot object B1 and a second blind spot object B2 closer to the front object F than the first blind spot object B1. , The control unit 31 may cause the display unit 20 to display only the second content image C2 indicating the second blind spot object B2 closest to the front object F. In this way, it is possible to notify the presence of the blind spot object B that is supposed to be most paying attention while preventing the driver D from being bothered.
In addition, when there are three blind spot objects B, a content image C indicating the presence of each of the three blind spot objects B that are closer to the front object F may be displayed. In other words, the control unit 31 may display the previous content image C indicating the closest one to the front object F among the plurality of blind spot objects B on the display unit 20.

  After executing step S6 or S7, the control unit 31 executes again from the process of step S1. The display control process described above is continuously executed until, for example, the HUD device 10 is turned off.

  In addition, this invention is not limited by the above embodiment, a modified example, and drawing. Changes (including deletion of components) can be made as appropriate without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  In the display control process, the condition that the relative speed is equal to or higher than the predetermined speed (step S4; Yes) (hereinafter referred to as the first condition), or the condition that the distance X is less than the predetermined value (step S5; No) (hereinafter referred to as the first condition). 2), the content image C is displayed. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In the display control process, only one of the first condition and the second condition may be a condition that requires attention for driving the vehicle 1, or the content image C when both the first condition and the second condition are satisfied. May be displayed. In the display control process, both the first condition and the second condition may not be provided, and the display and non-display control of the content image C may be performed according to whether or not a blind spot object exists. . If the discomfort given to the driver D when notifying the presence of the blind spot object B can be reduced, the display control processing may be partially changed, partially deleted, and the processing procedure replaced.

  Further, the distance X from the vehicle 1 to the front object F and the distance Y from the vehicle 1 to the blind spot object B (second blind spot object 2) shown in FIG. 4 are merely examples. Various distances can grasp the positional relationship of each object in the front-rear direction (corresponding to the left-right direction in FIG. 4), and reduce the uncomfortable feeling given to the driver D when reporting the presence of the blind spot object B. It is optional if the goal can be achieved. For example, various distances may be obtained from the difference in position coordinates indicating the representative position of each object, or the distance between the front object F and the second blind spot object B2 described above as (YX) is determined as the front object. It may be calculated as a distance from the front end Ff of F to the second blind spot object B2.

  The projection target of the display light L is not limited to the windshield 3 but may be a combiner configured by a plate-shaped half mirror, a hologram element, or the like. Further, the display device that executes the above display control processing is not limited to the HUD device 10. The display device may be configured as a head mounted display (HMD) that is mounted on the head of the driver D of the vehicle 1. Then, the display control of the content image C may be executed by the same method as described above in the image displayed as a virtual image by the HMD. That is, the display device is not limited to the one mounted on the vehicle 1 and may be any device used in the vehicle 1.

The HUD device 10 (an example of a display device) described above displays a superimposed image that is visually recognized by the driver D (an example of a viewer) as a virtual image V that overlaps with the scenery in front of the vehicle 1.
The HUD device 10 includes object information acquisition means (for example, the control unit 31 that executes the process of step S1) that acquires information about an object existing in the forward landscape and that indicates object information indicating at least the position of the object, Identification means (for example, the control unit 31 that executes the process of step S2) for identifying the blind spot object B that is a blind spot for the driver D and the forward object F that is the cause of the blind spot based on the information, and display control of the superimposed image Display control means for controlling the display position and the display distance of the content image C in the display area of the superimposed image based on the object information (for example, control by the control unit 31 and the control unit 31 that execute the process of step S6) Display unit 20).
When the blind spot object B is specified, the display control means displays the content image C indicating the presence of the blind spot object B, and controls the display position so that the content image C is visually recognized at the position of the blind spot object B. The display distance is controlled so that the content image C is visually recognized closer to the vehicle 1 than the front end Ff of the front object F. Since it did in this way, the discomfort given to a viewer at the time of alert | reporting presence of the blind spot object B can be reduced as mentioned above.

  In the above description, in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, descriptions of known technical matters are omitted as appropriate.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Display system for vehicles 10 ... HUD apparatus 20 ... Display part 30 ... Control apparatus 31 ... Control part (31a ... CPU, 31b ... GPU)
32 ... ROM, 33 ... RAM
40 ... Peripheral information acquisition unit 50 ... Forward information acquisition unit 60 ... Viewpoint detection unit 70 ... ECU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle, 2 ... Dashboard, 3 ... Windshield D ... Driver, E ... Eye box, L ... Display light V ... Virtual image V1 ... Image which shows vehicle information C ... Content image (C1 ... 1st content image, C2 ... second content image)
F: Front object (Ff ... front end, Fr ... rear end)
B ... blind spot object (B1 ... first blind spot object, B2 ... second blind spot object)
NB ... Non-blind object

Claims (6)

A display device that displays a superimposed image that is visually recognized by a viewer as a virtual image that overlaps a front landscape of a vehicle,
Object information acquisition means for acquiring object information indicating at least a position of the object, which is information related to an object existing in the front landscape;
Identifying means for identifying a blind spot object that becomes a blind spot for the viewer based on the object information and a forward object that causes the blind spot;
Display control means for performing display control of the superimposed image, and controlling a display position and a display distance of the content image in a display area of the superimposed image based on the object information,
When the blind spot object is specified, the display control unit displays the content image indicating the presence of the blind spot object, and controls the display position so that the content image is visually recognized at the position of the blind spot object. And controlling the display distance so that the content image is visually recognized on the vehicle side from the front end of the front object.
Display device. The display control means indicates the blind spot object when a relative speed between the vehicle and the front object is less than a predetermined speed, or when a distance between the vehicle and the front object is a predetermined value or more. Hide content images,
The display device according to claim 1. The display control means increases the visibility of the content image indicating the blind spot object as the distance between the front object and the blind spot object is short.
The display device according to claim 1. The display control means, when there are a plurality of identified blind spot objects, the plurality of blind spot objects include a first blind spot object and a second blind spot object closer to the front object than the first blind spot object, Displaying a first content image showing the first blind spot object and a second content image showing the second blind spot object as content images;
Increasing the visibility of the second content image over the first content image;
The display device according to claim 1. The display control means, when there are a plurality of identified blind spot objects, displays the content image showing at least the dead spot object closest to the front object,
The display device according to claim 1. When the blind spot object is specified, the display control unit controls the display distance so that the content image is visually recognized on the vehicle side from the rear end of the front object.
The display device according to claim 1.