JP7255596B2 - Display control device, head-up display device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a head-up display device that is used in a vehicle and that superimposes a virtual image on the foreground of the vehicle for visual recognition, and a display control device used in the head-up display device.

In the head-up display device disclosed in Patent Literature 1, when a real object existing in the foreground approaches, the emphasized image displayed for the real object feels annoying. Secondly, the visibility of the enhanced image displayed for the real object is reduced (in Patent Document 1, the image is made darker or smaller).

JP 2015-11666 A

However, by reducing the visibility of the image with respect to the approaching real object, the annoyance of the image can be reduced, but the possibility of missing the approaching real object increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to facilitate recognition of an approaching real object while reducing the annoyance of images.

A first aspect of a display control device is a display control device that is mounted on a vehicle and displays a related information image of a real object existing in the foreground in a display area that overlaps the foreground of the vehicle. a first visibility adjustment unit that acquires a position and gradually reduces the visibility of the related information image as the distance to the real object becomes shorter or as the real object approaches the outer edge of the display area; When it is determined that the viewer's gaze range is acquired and the related information image is gazed at, the visibility of the related information image is increased, and then gradually increased based on the travel distance of the vehicle or the elapsed time. and a second visibility adjustment unit that lowers the visibility.

A real object approaching the vehicle is relatively less important to the viewer (the driver of the vehicle) because the risk of collision has already been dealt with, or the object is not of interest. or less important). According to the first aspect, as the real object approaches the vehicle, the visibility of the related information image decreases. However, if the viewer is interested in the real object approaching the vehicle or the related information image of this real object, the viewer may Since the visibility of the related information image temporarily increases based on the gaze of the related information image, it becomes easier to recognize the information related to the interesting real object. The visibility of the related information image temporarily rises, and then gradually decreases based on the travel distance of the vehicle or the elapsed time. It can be prevented and contribute to the safe driving of the vehicle.

1 is a block diagram functionally showing the configuration of a head-up display device according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the virtual image which the head-up display apparatus of the said embodiment displays. It is a flow chart which shows the 1st visibility adjustment processing which the head up display device of the above-mentioned embodiment performs. It is a flow chart which shows the 2nd visibility adjustment processing which the head up display device of the above-mentioned embodiment performs. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a virtual image when the first visibility adjustment process shown in FIG. 3 is executed; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a virtual image when the second visibility adjustment process shown in FIG. 4 is executed; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing visibility characteristics of a related information image with respect to distance in the first visibility adjustment process shown in FIG. 3 ; It is a figure which shows the visibility characteristic of the related information image with respect to time and a driving distance when the 2nd visibility adjustment process is performed before the 1st visibility adjustment process is performed. It is a figure which shows the visibility characteristic of the related information image with respect to time and a driving distance when the 2nd visibility adjustment process is performed after the 1st visibility adjustment process is performed. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a modified example of the visibility characteristic of the related information image with respect to time when the second visibility adjustment process is performed before the first visibility adjustment process is performed; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a modification of the visibility characteristic of the related information image with respect to time when the second visibility adjustment process is performed after the first visibility adjustment process is performed;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the present invention is not limited by the following embodiments (including the contents of the drawings). Modifications (including deletion of components) can be made to the following embodiments. In addition, in the following description, descriptions of known technical matters are omitted as appropriate in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a head-up display device (hereinafter referred to as HUD device 1) according to this embodiment. The HUD device 1 includes an image display unit 10 that displays a display image that is the source of a virtual image V (see FIG. 2), and display light of the display image displayed by the image display unit 10 to a projection target unit 2 (for example, the front of a vehicle). A relay optical unit 10a consisting of one or more optical members such as a reflective optical system, a refracting optical system, a diffractive optical system, etc., which appropriately magnifies and projects toward the windshield), and a display control that controls the display of the image display unit 10 and a device 20 .

The image display unit 10 receives projection light from a projector (not shown) using a reflective display device such as DMD or LCoS, displays a display image by receiving projection light from the projector, and displays display light ( (not shown) to the relay optical unit 10a. The image display unit 10 generates a virtual image in front of the viewer by displaying a display image on the screen based on image data input from the image generation unit 80 (display control device 20). The image display unit 10 may be, for example, a transmissive display panel such as a liquid crystal display element, a self-luminous display panel such as an organic EL element, or a scanning display device that scans laser light. When the display unit 10 is configured by a projector such as a reflective display device or a scanning display device, the screen can be said to be the display surface of the image display unit 10 . On the other hand, when the image display section 10 is composed of a transmissive display panel or a self-luminous display panel, the display area of the panel can be said to be the display surface of the image display section 10 .

The display control device 20 includes a first interface (identification information acquisition unit 30, position information acquisition unit 32, distance information acquisition unit 34, gaze position acquisition unit 40, vehicle state acquisition unit 50) and a Alternatively, together with the first interface, the second interface 60 for acquiring various information necessary for the processing of the display processing unit 70 and display control of a related information image V1 (a kind of virtual image V) described later are at least executed. A display processing unit 70 is provided.

The first interface (identification information acquisition unit 30, position information acquisition unit 32, distance information acquisition unit 34, gaze position acquisition unit 40, vehicle state acquisition unit 50) and second interface 60 can communicate with external devices. connected to The external devices include a real object identification unit 31, a real object position detection unit 33, a real object distance detection unit 35, a line of sight detection unit 41, a position detection unit 51, a direction detection unit 52, an orientation detection unit 53, a cloud server (external server ) 500, a vehicle ECU 600, a navigation system 700, other in-vehicle devices (not shown) in the own vehicle, portable devices in the own vehicle, other vehicles (vehicle-to-vehicle communication V2V), road communication infrastructure (road-to-vehicle communication V2I), walking mobile device of a person (V2P communication between a vehicle and a pedestrian). The HUD device 1 acquires various kinds of information and image element data that is the basis of the virtual image V from an external device via an interface, and displays the virtual image V according to the processing of the display processing unit 70 . Part or all of the image element data is stored in a storage unit 71, which will be described later, and the image generation unit 80, which will be described later, reads the image element data stored in the storage unit 71 according to an instruction from the display processing unit 70, Image data for displaying a display image that is the basis of the virtual image V on the image display unit 10 may be generated.

The identification information acquisition unit 30 is an input interface for acquiring identification information of a real object 300 existing in the foreground 200 of the own vehicle. It acquires the identification information from the unit 31 and outputs it to the display processing unit 70 . For example, the real object identification unit 31 captures (detects) the foreground 200 of the own vehicle, analyzes the imaged (detected) data, and generates identification information of the real object 300 in the foreground 200 of the own vehicle. have For example, the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit 30 is the type of the real object 300 . The types of real objects 300 are, for example, obstacles (other vehicles, people, animals, objects), road signs, roads, buildings, etc., but are not limited to these as long as they exist in the foreground 200 and can be identified. .

The position information acquisition unit 32 is an input interface that acquires the position of the real object 300 that exists in the foreground 200 of the own vehicle. The position of the real object 300 is acquired from the unit 33 and output to the display processing unit 70 . For example, the real object position detection unit 33 includes a position analysis unit (not shown) that captures (detects) the foreground 200 of the own vehicle, analyzes the captured (detected) data, and generates position information of the real object 300 in the foreground 200. have. In this case, the position information of the real object 300 acquired by the position information acquisition unit 32 includes the two-dimensional (vertical and horizontal directions) positions viewed from the viewer. Real coordinates or coordinates of the real object 300 in the display area 11 .

The distance information acquisition unit 34 is an input interface that acquires the distance to the real object 300 that exists in the foreground 200 of the own vehicle. The distance to the real object 300 is acquired from the detection unit 35 and output to the display processing unit 70 . For example, the real object distance detection unit 35 has a distance analysis unit (not shown) that captures (detects) the foreground 200 of the own vehicle, analyzes the captured (detected) data, and generates distance information to the real object 300 . In this case, the distance information of the real object 300 acquired by the distance information acquisition unit 34 is the distance from the own vehicle or from the HUD device 1 to the real object 300 .

Note that the analysis units (identification unit, position analysis unit, distance analysis unit) described above may be provided in the HUD device 1 . Specifically, the analysis unit may be provided in the display processing unit 70. In this case, the identification information acquired by the identification information acquisition unit 30, the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit 32, the distance information acquisition The distance information acquired by the unit 34 is captured (detected) data of the foreground 200 captured (detected) by the real object identification unit 31 (the real object position detection unit 33 and the real object distance detection unit 35). Some or all of the identification information acquisition unit 30, the position information acquisition unit 32, and the distance information acquisition unit 34 may share the same camera, sensor, and analysis unit. Note that, hereinafter, the identification information, position information, and distance information of the real object 300 are also collectively referred to as real object information.

In another embodiment, instead of the identification information acquisition unit 30 (or/and the position information acquisition unit 32 and/or the distance information acquisition unit 34), or the identification information acquisition unit 30 (or/and the position information acquisition unit 32) Or/and the distance information acquisition unit 34), the second interface 60 may function as the identification information acquisition unit 30 (position information acquisition unit 32, distance information acquisition unit 34). In other words, the second interface 60 connects the cloud server 500, the vehicle ECU 600, the navigation system 700, other in-vehicle devices (not shown) in the own vehicle, portable devices in the own vehicle, other vehicles (vehicle-to-vehicle communication V2V), road real object information may be acquired from the communication infrastructure (V2I road-to-vehicle communication) and mobile devices of pedestrians (V2P communication between vehicles and pedestrians). The second interface 60, for example, from the cloud server 500, the vehicle ECU 600, the navigation system 700, along with the map information, location information, identification information, coordinate information (distance information) of real objects 300 such as road signs, roads, buildings, etc. etc. can be obtained from other vehicles (vehicle-to-vehicle communication V2V) not shown, road communication infrastructure (road-to-vehicle communication V2I), mobile devices of pedestrians (vehicle-pedestrian communication V2P), obstacles (Other vehicles, people, animals, things), road signs, location information such as roads, identification information, coordinate information (distance information), etc. can be acquired. The display processing unit 70 outputs the position information of the own vehicle or the HUD device 1 (or the direction information of the own vehicle may be added) to the external device via the second interface 60, and the external device , based on the input positional information (additional direction information) of the own vehicle or the HUD device 1, outputs the positional information, the identification information, and the distance information of the real object 300 existing in the foreground 200 of the own vehicle to the second interface 60. may Note that the identification information may be individual identification information that is more detailed than the type of the real object 300 .

The gaze position acquisition unit 40 is an input interface for acquiring gaze information regarding the range (gazing range GZ) where the viewer is gazing. is acquired and output to the display processing unit 70 . The gaze range GZ of the viewer is a region where the viewer is looking (gazes), and is a fixed range that includes the point of sight (point of gaze) and is usually possible for a person to gaze. Note that the method of setting the gaze range GZ of the viewer is not limited to this. , 1 second) may be set as the gaze range GZ.

The vehicle state acquisition unit 50 acquires information about the vehicle state (position, direction, attitude). The vehicle state acquisition unit 50 acquires the position information of the vehicle or the HUD device 1 detected by a position detection unit 51 such as a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), and obtains the position information of the vehicle or the HUD device 1 detected by a direction detection unit 52 formed of a direction sensor. Direction information indicating the direction of the vehicle or the HUD device 1 is acquired, and posture information indicating the height of the vehicle from the road surface and/or the angle with respect to the road surface detected by the posture detection unit 53 consisting of a height sensor and an acceleration sensor is acquired. , to the display processing unit 70 .

Display processing unit 70 includes at least one processor (e.g., central processing unit (CPU)), at least one application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and at least one application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and/or It includes at least one semiconductor integrated circuit, such as at least one Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). At least one processor reads one or more commands from at least one computer-readable and tangible recording medium to determine whether or not notification is required, the first visibility adjustment unit 73, and the second visibility adjustment unit 73. All or part of the functions of the display processing unit 70 including the adjusting unit 74 can be performed. Such recording media include any type of magnetic media such as hard disks, any type of optical media such as CDs and DVDs, any type of semiconductor memory such as volatile memory, and non-volatile memory. . Volatile memory includes DRAM and SRAM, and non-volatile memory includes ROM and NVROM. A semiconductor memory is also a semiconductor circuit that is part of a circuit with at least one processor. An ASIC is an integrated circuit customized to perform all or part of the functional blocks shown in FIG. 1, and an FPGA is designed to perform all or part of the functional blocks shown in FIG. 1 after fabrication. integrated circuit. Note that the display processing unit 70 may have an image generation unit 80 that generates image data for displaying a display image (an image that is the source of the virtual image V) on the image display unit 10, but the image generation unit Some or all of the functions of 80 may be provided separately from the display control device 20 or the HUD device 1 .

The notification necessity determination unit 72 determines the necessity of notification of the real object 300 based on information acquired from the identification information acquisition unit 30, the position information acquisition unit 32, the distance information acquisition unit 34, and the like, and determines whether to notify the viewer. determine whether or not When the notification necessity level becomes higher than a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that it is necessary to notify the viewer. The notification necessity level is, for example, the degree of danger derived from the degree of seriousness of a situation that can occur with respect to the real object 300, the degree of urgency derived from the length of reaction time required to take a reaction action, and the like. It may be determined only by real object information about the real object 300 acquired by the information acquisition unit 30, the position information acquisition unit 32, and the distance information acquisition unit 34. It may be determined based on information. Note that the notification necessity determining unit 72 essentially has a function of determining whether or not to notify the viewer of the presence of the real object 300 based on the notification necessity degree. , and part or all of the function for determining the necessity of notification may be provided separately from the display control device 20 . The display processing unit 70 instructs the image generation unit 80 to display at least the related information image V1 (and the emphasized image V2) for the real object 300 for which the notification necessity determination unit 72 determines that notification is necessary. do. The necessity of notification is not limited to the method using the degree of danger or the degree of urgency. For example, if information about the real object 300 that is useful for the viewer is obtained from the cloud server 500, the vehicle ECU 600, and the navigation system 700, the notification necessity determination unit 72 may determine that notification is necessary. In addition, the real object 300 does not have to be visible to the viewer, and the display processing unit 70 is required to notify even when it is hidden behind other objects in the foreground 200 or when it is too far away to be visually recognized. Even if the image generator 80 is instructed to display the related information image V1 for the real object 300 at a predetermined position or to display the emphasized image V2 in the direction of the real object 300 for which notification is required, good.

The first visibility adjustment unit 73 determines the presence or absence of related information for the real object 300 that the notification necessity determination unit 72 has determined to require notification. The image generator 80 is instructed to display. The first visibility adjustment unit 73 acquires the identification information of the real object 300 from the identification information acquisition unit 30 or the second interface 60, and the related information corresponding to this identification information is stored in the storage unit 71 or the second interface 60. If it exists in the external device through which the related information exists, it is determined that the related information exists.

Also, the first visibility adjustment unit 73 adjusts the visibility of the virtual image V (the related information image V1 and the enhanced image V2). As a technique for changing the "visibility" referred to here, for example, the luminance, brightness, color, or a combination thereof of the virtual image V is changed. The first visibility adjustment section 73 changes the visibility of the related information image V1 based on the distance information of the real object 300 acquired from the real object distance detection section 35 . Specifically, the first visibility adjustment unit 73 gradually lowers the visibility of the related information image V1 as the real object 300 approaches.

As a modification, the first visibility adjustment unit 73 adjusts the visibility of the related information image V1 based on the position of the real object 300 within the display area 11 (or the position of the enhanced image V2 displayed with respect to the real object 300). You can change it. Specifically, the first visibility adjustment unit 73 identifies the position of the real object 300 within the display area 11 based on the position information of the real object 300 acquired from the real object position detection unit 33, and detects the position of the real object 300. approaches the outer edge of the display area 11, the visibility of the related information image V1 may be gradually lowered. In this way, the first visibility adjustment unit 73 adjusts the visibility based on the distance information (the depth direction viewed from the viewer) or the position information (the vertical direction and/or the horizontal direction viewed from the viewer) of the real object 300. is called a first visibility adjustment process.

The second visibility adjustment unit 74 determines whether the viewer is viewing the real object 300 (or the enhanced image V2 displayed for the real object 300) or the related information image V1. do. The second visibility adjustment unit 74 acquires the position information of the currently displayed related information image V1 and the emphasized image V2 stored in the storage unit 71, and acquires the position information of the real object 300 from the position information acquisition unit 32. Then, the gaze range GZ is acquired from the gaze position acquisition unit 40, and determination is made based on the position information of the related information image V1 or the enhanced image V2 and the gaze range GZ.

Further, the second visibility adjustment unit 74 adjusts the visibility when the viewer views the real object 300 (or the enhanced image V2 displayed for the real object 300) or the related information image V1. After increasing the visibility, it is possible to execute a second visibility adjustment process to decrease the visibility. When the viewer does not visually recognize the real object 300 (and the enhanced image V2 displayed for the real object 300) and does not visually recognize the related information image V1, the second visibility adjustment unit 74 , the first visibility adjustment process is executed, and when the viewer views the real object 300 (or the enhanced image V2 displayed for the real object 300) or the related information image V1, the second 2 Execute visibility adjustment processing.

Next, the virtual image V displayed by the HUD device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In the example of FIG. 2, the real object 300 is a parking lot. It is displayed on the top edge 12 . The display processing unit 70 displays the emphasized image V2 in the vicinity of the real object 300 determined to require notification by the notification necessity determination unit 72 or at a position where the real object 300 exists although it is not visually recognized, and displays the related information image of the real object 300. V1 is displayed at a predetermined specific position of the display area 11 (upper end 12 in the example of FIG. 2). The specific position is preferably the upper end portion 12 or the lower end portion 13 when the vertical direction of the display area 11 in which the HUD 10 can display the virtual image V is divided into four equal parts. It may be the upper end portion 12 or the lower end portion 13 in the case of being. In other words, the display area 11 has a vertical width of about twice the vertical width of the upper end portion 12 displaying the related information image V1 (the length between the upper end of the display area 11 and the lower end of the related information image V1). or the vertical width of the lower end portion 13 displaying the related information image V1 (the width between the lower end of the display region 11 and the upper end of the related information image V1). It is preferable to provide an area having a vertical width of about twice the length between the lower ends 13 above the lower end portion 13 .

Next, refer to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of main procedures of the first visibility adjustment process related to display control of the HUD device 1 of this embodiment. When the HUD device 1 is activated, the first visibility adjustment process is started.

First, real object information (identification information, position information, distance information) is acquired (step S1), and it is determined whether the real object 300 should be notified to the viewer (step S2). is displayed in the vicinity of (step S3), and in the case of NO, the first visibility adjustment process is terminated.

Subsequently, it is determined whether the display condition for the related information image V1 is satisfied (step S4). If YES, the related information image V1 is displayed (step S5). If NO, the related information image V1 is not displayed. Or, if the related information image V1 is displayed, it is hidden (step S6), and the first visibility adjustment process ends. The display condition of the related information image V1 in step S4 includes at least that there is related information for the real object 300, and in addition, it can be determined that the priority (necessity) of the related information image V1 is high depending on the situation. may contain

After that, it is determined whether or not the condition for executing the first visibility adjustment process is satisfied (step S7). It is lowered based on the position information (step S8, also referred to as first visibility adjustment processing), and in the case of NO, the first visibility adjustment processing is terminated. The condition for executing the first visibility adjustment process in step S7 is that the real object 300 is within a predetermined distance Dm (see FIG. being within a defined region (not shown); In the first visibility adjustment process in step S8, as the real object 300 approaches or as the real object 300 approaches the outer edge of the display area 11, the visibility of the related information image V1 is gradually lowered. To automatically lower the visibility of related information of a real object 300 whose notification priority (necessity) is lowered when approaching a vehicle, to make it difficult for the visual attention of a viewer to be deprived, and to concentrate on vehicle operation. can be done.

Reference is now made to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of main procedures of the second visibility adjustment process related to display control of the HUD device 1 of this embodiment. After the first visibility adjustment process ends, the second visibility adjustment process is started. Note that when the second visibility adjustment process ends, the first visibility adjustment process is restarted.

First, the gaze range GZ of the viewer is acquired (step S11), and it is determined whether or not the related information image V1 is being gazed at (step S12). The adjustment process is terminated.

Subsequently, in step S13, it is determined whether or not the related information image V1 determined to be watched in step S12 is undergoing the first visibility adjustment process. In other words, it is determined in step S8 whether the conditions for the first visibility adjustment process are satisfied. If YES in step S13, the current visibility of the related information image V1 is acquired (step S14), the visibility is increased by a predetermined value based on the current visibility (step S15), and then The visibility is lowered (step S16), the second visibility adjustment process is terminated, and the routine starts again from the first visibility adjustment process. In the case of NO in step S13, the visibility is increased by a predetermined value based on the normal visibility of the related information image V1 (step S15), then the visibility is decreased (step S16), and the visibility is reduced (step S16). The property adjustment process is terminated, and the routine starts again from the first visibility adjustment process. The processing from step S13 to step S16 is called second visibility adjustment processing. That is, when the viewer views the related information image V1, the first visibility adjustment process in which the visibility gradually decreases is interrupted, and the visibility increases. Difficult situations can be avoided, and the related information image V1 can be easily recognized.

Next, the first visibility adjustment process and the second visibility adjustment process will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. FIG. FIG. 5 shows a foreground 200 that is visually recognized through the projection target 2 (the front windshield of the vehicle) when the viewer faces forward, and the foreground 200 when the first visibility adjustment process in the present embodiment is executed. It is a figure which shows the virtual image V of .

In FIG. 5A, since the real object 300 is located far away (more than the predetermined distance Dm), the result of step S7 in FIG. 3 is NO, and the first visibility adjustment process is executed in step S8. A related information image V1 that is not displayed and a rectangular emphasized image V2 near the real object 300 are displayed. The visibility of the related information image V1 at this time is an initial value Lm (see FIG. 7), which will be described later.

In FIG. 5B, as the vehicle travels, the real object 300 approaches (closer than the predetermined distance Dm), so YES is determined in step S7 of FIG. , and a rectangular emphasized image V2 near the real object 300 are displayed. The visibility of the related information image V1 at this time is set to be lower than the initial value Lm.

In FIG. 5C, since the real object 300 is located nearby (closer than the predetermined distance Ds), the related information image V1 is subjected to the first visibility adjustment process in step S8, and the visibility is reduced. The visibility of the enhanced image V2 is zero (not displayed) because the real object 300 is outside the display area 11 as seen from the viewer. That is, in the example of the first visibility adjustment process shown in FIG. 5, the visibility of the related information image V1 is lowered as the real object 300 approaches. In the example of FIG. 5, the visibility of the enhanced image V2 is also lowered as the distance to the real object 300 becomes shorter (or as the real object 300 approaches the outer edge of the display area 11), but this is not the only option. not.

FIG. 6 shows a foreground 200 that is visually recognized through the projection target portion (the windshield of the vehicle) 2 when the viewer faces forward, and a view of the foreground 200 when the second visibility adjustment process in this embodiment is executed. 3 is a diagram showing a virtual image V; FIG.

In FIGS. 6A and 6B, since the real object 300 is located far away (farther than the predetermined distance Dm), the result in step S7 in FIG. 3 is NO, and the first visual recognition in step S8 A related information image V1 on which sex adjustment processing has not been performed and a rectangular emphasized image V2 near the real object 300 are displayed. In FIG. 6B, since the related information image V1 is visually recognized by the viewer (the related information image V1 is included in the gaze range GZ), YES is obtained in step S12 of FIG. 4, and visibility is increased in step S15. and a rectangular emphasized image V2 near the real object 300 are displayed. At this time, if the related information image V1 is undergoing the first visibility adjustment process, the visibility of the related information image V1 is set to be increased by a predetermined value based on the visibility. is not during the first visibility adjustment process, it is set to be increased by a predetermined value based on normal visibility (initial value Lm). In FIG. 6(c), the related information image V1 for which visibility reduction in step S16 of FIG. That is, in the example of the second visibility adjustment process shown in FIG. 6, the related information image V1 is highlighted when the related information image V1 is visually recognized, and then the visibility is lowered.

FIG. 7 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the distance to the real object 300 and the visibility of the related information image V1 in the first visibility adjustment process of this embodiment. If the distance to the real object 300 is equal to or greater than the predetermined first distance threshold value Dm, the determination in step S7 in FIG. If the distance is less than the threshold value Dm, the result is YES in step S7 of FIG. 3, and the process proceeds to step S8. display) (the first visibility adjustment process is executed). The relationship between the distance and the visibility between the first distance threshold Dm and the second distance threshold Ds is linear in the example of FIG. may be changed to

FIG. 8 is a time chart showing changes in the visibility of the related information image V1 due to the second visibility adjustment process, and FIG. 8A shows the distance D1 in FIG. FIG. 8B is a time chart of the visibility of the related information image V1 by the second visibility adjustment process when the viewer gazes at the related information image V1 at the time (time t10), and FIG. 8 is a time chart of the visibility of the related information image V1 by the second visibility adjustment process when the viewer gazes at the related information image V1 at the distance D2 in FIG. 7 (time t20) after the process is started; .

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8A, when the related information image V1 is gazed at, the visibility (initial visibility Lm) at that time is used as a reference, and the visibility gradually increases over a certain first period Ta (for example, 1 second). , the visibility is maintained constant until the vehicle travels a certain first travel distance La, and then the vehicle travels a second travel distance Lb. The visibility is gradually reduced until the visibility becomes 0 (zero). By gradually increasing the visibility of the related information image V1, the viewer's visual attention can be maintained or easily redirected to the related information image V1 whose visibility has been increased.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8B, when the related information image V1 is gazed at, the visibility at that time (visibility L2 adjusted corresponding to the distance D2 by the first display adjustment process shown in FIG. 7) is used as a reference, The visibility is gradually increased by a predetermined constant value over a constant first period Ta, and then the visibility is maintained constant until the vehicle travels a constant first travel distance La, and then , the visibility is gradually lowered to 0 (zero) until the vehicle further travels the third traveling distance Lc. Note that the rate of decrease in visibility with respect to an increase in travel distance is the visibility when the second visibility adjustment process is executed (Lm at time t10 in FIG. 8A, L2 (<Lm) at time t20 in FIG. 8B ), but is not limited to this. For example, the lower the visibility when the second visibility adjustment process is performed, the steeper the decrease rate may be (unit The rate at which the visibility decreases per mileage may be increased).

FIG. 9 is a time chart showing changes in the visibility of the related information image V1 due to the second visibility adjustment process, and FIG. 9A shows the distance D1 in FIG. FIG. 9B is a time chart of the visibility of the related information image V1 by the second visibility adjustment process when the viewer gazes at the related information image V1 at the time (time t30), and FIG. 8 is a time chart of the visibility of the related information image V1 by the second visibility adjustment process when the viewer gazes at the related information image V1 at the time of the distance D2 in FIG. 7 (time t40) after the process is started; .

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9A, when the related information image V1 is gazed at, the visibility (initial visibility Lm) at that time is used as a reference, and the predetermined constant is gradually applied over a constant first period Ta. The visibility is increased by the value of , and then the visibility is kept constant until a certain second period Tb elapses, and then the visibility becomes 0 (zero) by the time the third period Tc elapses Gradually decrease the visibility so that

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 9B, when the related information image V1 is gazed at, the visibility at that time (visibility L2 adjusted corresponding to the distance D2 by the first display adjustment process shown in FIG. 7) is used as a reference, The visibility is gradually increased by a predetermined constant value over a constant first period Ta, then the visibility is maintained constant until a constant second period Tb elapses, and then the second constant period Tb elapses. The visibility is gradually lowered so that the visibility becomes 0 (zero) before the period Td (<Tc) of 4 elapses. Note that the rate of decrease in visibility over time is the visibility when the second visibility adjustment process is performed (Lm at time t30 in FIG. 9A and L2 (<Lm) at time t40 in FIG. 9B). However, it is not limited to this, and for example, the lower the visibility when the second visibility adjustment process is executed, the steeper the decrease rate may be (per unit time (You may increase the rate at which the visibility of is reduced). Note that, in the second visibility adjustment process, rather than increasing the visibility by a certain value from the visibility adjusted in the first display adjustment process over a certain first period Ta, a specific visibility (eg, normal visibility Lm).

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 HUD device (head-up display device) 2 windshield 10 image display unit 10a relay optical unit 11 display area 12 upper end 13 lower end 20 display control device 30 ... identification information acquisition section, 31 ... real object identification section, 32 ... position information acquisition section, 33 ... real object position detection section, 34 ... distance information acquisition section, 35 ... real object distance detection section, 40 ... gaze position acquisition section, 41 line-of-sight detection unit 50 vehicle state acquisition unit 51 position detection unit 52 direction detection unit 53 attitude detection unit 60 second interface 70 display processing unit 71 storage unit 72 ... notification necessity determination unit, 73 ... first visibility adjustment unit, 74 ... second visibility adjustment unit, 80 ... image generation unit, 200 ... foreground, 300 ... real object, 500 ... cloud server, 600 ... vehicle ECU, 700... Navigation system, GZ... Gaze range, V... Virtual image, V1... Related information image, V2... Emphasized image

Claims (5)

A display control device that is mounted on a vehicle and includes an image generation unit that generates a related information image of a real object existing in the foreground in a display area that overlaps the foreground of the vehicle,
one or more processors;
memory;
one or more instructions stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors;
The one or more processors are
obtaining the position of the real object;
gradually reducing the visibility of the related information image as the distance to the real object becomes shorter or as the real object approaches the outer edge of the display area;
Get the gaze range of the viewer,
When it is determined that the related information image has been watched, the visibility of the related information image is gradually increased over a predetermined period of time, and then gradually decreased based on the distance traveled by the vehicle or the elapsed time. , execute the instruction,
Display controller. A display control device that is mounted on a vehicle and includes an image generation unit that generates a related information image of a real object existing in the foreground in a display area that overlaps the foreground of the vehicle,
one or more processors;
memory;
one or more instructions stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors;
The one or more processors are
obtaining the position of the real object;
gradually reducing the visibility of the related information image as the distance to the real object becomes shorter or as the real object approaches the outer edge of the display area;
Get the gaze range of the viewer,
when it is determined that the related information image has been watched, the visibility of the related information image is increased, and then gradually decreased based on the travel distance of the vehicle or the elapsed time ;
When it is determined that the related information image has been gazed at and the visibility of the related information image has been lowered from normal visibility, the visibility of the related information image is gradually increased to the normal visibility over a predetermined period of time. raise , carry out orders,
Display controller. A display control device that is mounted on a vehicle and includes an image generation unit that generates a related information image of a real object existing in the foreground in a display area that overlaps the foreground of the vehicle,
one or more processors;
memory;
one or more instructions stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors;
The one or more processors are
obtaining the position of the real object;
gradually reducing the visibility of the related information image as the distance to the real object becomes shorter or as the real object approaches the outer edge of the display area;
Get the gaze range of the viewer,
when it is determined that the related information image has been watched, the visibility of the related information image is increased, and then gradually decreased based on the travel distance of the vehicle or the elapsed time ;
Execute a command to keep the rate of decrease in visibility based on the distance traveled or the elapsed time constant regardless of the visibility of the related information image when it is determined that the related information image has been watched. ,
Display controller. A display control device that is mounted on a vehicle and includes an image generation unit that generates a related information image of a real object existing in the foreground in a display area that overlaps the foreground of the vehicle,
one or more processors;
memory;
one or more instructions stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors;
The one or more processors are
obtaining the position of the real object;
gradually reducing the visibility of the related information image as the distance to the real object becomes shorter or as the real object approaches the outer edge of the display area;
Get the gaze range of the viewer,
when it is determined that the related information image has been watched, the visibility of the related information image is increased, and then gradually decreased based on the travel distance of the vehicle or the elapsed time ;
The one or more processors are
further displaying an enhanced image that emphasizes the real object at a position overlapping the real object or in the vicinity of the real object;
Gradually reducing the visibility of the enhanced image as the distance to the real object becomes shorter or as the real object approaches the outer edge of the display area;
executing an instruction not to adjust the visibility of the enhanced image even if it is determined that the enhanced image has been gazed upon ;
Display controller. A display control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ;
an image display unit that displays an image that is the source of the related information image under the control of the display control device;
A head-up display device, comprising: a relay optical unit for visually recognizing a virtual image of the image by projecting the image displayed by the image display unit toward a projection target unit.

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