Inter-occupant conversation device and inter-occupant conversation method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11328720-B2
Application number	US-201716755856-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 26, 2017
Priority date	Dec 26, 2017
Publication date	May 10, 2022
Grant date	May 10, 2022

Abstract

A rear display displays a driver image of a driver to a rear occupant. An operational information acquisition unit acquires operational information for changing a size of the driver image displayed on the rear display. An image control unit changes the size of the driver image displayed on the rear display, on the basis of the operational information acquired by the operational information acquisition unit. A sound control unit controls, at a time of generating a synthetic sound by combining a spoken voice of the driver with a reproduced sound of an AV source, a sound-level ratio between the spoken voice of the driver and the reproduced sound of the AV source, on the basis of the size of the driver image displayed on the rear display. A rear speaker outputs the synthetic sound generated by the sound control unit toward the rear occupant.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An inter-occupant conversation device, comprising:
a first display to display a first occupant image of a first occupant to a second occupant;
processing circuitry to
acquire operational information for changing a size of the first occupant image displayed on the first display;
change the size of the first occupant image displayed on the first display, on a basis of the acquired operational information; and
control, at a time of generating a synthetic sound by combining a spoken voice of the first occupant with a reproduced sound of an AV source, a sound-level ratio between the spoken voice of the first occupant and the reproduced sound of the AV source, on a basis of the size of the first occupant image displayed on the first display; and

a first sound speaker to output the synthetic sound generated by the processing circuitry to the second occupant, so that both a first sound level of the spoken voice of the first occupant and a second sound level of the reproduced sound of the AV source are set on a basis of the controlled sound-level ratio.

2. The inter-occupant conversation device according to claim 1 , wherein
the processing circuitry causes the sound-level ratio between the spoken voice of the first occupant and the reproduced sound of the AV source to correspond to a screen-size ratio between the first occupant image and the first display.

3. The inter-occupant conversation device according to claim 1 , wherein
the processing circuitry controls the sound-level ratio by preferentially changing a sound level of the spoken voice of the first occupant and then, when the sound level of the spoken voice of the first occupant has reached a predetermined upper limit, controls the sound-level ratio by changing a sound level of the reproduced sound of the AV source.

4. The inter-occupant conversation device according to claim 1 , wherein
the processing circuitry controls the sound-level ratio by preferentially changing a sound level of the reproduced sound of the AV source.

5. The inter-occupant conversation device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a second display to display a second occupant image of the second occupant to the first occupant, wherein the processing circuitry changes a size of the second occupant image displayed on the second display, on a basis of acquired operational information for changing the size of the second occupant image displayed on the second display, and controls, at a time of generating a synthetic sound by combining a spoken voice of the second occupant with a reproduced sound of the AV source, a sound-level ratio between the spoken voice of the second occupant and the reproduced sound of the AV source, on a basis of the size of the second occupant image displayed on the second display; and
a second speaker to output the synthetic sound generated by the second sound control unit to the first occupant.

6. The inter-occupant conversation device according to claim 1 , wherein when determining that the size of the first occupant image on the first display is changed, the processing circuitry calculates a screen size ratio between the first occupant image and a reproduced image of the AV source and calculates the sound level of the spoken voice of the first occupant on the basis of the calculated screen size ratio.

7. The inter-occupant conversation device according to claim 6 , wherein when determining that the calculated sound level of the spoken voice of the first occupant exceeds a predetermined upper limit, the processing circuitry sets the sound level of the spoken voice of the first occupant to the predetermined upper limit.

8. The inter-occupant conversation device according to claim 7 , wherein when setting the sound level of the spoken voice of the first occupant to the predetermined upper limit, the processing circuitry calculates the sound level of the reproduced sound of the AV source on the basis of the calculated screen size ratio and the predetermined upper limit.

9. An inter-occupant conversation method, comprising:
displaying a first occupant image of a first occupant to a second occupant;
acquiring operational information for changing a size of the first occupant image displayed on a first display;
changing the size of the first occupant image displayed on the first display, on a basis of the acquired operational information;
controlling, at a time of generating a synthetic sound by combining a spoken voice of the first occupant with a reproduced sound of an AV source, a sound-level ratio between the spoken voice of the first occupant and the reproduced sound of the AV source, on a basis of the size of the first occupant image displayed on the first display; and
outputting the generated synthetic sound to the second occupant, so that both a first sound level of the spoken voice of the first occupant and a second sound level of the reproduced sound of the AV source are set on a basis of the control led sound-level ratio.

Assignees

• Mitsubishi Electric Corp

Inventors

• Yoshinaga Ryuji

Classifications

• B60K35/29

  Instruments characterised by the way in which information is handled, e.g. showing information on plural displays or prioritising information according to driving conditions · CPC title

• B60K35/28

  characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver · CPC title

• B60K35/85

  Arrangements for transferring vehicle- or driver-related data · CPC title

• B60K35/22

  Display screens · CPC title

• B60K35/10

  Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor · CPC title