Vehicle and method of controlling the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11364894-B2
Application number	US-201916507912-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 10, 2019
Priority date	Oct 29, 2018
Publication date	Jun 21, 2022
Grant date	Jun 21, 2022

Abstract

A vehicle includes at least one speaker, a camera configured to obtain a passenger's image, and a controller. The controller is configured to identify the passenger, to search for the identified passenger and emotion tag information related to a sound source output through the at least one speaker, and to control the at least one speaker or obtain passenger's emotional information according to the search result.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
at least one speaker;
a camera configured to capture inside of the vehicle and generate image data;
a sensor configured to measure a bio-signal of a passenger;
a storage configured to store a sound source and store emotion tag information related to the sound source; and
a controller configured to:
control the at least one speaker to output the sound source stored in the storage,
receive the image data from the camera,
identify the passenger and a position of the passenger based on the received image data,
search for the emotion tag information related to the identified passenger and the output sound source in the storage, and
when the emotion tag information is detected in the storage, adjust an output size and an output direction of the at least one speaker based on the detected emotion tag information and the position of the passenger, or
when the emotion tag information is not detected in the storage, obtain emotional information of the passenger based on at least one of the bio-signal or the image data and adjust the output size and the output direction of the at least one speaker based on the obtained emotional information and the position of the passenger.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to extract an emotion factor from the obtained emotional information, and to adjust the output size and the output direction of the at least one speaker so that the emotion factor is increased or decreased.

3. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the emotion tag information based on the adjusted output size and the adjusted output direction of the at least one speaker corresponding to the obtained emotional information, and add the generated emotion tag information to the output sound source.

4. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to extract a passenger facial expression from the image data obtained for the predetermined time after the sound source is output, and obtain the emotional information based on the extracted passenger facial expression.

5. The vehicle according to claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:
identify a plurality of passengers and a position of each of the plurality of passengers based on the obtained image data by the camera; and
search for a plurality of emotion tag information related to each of the plurality of passengers in the storage.

6. The vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein, when the plurality of emotion tag information related to each of the plurality of passengers is detected, the controller is configured to adjust the output size and the output direction of the at least one speaker based on the detected plurality of emotion tag information and the position of each of the plurality of passengers.

7. The vehicle according to claim 5 , wherein, when the plurality of emotion tag information related to each of the plurality of passengers is not detected, the controller is configured to:
obtain emotion information of each of the plurality of passengers for a predetermined time after the sound source is output; and
adjust the output size and the output direction of the at least one speaker based on the obtained emotion information of each of the plurality of passengers and the position of each of the plurality of passengers.

8. The vehicle according to claim 7 , wherein the controller is configured to generate the plurality of emotion tag information based on the adjusted output size and the adjusted output direction of the at least one speaker corresponding to the obtained emotion information of each of the plurality of passengers, and add the generated plurality of emotion tag information to the output sound source.

9. A method of controlling a vehicle, the method comprising:
outputting a sound source stored in a storage through at least one speaker;
obtaining, by a camera, image data inside the vehicle;
identifying, by a controller, a passenger and a position of the identified passenger based on the obtained image data;
measuring, by the sensor, a bio-signal of the identified passenger;
searching for, by the controller, emotion tag information related to the identified passenger and the output sound source in the storage; and
when the emotion tag information is detected in the storage, adjusting an output size and an output direction of the at least one speaker based on the detected emotion tag information and the position of the identified passenger, or
when the emotion tag information is not detected in the storage, obtaining emotional information of the identified passenger based on at least one of the bio-signal or the image data and adjusting the output size and the output direction of the at least one speaker based on the obtained emotional information and the position of the identified passenger.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the adjusting the output size and the output direction of the at least one speaker comprises:
extracting an emotion factor from the obtained emotional information; and
adjusting the output size and the output direction of the at least one speaker so that the emotion factor is increased or decreased.

11. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:
generating, by the controller, the emotion tag information based on the adjusted output size and the adjusted output direction of the at least one speaker corresponding to the obtained emotional information; and
adding, by the controller, the generated emotion tag information to the output sound source.

12. The method according to claim 9 , further comprising:
extracting, by the controller, a passenger facial expression from the image data for a predetermined time after the sound source is output; and
obtaining, by the controller, the emotional information based on the extracted passenger facial expression.

13. A method of controlling a vehicle, the method comprising:
outputting a sound source stored in a storage through at least one speaker;
obtaining, by a camera image data inside the vehicle;
identifying, by a controller, a plurality of passengers and a position of each of the plurality of passengers based on the obtained image data;
measuring, by the sensor, bio-signals of the plurality of passengers;
searching for, by the controller, a plurality of emotion tag information related to each of the plurality of passengers and the output sound source in the storage; and
when the plurality of emotion tag information is detected in the storage, adjusting an output size and an output direction of the at least one speaker based on the detected plurality of emotion tag information and the position of each of the plurality of the passengers, or
when the plurality of emotion tag information is not detected in the storage, obtaining emotional information of each of the plurality of passengers based on at least one of the bio-signals or the image data and adjusting the output size and the output direction of the at least one speaker based on the obtained emotional information and the position of each of the plurality of passengers.

14. The method according to claim 13 , further comprising:
generating, by the controller, the plurality of emotion tag information based on the adjusted output size and the adjusted output direction of the at least one speaker corresponding to the obtained emotion information of each of the plurality of passengers; and
adding, by the controller, the generated plurality of emotion tag information to the output sound source.

Assignees

• Hyundai Motor Co Ltd
• Kia Motors Corp

Inventors

• Youn Seok-Young
• Han Jimin
• Lee Jia
• Kim Kye Yoon
• Woo Seunghyun

Classifications

• 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

• B60K35/26

  using acoustic output · CPC title

• B60K35/60

  Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles (arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10) · 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