Display control device and display control program product

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11996018-B2
Application number	US-202217568638-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 4, 2022
Priority date	Jul 8, 2019
Publication date	May 28, 2024
Grant date	May 28, 2024

Abstract

A display control device mounted on a vehicle: determines whether a caution point exists in front of a vehicle; determines whether the caution point is included in an angle of view of a head-up display mounted on the vehicle; displays a caution content as a superimposed content with the caution point as a superimposition target in response to the caution point being determined to be included in the angle of view; displays the caution content as a non-superimposed content with no superimposition target in response to the caution point being determined to be not included in the angle of view; determines a type of the caution point; displays the caution content associated with the determined type of the caution point.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A display control device used in a vehicle to control a display on a head-up display, the display control device comprising:
a point determination unit determining whether a caution point exists in front of the vehicle along a traveling direction of the vehicle;
an angle of view determination unit determining whether the caution point is included in an angle of view of the head-up display; and
a display control unit displaying a caution content notifying an existence of the caution point to an occupant of the vehicle in response to the point determination unit determining the existence of the caution point,
wherein
the display control unit displays the caution content as a superimposed content, which is displayed with the caution point as a superimposition target, in response to the angle of view determination unit determining that the caution point is included in the angle of view,
the display control unit displays the caution content as a non-superimposed content, which is displayed with no superimposition target, in response to the angle of view determination unit determining that the caution point is not included in the angle of view,
the point determination unit determines a type of the caution point, and
the display control unit notifies the existence of the caution point to the occupant by displaying the caution content associated with the type of the caution point determined by the point determination unit.

2. The display control device according to claim 1 , wherein
as the caution point, the point determination unit determines whether a temporary stop point exists in front of the vehicle along the traveling direction,
in response to the point determination unit determining an existence of the temporary stop point, the display control unit displays the caution content indicating the existence of the temporary stop point,
the point determination unit further determines whether the temporary stop point is related to a railroad crossing, and
the display control unit displays the caution content in a manner that an emphasis degree of the temporary stop point indicated by the caution content is increased in a case where the temporary stop point is determined to be related to the railroad crossing by the point determination unit, compared with a case where the temporary stop point is determined to be not related to the railroad crossing.

3. The display control device according to claim 2 , wherein
as the caution point, the point determination unit determines whether a pedestrian crossing exists in front of the vehicle along the traveling direction,
the display control unit determines whether a pedestrian exists on or around the pedestrian crossing, and
in response to the point determination unit determining an existence of the pedestrian crossing and the display control unit determining an existence of the pedestrian on or around the pedestrian crossing, the display control unit displays the caution content that notifies the existence of the pedestrian crossing to the occupant.

4. The display control device according to claim 3 , wherein
the display control unit further determines whether a current time is a nighttime, and
in response to determining the current time being the nighttime, the display control unit notifies the existence of the pedestrian crossing to the occupant by displaying the caution content regardless of the existence of the pedestrian on or around the pedestrian crossing.

5. The display control device according to claim 3 , wherein
the point determination unit further determines whether the pedestrian crossing has a traffic light, and
in response to the point determination unit determining that the pedestrian crossing having the traffic light, the display control unit excludes the pedestrian crossing from a caution target which is required to be notified to the occupant by displaying the caution content.

6. The display control device according to claim 3 , wherein
the display control unit determines a risk level of the pedestrian crossing, and
in response to determining that the risk level of the pedestrian crossing is higher than a threshold level, the display control unit notifies the existence of the pedestrian crossing to the occupant by displaying the caution content regardless of the existence of the pedestrian on or around the pedestrian crossing.

7. The display control device according to claim 1 , wherein
as the caution point, the point determination unit determines whether a pedestrian crossing exists in front of the vehicle along the traveling direction,
the display control unit determines whether a pedestrian exists on or around the pedestrian crossing,
in response to the point determination unit determining an existence of the pedestrian crossing and the display control unit determining an existence of the pedestrian on or around the pedestrian crossing, the display control unit displays the caution content that notifies the existence of the pedestrian crossing to the occupant,
the display control unit further determines whether a current time is a nighttime, and
in response to determining the current time being the nighttime, the display control unit notifies the existence of the pedestrian crossing to the occupant by displaying the caution content regardless of the existence of the pedestrian on or around the pedestrian crossing.

8. The display control device according to claim 7 , wherein
the point determination unit further determines whether the pedestrian crossing has a traffic light, and
in response to the point determination unit determining that the pedestrian crossing having the traffic light, the display control unit excludes the pedestrian crossing from a caution target which is required to be notified to the occupant by displaying the caution content.

9. The display control device according to claim 1 , wherein
as the caution point, the point determination unit determines whether a pedestrian crossing exists in front of the vehicle along the traveling direction,
the display control unit determines whether a pedestrian exists on or around the pedestrian crossing,
in response to the point determination unit determining an existence of the pedestrian crossing and the display control unit determining an existence of the pedestrian on or around the pedestrian crossing, the display control unit displays the caution content that notifies the existence of the pedestrian crossing to the occupant,
the point determination unit further determines whether the pedestrian crossing has a traffic light, and
in response to the point determination unit determining that the pedestrian crossing having the traffic light, the display control unit excludes the pedestrian crossing from a caution target which is required to be notified to the occupant by displaying the caution content.

10. The display control device according to claim 9 , wherein
the display control unit determines a risk level of the pedestrian crossing, and
in response to determining that the risk level of the pedestrian crossing is higher than a threshold level, the display control unit notifies the existence of the pedestrian crossing to the occupant by displaying the caution content regardless of the existence of the pedestrian on or around the pedestrian crossing.

11. The display control device according to claim 1 , wherein
as the caution point, the point determination unit determines whether a pedestrian crossing exists in front of the vehicle along the traveling direction,
the display control unit determines whether a pedestrian exists on or around the pedestrian crossing,
in response to the point determination unit determini

Assignees

• Denso Corp

Inventors

• Kamiya Akira
• Suzuki Takamitsu
• Ichida Takashi
• Hatoh Takeshi
• Kojima Kazuki
• Takemori Daisuke

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

• B60K35/235

  with means for detecting the driver's gaze direction or eye points · CPC title

• B60K35/10

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

• B60K35/85

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

• B60K35/81

  for controlling displays · CPC title