Virtual image display device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12304394-B2
Application number	US-202318349970-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 11, 2023
Priority date	Jul 15, 2022
Publication date	May 20, 2025
Grant date	May 20, 2025

Abstract

The virtual image display device comprises a surrounding state recognizer that acquires a travel direction distance and a lateral direction distance to an object, and a display controller that displays object icon images I 1 , I 2 in a screen 51 . The display controller is capable of switching between displaying an image in a normal mode, in which the display positions of the images I 1 , I 2 move closer in a lateral direction to a lateral reference line L 1 as the travel direction distance increases, and move farther away in a screen vertical direction from a screen bottom line L 2 as the travel direction distance increases, and displaying the image in a magnification mode, in which a vertical scale, which is the ratio of the distance between the line L 2 and the display positions in the screen vertical direction to the orientation direction distance, is larger than in the normal display mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A virtual image display device configured to recognize a traffic participant as an object, the traffic participant being present in an orientation direction from a point of view determined based on a user, who is a person, or a mobile body that moves together with the user, and to display an object image associated with the object on a display screen that is visible to the user, in a manner such that a sense of depth is provided, the virtual image display device comprising:
a surrounding state recognizer configured to acquire surrounding state information relating to a state of the surroundings of the point of view, and to acquire, on the basis of the surrounding state information, object position information including information about a distance from the point of view to the object in the orientation direction and a distance from the point of view to the object in a lateral direction that is orthogonal to the orientation direction; and
a display controller configured to display the object image at a display position in the display screen, the display position being determined on the basis of the object position information,
wherein the display controller
is capable of switching between displaying an image in a normal display mode, in which the display position moves farther away in the lateral direction from a lateral reference in the display screen as the lateral direction distance increases, moves closer in the lateral direction to the lateral reference as the orientation direction distance increases, and moves farther away in a vertical direction from a bottom of the display screen as the orientation direction distance increases,
and displaying the image in a magnification display mode, in which a vertical scale, which is the ratio of the distance between the bottom and the display position in the vertical direction to the orientation direction distance, is larger than in the normal display mode.

2. The virtual image display device according to claim 1 , wherein the vertical scale for a short-distance object at an orientation direction distance that is equal to or less than a distance threshold value is equal in the normal display mode and in the magnification display mode.

3. The virtual image display device according to claim 1 , wherein the display controller switches between displaying the image in the normal display mode and displaying the image in the magnification display mode, on the basis of the surrounding state information.

4. The virtual image display device according to claim 3 , wherein on the basis of the surrounding state information, the display controller displays the image in the magnification display mode when a predetermined number of objects or more are recognized within a predetermined duration of time, when the presence of a region in which the density of objects is equal to or more than a predetermined value is recognized, when the presence of a specific facility or specific equipment is recognized in the orientation direction from the point of view, or when the presence of a road having a specific form is recognized in the orientation direction from the point of view.

5. The virtual image display device according to claim 2 , wherein the display controller switches between displaying the image in the normal display mode and displaying the image in the magnification display mode, on the basis of the surrounding state information.

6. The virtual image display device according to claim 5 , wherein on the basis of the surrounding state information, the display controller displays the image in the magnification display mode when a predetermined number of objects or more are recognized within a predetermined duration of time, when the presence of a region in which the density of objects is equal to or more than a predetermined value is recognized, when the presence of a specific facility or specific equipment is recognized in the orientation direction from the point of view, or when the presence of a road having a specific form is recognized in the orientation direction from the point of view.

7. The virtual image display device according to claim 1 , further comprising a line-of-sight direction acquirer configured to acquire a line-of-sight direction, which is the orientation of the line of sight or the face of the user, who is the driver of the mobile body,
wherein the display controller displays the image in the magnification display mode when an object is present in the line-of-sight direction.

8. The virtual image display device according to claim 2 , further comprising a line-of-sight direction acquirer configured to acquire a line-of-sight direction, which is the orientation of the line of sight or the face of the user, who is the driver of the mobile body,
wherein the display controller displays the image in the magnification display mode when an object is present in the line-of-sight direction.

9. The virtual image display device according to claim 1 , wherein the display controller displays the image in the magnification display mode when a first object and a second object are recognized in the orientation direction from the point of view, and a gap in the orientation direction between the first object and the second object is equal to or smaller than a gap threshold value.

10. The virtual image display device 1 according to claim 2 , wherein the display controller displays the image in the magnification display mode when a first object and a second object are recognized in the orientation direction from the point of view, and a gap in the orientation direction between the first object and the second object is equal to or smaller than a gap threshold value.

11. The virtual image display device according to claim 1 , wherein when displaying a plurality of the object images on the display screen in the magnification display mode, the display controller displays object-related information associated with each object in a vicinity of each object image.

12. The virtual image display device according to claim 11 , wherein the object-related information includes at least one of position information, movement direction information, movement speed information, or type information of the object.

13. The virtual image display device according to claim 2 , wherein when displaying a plurality of the object images on the display screen in the magnification display mode, the display controller displays object-related information associated with each object in a vicinity of each object image.

14. The virtual image display device according to claim 13 , wherein the object-related information includes at least one of position information, movement direction information, movement speed information, or type information of the object.

Assignees

• Honda Motor Co Ltd

Inventors

• Seo Toshiaki
• Higuchi Minoru
• Murakami Shinichi
• Dan Koji
• Iitaka Ryo
• Yamazaki Takaya
• Sasaki Aya

Classifications

• G09G2340/045

  Zooming at least part of an image, i.e. enlarging it or shrinking it · CPC title

• B60R2300/802

  for monitoring and displaying vehicle exterior blind spot views · CPC title

• G09G2380/10

  Automotive applications · CPC title

• G09G2340/0457

  Improvement of perceived resolution by subpixel rendering · CPC title

• B60R2300/605

  the adjustment being automatic · CPC title