A user interface for a vehicle includes a two-dimensional display and an optical faceplate. The display displays information on a display portion. The optical faceplate includes a contact surface, a three-dimensional display surface for displaying information, and an optic light guide material. The optical faceplate is integrated into the display such the areal extension of the display surface and/or the contact surface is smaller than an areal extension of the display. The contact surface receives light emitted from the display. The user interface further includes comprises a device that determines a context according to a state of the vehicle, information that is visible on the display portion and/or the display surface, and/or user input captured by the user interface. The user interface displays contextually dependent information so that the information that is visible on the display portion and on the display surface depend on the determined context.

A user, such as the driver of a vehicle, to retrieve information related to a point of interest (POI) near the vehicle by pointing at the POI or performing some other gesture to identify the POI. Gesture recognition is performed on the gesture to generate a target region that includes the POI that the user identified. After generating the target region, information about the POI can be retrieved by querying a server-based POI service with the target region or by searching in a micromap that is stored locally. The retrieved POI information can then be provided to the user via a display and/or speaker in the vehicle. This process beneficially allows a user to rapidly identify and retrieve information about a POI near the vehicle without having to navigate a user interface by manipulating a touchscreen or physical buttons.

A display device for a vehicle includes a display panel, a control circuitry, and a supporting arrangement. The display panel displays a graphic display object and the control circuitry enables the displaying of the graphic display object, such that the information represented by the graphic display object is displayed based on a predefined physical environment condition. The supporting arrangement supports the display panel which is adjustable between a first position and a second position. In the first position, the graphic display object is visually accessible to a user inside the vehicle and in the second position, the graphic display object is visually accessible to at least one person outside the vehicle.

A user, such as the driver of a vehicle, to retrieve information related to a point of interest (POI) near the vehicle by pointing at the POI or performing some other gesture to identify the POI. Gesture recognition is performed on the gesture to generate a target region that includes the POI that the user identified. After generating the target region, information about the POI can be retrieved by querying a server-based POI service with the target region or by searching in a micromap that is stored locally. The retrieved POI information can then be provided to the user via a display and/or speaker in the vehicle. This process beneficially allows a user to rapidly identify and retrieve information about a POI near the vehicle without having to navigate a user interface by manipulating a touchscreen or physical buttons.

A personal device may include a display and a processor. The processor of the personal device may be programmed to send, to the display, a vehicle interior map overlaid with indications of in-vehicle components, create a group of the in-vehicle components responsive to receipt of a swipe gesture to the display selecting a subset of the indications, receive input from the display of a location on the map, and aim outputs of the in-vehicle components of the group based on the location.

A user interface device is provided that includes a hardware interface connectable to different types of external devices and an internal control device configured to perform a single control process to implement one of functions that corresponds to at least one of a type of an external device connected to the hardware interface or whether an external device is connected to the hardware interface. The internal control device executes, from among tasks constituting the single control process, a task that corresponds to timing of inputting a press manipulation using an input switch, blinks the light-emitter at a predetermined speed while the task is in execution, and steadily lights the light-emitter when terminating the task and prompting the user to input a next press manipulation.

A computing platform of a vehicle may receive a request from a mobile device executing a data collection application using an element of vehicle data. The platform may access a permission table to confirm that a unique identifier of the mobile device is authorized to access the element of vehicle data. The mobile device may subscribe to a characteristic providing the element of vehicle data. The vehicle may update the element of vehicle data provided by the characteristic in accordance with a predefined threshold.

Methods, systems and computer readable media are provided. One example method includes establishing a connection with a vehicle over a wireless network, and associating the vehicle to a user account of an online service, wherein a vehicle type for the vehicle is identified in the user account. The method further includes receiving vehicle data for vehicle status information. The vehicle status information is for one or more vehicle systems of the vehicle. The method includes accessing one or more databases that include diagnostics data for the vehicle type and crowd sourced data for the vehicle type. The method includes processing the vehicle data that is received against the diagnostics data and the crowed sourced data. The processing is configured to select an alert from among a plurality of possible alerts. The crowd sourced data is configured to influence a confidence level for selecting the alert. The method includes sending a notification of the alert to the user account. The notification includes a recommended solution for handling the alert.

If a first sign information detector 62 is normal, a first display 94 displays sign information detected by the first sign information detector 62, in accordance with an instruction from a control circuit 70. At this time, a second display 64 hides sign information in accordance with an instruction from the control circuit 70. On the other hand, if the first sign information detector 62 is abnormal, the first display 94 hides the sign information in accordance with an instruction from the control circuit 70. At this time, the second display 64 displays sign information detected by the second sign information detector 64, in accordance with an instruction from the control circuit 70.

A personal device may include a display and a processor. The processor of the personal device may be programmed to send, to the display, a vehicle interior map overlaid with indications of in-vehicle components, create a group of the in-vehicle components responsive to receipt of a swipe gesture to the display selecting a subset of the indications, receive input from the display of a location on the map, and aim outputs of the in-vehicle components of the group based on the location.