There is provided a haptic system for providing sensory augmentation to a subject, the haptic system including a haptic surface for interacting with the subject, the haptic surface including an array of haptic portions, each haptic portion configured to be controllable to perform a haptic action; an image generator configured to generate a depth map based on information obtained on a scene captured of a surrounding environment; and a controller configured to control each of the array of haptic portions based on a property of a corresponding portion of the depth map. There is also provided a corresponding method for providing sensory augmentation to a subject and a vehicle having installed therein the haptic system.

An on-board vehicle occupant weighing technology includes a simplified vehicle occupant weighing apparatus based on the discovered horwest effect and weighing moderator. The simplified weighing apparatus utilizes a weighing unit connected to the car seat of the vehicle occupant and a further weighing moderator, which provides convenient weighing of the foot part of the occupant's body by the same weighing unit that is connected to the car seat. The technology employs several methods of the weight measurements provided by different moderator approaches. The technology, methods, and simplified weighing apparatus are employed in on-board vehicle overweight and obesity preventing system wherein a weight trend analyzer provides predicting possibility of the occupant's overweight or obesity in a short predetermined period of time and automatically warning a vehicle occupant and a health care provider of the condition. The technology may also provide an accurate and convenient occupant's weight measurement in the vehicle safety devices such as seat belt and air bag Supplemental Restraint System (SRS system) to improve the Occupant Classification System to prevent possible extra force applied to the occupant's body in case of collision.

A seating posture is stabilized for the shoulders of a passenger seated on a vehicle seat. A vehicle seat is provided with a seat back configured to support the seated person from the rear. A shoulder support portion of the seat back configured to support a corresponding one of the shoulders of the seated passenger includes an air cell configured to expand when air is supplied. When the air cell expands, one end portion of the shoulder support portion on the outside in the width direction of the vehicle seat moves more forward than the other end portion of the shoulder support portion on the inside in the width direction.

A vehicle seat is provided herein. The vehicle seat includes a seatback pivotally coupled to a seat bottom. An adjustment assembly is operably coupled with the seat and includes a linear actuator. The linear actuator is configured to release a recliner mechanism when moved in a first direction and is configured to release a track assembly when moved in a second direction.

A vehicle seating arrangement includes at least one seating assembly. The at least one seating assembly includes a seat-base and an armrest. The armrest is operably coupled to the seat-base and configured for articulation in at least one of a forward, rearward, upward, and downward direction relative to the seat-base. The armrest enables the seating assembly to transition between captains' chair, loveseat, and bed configurations.

An object detection device is applied to an object detection system which includes an object detection sensor installed in a vehicle so as to be oriented outward to detect an object around the vehicle. The object detection device includes: an error-handling control section that notifies a user of a detection error, if any, occurring in the object detection sensor, and brings the object detection system into an error-handling state; an action determination section that determines whether an error correction action has been performed by a user to correct the detection error, under conditions where the user has been notified of the detection error occurring in the object detection sensor; and a cancellation control section that relaxes predetermined cancellation conditions for cancelling the error-handling state when the error correction action is determined to have been performed, compared to when not performed.

An autonomous vehicle seat positioning system has a controller connected to a display, a control panel and a positioning mechanism of a vehicle seat assembly. The controller operates in a position saving mode and a position selecting mode. In the position saving mode, positioning inputs made by the first occupant are saved in memory as a first upright setting corresponding to the first occupant manually driving the vehicle. Positioning inputs made by the first occupant of the vehicle seat assembly are also saved in memory as a first relaxation setting corresponding to the first occupant viewing the display with the vehicle operating in a self-driving mode. In the position selecting mode, the controller operates the positioning mechanism to move the vehicle seat assembly to positions corresponding the first upright setting or the first relaxation setting.

The technology described in this document can be embodied in a headrest of a seat, the headrest including an enclosure for housing one or more acoustic transducers, and an adjustable headrest wing disposed in front of the enclosure. The headrest wing is coupled to the enclosure by a pivot, and configured to be adjusted to one of multiple positions within an angle range around the pivot. The headrest wing is also configured to support the head of a seat-occupant. The headrest further includes a connector disposed between the enclosure and a rear portion of the headrest wing. The connector is configured to provide an acoustic channel between the enclosure and the headrest wing such that audio signals from the one or more acoustic transducers are radiated outward through the headrest wing.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a method and system for enacting various driving profiles based on identifying the age and gender of the user. Initially, identifying information is acquired from a user of a vehicle. An identification program determines whether the driver is known, by comparing the identifying information to a set of stored identifying information. If the driver of the vehicle is known, as the identifying information from the user is similar to stored identifying information, then a specific driver profile associated with the specific driver is activated. If the driver is not known, as the identifying information from the user of the vehicle is not similar to the stored identifying information, then the age and gender of the user of the vehicle is determined. Based on the determined age and gender of the driver of the vehicle, various vehicle setting ranges are enacted.

A system and method of providing an immersive media experience to a user through utilizing one or more vehicle system modules (VSMs) included in a vehicle, wherein the method includes: establishing a connection with a media control device, wherein the media control device includes a display; determining whether the media control device is authorized to control the one or more VSMs as a part of the immersive media experience; receiving an immersive media control request from the media control device, wherein the immersive media control request includes a request from the media control device to perform one or more vehicle functions using the VSMs during playback of immersive media content, and wherein the playback of the immersive media content includes visually perceptible media content that is displayed using the display of the media control device; and controlling the one or more VSMs according to the received VSM control requests.