The disclosed subject matter generally relates to a voice assistant system for a vehicle which can distinguish who is issuing voice commands, and thereby also which sub-system in the vehicle to control according to the voice command. This is obtained by allowing the voice assistant system to receive input signals from an image capturing system configured to detect the user issuing the voice command. The vehicle compartment may be divided into several zones each associated with at least one sub-system, and the input signals from the image capturing system provide information to the control unit of the voice assistant system regarding the present zone of the user issuing the voice commands.

A system and/or method include receiving vehicle function sequence schemas, which specify a sequence of vehicle functions in the presence of a triggering event linked to the particular vehicle function sequence schema, checking the received vehicle function sequence schemas, storing the checked vehicle function sequence schemas, and checking the presence of a triggering event, selecting a stored vehicle function sequence schema linked to the present triggering event, generating control signals for controlling vehicle function devices according to the selected vehicle function sequence schema, and outputting the generated control signals to the vehicle function devices.

A vehicle side rear view mirror having means to display information is used to communicate with other individuals outside of the vehicle. The side rear view mirror assembly includes a base to connect it to the vehicle, a mirror case fixed to the base, at least one light source to display forward through a lens an emoticon or other symbol, and at least one controller to turn the assembly on. The assembly may also include a voice recording or other sound to communicate with other individuals outside of the vehicle. The controller, which is located remotely, could be pushed once or twice to turn on the light source. The light source could be used as a marker light. Alternatively, the controller could be an electrical interrupter controller which would cause the light source to flash so that the light source could be used as a turn signal or hazard lamp. Alternatively, the controller could be voice controlled. Alternatively, the controller could be gesture controlled.

The side rear view mirror assembly may include a matrix of light emitting diodes, which could be color light emitting diodes, to display forward an emoticon or other symbol, a controller, and at least one controller to turn the assembly on and select what emoticon is shown. This assembly may also include a voice recording or other sound to communicate with other individuals outside of the vehicle, or as a turn signal, a hazard light, or a marker light. The controller, which is located remotely, could be pushed once or twice to turn on the light emitting diode array. Alternatively, the controller could be voice controlled. Alternatively, the controller could be gesture controlled.

A voice recognition device receives requests to control devices installed in a moving body based on instructions voiced by a user. The voice recognition device includes a speech acquisition unit, a speech data conversion unit, a control target device identification unit, a detection mode setting unit and a control request identification unit. The speech acquisition unit acquires speech. The speech data conversion unit converts the acquired speech into speech data. The control target device identification unit that analyzes the speech data to identify the control target device. The detection mode setting unit that sets a detection mode for identifying the control request corresponding to the speech data in accordance with the control target device. The control request identification unit that analyzes the speech data to identify the control request with respect to the control target device, based on the set detection mode.

Provided are a service management system for a vehicle and a service management method for a vehicle that may receive a request from a passenger in a van by voice. In particular, the service management system determines whether to approve the request considering other passengers' opinions in the van, and then automatically performs relevant controls to fully reflect the passenger's request and safely provide a service even in the van carrying a large number of passengers.

An avatar interface of a virtual assistant is presented to a user in a motor vehicle and a predefined set of accessible elements is provided to be selected by the user. The accessible elements may be operating functions and/or information data. When at least one user statement of the user is received over the avatar interface; a question-answering logic is operated in the virtual assistant for determining at least one of the accessible elements that the user requests by the at least one user statement; and the at least one identified accessible element is made available to the user.

The main driver information acquisition-based vehicle control system comprises a first ECU, a vehicle-mounted storage battery, a second ECU separately connected to the first ECU and the vehicle-mounted storage battery, and a microphone connected to the second ECU. The microphone is embedded on a door handle on one side of the driving position, and is used for obtaining voiceprint information. The second ECU is used for comparing the voiceprint information with a pre-entered voiceprint sample of a main driver, determining whether the voiceprint information is the main driver's, monitoring the electronic start status of a vehicle when the voiceprint information is the main driver's, and notifying the first ECU to control, according to preference information of the main driver, a device corresponding to the preference information of the main driver when monitoring that the vehicle enters an ACC or one-button start mode.

An operating unit for a motor vehicle includes a vehicle interface that forms an interface between the motor vehicle and a driver, a central control unit configured to control a vehicle state and/or an operating element of the vehicle interface, and a data interface that is connected to the central control unit and that forms a wireless link between the central control unit and an external data service. The data interface is configured to transmit data from the vehicle interface to the external data service. The data interface is configured to transmit data from the external data service to the vehicle interface via the central control unit.

A vehicle may accurately recognize a voice command of a speaker by identifying the speaker who desires to use a voice recognition function. In particular, the vehicle includes: a microphone array including a first microphone and a second microphone; a button configured to activate a voice recognition system; a sensor configured to detect a contact area of a finger pressing the button. The voice recognition system is configured to: determine a location of a speaker who presses the button based on the contact area; select the first microphone and the second microphone as a main microphone and an auxiliary microphone, respectively, based on a determination that the speaker is located in a first seat; and select the second microphone and the first microphone as the main microphone and the auxiliary microphone, respectively, based on a determination that the speaker is located in a second seat.

A method for manufacturing a grommet, which is fixed to a wire harness W inserted into an opening portion of a panel P and which is fitted and attached to the opening portion to thereby support the wire harness W on the panel P. The grommet includes peripheral walls that surrounds the wire harness W to form a sound shield space S around the wire harness W, and a soundproof wall that is formed in the sound shield space S so as to cross a longitudinal direction of the wire harness W. The soundproof wall is designed by use of an expression of TL=20 log(p×f)−42.5 where TL designates transmission loss of the soundproof wall, ρ designates surface density of the soundproof wall, and f designates a frequency.