A method is provided for controlling a vehicle seat, wherein settings of parts of the vehicle seat are dynamically adjusted depending on person-related parameters of the person seated on the seat, to make the seated position of the person as favorable as possible under biomechanical aspects.

The disclosed method is stored as computer readable instructions and carried out by a processor that is part of a disclosed occupant monitoring system (OMS). The method starts with the receipt of an external signal by the processor. The external signal can be the starting of the vehicle engine, an indication of semi-autonomous or autonomous driving mode, or an indication that the occupant is seated, is in contact with a steering wheel, and/or is in contact with at least one dashboard control. The receipt of the external signal causes the processor to capture an image, analyze the image to determine if at least one monitoring condition is met, generate an adjustment signal if the monitoring condition is not met, and communicate the adjustment signal to at least one VCS, and repeating the monitoring loop. In some implementations, multiple images are captured and analyzed during the cycling of a monitoring loop.

A vehicle includes a front seating assembly and a rear seating assembly. An occupant sensor senses occupancy of the front seating assembly. A proximity sensor senses an object in a footwell behind the front seating assembly. A rear door sensor senses the opening of a rear door. A controller activates an actuator to move the front seating assembly forward based on the sensed occupancy, a sensed object, and sensed door opening. A method of controlling a vehicle seating assembly includes the steps of: sensing the front seating assembly is unoccupied with the occupant sensor; detecting in the footwell behind the front seating assembly with the proximity sensor; sensing a rear door position with the door sensor; and moving the front seating assembly forward when the front seating assembly is unoccupied, an object is in the footwell, and the rear door is in an open position.

Vehicle seat adjustment systems including cameras are disclosed. The vehicle seat adjustment system includes a camera configured to capture a seat arrangement of a front seat of a vehicle and one or more seats behind the front seat, a screen, communicatively coupled to the camera, configured to display the seat arrangement captured by the camera, an input device configured to receive an input from a user for adjusting positions of the one or more seats, an actuator communicatively coupled to the input device and configured to adjust positions of the one or more seats, and a controller communicatively coupled to the camera, the screen, the input device and the actuator. The controller receives the input from the input device and instruct the actuator to adjust the positions of the one or more seats based on the input from the user.

A seat apparatus includes: a seat on which a passenger of a vehicle sits; an inputter which is operated by the passenger; a fixer which fixes a position of the seat until the inputter is operated by the passenger and allows the position of the seat to be movable in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle when the inputter is operated by the passenger; and a restrictor which restricts the movement of the seat when a predetermined condition related to a traveling state of the vehicle or an external environment of the vehicle is satisfied in comparison with a case in which the predetermined condition is not satisfied.

An autonomous vehicle seat positioning system includes a seat controller connected to a autonomous vehicle controller and a positioning mechanism of a seat assembly. The seat controller is configured to operating the positioning mechanism such that with the autonomous vehicle controller operating the vehicle in a self-driving mode and the vehicle operator's seat assembly being in a reclined setting: in response to the autonomous vehicle controller detecting an emergency condition requiring a change to the manual driving mode, the seat controller operates the positioning mechanism to move the operator's seat assembly from the reclined setting to the upright setting in an emergency re-positioning mode, and in response to the autonomous vehicle controller detecting a non-emergency condition requiring a change to the manual driving mode, the seat controller operates the positioning mechanism to move the operator's seat assembly from the reclined setting to the upright setting in a non-emergency re-positioning mode.

A system includes a vehicle having a vehicle network and a set of earpieces in operative communication with the vehicle network. The vehicle is configured to assign a plurality of access rights to the user of the set of earpieces based on both the identity of the user and the role of the user. A method for identifying a role of one or more users within a vehicle includes identifying one or more users within the vehicle, identifying the roles of one or more of the users within the vehicle using a set of wireless earpieces, and providing access rights to the one or more users within the vehicle in response to identification of one or more of the users within the vehicle.

A seat apparatus for a vehicle includes a conversion mechanism that converts a disposition of a seatback between a normal position to a converted position, the normal position being a position at which the seatback is disposed at a rear section of the seat cushion and a sitting direction of an occupant is facing forward, the converted position being a position at which the seatback is disposed at a front section of the seat cushion and a sitting direction of an occupant is facing rearward, and a reclining mechanism that biases the seatback toward a neutral position at which the seatback stands upward and that reclines the seatback forward and rearward from the neutral position.

A vehicle seat is adapted to be moved relative to a floor of a vehicle. The seat includes a seat bottom that can be moved relative to the floor and a seat back that can be moved relative to the seat bottom.

A system and method automatically adjusts a driver's steering experience based upon driving conditions, including turns and terrain. In accordance with one embodiment, the steering wheel essentially bends into the turn and advances towards the driver, thereby providing a more natural and enjoyable driving experience. The system comprises one or more sensors disposed within the vehicle to measure g-forces. A processor in the vehicle, receiving the signals from the sensors, sends control signals to the steering wheel in response to the signals received. An electromechanical system physically moves the steering wheel relative to a driver of the vehicle in response to the control signals received from the processor. Other embodiments cause one or more seats in the vehicle to moves in response to turns, acceleration and/or deceleration (braking).