Method and system for avoiding distracting a vehicle occupant

Abstract

A method performed by an information suppressing system for avoiding distracting an occupant of a vehicle with superfluous information via a medium associated with the vehicle is provided. The medium is adapted to present at least a first piece of information associated with at least a first entity located in a current vicinity of the vehicle. The system determines status data comprising one or more status data parameters reflecting current conditions, and further determines the at least first piece of information to be currently superfluous, based on comparing at least a first status data parameter of the status data with predetermined suppression criteria. Moreover, the system suppresses the at least first piece of information, wherein at least a portion of the at least first piece of information is prevented from being presented via the medium. An information suppressing system in accordance with the foregoing is also provided.

Claims

1. A method performed by an information suppressing system for avoiding distracting an occupant of a vehicle with superfluous information via a medium associated with the vehicle, the medium being configured to present at least a first piece of information associated with at least a first entity located in a current vicinity of the vehicle, the method comprising: determining status data comprising one or more status data parameters reflecting current conditions, wherein the one or more status data parameters reflect a current driver alert status, a current number of vehicle occupants and/or a current timing condition; determining whether the at least first piece of information is currently superfluous, based on comparing at least a first status data parameter of the status data with at least one predetermined suppression criterion; and suppressing the at least first piece of information if the at least first piece of information is determined to be superfluous, such that at least a portion of the at least first piece of information is prevented from being presented via the medium.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the status data comprises one or more status data parameters reflecting current status conditions associated with the vehicle.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the at least first piece of information comprises a current commercial offer associated with the first entity.

4. The method according to claim 3 wherein the status data comprises one or more status data parameters reflecting a prior utilization by the information suppressing system of a prior commercial offer associated with the first entity and/or a second entity associated with the first entity.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the determining status data, the determining whether the at least first piece of information is currently superfluous, and/or the suppressing the at least first piece of information are/is at least partly accomplished by means of one or more applications running on a mobile user device associated with the vehicle.

6. The method according to claim 1 further comprising: determining a current position of the information suppressing system; determining the at least first entity to be in the current vicinity; and/or determining the at least first piece of information.

7. An information suppressing system for avoiding distracting an occupant of a vehicle with superfluous information via a medium associated with the vehicle, the medium being configured to present at least a first piece of information associated with at least a first entity located in a current vicinity of the vehicle, the information suppressing system comprising: a status data determining unit configured to determine status data, the status data comprising one or more status data parameters reflecting current conditions, wherein the one or more status data parameters reflect a current driver alert status, a current number of vehicle occupants and/or a current timing condition; a comparing unit configured to determine whether the at least first piece of information is currently superfluous, based on comparing at least a first status data parameter of the status data with at least one predetermined suppression criterion; and a suppressing unit configured to suppress the at least first piece of information if the at least first piece of information is determined to be superfluous, such that at least a portion of the at least first piece of information is prevented from being presented via the medium.

8. The information suppressing system according to claim 7 wherein the status data comprises one or more status data parameters reflecting current status conditions associated with the vehicle.

9. The information suppressing system according to claim 7 wherein the at least first piece of information comprises a current commercial offer associated with the first entity.

10. The information suppressing system according to claim 9 wherein the status data comprises one or more status data parameters reflecting a prior utilization by the information suppressing system of a prior commercial offer associated with the first entity and/or a second entity associated with the first entity.

11. The information suppressing system according to claim 7 further comprising: a mobile user device associated with the vehicle, the mobile user device being configured to, by means of one or more applications, at least partly determine the status data, determine whether the at least first piece of information is currently superfluous, and/or suppress the at least first piece of information.

12. The information suppressing system according to claim 7 further comprising: a position determining unit configured to determine a current position of the information suppressing system; a vicinity determining unit configured to determine whether the at least first entity is in the current vicinity; and/or an information determining unit configured to determine the at least first piece of information.

13. A vehicle comprising the information suppressing system according to claim 7.

14. A mobile user device comprising the information suppressing system according to claim 7.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer program including computer program code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium for execution by a computer or a processor to carry out a method for avoiding distracting an occupant of a vehicle with superfluous information via a medium associated with the vehicle, the medium being configured to present at least a first piece of information associated with at least a first entity located in a current vicinity of the vehicle, wherein the computer program code is configured for execution by the computer or the processor to: determine status data comprising one or more status data parameters reflecting current conditions, wherein the one or more status data parameters reflect a current driver alert status, a current number of vehicle occupants and/or a current timing condition; determine whether the at least first piece of information is currently superfluous, based on comparing at least a first status data parameter of the status data with at least one predetermined suppression criterion; and suppress the at least first piece of information if the at least first piece of information is determined to be superfluous, such that at least a portion of the at least first piece of information is prevented from being presented via the medium.

16. The method according to claim 1 wherein the status data comprises one or more status data parameters reflecting a prior utilization by the information suppressing system of a prior commercial offer associated with the first entity and/or a second entity associated with the first entity.

17. The method according to claim 3 wherein the determining status data, the determining whether the at least first piece of information is currently superfluous, and/or the suppressing the at least first piece of information are/is at least partly accomplished by means of one or more applications running on a mobile user device associated with the vehicle.

18. The method according to claim 3 further comprising: determining a current position of the information suppressing system; determining the at least first entity to be in the current vicinity; and/or determining the at least first piece of information.

19. The information suppressing system according to claim 7 wherein the status data comprises one or more status data parameters reflecting a prior utilization by the information suppressing system of a prior commercial offer associated with the first entity and/or a second entity associated with the first entity.

20. The information suppressing system according to claim 10 further comprising: a mobile user device associated with the vehicle, the mobile user device being configured to, by means of one or more applications running thereon, at least partly determine the status data, determine whether the at least first piece of information is currently superfluous, and/or suppress the at least first piece of information.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The various aspects of non-limiting embodiments, including particular features and advantages, will be readily understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic overview of an exemplifying information suppressing system comprised in a vehicle and/or in a mobile user device, according to embodiments of the disclosure;

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplifying information suppressing system according to embodiments of the disclosure;

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates exemplifying status data and exemplifying predetermined suppression criteria, according to embodiments of the disclosure; and

(5) FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting an exemplifying method performed by an information suppressing system according to embodiments of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) The non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which currently preferred embodiments of the disclosure are shown. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Like reference characters refer to like elements throughout. Dashed lines of some boxes in the figures indicate that these units or actions are optional and not mandatory.

(7) In the following, according to embodiments herein which relate to avoiding distracting an occupant of a vehicle with superfluous information via a medium associated with the vehicle, there will be disclosed that information considered currently superfluous, is discarded, such that said information does not unnecessarily distract the vehicle occupant.

(8) Referring now to the figures and FIG. 1 in particular, there is depicted a schematic overview of an exemplifying information suppressing system 1 comprised in a vehicle 2 and/or comprised a mobile user device 22, according to embodiments of the disclosure.

(9) The mobile user device 22, which e.g., may be represented by a smart phone, is here associated with the vehicle 2 by being paired therewith, whereby it is referred to as a nomadic device. The illustrated vehicle 2, although not restricted thereto, is in the shown embodiment a car, driving along an exemplifying arbitrary road 8. The information suppressing system 1, and hence the vehicle 2 and mobile user device 22, are currently located at a current position 23.

(10) The information suppressing system 1, which will be additionally described in further detail below, is adapted for avoiding distracting an occupant 24 of the vehicle 2, here a vehicle driver, with superfluous information via a medium 3 associated with the vehicle 2. The medium 3, here a display 31 of the vehicle 2, is adapted to present at least a first piece of information 41 associated with at least a first entity 4 located in a current vicinity 5 of the vehicle 2. In the shown embodiment, the at least first piece of information 41 comprises a current commercial offer 411 associated with the first entity 4. The first entity 4 is, in the illustrated example, a fuel station, and the current commercial offer 411 is represented by a current fuel discount offer provided by the fuel station 4.

(11) Also depicted in FIG. 1 is an exemplifying second entity 7 associated with the first entity 4. The association is here represented by the second entity 7, similarly to the first entity, being a fuel station. The second entity 7 is associated with a prior commercial offer 711, e.g., represented by a previous fuel discount offer.

(12) Furthermore, an exemplifying third entity 9 is depicted, which third entity 9 may be represented by any arbitrary entity, such as for instance a restaurant.

(13) As further shown in FIG. 2, which depicts a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplifying information suppressing system 1 according to embodiments of the disclosure, the information suppressing system 1 is, as previously mentioned, adapted for avoiding distracting the occupant 24 of the vehicle 2 with superfluous information via the medium 3 associated with the vehicle 2, which medium 3 is adapted to present the at least first piece of information 41 associated with the at least first entity 4 located in the current vicinity 5 of the vehicle 2.

(14) The information suppressing system 1 comprises a status data determining unit 11, a comparing unit 12, and a suppressing unit 13, all of which will be described in further detail below. Moreover, the information suppressing system 1 may comprise a position determining unit 14 adapted for determining the current position 23, a vicinity determining unit 15 adapted for determining the at least first entity 4 to be in the current vicinity 5, and an information determining unit 16 adapted for determining the at least first piece of information 41.

(15) Furthermore, the embodiments herein for avoiding distracting the occupant 24 of the vehicle 2 with superfluous information, may be implemented through one or more processors, such as a processor 17, here denoted CPU, together with computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. Said program code may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the information suppressing system 1. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the information suppressing system 1.

(16) The information suppressing system 1 may further comprise a memory 18 comprising one or more memory units. The memory 18 may be arranged to be used to store e.g., information, and further to store data, configurations, schedulings, and applications, and for instance parameters, to perform the methods herein when being executed in the information suppressing system 1. Furthermore, the status data determining unit 11, the comparing unit 12, the suppressing unit 13, the optional position determining unit 14, the optional vicinity determining unit 15, and the optional information determining unit 16 described above, which will be described in more detail later on in this description, and/or the option processor 17 and the optional memory 18, may for instance be implemented in one or several arbitrary nodes 19 arranged locally on-board the vehicle 2 or remotely therefrom such as in one or more databases which may support e.g., cloud functionality, and/or in the mobile user device 22. The node 19 may be an electronic control unit (ECU) or any suitable generic electronic device, and may involve, for instance, an infotainment node or a main central node.

(17) Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the status determining unit 11, the comparing unit 12, the suppressing unit 13, the optional position determining unit 14, the optional vicinity determining unit 15, and the optional information determining unit 16, may refer to a combination of analog and digital circuits, and/or one or more processors configured with software and/or firmware, e.g., stored in a memory such as the memory 18, that when executed by the one or more processors such as the processor 17 perform as will be described in more detail below. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuitry), or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a SoC (System-on-a-Chip).

(18) FIG. 3 illustrates exemplifying status data 21 and exemplifying predetermined suppression criteria 6, according to embodiments of the disclosure. The status data 21 comprises one or more status data parameters reflecting current conditions. The status data 21 is adapted to be compared with the predetermined suppression criteria 6.

(19) FIG. 4 is a flowchart depicting an exemplifying method performed by an information suppressing system 1 according to embodiments of the disclosure. The method in the information suppressing system 1 is for avoiding distracting the occupant 24 of the vehicle 2 with superfluous information via the medium 3 associated with the vehicle 2, which medium 3 is adapted to present the at least first piece of information 41 associated with the at least first entity 4 located in the current vicinity 5 of the vehicle 2. The exemplifying method, which may be continuously repeated, comprises the following actions discussed with support from FIGS. 1-3. The actions may be taken in any suitable order, and/or one or more actions may even be performed simultaneously where applicable.

(20) Action 101

(21) In optional Action 101, the information suppressing system may, e.g., by means of the position determining unit 14, determine the current position 23.

(22) Action 102

(23) In optional Action 102, the information suppressing system may, e.g., by means of the vicinity determining unit 15, determine the at least first entity 4 to be in the current vicinity 5.

(24) Action 103

(25) In optional Action 103, the information suppressing system 1 may, e.g., by means of the information determining unit 16, determine the at least first piece of information 41.

(26) Action 104

(27) In Action 104, the information suppressing system 1 determines, e.g., by means of the status data determining unit 11, the status data 21. The status data 21 comprises one or more status data parameters reflecting current conditions.

(28) Correspondingly, the status data determining unit 11 is adapted for determining the status data 21, which status data comprises one or more status data parameters reflecting the current conditions.

(29) Exemplifying status data parameters are provided on the left hand side of FIG. 3.

(30) Optionally, the status data 21 may comprise one or more status data parameters 211 reflecting current status conditions associated with the vehicle 2.

(31) Moreover, optionally, the first piece of information 41 may comprise the current commercial offer 411 associated with the first entity 4.

(32) Furthermore, the status data 21 may comprise one or more status data parameters 212 reflecting a prior utilization by the information suppressing system 1, of the prior commercial offer 711 associated with the first entity 4 and/or the second entity 7 associated with the first entity 4.

(33) Please note that Action 104 may be performed prior to, or simultaneously with, any or all of optional Actions 101-103.

(34) Action 105

(35) In Action 105, the information suppressing system 1 determines, e.g., by means of the comparing unit 12, the at least first piece of information 41 to be currently superfluous, based on comparing the at least first status data parameter of the status data 21 with the predetermined suppression criteria 6.

(36) Correspondingly, the comparing unit 12 is adapted for determining that the at least first piece of information 41 is currently superfluous, based on comparing at least a first status data parameter of the status data 21 with the predetermined suppression criteria 6.

(37) Exemplifying suppression parameters of the predetermined suppression criteria are provided on the right hand side of FIG. 3.

(38) Action 106

(39) In Action 106, the information suppressing system 1 suppresses, e.g., by means of the suppressing unit 13, the at least first piece of information 41, wherein at least a portion of the at least first piece of information 41 is prevented from being presented via the medium 3.

(40) Correspondingly, the suppressing unit 13 is adapted for suppressing the at least first piece of information 41, wherein at least a portion of the at least first piece of information 41 is prevented from being presented via the medium 3.

(41) Action 104 of determining the status data 21, Action 105 of determining the at least first piece of information 41 to be currently superfluous, and/or Action 106 of suppressing the at least first piece of information 41, may at least partly be accomplished by means of one or more applications running on the mobile user device 22 associated with the vehicle 2.

(42) Correspondingly, the mobile user device 22 associated with the vehicle 2, may be adapted for, by means of one or more applications running thereon, at least partly accomplish the Action 104 of determining the status data 21, Action 105 of determining the at least first piece of information 41 to be currently superfluous, and/or Action 106 of suppressing the at least first piece of information 41.

(43) Consequently, according to the introduced concept as described in the foregoing, there is provided an approach according to which distracting an occupant 24 of a vehicle 2 with superfluous information is avoided, in that should it be determined that the at least first piece of information 41, for instance an advertising offer, is to be suppressed, the information suppression system 1 may cancel the at least first piece of information 41 from being presented on the e.g., display 3, 31, and/or remove the at least first piece of information 41 from the e.g., display 3, 31.

(44) The person skilled in the art realizes that the present disclosure by no means is limited to the preferred embodiments described above. On the contrary, many modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims. It should furthermore be noted that the drawings not necessarily are to scale and the dimensions of certain features may have been exaggerated for the sake of clarity. Emphasis is instead placed upon illustrating the principle of the embodiments herein. Additionally, in the claims, the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality.

(45) While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms. The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments according to the disclosure.