LIGHTING DEVICE, METHOD AND PROGRAM FOR COUNTERING MOTION SICKNESS EXPERIENCED IN A VEHICLE

Abstract

A lighting device (2) mitigating motion sickness experienced by an occupant in a moving vehicle having at least one light source (90) and an operating unit (60, 70, 80, 120, 130) for recording data of a vehicle movement and/or a control signal that corresponds thereto, wherein the light source (90) outputs a light pattern on the basis of the recorded data and/or of the control signal, depending on a speed, an acceleration, a change in the acceleration and/or a change in direction of the vehicle in a respective axial component in the direction of travel as well as a transverse component orthogonal thereto.

Claims

1. A lighting device (2) for a vehicle (1), the lighting device (2) comprising: at least one light source (90); and an operating unit (60, 70, 80, 120, 130) for recording data of a vehicle movement in a travel direction and/or at least one control signal corresponding thereto; and wherein the operating unit comprises a light source driver (80) configured to drive the at least one light source (90); and wherein the light source (90) outputs a light pattern on the basis of the recorded data and/or of the control signal, depending on at least one of a speed, an acceleration, a change in the acceleration and/or a change in direction of the vehicle in a respective axial component in the travel direction as well as a transverse component orthogonal thereto.

2. The lighting device (2) of claim 1, wherein the at least one light source (90) is configured to output light in a plurality of colors and/or at least two lighting means (90) that output different light are provided.

3. The lighting device (2) of claim 1, wherein the light pattern can be represented in a horizontal direction over an angular range of about 180 to about 200 and/or in a vertical direction over an angular range of about 130, and that at least one light output parameter can be changed over the angular range.

4. The lighting device (2) of claim 1, wherein the light pattern has a running direction, and the light intensity and/or the color of the light can be controlled depending on a running frequency from the light source driver (80).

5. The lighting device (2) of claim 1, wherein the operating unit (60, 70, 80, 120, 130) is configured to adjust, within the CIE chromaticity diagram, a color locus of the output light pattern to match a detected ambient light.

6. The lighting device (2) of claim 1, wherein the at least one light source (90) is configured to output infra-red radiation.

7. The lighting device (2) of claim 1, wherein the light pattern can be adapted depending on a user specification and/or biodata.

8. The lighting device (2) of claim 1, wherein the lighting device (2) comprises an orientation detection unit (60, 120, 130) that acquires a spatial orientation of the lighting device (2) with reference to the vehicle (1) and/or a vehicle occupant (40), and the light pattern can be aligned to the spatial orientation.

9. The lighting device (2) of claim 1 in combination with the vehicle (1), the vehicle comprising a communication interface (10) adapted to interface with the lighting device (2), wherein the communication interface (10) is configured to transmit a vehicle movement data and/or a data indicative of a vehicle occupant, a position and/or orientation data of the lighting device (2), and/or a control signal.

10. A method for outputting a light pattern in a vehicle (1), comprising: determining data indicative of a vehicle movement and/or a vehicle occupant; selecting a light pattern in accordance with the determined data; and driving a light source (90) in accordance with the selected light pattern; wherein said determining data is carried out continuously in order to adapt the light pattern dependent upon the determined data.

11. A computer system comprising one or more non-transitory computer readable memories which store, in combination or singularly, instructions that, when executed by a one or more computers, cause the one or more computers to perform operations for adjusting a light pattern of a tunable light source (90), said operations comprising: acquiring data relating to a vehicle movement and/or a vehicle occupant; selecting a light pattern in accordance with the acquired data; and driving a lighting means (90) in accordance with the selected light pattern.

12. The lighting device (2) of claim 1, wherein the at least one light source (90) comprises at least two said light sources (90) configured to emit light of a color different from each other.

13. The lighting device (2) of claim 3, wherein the at least one light output parameter is a light color.

14. The lighting device (2) of claim 1, wherein the light source (90) is driven by the light source driver (80) to output a light pattern dependent on the acceleration and/or the change in acceleration in direction of the vehicle in the respective axial component in the travel direction as well as the transverse component orthogonal thereto.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0069] FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view (perpendicular to the direction of travel) of a vehicle with lighting devices according to a first exemplary form of embodiment.

[0070] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram for the drive of a light pattern.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0071] FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a vehicle 1 with lighting devices 2 according to a first exemplary form of embodiment. The cut plane extends perpendicularly to the direction of travel of the vehicle 1, and is located at the height of the seat surfaces of the driver's seat 6 and of the passenger seat 7, wherein the direction of view is shown in the direction of the windscreen 3. Even though the present embodiment is primarily oriented to the minimization of motion sickness when using automatic driving systems, for the sake of better orientation the terminology from the field of conventional vehicles, to which the present embodiment is likewise also applicable, is adopted.

[0072] The interior of the vehicle comprises a plurality of lighting devices 2 that are arranged in various regions of the vehicle 1. In the schematically illustrated example, the lighting devices 2 are located above the windscreen 3, in the upper edge region of the instrument cluster 5, below the instrument cluster 5, over the entire width of the vehicle, and at each of the side seating surfaces of the driver seat 6 and of the passenger seat 7. Further lighting devices 2 may be provided that can also be integrated, for example, into an armrest, other kinds of supporting element, a display holding component or a shelf for objects, and in particular extend at the sides in order to at least not fully cover the lighting means or light source(s) 90 of the lighting device 2 when in use.

[0073] The lighting devices 2 illustrated in FIG. 1 are integrated into the vehicle 1, but can, however, also be fastened or removably arranged as mobile lighting devices at appropriate locations. Positive-locking, friction-locking or other known fasteners can be applied for this purpose. For example hook-and-loop closures, such as those conventionally sold under the trade designation Velcro or magnetic systems that enable easy connection and release are preferably employed.

[0074] FIG. 2 shows a block of a drive variant for the output of the light pattern to minimize motion sickness. The vehicle 1 comprises for this purpose a vehicle controller 10, a control unit 20 and at least one near field communication device 30, as well as at least one lighting device 2. The double arrows represent radio or cable connections 50. The lighting device 2 here is a mobile lighting device, and comprises a communication interface 60, a data store 70, a light source driver 80 as well as associated light source or light sources 90, an energy supply 100 in the form of a battery unit or mains connection for a 12 V or 24 V DC supply or a 230 V alternating voltage provided by a voltage converter, a detection unit 110, a control unit 120 and a user interface 130. The communication interface 60 comprises transmitting and receiving devices for communication over WLAN, Bluetooth and NFC protocols, as well as for voice control. The data store 70 comprises a data storage unit as well as software and operating programs that contain sequence patterns, logos, text messages, operating parameters and light programs. The light source(s) 90 are driven by the light source driver 80 which is in connection with the light source 90 as well as the detection unit 110 and actuators such as an ultrasonic sensor and receiver. The detection unit 110 here comprises internal sensors for measuring the acceleration as well as the ambient brightness. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated, the detected parameter values are not directly processed by the light source driver 80, but are first converted into drive signals by the control unit 120. A vehicle occupant 40 can also make further specifications that have an influence on the drive of the light source 90 via the user interface 130. The user interface 130 for example allows the selection of the parameters that determine the light pattern, so that, for example, light patterns are only output on the basis of a change in the acceleration, and the specification of the respective parameter threshold values. In a similar way, the vehicle occupants 40 can also have an influence on the drive of the light source 90 via the communication interface 60.

[0075] The mobile lighting device 2 is arranged in the vehicle interior, and receives a position signal of the near field communication device 30, through which a position and orientation of the lighting device is determined. The vehicle controller 10 can additionally transmit further sensor and operating data via the communication interface 60 to the light source driver 80. Additional data is made available in this way, and/or a monitoring comparison of the sensor data of the vehicle 1 with the lighting device 2 is enabled. The vehicle controller 10 can also contain data prepared by the control unit 20 according to a computing, storage or evaluation unit contained in the control unit 20 or transmit direct control commands.

[0076] The embodiments are not restricted to any particular example, but include further variants or combinations. In addition to optical signals, acoustic signals can thus also be provided, with which frequencies and tone sequences, or the excitation of a loudspeaker of an arrangement of loudspeakers, can also be calculated by the above-mentioned control functions and made available as a data set.

LIST OF NON-LIMITING REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0077] 1 Vehicle [0078] 2 Lighting device [0079] 3 Windscreen [0080] 4 Steering wheel [0081] 5 Instrument cluster [0082] 6 Driver's seat [0083] 7 Passenger seat [0084] 10 Vehicle controller [0085] 20 Control unit [0086] 30 Near-field-communication-device (NFC) [0087] 40 Vehicle occupant [0088] 50 Radio or cable connection, NFC [0089] 60 Communication interface [0090] 70 Data memory [0091] 80 Light source driver [0092] 90 Light source or lighting means [0093] 100 Energy supply [0094] 110 Detection unit [0095] 120 Control unit [0096] 130 User interface