METHOD FOR PROVIDING A DISPLAY IN A MOTOR VEHICLE, AND MOTOR VEHICLE

Abstract

A method includes detecting a direction of view of at least one passenger as an occupant of the motor vehicle; and providing a display with information about at least one object in a landscape of the motor vehicle viewed by the at least one passenger, the at least one object not being relevant to road traffic, such that said information is provided in an area in the direction of view of the at least one passenger, wherein, when multiple passengers of the motor vehicle are detected, a direction of view of each passenger is detected, such that a display with information about the at least one object in the landscape of the motor vehicle viewed by at least two passengers is provided in an area in which the direction of view of the at least two passengers intersect.

Claims

1. A method for providing a display in a motor vehicle comprising: detecting a direction of view of at least one passenger as an occupant of the motor vehicle; and providing a display with information about at least one object in a landscape of the motor vehicle viewed by the at least one passenger, the at least one object not being relevant to road traffic, such that said information is provided in an area in the direction of view of the at least one passenger, wherein, when multiple passengers of the motor vehicle are detected, a direction of view of each passenger is detected, such that a display with information about the at least one object in the landscape of the motor vehicle viewed by a particular passenger is provided in an area in the direction of view of the particular passenger; or a display with information about the at least one object in the landscape of the motor vehicle viewed by at least two passengers is provided in an area in which the direction of view of the at least two passengers intersect.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the display device is provided by projecting a light projection, wherein the light projection is a head-up display, a hologram device for providing a holographic representation, a light-emitting diode display, or a liquid-crystal display.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the object not relevant to road traffic is a landmark, and providing the display in the detecting step includes information about the object in the form of a text display.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising determining a position of the motor vehicle.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the information provided with the display can be changed or adapted to the occupant, preferably in a self-learning manner.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein location, duration or type, determined by size, color, luminosity, contrast or geometry, of the display can be changed or adapted when provided, in a self-learning manner.

7. A motor vehicle, comprising: a direction of view detection device for detecting a direction of view of at least one passenger as an occupant of the motor vehicle, wherein when multiple passengers of the motor vehicle are detected, any one of the passengers of the motor vehicle can be selected as the occupant; and at least one display device for providing at least one display of at least one piece of information assigned to an object in a landscape of the motor vehicle viewed by the passenger, wherein the at least one display is configured to be provided in an area in the direction of view of the at least one passenger, wherein, when at least two passengers of the motor vehicle are detected, the at least one display of at least one piece of information assigned to an object in a landscape of the motor vehicle viewed by the passenger is provided in an area in the direction of view of the particular passenger; or the at least one display of at least one piece of information assigned to an object in a landscape of the motor vehicle viewed by the passenger is provided in an area in which the direction of view of the at least two passengers intersect.

8. The motor vehicle according to claim 7, further comprising: a position detection device for detecting a position of the motor vehicle; an object detection device for detecting the object in the landscape of the motor vehicle; and a data processing device configured to assign information to detected objects; wherein the position detection device is integrated in the motor vehicle or is provided via a smartphone, a tablet and/or a personal computer, the object detection device is integrated in the motor vehicle or is provided via a smartphone, a tablet and/or a personal computer, and the data processing device is integrated in the motor vehicle or is provided via a smartphone, a tablet and/or a personal computer.

9. The motor vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the at least one display device for providing at least one display has a projection device for providing a light projection, in particular a head-up display, a hologram device for providing a holographic representation, a light-emitting diode display and/or a liquid-crystal display.

10. The motor vehicle according to claim 7, characterized in that the at least one display device is at least partially embedded in the material, in particular glass material, of a windshield, a side window, a rear window, a sunroof and/or a panoramic window of the motor vehicle or in a device, in particular eyeglasses, worn by the occupant.

11. The motor vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the at least one display device is at least partially embedded in a cladding, a door cladding, roof cladding and/or seat cladding and/or a dashboard of the motor vehicle.

12. The motor vehicle according to claim 7, further comprising a data processing device, wherein the data processing device is configured to carry out a method comprising determining the position of the motor vehicle; identifying at least one object not relevant to road traffic as an object in the landscape in the surroundings of the motor vehicle, depending on the determined position; detecting at least the direction of view of a passenger as an occupant of the motor vehicle; and when at least two passengers of the motor vehicle are detected, providing the at least one display with information about the at least one object in the landscape viewed by the passenger, so that said information is provided in the direct field of view of the passenger, as defined by the direction of view of the particular passenger, in the same place as the object; or providing the at least one display with information about the at least one object in the landscape viewed by the passenger in an area in which the direction of view of the at least two passengers intersect.

13. The motor vehicle according to claim 8, wherein the data processing device is connectable to a smartphone, tablet and/or personal computer in order to receive and/or send data.

14. The motor vehicle according to claim 8, wherein, the position detection device, the object detection device and/or the direction of view detection device is at least partially mounted or mountable on or in a rear-view apparatus, in particular an interior rear-view apparatus, and/or the direction of view detection device is at least partially mounted or mountable in or on a control panel.

15. A method for providing a display in a motor vehicle comprising: detecting a direction of view of a plurality of passengers within the motor vehicle; determining information about at least one object in a landscape of the motor vehicle viewed by each of the plurality of passengers based on the direction of view; providing a display containing the information about the at least one object, the display provided in an area in which one or more of the plurality of passengers within the motor vehicle intersect.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] FIG. 1 shows a view of a vehicle occupant in a motor vehicle in which the method according to the invention is implemented;

[0024] FIG. 2 is a flow chart generally describing the steps of the method according to the invention;

[0025] FIG. 3 is a flow chart describing the steps of the method according to the invention in an exemplary embodiment suitable for the vehicle operator; and

[0026] FIG. 4 is a flow chart describing the steps of the method according to the invention in an exemplary embodiment suitable for a passenger.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] In a motor vehicle shown from the view of an occupant in FIG. 1, the invention can be used for the occupant, and indeed both for an occupant sitting on the side 10 as the driver as well as for an occupant sitting on the side 12 as the passenger. The driver sits on the side of the steering wheel 14. One device 16a records the eye movements of the driver (so-called eye tracking) and one device 16b is provided for recording the eye movements of the passenger. A camera 18 behind the interior rear window detects the field of view in front of the motor vehicle. In the surroundings in front of the motor vehicle, there is a traffic sign 20, the position of which is detectable by the camera 18 and/or determinable via a GPS system not shown. If the driver looks in a different direction, meaning not at the traffic sign 20, or if it is detected by the camera 18 that the view of the traffic sign 20 is blocked, the driver is given a display 22 as a head-up display which provides them with the same information as the traffic sign 20. Furthermore, displays (e.g., display 22) may be provided to one or more passengers in a multiple-passenger vehicle (e.g., bus). Multiple displays 22 may be utilized for separate groups within a plurality of passengers when providing one display would not allow each passenger to view the display 22. In addition or alternatively, an object deemed relevant due to being viewed by one or more passengers may be provided to the driver on the display 22. An object in the landscape, such as a mountain 24, is viewed by the passenger or passengers and information about 26 the object, for example its name and height, are indicated in the same place.

[0028] FIG. 2 is a flow chart generally describing the steps of the method according to the invention: In step S10, in particular using the GPS system of the motor vehicle, the position of the same is detected. Based on the position, data in a card memory in the motor vehicle or in a memory which is accessed wirelessly (such as a memory available on the internet) about objects in the surroundings of the vehicle may be examined and these objects thus be identified (step S12). Using the device 16a or the device 16b, the direction of view of the vehicle occupant(s) is detected (step S14) and, depending on the direction of view in the field of view of the respective vehicle occupant, a display 22, 26 is provided on the windshield wiper by a head-up display.

[0029] If the vehicle occupant is the driver, it is determined whether, for example, a traffic sign 20 or a traffic light is in the surroundings of the motor vehicle according to FIG. 3 in step S112 after step S110 (corresponds to S10). In step S114, the direction of view of the driver is detected using the device 16a. In step S115, using the camera 18 and the position data downloadable from the memory, it is checked whether the traffic sign 20 or the traffic light is visible for the driver at all. Simultaneously, it can be checked if the driver is looking in that direction. In case one of the two is not the case (“No”), a display 22 of the traffic sign 20 or the traffic light is provided on the windshield by the head-up display according to step S116. In case the driver is already looking at the traffic sign 20 or the traffic light, the display is dispensable (“Yes”, return to step S110).

[0030] If the vehicle occupant is the passenger, then it is detected which landscape object 24 (mountain, mountain chain, hill, forest area, meadow, pasture, tree, bush etc.) or which object of a settlement (building, building complex, street, monument, well etc.) is in the surroundings of the motor vehicle according to FIG. 4 in step S12 after step S210 (corresponds to S10). In step S214, the direction of view of the passenger is detected using the device 16b. In some examples in which multiple passengers are present in the motor vehicle, the view of one or more of the passengers may be detected in step S214. This way, it can be mapped, at which objects the passenger is looking. In the field of view of the passenger, a display 26 of information about the object 24 is then provided for the driver or for one or more passengers. For example, the display 26 may be provided on a seat or on a side of a multiple-passenger vehicle, or on the windshield by the head-up display according to step S216.

[0031] It is equally possible, albeit not described here in detail, to make the display dependent on the direction of view of the vehicle operator as well as that of a further occupant (the passengers). In this way, a display can occur in an area in which the fields of view of the driver and the passenger intersect. The display may also be provided in an area or areas in which the views of multiple passengers intersect. For example, a display may be provided at several different areas of a multiple passenger vehicle, each display being provided for a group of passengers having intersecting fields of view. This is in particular true for the provision of information about objects not relevant to the traffic situation.

[0032] It is further a possibility to obtain information about the objects to be viewed, be it by the driver or the passenger, through data transfer with a smartphone, tablet or personal computer. The GPS system of the motor vehicle or of the smartphone, tablet or personal computer can also be used.

[0033] For example, a smartphone connected to a motor vehicle via Bluetooth can be used for position detection. Via the smartphone, depending on the respective position of the motor vehicle information about objects close to said position can additionally be obtained. In this way, for example, an app can be used which automatically follows a link to Wikipedia and displays texts about objects at which an occupant is looking, wherein the direction of view of the occupant can be detected via a camera system in the interior rear-view mirror of the motor vehicle.

[0034] However, instead of or in addition to a display of information about detected objects, a sound output is also possible, for example once again via the smartphone. A self-training effect can further be used and/or personal priorities can be taken into account, namely during the selection of the information to be displayed. If, for example, the occupants are interested in historical information, the history of the objects viewed by them can always be provided, even in the form of a film in the head-up display. The film can be uploaded via the smartphone from YouTube or similar.

[0035] The features of the invention disclosed in the above description, the claims and the drawings can be essential both individually and in any combination required for the realization of the invention in its different embodiments.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0036] 10 driver's side [0037] 12 passenger's side [0038] 14 steering wheel [0039] 16a, 16b devices for detecting eye movement [0040] 18 camera [0041] 20 traffic sign [0042] 22 representation of the traffic sign 20 [0043] 24 object in the landscape [0044] 26 represented information about the object 24 [0045] S10, S12, S14, S16 Steps of the method in its general form [0046] S110, S112, S114, S115, S116 Steps of the method as applied to the driver [0047] S210, S212, S214, S216 Steps of the method as applied to the passenger