Visual search assistance for an occupant of a vehicle

摘要

A visual search assistance system and related operating method are disclosed. An exemplary embodiment of the method dynamically determines a desired line-of-sight vector from an occupant of a vehicle to a visual target, and dynamically determines, with an onboard tracking system of the vehicle, an actual line-of-sight vector for the occupant of the vehicle. The actual line-of-sight vector is temporally associated with the desired line-of-sight vector. The method compares the actual line-of-sight vector against the desired line-of-sight vector to obtain a difference measurement, and generates a notification when the obtained difference measurement exceeds a threshold value. The notification provides guidance to redirect a gaze direction of the occupant toward the visual target.

主权项

1. A visual search assistance method for an occupant of a vehicle having a window, the method comprising:
providing an onboard computing system that includes an onboard tracking system and a transparent display, wherein the transparent display is a head mounted display configured to be mounted on a head of the occupant, the transparent display configured to allow the occupant to view a visual target that is outside the vehicle through both the window and the transparent display; dynamically determining a desired line-of-sight vector from the occupant of the vehicle to the visual target; dynamically determining, with the onboard tracking system, an actual line-of-sight vector for the occupant of the vehicle, the determined actual line-of-sight vector being temporally associated with the determined desired line-of-sight vector; comparing the determined actual line-of-sight vector against the determined desired line-of-sight vector to obtain a difference measurement; when the obtained difference measurement exceeds a threshold value, checking a current value of a running timer that indicates how long the occupant has been looking away from the visual target; generating, by the onboard computing system, a notification signal based on input from the onboard tracking system when the obtained difference measurement exceeds the threshold value and the current value of the running timer exceeds a time threshold value; communicating the notification signal to the transparent display; and displaying a notification on the transparent display, the notification based on the notification signal, the notification providing guidance to redirect a gaze direction of the occupant through the transparent display and the window toward the visual target, the notification including a directional indicator on the transparent display, the direction indicator pointing toward a viewspace location of the visual target to redirect the gaze direction of the occupant.