Information presentation device using tactile stimulus with vibrator

摘要

An information presentation device transmits information of a car navigation system, installed in a vehicle, to a driver in form of tactile stimuli, wherein a controller controls a plurality of vibrators attached to a steering wheel. The vibrators are arranged in proximity to vibration transmitters, corresponding to holding parts of a steering wheel, so that they are controlled with desired vibration intensity and vibration start timing in response to drive signals from the controller. Two vibrators are arranged in the holding parts of a steering wheel which come in contact with driver's hands and are controlled to generate a virtual vibrating source, thus rendering a driver feeling a sensation as if a vibrating source is moving in upward-downward directions, left-right directions, and far-near directions in the front side of a driver. Thus, it is possible to present accurate information with a small amount of energy consumption in driving vibrators.

主权项

1. An information presentation device that presents an operator with externally provided information representing an external condition of a vehicle in a form of vibration, said information presentation device comprising:
a manual control part having a shape held by an operator's hand; a plurality of vibrators attached to the manual operation part, each vibrator being a device which is controlled in terms of vibration intensity and frequency independently; a controller that generates a driver signal to control the vibrator based on the externally provided information representing the external condition of the vehicle; and a vibration transmitter that transmits vibration of the plurality of vibrators, applied to the manual control part, as a tactile stimulus to the operator's hand, as a vibration transfer function inherent to a material of the manual control part, wherein the controller sequentially drives the plurality of vibrators with a time difference between vibration start timings.