JP7601628B2 - Mobile Systems - Google Patents

Description

This specification discloses a mobile system having a mobile object that transports users within a specified area.

A specific area with an extraordinary worldview, such as an amusement park or theme park, often has a vast area. In order to support the movement of park visitors within this vast area, it has been proposed to use moving objects, such as vehicles, to transport visitors within the park. By using such moving objects, the burden of movement of visitors within the park can be reduced.

JP 2019-117215 A

However, these moving objects are often inorganic. If such moving objects come into the field of view of pedestrians in the park, they may spoil the park's unique worldview. As a result, it has been proposed to decorate moving objects with decorations that match the unique worldview of the park. However, the scenery of a park changes depending on the location, season, time, and weather. Therefore, depending on the location, season, time, and weather, a decorated moving object may not blend in with the surrounding scenery and may spoil the unique worldview of the park.

Patent document 1 discloses an automobile in which a display unit that displays images is installed on most of the exterior surface. However, the display unit in Patent document 1 is intended to display advertising images, etc., and is not intended to make the moving object less noticeable.

Therefore, this specification discloses a mobile body system that allows a mobile body to blend into the surrounding scenery within a specified area without compromising the worldview of the specified area.

The mobile body system disclosed in this specification comprises a mobile body that transports a user within a specified area, and a camouflage device that makes the mobile body appear non-existent when viewed from the outside. The camouflage device comprises a number of display units provided on each of a number of outer surfaces of the mobile body, a camera that photographs the environment surrounding the mobile body to obtain an environmental image, and a camouflage controller that generates an image that blends the mobile body into the surrounding environment based on the environmental image and displays the image on the display unit.

By displaying an image generated based on the environmental image on the display unit, the moving object can blend into the surrounding environment even if the location, season, time, or weather changes. This allows the world view of a specific area to be maintained.

In this case, the image to be blended may be a transparent image, which is an image of the scenery on the opposite side of each display unit with the moving object in between, i.e., an image that is transparent to the moving object.

By displaying a see-through image on the display unit, pedestrians can be made to believe that the moving object is not present, more reliably maintaining the worldview of a given area.

The image to be blended may also be a camouflage image, which is a pattern image of multiple colors having a color distribution similar to the color distribution of the surrounding environment.

With this configuration, even if a user looks at the display from an oblique direction, the boundary between the display and the surrounding environment becomes difficult to distinguish, and moving objects become less noticeable. As a result, the world view of a specified area can be more reliably maintained.

The moving object may also travel along a predetermined route on which pedestrians are prohibited from entering.

This configuration allows a certain distance to be maintained between pedestrians and moving objects, so pedestrians are less likely to feel uncomfortable even if the image that blends with the surrounding environment is somewhat inaccurate.

The mobile body system may further include a warning device that warns the pedestrian of the approach when the distance between the pedestrian and the mobile body becomes less than a specified safe distance, and the warning device may have a warning output device that outputs at least one of sound, wind, light, and smell as a warning.

This configuration reduces the presence of the moving object while preventing contact between the moving object and pedestrians.

The moving body may also move along a predefined travel route, and the warning output device may be installed outside the moving body along the travel route.

Since the moving object moves along a travel route, even if the warning output device is installed outside the moving object, it can output an appropriate warning to pedestrians. Furthermore, if the warning output device is installed outside the moving object rather than on the moving object itself, there are fewer space limitations, so a larger warning output device can be installed.

The moving body may also move to avoid pedestrians, so as to maintain a distance between itself and the pedestrian that is equal to or greater than a specified safe distance.

This configuration reduces the presence of the moving object while preventing contact between the moving object and pedestrians.

The mobile body system disclosed in this specification allows the mobile body to blend in with the surrounding scenery within a specified area without compromising the worldview of the specified area.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a travel route of a moving object. FIG. 13 is an image diagram illustrating an example of camouflage processing. FIG. 13 is an image diagram illustrating another example of camouflage processing. FIG. 13 is an image diagram showing the operation of the warning device.

The configuration of the mobile body system 10 will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile body system 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram explaining the travel route 104 of the mobile body 12. The mobile body system 10 is a system that transports visitors to a park (such as an amusement park or theme park) which is a specified area, while making the mobile body 12 appear not to exist when viewed from the outside. In the following description, a visitor who is riding on the mobile body 12 is referred to as a "user" and a visitor who is not riding on the mobile body 12 is referred to as a "pedestrian" to distinguish between the two.

As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile body system 10 has a mobile body 12, a camouflage device 14, and a warning device 16. The mobile body 12 transports the user 100 by carrying the user 100 on board and moving around. The type of the mobile body 12 is not particularly limited, and the mobile body 12 may be, for example, an automobile that runs on a power source of an engine or a motor, a monorail that moves along rails, a cable car connected to a cable, a ship that travels on a waterway, etc. In any case, the mobile body 12 has an outer surface that covers the entire periphery of the user 100 aboard the mobile body 12.

In this example, the moving body 12 moves along a travel route 104 that is separated from the pedestrians 102. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, a travel route 104 for the moving body 12 to travel is provided in the park in addition to a pedestrian route 106 for the pedestrians 102 to walk along. A number of boarding and alighting stations 108 are provided along the travel route 104, and the users 100 board or disembark from the moving body 12 at these boarding and alighting stations 108. In addition, the pedestrians 102 are prohibited from entering the travel route 104, as a general rule. Therefore, the pedestrians 102 outside the moving body 12 will basically see the moving body 12 from a position that is at least a certain distance away from the moving body 12.

The camouflage device 14 is a device that makes the moving body 12 appear not to exist when viewed from the outside. The camouflage device 14 has a display unit 20, a camera 22, and a camouflage controller 24. A display unit 20 is provided on each of the multiple outer surfaces of the moving body 12. The multiple display units 20 have an area that covers most of the outer surface of the moving body 12. The configuration of this display unit 20 is not particularly limited as long as it can display an image. Therefore, the display unit 20 may be configured as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, a projector that projects an image onto a projection surface, or the like.

The camera 22 is provided on the moving body 12 and captures the surrounding environment of the moving body 12. Hereinafter, the image of the surrounding environment captured by this camera 22 will be referred to as an "environment image." The environmental image is acquired for the entire surroundings of the moving body 12. Therefore, a number of cameras 22 are provided that can capture the entire surroundings of the moving body 12.

The camouflage controller 24 is a computer having a processor 24a and a memory 24b. This "computer" also includes a microcontroller in which a computer system is incorporated into a single integrated circuit. The processor 24a refers to a processor in a broad sense, and includes a general-purpose processor (e.g., CPU: Central Processing Unit, etc.) and a dedicated processor (e.g., GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, programmable logic device, etc.). The operation of the processor 24a described below may be performed not only by one processor, but also by multiple processors located at physically separate locations working together. Similarly, memory 24b does not have to be a single physical element, and may be composed of multiple memories located at physically separate locations. Memory 24b may also include at least one of a semiconductor memory (e.g., RAM, ROM, solid state drive, etc.) and a magnetic disk (e.g., hard disk drive, etc.).

The camouflage controller 24 controls the operation of the display unit 20 and the camera 22. Specifically, the camouflage controller 24 instructs the camera 22 to capture an environmental image, and generates a camouflage image or a see-through image based on the obtained environmental image to make the moving body 12 blend in with the surrounding environment. The camouflage controller 24 then causes the display unit 20 to display the generated camouflage image or see-through image. The generation and display of the camouflage image and the see-through image will be described in detail later.

The camouflage controller 24 may be mounted on the moving body 12, or may be installed in a location physically separated from the moving body 12. In the latter case, the camouflage controller 24 communicates with the camera 22 and the display unit 20 provided on the moving body 12 via wireless communication.

The warning device 16 is a device for issuing a warning when a pedestrian 102 approaches the moving body 12. The warning device 16 has an environmental sensor 30, a warning output device 32, and a warning controller 34. The environmental sensor 30 is a sensor for detecting the approach of the pedestrian 102 to the moving body 12. The environmental sensor 30 may be, for example, a Lidar, a millimeter wave radar, a sonar, a magnetic sensor, a camera, or a combination of these. The environmental sensor 30 may be mounted on the moving body 12 or may be provided outside the moving body 12. The warning controller 34 determines the presence or absence of a pedestrian 102 approaching the moving body 12 based on the detection result of the environmental sensor 30.

The warning output device 32 outputs at least one of sound, wind, light, and smell to warn the pedestrian 102 of the approach. Such a warning output device 32 may be provided in the moving body 12 or may be provided outside the moving body 12.

The warning controller 34 controls the driving of the warning output device 32 based on the detection result by the environmental sensor 30. Specifically, when the environmental sensor detects that the distance between the pedestrian 102 and the moving body 12 is less than a predetermined safe distance, the warning controller 34 drives the warning output device 32 to output a warning to the pedestrian 102. Note that, like the camouflage controller 24, the warning controller 34 is also a computer having a processor 34a and a memory 34b. The warning controller 34 may be mounted on the moving body 12, or may be installed at a location physically separated from the moving body 12. The warning controller 34 may be integrated with the above-mentioned environmental sensor 30 and warning output device 32, or may be installed at a location physically separated from the moving body 12. In the latter case, the warning controller 34 communicates with the environmental sensor 30 and warning output device 32 via wireless communication.

Next, the camouflage processing of the moving body 12 by the camouflage device 14 will be described with reference to Figures 3 and 4. Figure 3 is an image diagram explaining an example of the camouflage processing, and Figure 4 is an image diagram explaining another example of the camouflage processing.

Many parks create extraordinary spaces and provide visitors with an extraordinary sensation, which arouses satisfaction in the visitors and increases the attraction of the park. Therefore, in order to maintain the attraction of the park, it is important to maintain the extraordinary sensation that the park provides. On the other hand, parks often have vast land areas, and the burden of moving visitors is great. Therefore, in order to support the movement of users within the park, it has been proposed to transport users by mobile objects 12. However, such mobile objects 12 are inorganic and often do not fit into the worldview of the park. If such mobile objects 12 come into the field of view of the visitors, the visitors' sense of the extraordinary may be diminished, leading to a decrease in the attraction of the park.

The camouflage device 14 in this example performs camouflage processing on the moving object 12 so as not to spoil the worldview of the park, making the moving object 12 appear to not exist when viewed from the outside. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the camouflage device 14 photographs the surrounding environment of the moving object 12 with the camera 22 and obtains an environmental image 38. The obtained environmental image 38 is sent to the camouflage controller 24.

The camouflage controller 24 generates a transparent image 40 based on the environmental image 38 and displays it on each of the multiple display units 20. Here, the transparent image 40 is an image of the scenery that would be visible if the moving object 12 were not present, and is an image of the scenery on the opposite side of each display unit 20 across the moving object 12.

Therefore, for the display unit 20 provided on the right side of the moving body 12, the scenery image to the left of the moving body 12 becomes the transparent image 40. Similarly, for the display unit 20 provided on the left side of the moving body 12, the scenery image to the right of the moving body 12 becomes the transparent image 40, for the display unit 20 provided on the front of the moving body 12, the scenery image behind the moving body 12 becomes the transparent image 40, and for the display unit 20 provided on the rear of the moving body 12, the scenery image in front of the moving body 12 becomes the transparent image 40.

The camouflage controller 24 performs various image processing such as synthesis, enlargement/reduction, and distortion processing on the environmental image 38 captured on the opposite side of each display unit 20 across the moving object 12, to generate a see-through image 40. The content of such image processing is determined based on the shape of the surface of each display unit 20 and the relative positional relationship between the display unit 20 and the camera 22 that captured the environmental image 38. The generated see-through image 40 is then displayed on the display unit 20. Naturally, such an environmental image 38 is acquired as a video, and the see-through image 40 is generated and displayed as a video.

In this way, by displaying on each display unit 20 an image of the scenery on the opposite side of the moving body 12 from that display unit 20, when viewed by a pedestrian 102 (i.e., an observer) outside the moving body 12, it is possible to give the illusion that the moving body 12 does not exist and that the scenery on the other side of the moving body 12 is visible. This effectively prevents the moving body 12 from spoiling the worldview of the park.

However, although the above-mentioned configuration is effective when the display unit 20 is viewed from the front, when the display unit 20 is viewed from an oblique direction, the transparent image 40 appears flat and does not blend in well with the scenery around the moving body 12. Therefore, as another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a camouflage image 42 may be generated and displayed instead of the transparent image 40. The camouflage image 42 is an image in which a pattern is drawn with multiple colors so that the color distribution is similar to the color distribution contained in the surrounding scenery. The camouflage controller 24 analyzes the color distribution contained in the scenery around the moving body 12 based on the environmental image 38, and generates an image of a camouflage pattern that blends in well with the obtained color distribution, i.e., the camouflage image 42. The camouflage controller 24 then causes the generated camouflage image 42 to be displayed on the display unit 20.

When the camouflage pattern is observed from close up, the boundary between the object and the surrounding environment can be clearly grasped, while when viewed from a certain distance, the camouflage pattern blends easily into the surrounding environment regardless of the viewing direction. In this example, as described above, pedestrians 102 are prohibited from entering the travel route 104 of the moving object 12, and the distance between the moving object 12 and the pedestrians 102 is kept at a certain level. Therefore, by displaying the camouflage image 42 on the display unit 20, when the pedestrians 102 see the moving object 12, the boundary between the moving object 12 and the surrounding environment becomes difficult to discern, and the moving object 12 can be made to seem as if it does not exist. In this example, the camouflage image 42 is generated based on the environmental image 38 captured by the camera 22, so that even if the position, season, time, or weather of the moving object 12 changes, the camouflage image 42 that always blends easily into the surroundings can be obtained. As a result, the moving object 12 does not spoil the worldview of the park, and the park's appeal can be maintained at a high level.

However, if the moving object 12 is made to appear as if it does not exist, the park's worldview is maintained, but there is a risk that pedestrians 102 may not notice the presence of the moving object 12 and may approach it by mistake. To avoid such problems, pedestrians 102 are prohibited from entering the travel route 104, but there are cases where the pedestrians 102 may enter the travel route 104 by mistake. The moving object system 10 of this example is provided with a warning device 16 for outputting a warning to the pedestrians 102 in such cases. This warning device 16 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is an image showing the operation of the warning device 16.

As described above, the warning device 16 has an environmental sensor 30 that detects the approach of a pedestrian 102 to a moving object 12, and if the result of the detection is that the distance between the pedestrian 102 and the moving object 12 is less than a specified safe distance, a warning is output from the warning output device 32.

Here, the form of the warning output from the warning output device 32 is not particularly limited as long as it can attract the attention of the pedestrian 102. Therefore, the warning output device 32 may be a light 50 that attracts attention with light, or a speaker 52 that attracts attention with sound. The warning output device 32 may also be an air nozzle 54 that sprays wind at the approaching pedestrian 102, or an odor sprayer 56 that sprays a specific odor. The warning output device 32 may be mounted on the moving body 12 or may be provided outside the moving body 12. In particular, in this example, the moving body 12 travels only along a predetermined travel route 104, so that the location where the warning output is required can be roughly identified. Therefore, the warning output device 32 may be installed outside the moving body 12 and at a location where the warning output is required, for example, on the road surface 110 or a structure 112 located near the travel route 104. If it is outside the moving body 12, even a large warning output device 32 can be easily installed. As described above, by outputting a warning to a pedestrian approaching the moving body 12, contact between the moving body 12 and the pedestrian 102 can be effectively prevented even if the moving body 12 is camouflaged.

The configuration described above is merely an example, and other configurations may be changed as long as the multiple display units 20 provided on each of the multiple outer surfaces of the moving body 12 display an image that is generated based on the environmental image 38 and blends the moving body 12 into the surrounding environment. For example, in the above description, the moving body system 10 has a warning device 16 in addition to the moving body 12 and the camouflage device 14, but the warning device 16 may not be required. In this case, the moving body 12 may move while automatically avoiding the pedestrian 102 so as to maintain a distance between the moving body 12 and the pedestrian 102 that is equal to or greater than a specified safe distance. In the above description, the moving body 12 moves only along a predetermined travel route 104. However, the moving body 12 may be able to freely select its travel route 104.

10 Mobile system, 12 Mobile body, 14 Camouflage device, 16 Warning device, 20 Display unit, 22 Camera, 24 Camouflage controller, 30 Environmental sensor, 32 Warning output device, 34 Warning controller, 38 Environmental image, 40 Transmitted image, 42 Camouflage image, 50 Light, 52 Speaker, 54 Air nozzle, 56 Odor sprayer, 100 User, 102 Pedestrian, 104 Travel route, 106 Pedestrian route, 108 Boarding and alighting area, 110 Road surface, 112 Structure.

Claims (2)

a mobile object that transports users within a predetermined area;
A camouflage device that makes the moving body appear non-existent when viewed from the outside;
The camouflage device comprises:
A plurality of display units provided on a plurality of outer surfaces of the moving body,
A camera that captures an image of the surrounding environment of the moving object to obtain an environmental image;
a camouflage controller that generates an image that blends the moving object into the surrounding environment based on the environmental image and displays the image on the display unit;
Equipped with
the image to be blended is a camouflage image, which is a pattern image of a plurality of colors having a color distribution similar to a color distribution of the surrounding environment;
the camouflage controller analyzes a distribution of colors included in a landscape around the moving object based on the environmental image, and generates an image of a camouflage pattern that easily blends in with the obtained color distribution as the blending image ;
The mobile body system further includes a warning device that warns the pedestrian of an approach when the distance between the pedestrian and the mobile body becomes less than a specified safe distance;
The warning device has a warning output device that outputs at least one of wind and odor as a warning.
A mobile system comprising: 2. The mobile system of claim 1 ,
The moving object travels along a predetermined travel route on which pedestrians are prohibited from entering,
The warning output device is installed outside the moving object along the travel route.
A mobile system comprising:

Images