JP7663377B2 - CONTROL DEVICE, PROGRAM, AND SYSTEM - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a control device, a program, and a system.

In recent years, technology has been developed that presents information to a user based on the location information of the user or an object. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that presents a route to a destination to a user based on the location information of a terminal carried by the user and the location information of the destination.

JP 2018-141808 A

The mobile terminal disclosed in Patent Document 1 presents the above-mentioned route information to the user by displaying it on a display. In this case, however, the user is required to focus on the display, which may distract the user from the surroundings. It is also envisaged that the above-mentioned route information may be presented to the user by audio output, but in this case, the audio may be inaudible due to surrounding noise. In addition, if the user concentrates too much on the audio output, there is a possibility that the user will not notice the sound of an approaching vehicle, etc.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and the object of the present invention is to realize a more secure presentation of location information.

In order to solve the above problem, according to one aspect of the present invention, a control device is provided that includes a control unit that controls the presentation of information regarding a direction relative to the user to a user, the control unit controlling the presentation of information regarding a direction relative to the user using vibration presentation by at least two vibration presentation units that are arranged corresponding to different directions relative to the user.

In order to solve the above problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, a program is provided that causes a computer to realize a control function that controls the presentation of information regarding a direction relative to the user to a user, and causes the control function to control the presentation of information regarding a direction relative to the user using vibration presentation by at least two vibration presentation units that are arranged corresponding to different directions relative to the user.

In addition, in order to solve the above problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, a system is provided that includes at least two vibration presentation units that present vibrations to a user, and a control unit that controls the presentation of information regarding a direction relative to the user to the user, the control unit controlling the presentation of information regarding a direction relative to the user using vibration presentation by the at least two vibration presentation units that are arranged corresponding to different directions relative to the user.

As described above, the present invention makes it possible to provide more secure location information.

1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating one form of a wearable device 20 according to the embodiment. FIG. 11A to 11C are diagrams illustrating an example of vibration presentation control according to a direction of a destination according to the embodiment. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of vibration presentation control according to a direction to a destination according to the embodiment; 11A to 11C are diagrams illustrating an example of vibration presentation control according to a direction of an obstacle according to the embodiment. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a flow of vibration presentation control according to a direction of an obstacle according to the embodiment.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. Note that in this specification and the drawings, components having substantially the same functional configuration are designated by the same reference numerals to avoid redundant description.

1. Embodiment
<<1.1. System configuration example>>
First, a configuration example of a system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of system 1 according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system 1 according to this embodiment may include a control unit 110, a plurality of vibration presentation units 210, an audio output unit 220, an image capture unit 230, a display unit 240, an audio collection unit 250, and a location information acquisition unit 260.

(Control unit 110)
The control unit 110 according to this embodiment controls the presentation of information to a user regarding a direction based on the user.

Furthermore, one of the features of the control unit 110 according to this embodiment is that it controls the presentation of information regarding a direction relative to the user using vibration presentation by at least two vibration presentation units 210 that are arranged corresponding to different directions relative to the user.

In other words, in the system 1 according to this embodiment, information regarding the direction relative to the user is presented to the user at least through vibration stimulation.

With vibration presentation according to this embodiment, unlike when information about the direction relative to the user is displayed on the display, the user does not need to stare at the display and can instead focus their attention on their surroundings, making it possible to present information more securely.

In addition, with information presentation using vibration according to this embodiment, unlike when audio output is used, it is possible to present information to the user even in noisy environments such as those with a lot of vehicles and people passing by. Furthermore, with information presentation using vibration according to this embodiment, unlike when audio output is used, it is possible for the user to pay attention to sounds made by vehicles and other objects in the vicinity.

The control unit 110 according to this embodiment may cause at least one vibration presentation unit 210 corresponding to the direction to present vibration in accordance with information regarding the direction relative to the user.

For example, the information regarding the direction relative to the user may include information regarding the direction of a destination relative to the user.

In this case, for example, when the control unit 110 detects that the destination is to the right of the user, it causes the vibration presentation unit 210, which is positioned to the right of the user, to present a vibration stimulus.

By using the above control, the user can intuitively understand that the destination is located to the right of the user.

In addition, the information regarding the direction based on the user may include information regarding the direction of an obstacle based on the user.

In this case, for example, when an obstacle is detected to the left of the user, the control unit 110 causes the vibration presentation unit 210, which is positioned to the left of the user, to present a vibration stimulus.

By using the above control, the user can intuitively understand that there is an obstacle to the left of the user.

In addition, the control unit 110 according to this embodiment may further control the presentation of information by the audio output unit 220 and the presentation of information by the display unit 240, in addition to the vibration presentation by the vibration presentation unit 210.

Even when using images and audio to present information as described above, it is possible to prevent excessive attention from being drawn to the images or audio, compared to when information is presented using either images or audio, or both.

The functions of the control unit 110 according to this embodiment are realized by various processors. Details of the functions of the control unit 110 according to this embodiment will be described separately.

(Vibration presentation unit 210)
The vibration presentation unit 210 according to this embodiment presents a vibration stimulus to the user under the control of the control unit 110 .

In this embodiment, at least two vibration presentation units 210 are arranged on a wearable device 20 (not shown) worn by a user.

For example, the two vibration presentation units 210a and 210b may be arranged in the wearable device 20 to correspond to a first direction relative to the user and a second direction opposite to the first direction, respectively.

As an example, the first direction and the second direction may correspond to the left and right directions relative to the user.

In this case, the control unit 110 according to this embodiment can cause one of the two vibration presentation units 210a and 210b to present a vibration stimulus, thereby indicating at least either the left or right direction to the user.

In addition, the control unit 110 according to this embodiment may further control vibration presentation by a third vibration presentation unit 210c arranged to correspond to a third direction different from the first direction and the second direction.

As an example, the third direction may correspond to a rearward direction relative to the user.

In this case, the control unit 110 according to this embodiment can cause the vibration presentation unit 210c to present a vibration stimulus, thereby indicating the backward direction to the user.

Furthermore, the control unit 110 according to this embodiment can also indicate the diagonal direction to the user by causing either the vibration presentation unit 210a or 210b and the vibration presentation unit 210c to present vibration stimuli of the type.

In addition, for example, the control unit 110 according to this embodiment can indicate the forward direction to the user by causing the two vibration presentation units 210a and 210b to present vibration stimuli simultaneously.

In addition, for example, the control unit 110 according to this embodiment can cause the three vibration presentation units 210a to 210c to present vibration stimuli simultaneously, thereby indicating to the user that they should not move forward (stop).

Note that the number of vibration presentation units 210 in this embodiment is not limited to three or less, and may be adjusted as appropriate depending on the specifications of the wearable device 20 and the application, etc.

The vibration presentation unit 210 according to the present embodiment includes an actuator for generating a vibration stimulus. Examples of the actuator include an eccentric rotating mass (ERM) motor and a linear vibrator (LRA).
Resonant Actuator), and piezoelectric element.

(Audio output unit 220)
The audio output unit 220 according to the present embodiment outputs various types of audio in accordance with the control of the control unit 110 .

For example, the audio output unit 220 may output audio corresponding to information regarding the user's reference direction as described above.

For this reason, the audio output unit 220 in this embodiment is equipped with a speaker, an amplifier, etc.

In addition, in this embodiment, multiple audio output units 220 may be provided.

(Photographing unit 230)
The image capturing section 230 according to this embodiment captures an image of the user's surroundings.

For this reason, the imaging unit 230 in this embodiment is equipped with various imaging elements.

The images captured by the image capture unit 230 are used, for example, to detect obstacles present around the user. Note that detection of obstacles may also be performed using LIDAR or the like.

(Display unit 240)
The display unit 240 according to this embodiment projects various images under the control of the control unit 110 .

For example, the display unit 240 may display an image corresponding to information regarding the user's reference direction as described above.

For this reason, the display unit 240 in this embodiment includes a display, a projector, etc.

(Speech collection unit 250)
The voice collection unit according to this embodiment collects various types of voice.

For this reason, the voice collection unit 250 in this embodiment is equipped with a microphone.

For example, the voice collection unit 250 according to this embodiment may collect voice related to a user's speech. The voice related to the user's speech may be used for function control using voice recognition.

Also, for example, the sound collection unit 250 according to this embodiment may collect sounds emitted by objects present around the user. The sounds may be used to detect obstacles.

(Position information acquisition unit 260)
The location information acquisition unit 260 according to this embodiment acquires information relating to the user's current location.

For this purpose, the location information acquisition unit 260 according to this embodiment is provided in a wearable device 20 worn by the user, a smartphone carried by the user, etc.

The location information acquisition unit 260 according to this embodiment includes, for example, a receiver that receives signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, and the like.

The above describes an example of the configuration of system 1 according to this embodiment. Note that the above configuration described using FIG. 1 is merely an example, and the configuration of system 1 according to this embodiment is not limited to this example.

For example, the system 1 according to this embodiment may further include an operation reception unit that receives input operations by a user.

Furthermore, each of the above-mentioned components may be integrated into a single device, or may be distributed across multiple devices.

For example, the above-mentioned configurations may be integrated into the wearable device 20. In this case, the wearable device 20 functions as a control device.

On the other hand, the control unit 110 according to this embodiment may be provided in the control device 10 independently of other components as shown in FIG. 1. In this case, the control unit 110 may control each component provided in the wearable device 20 via wireless communication.

The control device 10 may also be realized as a terminal such as a smartphone. In this case, the control device 10 may include a control unit 110, a display unit 240, a location information acquisition unit 260, etc., and may control each component included in the wearable device 20.

Here, we will explain an example of the configuration of the wearable device 20 according to this embodiment.

Figure 2 is a diagram illustrating one form of the wearable device 20 according to this embodiment.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the wearable device 20 according to this embodiment may be a neckband type.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the neckband-type wearable device 20 has three vibration presentation units 210a to 210c.

The three vibration display units 210a to 210c are arranged at positions corresponding to the first direction, which is the left direction, the second direction, which is the right direction, and the third direction, which is the rearward direction.

By arranging the vibration presentation units 210a to 210c as shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to present a variety of information covering all directions to the user, as described below.

The three vibration presentation units 210a to 210c may be positioned so as to come into contact with the user's bones (e.g., clavicle, cervical vertebrae, etc.) when the wearable device 20 is worn.

This arrangement is expected to make it easier for users to understand the vibration presentation.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the neckband-type wearable device 20 has two audio output units 220a and 220b.

The two audio output units 220a and 220b are positioned at positions corresponding to the first direction, which is the left direction, and the second direction, which is the right direction, respectively.

By arranging the audio output units 220a and 220b as shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to realize more three-dimensional audio guidance, for example by having the audio output unit 220a output audio guidance related to the left direction and the audio output unit 220b output audio guidance related to the right direction.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the neckband-type wearable device 20 has a photographing unit 230 at the front.

This arrangement makes it possible to detect obstacles in front of the user.

The image capture unit 230 may also be further disposed at the rear of the wearable device.

In this case, it becomes possible to detect obstacles behind the user.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the neckband-type wearable device 20 has a display unit 240 on the front.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the display unit 240 may be equipped with a projector.

With this configuration, in addition to providing vibration, it is possible to present additional image information to the user.

Projecting image information by the display unit 240 is particularly effective when presenting the user with information that is difficult to understand through vibration or sound alone, such as the location and name of an intersection.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the neckband-type wearable device 20 has a voice collection unit 250 at the front.

This arrangement allows for efficient acceptance of voice input from the user (e.g., specifying a destination), improving convenience.

The above describes an example of the configuration of the wearable device 20 according to this embodiment.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 110 and the position information acquisition unit 260 may be provided in the wearable device 20, or may be provided in a control device 10 separate from the wearable device 20.

In addition, while FIG. 2 illustrates a neckband-type wearable device 20 that is U-shaped and open at the front, the neckband-type wearable device 20 according to this embodiment may be O-shaped, covering the entire circumference of the user's neck.

Furthermore, the wearable device 20 according to this embodiment is not limited to a neckband type.

The wearable device 20 according to this embodiment may be, for example, any of a variety of head-mounted or backpack types.

Furthermore, the wearable device 20 according to this embodiment may have two or more separate parts.

As an example, the wearable device 20 according to this embodiment may include two wristband-type parts that are worn on the user's right and left arms, respectively.

As another example, the wearable device 20 according to this embodiment may be attached directly to the user's skin.

In this case, directional vibration presentation can be realized by placing a vibration presentation unit 210 on each of the two wristband-type parts.

The shape of the wearable device 20 in this embodiment can be flexibly changed.

<<1.2. Details of vibration presentation control>>
Next, vibration presentation control by the control unit 110 according to this embodiment will be described in detail.

In the following, a control example will be described in which the wearable device 20 according to this embodiment is a neckband type having the configuration shown in FIG. 2.

In this case, the control unit 110 can indicate to the user at least the first direction, which is the left direction, the second direction, which is the right direction, and the third direction, which is the backward direction, by causing one of the vibration presentation units 210a to 210c to present vibrations.

The control unit 110 can also indicate directions other than the first direction, the second direction, and the third direction by causing two or three of the vibration presentation units 210a to 210c to present vibrations simultaneously.

Furthermore, the control unit 110 can present information related to distance to the user by changing the manner of the vibration stimulation presented by the vibration presentation units 210a to 210c.

First, we will explain the vibration presentation control according to the direction of the destination in this embodiment by giving a specific example.

Figure 3 shows an example of vibration presentation control according to the direction of the destination in this embodiment.

For example, when presenting information to turn left 100 m ahead, the control unit 110 may cause the vibration presentation unit 210a to present a short vibration only once.

On the other hand, when presenting information to turn left 50 m ahead, the control unit 110 may cause the vibration presentation unit 210a to present two short vibrations.

On the other hand, when presenting information that a right turn is imminent, the control unit 110 may cause the vibration presentation unit 210b to present a long vibration only once.

In this way, by changing the mode of vibration presentation, the control unit 110 can present the user with, for example, a point where a turn is required or the distance to the destination.

In addition, the vibration presentation aspects according to this embodiment may include the vibration duration and number of vibrations described above, as well as vibration intervals, frequency, amplitude, etc.

For example, when presenting information to go straight diagonally to the right, the control unit 110 may cause the vibration presentation unit 210b to present three short vibrations and the vibration presentation unit 210c to present three short vibrations.

In this way, the control unit 110 can present the user with a direction intermediate between the directions corresponding to the two vibration presentation units 210 by causing the two vibration presentation units 210 to present vibrations simultaneously.

In this case, the control unit 110 can also express a more detailed direction by having the two vibration presentation units 210 present vibrations in different ways.

For example, if the traveling direction is diagonally right and to the right, the control unit 110 may cause the vibration presentation unit 210b to present vibration at a lower frequency and the vibration presentation unit 210c to present vibration at a higher frequency.

As described above, the control unit 110 according to this embodiment can present the direction to the destination to the user by controlling vibration presentation by the vibration presentation units 210a to 210c.

Next, we will explain the flow of vibration presentation control according to the direction of the destination in this embodiment.

Figure 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of vibration presentation control according to the direction of the destination in this embodiment.

In the example shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 110 first acquires the destination input by the user from the voice collection unit 250 or the operation reception unit (S102).

Next, the control unit 110 acquires the current location from the location information acquisition unit 260 (S104).

Next, the control unit 110 controls the vibration presentation according to the direction of the destination based on the destination obtained in step S102 and the current position obtained in step S104 (S106).

In addition to vibration presentation, the control unit 110 may also control audio presentation and image presentation.

The control unit 110 may repeatedly execute the processes in steps S102 to S106 until the user instructs the device to end the function.

Next, we will explain the vibration presentation control according to the direction of an obstacle in this embodiment by giving a specific example.

Figure 5 shows an example of vibration presentation control according to the direction of an obstacle in this embodiment.

For example, when presenting information that an obstacle has been detected ahead, the control unit 110 may cause the vibration presentation units 210a and 210b to present short vibrations multiple times.

This type of control allows the user to intuitively recognize the presence of an obstacle ahead.

On the other hand, when presenting information that an obstacle (e.g., a vehicle) is approaching from the left rear diagonally, the control unit 110 may cause the vibration presentation units 210a and 210c to present short vibrations multiple times.

This type of control allows the user to intuitively recognize that an obstacle is approaching from behind.

When performing the above-described control, the control unit 110 may change the type of vibration that is presented by the vibration presentation unit 210 depending on the distance between the user and the obstacle.

For example, the control unit 110 may cause the vibration presentation unit 210 to present a shorter interval between vibrations as the distance between the user and the obstacle becomes closer.

The above control allows the user to intuitively grasp the distance to an obstacle and take appropriate action according to that distance.

The control unit 110 can also control the manner in which vibration is presented to indicate the direction in which a detected obstacle is moving.

For example, when presenting information that an obstacle moving from the left front to the right front is detected, the control unit 110 may gradually change the magnitude of the amplitude of the vibration presented by the vibration presentation unit 210a from large to small. The control unit 110 may also gradually change the magnitude of the amplitude of the vibration presented by the vibration presentation unit 210a from small to large.

The above control allows the user to intuitively grasp the direction in which an obstacle is moving and take appropriate action according to that direction.

As described above, the control unit 110 according to this embodiment can present the direction of an obstacle to the user by controlling the vibration presentation by the vibration presentation units 210a to 210c.

Next, we will explain the flow of vibration presentation control according to the direction of an obstacle in this embodiment.

Figure 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of vibration presentation control according to the direction of an obstacle in this embodiment.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 110 first acquires an image of the user's surroundings from the imaging unit 230 (S202).

At this time, the control unit 110 may acquire images via wireless communication from other imaging devices in the vicinity, such as security cameras, in addition to the imaging unit 230.

Next, the control unit 110 detects an obstacle based on the image acquired in step S202 (S204).

Next, the control unit 110 controls the vibration presentation by the vibration presentation unit 210 according to the direction of the obstacle detected in step S204 (S206).

The vibration presentation control according to this embodiment has been described in detail above with specific examples.

The vibration presentation control described above can provide more secure and intuitive directional presentation compared to using only images and/or audio.

The vibration presentation of this embodiment is also extremely useful for users with visual or hearing impairments.

＜2. Supplementary Information＞
Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to such an example. It is clear that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can conceive of various modified or altered examples within the scope of the technical ideas described in the claims, and it is understood that these also naturally belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

The series of processes performed by each device described in this specification may be realized using software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. The programs constituting the software are stored in advance, for example, in a recording medium (non-transient media) provided inside or outside each device. Each program is then loaded into RAM, for example, when executed by a computer, and executed by a processor such as a CPU. The recording medium is, for example, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a flash memory, etc. The computer programs may also be distributed, for example, via a network, without using a recording medium.

10: control device, 110: control unit, 20: wearable device, 210: vibration presentation unit, 220: audio output unit, 230: imaging unit, 240: display unit, 250: audio collection unit, 260: position information acquisition unit

Claims (10)

A control unit that controls presentation of information regarding a direction relative to the user to a user;
Equipped with
the control unit controls presentation of information regarding a direction relative to the user using vibration presentation by at least three vibration presentation units arranged corresponding to different directions relative to the user;
At least three of the vibration presentation units are arranged to correspond to a first direction, a second direction, and a third direction, respectively, based on the user;
The control unit controls presentation of information about directions other than the first direction, the second direction, and the third direction by vibrating a plurality of the at least three vibration presentation units.
Control device. The control unit controls the presentation of information related to the stop by vibrating all of the at least three vibration presentation units.
The control device according to claim 1 . the first direction and the second direction respectively correspond to left and right directions with respect to the user;
The control device according to claim 1 or 2 . the third direction corresponds to a rearward direction relative to the user.
The control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 . The information regarding the direction relative to the user includes information regarding a direction of a destination relative to the user.
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 . The information regarding the direction relative to the user includes information regarding the direction of an obstacle relative to the user.
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 . The control unit causes at least one of the vibration presentation units corresponding to the direction to perform vibration presentation in response to information regarding the direction based on the user.
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 . The vibration presentation unit is disposed in a wearable device worn by the user.
A control device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 . The wearable device includes a neckband type.
The control device according to claim 8 . The vibration presentation unit is arranged in a neckband-type wearable device worn by the user so as to contact a bone of the user.
The control device according to claim 9.

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