JP7704065B2 - Driver's state guidance device and driver's state guidance method - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a driver state guidance device and a driver state guidance method.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that presents multiple types of stimuli according to the mental and physical stress level calculated from the driver's activity history. Patent Document 1 describes that as the mental and physical stress level increases, the duration of the stimuli that begins immediately after the driver starts operating the vehicle's equipment, such as when the driver starts driving, is increased.

JP 2006-247255 A

However, the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not take into account changes in conditions along the route from when the driver gets in the vehicle until the driver arrives at the destination. Therefore, depending on changes in conditions along the route, it is highly likely that the appropriate type of stimulation cannot be provided.

One objective of this disclosure is to provide a driver state induction device and a driver state induction method that enable the implementation of a type of stimulus that is appropriate for changes in the situation on the vehicle's route as a stimulus for inducing a driver state to a desirable state.

The above object is achieved by a combination of features recited in the independent claims, and the subclaims define further advantageous embodiments of the disclosure. The reference characters in parentheses in the claims indicate a correspondence with the specific means described in the embodiments described below as one aspect, and do not limit the technical scope of the present disclosure.

In order to achieve the above object, a first driver state induction device of the present disclosure is a driver state induction device that can be used in a vehicle, and includes a state identification unit (201) that identifies the state of a driver of the vehicle, a target estimation unit (202) that estimates a target state which is a state the driver is aiming for, a route prediction unit (203) that predicts a route of the vehicle, a situation prediction unit (206) that predicts a situation along the predicted route predicted by the route prediction unit, and a situation prediction unit (207) that predicts a situation along the predicted route predicted by the route prediction unit in addition to the state of the driver identified by the state identification unit and the target state estimated by the target estimation unit. The system includes a plan determination unit (207, 207a) that determines a plan of stimuli to be used for the driver along the predicted route in order to guide the driver's state to a target state according to the situation on the predicted route predicted by the prediction unit, and a stimulus control unit (209) that causes stimuli to be given to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined by the plan determination unit , and the plan determination unit omits a stimulus whose duration is scheduled to be less than a threshold and replaces it with stimuli before and after the stimulus, thereby determining a plan of stimuli to be given to the driver .
In order to achieve the above object, the second driver state induction device of the present disclosure is a driver state induction device that can be used in a vehicle, and includes a state identification unit (201) that identifies the state of a driver of the vehicle, a target estimation unit (202) that estimates a target state which is a state that the driver is aiming for, a route prediction unit (203) that predicts a route of the vehicle, a situation prediction unit (206) that predicts a situation along the predicted route predicted by the route prediction unit, and a driver state control unit (207) that controls the driver state to be guided to the target state in accordance with the state of the driver identified by the state identification unit, the target state estimated by the target estimation unit, and the situation on the predicted route predicted by the situation prediction unit. The vehicle is equipped with a plan determination unit (207, 207a) that determines a plan of stimuli to be used for the driver along the predicted route, and a stimulus control unit (209) that provides stimuli to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined by the plan determination unit. The situation prediction unit also predicts, as a situation, a situation that will change the driver's state. When a driver's state different from the situation predicted by the situation prediction unit that will change the driver's state is actually identified by the state identification unit in a section, the plan determination unit re-determines the plan of stimuli to be provided to the driver for that section so as to use stimuli according to the driver's state actually identified by the state identification unit.
In order to achieve the above object, a third driver state induction device of the present disclosure is a driver state induction device that can be used in a vehicle, and includes a state identification unit (201) that identifies the state of a driver of the vehicle, a target estimation unit (202) that estimates a target state which is a state that the driver is aiming for, a route prediction unit (203) that predicts a route of the vehicle, a situation prediction unit (206) that predicts a situation along a predicted route predicted by the route prediction unit, and a situation prediction unit (207) that predicts a situation along the predicted route for guiding the state of the driver to the target state according to the state of the driver identified by the state identification unit, the target state estimated by the target estimation unit, and the situation on the predicted route predicted by the situation prediction unit. The system includes a plan determination unit (207, 207a) that determines a plan of stimuli to be used for the driver, and a stimulus control unit (209) that stimulates the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined by the plan determination unit, and the state identification unit identifies a state of the driver including a specific state which is at least one of drowsiness, absent-mindedness, and stress, and the stimulus control unit, based on the identification of the specific state by the state identification unit along the predicted route, causes a stimulus to be provided to the driver that is estimated to improve the specific state identified by the state identification unit, regardless of the plan determined by the plan determination unit.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a first driver state induction method of the present disclosure is a driver state induction method that can be used in a vehicle, and includes, executed by at least one processor, a state identification process for identifying the state of a driver of the vehicle, a target estimation process for estimating a target state which is a state that the driver is aiming for, a route prediction process for predicting a route for the vehicle, a situation prediction process for predicting a situation along the predicted route predicted in the route prediction process, a plan determination process for determining a plan of stimuli for the driver to be used along the predicted route in order to guide the driver's state to the target state in accordance with the state of the driver identified in the state identification process, the target state estimated in the target estimation process, and the situation on the predicted route predicted in the situation prediction process, and a stimulus control process for providing stimuli to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined in the plan determination process, in which, for a stimulus that is scheduled to have a duration less than a threshold, the stimulus is omitted and replaced with stimuli before and after the stimulus, thereby determining a plan of stimuli for the driver .
In order to achieve the above object, a second driver state guidance method of the present disclosure is a driver state guidance method that can be used in a vehicle, and includes, executed by at least one processor, a state identification process for identifying a state of a driver of the vehicle, a target estimation process for estimating a target state which is a state that the driver is aiming for, a route prediction process for predicting a route of the vehicle, a situation prediction process for predicting a situation along the predicted route predicted in the route prediction process, and a control process for guiding the driver's state to the target state in accordance with the driver's state identified in the state identification process, the target state estimated in the target estimation process, and the situation on the predicted route predicted in the situation prediction process. The method includes a planning step of determining a plan of stimuli to be used for the driver along the predicted route, and a stimulation control step of providing stimuli to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined in the planning step. In the situation prediction step, the situation that will change the driver's state is also predicted as the situation. In the plan determination step, if a driver state different from the situation that will change the driver's state predicted in the situation prediction step is actually identified in the state identification step, the plan of stimuli to the driver is re-determined for that section so as to use stimuli according to the driver's state actually identified in the state identification step.
In order to achieve the above object, a third driver state guidance method of the present disclosure is a driver state guidance method usable in a vehicle, comprising: a state identification step of identifying a state of a driver of the vehicle, executed by at least one processor; a target estimation step of estimating a target state which is a state aimed at by the driver; a route prediction step of predicting a route of the vehicle; a situation prediction step of predicting a situation along the predicted route predicted in the route prediction step; and a control step of controlling the state of the driver to be guided to the target state in accordance with the state of the driver identified in the state identification step, the target state estimated in the target estimation step, and the situation on the predicted route predicted in the situation prediction step. The method includes a plan determination step of determining a plan of stimuli for the driver to be used along the predicted route, and a stimulus control step of providing stimuli to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined in the plan determination step. In the state identification step, the driver's state is identified as including a specific state which is at least one of drowsiness, absent-mindedness, and stress, and in the stimulus control step, based on the specific state identified in the state identification step along the predicted route, a stimulus that is estimated to improve the specific state identified in the state identification step is provided to the driver regardless of the plan determined in the plan determination step.

According to this, in addition to the identified driver's state and the target state that the driver is aiming for, a plan of stimuli to be used for the driver along the predicted vehicle route is determined in accordance with the situation along the predicted route in order to guide the driver's state to the target state, making it possible to plan types of stimuli that are more suited to changes in the situation along the vehicle route. Then, stimuli are provided to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the determined plan, making it possible to provide types of stimuli that are more suited to changes in the situation along the vehicle route as stimuli to guide the driver's state to a desirable state.

1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of a vehicle system 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an HCU 20. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of an emotion circle model representing a psychological state. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining determination of a stimulation plan. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of a display of plan-related information. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of an icon indicating a psychological state. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of displaying information on a current driver state and a current activation type, and information on an ideal state and a planned activation type. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining an example of displaying information on a current driver state and a current activation type, and information on an ideal state and a planned activation type. FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of a display of advance notice information. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a flow of driver state guidance related processing in the HCU 20. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of plan-related processing in the HCU 20. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schematic configuration of an HCU 20a. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of display of history information. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of displaying information on a current driver state and a current activity type, and information on a past driver state and a past activity type. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of displaying information on a current driver state and a current activity type, and information on a past driver state and a past activity type. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an example of a display of a result predicted by a current state prediction unit 213. FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the evaluation of stimuli, and relates to the rating of stimuli. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the evaluation of stimuli, and relates to a method of responding to a preferred stimulus.

Several embodiments for disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. For ease of explanation, parts in several embodiments that have the same functions as parts shown in the drawings used in the previous explanations may be given the same reference numerals and their explanations may be omitted. For parts given the same reference numerals, the explanations in other embodiments may be referred to.

(Embodiment 1)
<General configuration of vehicle system 1>
Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 shown in Fig. 1 is used in an automobile (hereinafter, simply referred to as a vehicle), and includes an HMI (Human Machine Interface) system 2, an air conditioning system 3, a near field communication module (hereinafter, NFCM) 4, a wide area communication module (hereinafter, WACM) 5, a locator 6, a map database (hereinafter, DB) 7, a vehicle state sensor 8, and a data collection device 9. The HMI system 2, the air conditioning system 3, the NFCM 4, the WACM 5, the locator 6, the map DB 7, the vehicle state sensor 8, and the data collection device 9 are connected to, for example, an in-vehicle LAN. The vehicle equipped with the vehicle system 1 will be referred to as the vehicle itself hereinafter.

The air conditioning system 3 is a heating and cooling system for a vehicle. The air conditioning system 3 acquires air conditioning request information, including air conditioning-related setting values set by the vehicle occupant, from the HCU 20 described below. The air conditioning system 3 then adjusts the temperature, air flow, fragrance, and the like in the vehicle cabin according to the acquired air conditioning request information. The air conditioning system 3 includes an air conditioning control ECU 30, an air conditioning unit 31, and an aroma unit 32.

The air conditioning unit 31 generates hot air and cold air (hereinafter, air conditioning air). The air conditioning air is supplied to the vehicle interior from an outlet provided on, for example, the instrument panel of the vehicle. The aroma unit 32 has beads or the like (hereinafter, impregnated object) impregnated with aroma oil such as essential oil containing aromatic components. The air flow generated by the air conditioning unit 31 is passed around the impregnated object to supply the aroma to the vehicle interior. Alternatively, the aroma unit 32 may atomize the aroma oil. In this case, the aromatic components atomized by the aroma unit 32 may be mixed with the air flow generated by the air conditioning unit 31 and supplied to the vehicle interior. The air conditioning unit 31 provides wind stimulation to the vehicle occupants. The air conditioning unit 31 also provides hot and cold stimulation to the vehicle occupants due to the difference in temperature of the air conditioning air. In other words, the air conditioning unit 31 provides tactile stimulation. The aroma unit 32 provides aromatic stimulation to the vehicle occupants. In other words, the aroma unit 32 provides an olfactory stimulus. Both the air conditioning unit 31 and the aroma unit 32 are presentation devices that present stimuli. The air conditioning control ECU 30 is an electronic control device that controls the operation of the air conditioning unit 31 and the aroma unit 32. The air conditioning control ECU 30 is connected to the air conditioning unit 31 and the aroma unit 32.

The NFCM4 is a communication module for performing short-distance wireless communication. When a communication connection is established between the NFCM4 and a portable terminal of a vehicle occupant, the NFCM4 performs short-distance wireless communication with the portable terminal. Short-distance wireless communication is, for example, wireless communication with a maximum communication range of several tens of meters. For example, wireless communication conforming to Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy may be used as short-distance wireless communication. Examples of portable terminals include multi-function mobile phones and wearable devices. The WACM5 transmits and receives information via wireless communication with a center outside the vehicle. In other words, it performs wide-area communication.

The locator 6 includes a GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver and an inertial sensor. The GNSS receiver receives positioning signals from multiple artificial satellites. The inertial sensor includes, for example, a gyro sensor and an acceleration sensor. The locator 6 sequentially determines the current vehicle position of the vehicle by combining the positioning signals received by the GNSS receiver with the measurement results of the inertial sensor. The vehicle position may be expressed, for example, in latitude and longitude coordinates. Note that the vehicle position may be determined using a travel distance calculated from a signal sequentially output from a vehicle speed sensor mounted on the vehicle.

Map DB7 is a non-volatile memory that stores map data. The map data may be, for example, link data, node data, and road attribute data. The link data is composed of a unique number that identifies the link, a link length that indicates the length of the link, a link direction, a link travel time, link shape information, node coordinates of the start and end of the link, and road attribute data. Road attributes include road name, road type, road width, number of lanes, and speed limit. Meanwhile, node data is composed of data such as a node ID that is assigned a unique number for each node on the map, node coordinates, node name, node type, a connection link ID that describes the link ID of the link that connects to the node, and intersection type. The map data may be configured to be acquired from outside the vehicle using WACM5.

The vehicle state sensor 8 is a group of sensors for detecting the state of the host vehicle, such as the running state and operation state of the host vehicle. The vehicle state sensor 8 includes a vehicle speed sensor, a steering angle sensor, an acceleration/deceleration sensor, an accelerator position sensor, a brake switch, and a turn signal switch. The vehicle speed sensor detects the speed of the host vehicle. The steering angle detects the steering angle of the host vehicle's steering wheel. The acceleration/deceleration sensor detects the acceleration/deceleration of the host vehicle. The accelerator position sensor detects the opening degree of the accelerator pedal of the host vehicle. The brake switch outputs a signal according to whether or not the brake pedal of the host vehicle is depressed. The turn signal switch detects the operation of turning on the turn signal lamp of the host vehicle. The vehicle state sensor 8 outputs the detection result to the in-vehicle LAN. The detection result of the vehicle state sensor 8 may be configured to be output to the in-vehicle LAN via an ECU installed in the host vehicle.

The data collection device 9 collects information relating to the driving history of the vehicle (hereinafter, driving history related information). The driving history information includes information on the driving route, congestion level, and driving load. The driving route information may be time-series data on the vehicle position measured sequentially by the locator 6 while the vehicle is driving. In other words, it may be a data group that links the vehicle position with the time when the vehicle position was obtained. Therefore, the driving route information also includes information on the driving time. It is preferable to also link the driving route information with information on the day of the week on which it was collected.

The congestion degree information may be configured such that the data collection device 9 sequentially identifies and collects the congestion degree while the vehicle is traveling, for example, based on the vehicle speed. The vehicle speed of the vehicle may be determined using the detection result of the vehicle speed sensor of the vehicle state sensor 8. As an example, congestion may be determined to exist when the vehicle speed of the vehicle is below a threshold value for classifying low speeds during congestion for a certain period of time or more. The congestion degree may be determined to exist in two stages, that is, whether or not there is congestion. Alternatively, three or more stages of congestion degree may be determined depending on the duration of the congestion. The congestion degree information may be linked to the vehicle position, time, day of the week, etc. at which the congestion degree was obtained.

The data collection device 9 may be configured to sequentially identify and collect the driving load while the vehicle is traveling, based on the frequency of driving operations such as accelerator operation, braking operation, steering operation, and turn-on operation of the turn signal lamp. The driving load is assumed to be higher the busier the driver's driving task is. The driving tasks may be, for example, steering, acceleration/deceleration, and peripheral monitoring. The driving load may be identified as being higher the higher the frequency of driving operations. The driving load may be in two stages, whether the load is high or not. The frequency of driving operations may be identified based on the degree of change in the detection results of a steering angle sensor, an acceleration sensor, an accelerator position sensor, a brake pedal force sensor, etc. The driving load may be higher the higher the frequency of changes in the driver's face direction detected by the interior camera 21 described later. This is because the driving load is considered to be high when the face direction changes drastically for peripheral monitoring. When the distance between the vehicle and the vehicle ahead of the vehicle can be identified by the peripheral monitoring sensor, the driving load may be identified as being higher the shorter the distance between the vehicle ahead of the vehicle that is identified sequentially while the vehicle is traveling. Driving load information can also be linked to the vehicle position, time, day of the week, etc. on which the driving load was obtained.

The driving history related information collected by the data collection device 9 may be linked to identification information for identifying each individual driver. The driving history related information collected by the data collection device 9 may be uploaded to the center via the WACM 5. As a result, information on the driving route linked to the time and day of the week, information on the congestion level, and information on the driving load are stored in the center as the driver's personal history data.

The HMI system 2 acquires information about the driver of the vehicle. The HMI system 2 accepts input from the driver of the vehicle. The HMI system 2 presents stimuli to the driver of the vehicle. The stimuli here include the provision of information. Details of the HMI system 2 are described below.

<General configuration of HMI system 2>
The HMI system 2 includes an HCU (Human Machine Interface Control Unit) 20, an indoor camera 21, a biosensor 22, a lighting device 23, a display device 24, an audio output device 25, and a user input device 26. The HCU is a unit that controls the content of information presented by visual and/or audio stimuli.

The interior camera 21 captures an image of a predetermined range within the vehicle cabin. The interior camera 21 captures an image of an area including at least the driver's seat of the vehicle. The interior camera 21 is composed of, for example, a near-infrared light source and a near-infrared camera, and a control unit that controls these. The interior camera 21 captures an image of the driver illuminated with near-infrared light by the near-infrared light source using the near-infrared camera. The image captured by the near-infrared camera is subjected to image analysis by the control unit. The control unit performs image analysis on the captured image to detect the facial features of the driver. The control unit may detect the facial direction, level of alertness, etc. of the driver based on the detected facial features of the driver. The level of alertness may be detected, for example, by the degree to which the eyelids are opened or closed.

The biosensor 22 measures the bioinformation of the driver. The biosensor 22 sequentially outputs the measured bioinformation to the HCU 20. The biosensor 22 may be configured to be installed in the vehicle. The biosensor 22 may be configured to be installed in a wearable device worn by the driver. When the biosensor 22 is installed in the vehicle, it may be installed on the steering wheel, seat, etc. When the biosensor 22 is installed in a wearable device, the HCU 20 may acquire the measurement results of the biosensor 22 via, for example, NFCM4. Examples of bioinformation measured by the biosensor 22 include respiration, pulse, heart rate, etc. Note that the biosensor 22 may be configured to measure bioinformation other than respiration, pulse, and heart rate. For example, the biosensor 22 may measure brain waves, heart rate fluctuations, sweating, body temperature, blood pressure, skin conductance, etc.

The lighting device 23 is provided in a position visible to the driver and provides the driver with a stimulus by emitting light. In other words, it provides a visual stimulus. The lighting device 23 is a presentation device that presents the stimulus. A light-emitting device such as an LED may be used as the lighting device 23. It is preferable that the lighting device 23 is capable of switching the color of light emitted. The timing of turning the lighting device 23 on and off and the color of the light emitted are controlled by the HCU 20.

The display device 24 displays information. The display device 24 is provided in a position visible to the driver, and provides the driver with a displayed stimulus. In other words, it provides a visual stimulus. The display device 24 is a presentation device that presents the stimulus. The display device 24 displays at least an image. The display device 24 may display text and the like in addition to images. The display of the display device 24 is controlled by the HCU 20.

The display device 24 may be, for example, a meter MID (Multi Information Display), a CID (Center Information Display), a display of a navigation device, or a HUD (Head-Up Display). The meter MID is a display device provided in front of the driver's seat inside the vehicle. As an example, the meter MID may be configured to be provided in a meter panel. The CID is a display device arranged in the center of the instrument panel of the vehicle. The HUD is provided in the vehicle interior, for example, on the instrument panel. The HUD projects a display image formed by a projector onto a predetermined projection area on the front windshield as a projection member. The light of the image reflected by the front windshield into the vehicle interior is perceived by the driver sitting in the driver's seat. This allows the driver to view a virtual image of the display image formed in front of the front windshield, superimposed on a part of the foreground. The HUD may be configured to project a display image onto a combiner provided in front of the driver's seat instead of the front windshield.

The audio output device 25 provides the driver with a sound stimulus. In other words, it provides a stimulus through hearing. The audio output device 25 is a presentation device that presents a stimulus. Examples of sounds that can be output from the audio output device 25 include music and environmental sounds. Music may include background music. Environmental sounds may be sounds that reproduce a specific environment. As the audio output device 25, for example, an audio speaker that outputs sound may be used.

The user input device 26 accepts input from the driver. The user input device 26 may be an operation device that accepts operation input from the driver. The operation device may be a mechanical switch or a touch panel integrated with the display device 24. Note that the user input device 26 is not limited to an operation device that accepts operation input, so long as it is a device that accepts input from a user. For example, the user input device 26 may be a voice input device that accepts voice input of commands from the user.

The HCU 20 is mainly composed of a microcomputer equipped with a processor, memory, I/O, and a bus connecting these. The HCU 20 executes various processes such as processes related to guiding the driver's state (hereinafter, driver state guidance related processes) by executing control programs stored in the memory. This HCU 20 corresponds to a driver state guidance device. The memory referred to here is a non-transitive tangible storage medium that non-temporarily stores computer-readable programs and data. The non-transitive tangible storage medium is realized by a semiconductor memory or a magnetic disk. The details of the driver state guidance related processes in the HCU 20 are described below.

<General configuration of HCU 20>
Next, the schematic configuration of the HCU 20 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the HCU 20 includes a state identification unit 201, a target estimation unit 202, a route prediction unit 203, a presentation control unit 204, a route selection unit 205, a situation prediction unit 206, a plan determination unit 207, a plan selection unit 208, and a stimulus control unit 209 as functional blocks for driver state guidance related processing. Execution of the processing of these functional blocks by a computer corresponds to execution of a driver state guidance method. Note that some or all of the functions executed by the HCU 20 may be configured as hardware using one or more ICs or the like. Also, some or all of the functional blocks included in the HCU 20 may be realized by a combination of software execution by a processor and hardware members.

The state identification unit 201 identifies the state of the driver of the vehicle. The processing in the state identification unit 201 corresponds to the state identification process. The states handled in this embodiment are classified by a circular model that represents psychological states on two axes, a pleasant/unpleasant axis and an active/inactive axis, as shown in FIG. 3. In other words, they are psychological states. This circular model is the so-called Russell emotional circular model. The active/inactive axis may be rephrased as the awakening/calming axis. In the Russell emotional circular model, fatigue and drowsiness are also included in the psychological states. In the following, the psychological states classified by this circular model will be explained using the examples of "irritation," "boredom," "fatigue," "drowsiness," "excitement," "happiness," and "relaxation" shown in FIG. 3.

"Irritation" is a psychological state in which both discomfort and activity are high. In this embodiment, for example, "irritation" is included in the stress state. "Boredom", "fatigue", and "drowsiness" are psychological states in which discomfort is high but activity is low. Among "boredom", "fatigue", and "drowsiness", activity decreases in the order of "boredom" > "fatigue" > "drowsiness". In this embodiment, for example, "boredom" is included in the absentminded state. Note that "fatigue" may also be included in the absentminded state. In this embodiment, "fatigue" is also included in the absentminded state. "Excitement" is a psychological state in which both pleasure and activity are high. "Happiness" is a psychological state in which pleasure is high and activity is neither high nor low. "Relaxation" is a psychological state in which pleasure is high but activity is low. "Irritation", "boredom", "fatigue", and "drowsiness" are psychological states in the unpleasant direction. "Excitement", "Happiness", and "Relaxation" are psychological states in the comfortable direction.

In this embodiment, "irritation", "depression", "excitement", "happiness", and "relaxation" are given as examples of psychological states, but the present invention is not limited to these. For example, other psychological states such as "fear", "disgust", and "surprise" may be handled. "Fear" is a psychological state in which both discomfort and activity are high, and the activity is higher than "irritation". "Disgust" is a psychological state in which both discomfort and activity are high, and the discomfort is higher than "irritation". In this embodiment, "irritation", "boredom", "fatigue", and "sleepiness" correspond to specific states. "Fear" and "disgust" correspond to unpleasant states other than the specific states. "Irritation", "boredom", "fatigue", and "sleepiness" also correspond to unpleasant states. "Excitement", "happiness", and "relaxation" correspond to comfortable states.

The state identification unit 201 may identify the state of the driver from the detection result of the indoor camera 21. For example, "drowsiness" may be identified from the degree of alertness. In addition, the state of the driver may be identified based on whether a facial feature corresponding to the state of the driver is recognized. The state identification unit 201 may identify the state of the driver from the biometric information of the driver measured by the biometric sensor 22. For example, the state of the driver may be identified based on whether a feature of the biometric information corresponding to the state of the driver is recognized. The state identification unit 201 may identify the state of the driver from the detection result of the vehicle state sensor 8. For example, the state of the driver may be identified based on whether a characteristic driving behavior corresponding to the state of the driver is recognized. If the biometric information of the driver can be measured in advance by the driver's mobile terminal, the state identification unit 201 may identify the state of the driver from the biometric information acquired from the mobile terminal via the NFCM4. Note that, if the mobile terminal can estimate the state of the driver from the biometric information, the state identification unit 201 may identify the state of the driver by acquiring the estimation result via the NFCM4.

The target estimation unit 202 estimates the state that the driver is aiming for (hereinafter, the target state). The processing in this target estimation unit 202 corresponds to the target estimation process. When the driver's state identified by the state identification unit 201 is an uncomfortable state, the target estimation unit 202 may estimate the target state so as to guide the driver to a comfortable state. Even when the driver's state identified by the state identification unit 201 is neither an uncomfortable state nor a comfortable state, the target estimation unit 202 may estimate the target state so as to guide the driver to a comfortable state. When the driver's state identified by the state identification unit 201 is a comfortable state, the target estimation unit 202 may estimate the target state so as to maintain the comfortable state.

The goal estimation unit 202 may estimate which of the comfortable states to estimate as the goal state from, for example, the driver's schedule, destination, etc. The driver's schedule may be acquired from a schedule application on the driver's mobile terminal via the NFCM 4. If a destination has been input to the navigation device, that destination may be acquired. If the route prediction unit 203 described below has predicted the destination, the predicted destination may be acquired. If the driver's upcoming schedule includes a family member's birthday, for example, the goal state may be estimated as "excitement." If the driver's upcoming schedule includes a meeting, for example, the goal state may be estimated as "relaxation." If the driver has no schedule and the destination is home, for example, the goal state may be estimated as "happiness." If the destination is the office, for example, the goal state may be estimated as "excitement."

The route prediction unit 203 predicts the route of the vehicle. The processing in the route prediction unit 203 corresponds to the route prediction step. The route prediction unit 203 may predict the position coordinates that form the route and the travel time of the route. If a destination has been input to the navigation device, the route prediction unit 203 may predict that the route of the vehicle will be the route connecting the current vehicle position measured by the locator 6 to the destination. In this case, multiple route candidates may be predicted based on conditions such as time priority or distance priority. The travel time of the route may be predicted from the link travel time stored in the map DB 7.

The route prediction unit 203 may predict the destination and route based on the driver's personal history data acquired from the center via the WACM 5. In this case, the route may be predicted by identifying destinations and driving routes that are frequently driven in the personal history data for the current vehicle position measured by the locator 6, the current time, and the current day of the week. In this case, multiple route candidates may be predicted. The driving time of the route may be predicted from the time for each vehicle position that is linked to the driving route information in the driver's personal history data.

It is preferable that the route prediction unit 203 re-predicts the route of the vehicle when the route actually traveled by the vehicle deviates from the predicted route. Deviating from the predicted route may be, for example, when the vehicle enters a link different from the link of the predicted route. It is also preferable that the route prediction unit 203 predicts multiple candidate routes as the route of the vehicle. This is to enable the driver to select a desired route.

The presentation control unit 204 causes information to be presented from the display device 24 or the audio output device 25. In this embodiment, the explanation will be continued by taking the case where information is presented from the display device 24 as an example. The presentation control unit 204 causes information related to the plan for stimulating the driver (hereinafter, plan-related information) determined by the plan determination unit 207 described later to be presented.

It is preferable that the presentation control unit 204 presents, at least as the plan-related information, information on a plurality of candidate routes predicted by the route prediction unit 203. As an example, information on a plurality of candidate routes may be displayed on a screen such as a display of a navigation device or a CID. As a display mode, the candidate routes may be displayed on a map or a list of the candidate routes. When the information on a plurality of candidate routes is presented by the presentation control unit 204, the driver performs a selection input to select one route from among the plurality of candidate routes based on the presented information on the candidate routes. The presentation control unit 204 may perform a presentation that prompts the driver to perform this selection input.

The route selection unit 205 selects one route from among multiple candidate routes predicted by the route prediction unit 203 according to a selection input received from the driver. The selection input may be made, for example, by a touch operation on the screen of a touch panel integrated with the display, CID, etc. of the navigation device.

The situation prediction unit 206 predicts the situation along the predicted route predicted by the route prediction unit 203 (hereinafter, the on-road situation). The processing in the situation prediction unit 206 corresponds to the situation prediction step. When the route selection unit 205 selects one predicted route from among multiple candidate routes, the situation prediction unit 206 predicts the situation along the predicted route. As the on-road situation, the situation prediction unit 206 predicts at least one of a situation in which the driver's driving load is high, the degree of congestion, and the monotony of driving. The situation prediction unit 206 predicts the situation by area on the predicted route, for example. The area referred to here may be an area that is divided into sections such as links and nodes.

The situation prediction unit 206 may predict, as the road conditions, conditions that will increase the driver's driving load from the road type along the predicted route. The road type along the predicted route may be identified by comparing the predicted route with the map data stored in the map DB7. The situation prediction unit 206 may predict conditions that will increase the driver's driving load in areas of road types such as narrow streets and residential roads. This is because it is estimated that the driving load will increase on narrow streets and residential roads because it is difficult to monitor the surroundings. The situation prediction unit 206 may identify conditions that will increase the driver's driving load from the driver's personal history data acquired from the center via the WACM5. The situation prediction unit 206 may predict conditions that will increase the driver's driving load in areas where the driving load was high in the personal history data. By using the personal history data, it becomes possible to more accurately predict road conditions that differ for each individual driver.

The situation prediction unit 206 may predict the degree of congestion as the road situation from the congestion information acquired from the center via the WACM5. The situation prediction unit 206 may identify the degree of congestion for each link along the predicted route, for example, by comparing the congestion information for each link with the predicted route. The situation prediction unit 206 may predict congestion for areas where the congestion degree is equal to or greater than a specified value. The situation prediction unit 206 may identify the degree of congestion from the driver's personal history data acquired from the center via the WACM5. The situation prediction unit 206 may predict congestion for areas where the personal history data shows a high degree of congestion. By using the personal history data, it becomes possible to more accurately predict road situations that differ for each individual driver. The congestion predicted as the road situation corresponds to a situation that worsens the driver's condition. This is because it is estimated that congestion leads the driver to a state of "irritation."

The situation prediction unit 206 may predict the monotony of driving as the road situation from the map data of the predicted route. The situation prediction unit 206 may predict the monotony of driving from the road type on the predicted route. The situation prediction unit 206 may predict that the driving is monotonous in areas of road types such as expressways and motorways. The situation prediction unit 206 may also predict that the driving is monotonous in areas where a straight road continues for a specified distance or more. The situation prediction unit 206 may identify the monotony of driving from the driver's personal history data acquired from the center via the WACM5. The situation prediction unit 206 may predict that the driving is monotonous in areas where a low driving load continues for a specified distance or more in the personal history data. By using the personal history data, it is possible to more accurately predict the road situation that differs for each individual driver. The driving monotony predicted as the road situation corresponds to a situation that worsens the driver's condition. This is because it is believed that monotony in driving leads the driver to feel bored and sleepy.

When using personal history data, the situation prediction unit 206 may create a map of driving load and congestion by location, day of the week, and time of day. This map may then be referenced to identify the driving load and congestion along the predicted route. Since the personal history data is linked to the day of the week and time of day, it becomes possible to identify the driving load and congestion not only by location, but also by day of the week and time. Thus, the situation prediction unit 206 becomes able to predict situations that will result in high driving load, traffic jams, and monotony of driving not only by location, but also by day of the week and time.

The situation prediction unit 206 may predict, as a road situation, a situation that changes the driver's state other than a situation that worsens the driver's state. For example, the situation prediction unit 206 may predict a situation that changes the driver's state to "relaxed" in an area facing a coast on the predicted route.

When the route prediction unit 203 re-predicts the route of the vehicle, the situation prediction unit 206 predicts the on-road conditions of the re-predicted predicted route. When the route prediction unit 203 predicts multiple candidate routes, the situation prediction unit 206 predicts the on-road conditions of the predicted route, taking the route selected by the route selection unit 205 from among the candidate routes as the predicted route.

The plan determination unit 207 determines a plan of stimuli for the driver to be used along the predicted route in order to guide the driver's state to the target state (hereinafter, a "stimulus plan"), based on the driver's state identified by the state identification unit 201, the target state estimated by the target estimation unit 202, and the situation on the predicted route predicted by the situation prediction unit 206. The processing in this plan determination unit 207 corresponds to the plan determination step. The driver's state identified by the state identification unit 201 is hereinafter referred to as the current state. The stimulus plan may be a schedule of the type of stimulus to be provided, the timing of providing the stimulus, the time allocation of the stimulus provision, etc.

The determination of the stimulus plan will be explained below with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a stimulus plan. FIG. 4 shows an example in which the current state is identified as "fatigue" and the target state is estimated to be "excitement." In the example of FIG. 4, it is assumed that traffic congestion, high load, and monotony of driving are predicted as the road conditions.

The plan determination unit 207 may determine the ideal state of the driver on the predicted route (hereinafter, the ideal state) from the current state identified by the state identification unit 201 and the target state estimated by the target estimation unit 202. The plan determination unit 207 may determine the ideal state by referring to the correspondence between the ideal state and the combination of the current state and the target state that is associated in advance. The ideal state may be an allocation of the state (hereinafter, the via state) that is desired to be passed through when moving from the current state to the target state, and the target state. In the example of FIG. 4, the first half of the ideal state is determined to be "relaxed" and the second half is determined to be "excited". In FIG. 4, "relaxed" is represented by D and "excited" is represented by E. The ratio of the time allocation between the via state and the target state in the ideal state may be arbitrarily set. In addition, the configuration may be such that the target state is used as it is as the ideal state.

The plan determination unit 207 predicts changes in the driver's state along the predicted route from the conditions on the predicted route predicted by the condition prediction unit 206. As an example, in an area where the road conditions are predicted to be congested, a change in state to "irritation" may be predicted (A in FIG. 4). In an area where the road conditions are predicted to be high-stress, a change in state to a state of low receptivity to stimuli (hereinafter, low-receptive state) may be predicted (B in FIG. 4). In an area where the road conditions are predicted to be monotonous driving, a change in state to "boredom" or "drowsiness" may be predicted (C in FIG. 4).

For a section of the predicted route where no state change is predicted, the plan determination unit 207 may determine a tentative plan to provide a stimulus that is estimated to lead to the determined ideal state. For example, as shown in F in FIG. 4, for a section where no state change is predicted and "relaxation" is determined to be the ideal state, a tentative plan to provide a stimulus that is estimated to lead to "relaxation" may be determined. Examples of stimuli that lead to "relaxation" include the following. The lighting device 23 may be caused to flicker at a slow cycle, for example, at least 8 seconds. The lighting device 23 may be caused to emit light in a color estimated to have a relaxing effect. A fragrance estimated to have a relaxing effect may be generated from the aroma unit 32 via the air conditioning control ECU 30. Slow-tempo music may be output from the audio output device 25.

Furthermore, for a section where no state change is predicted and "excitement" has been determined as the ideal state, as in I of FIG. 4, a tentative plan may be determined to provide stimuli that are estimated to induce "excitement." Examples of stimuli that induce "excitement" include the following. Up-tempo music may be output from the audio output device 25.

The plan determination unit 207 may determine a tentative plan for providing stimuli according to the predicted state change for sections along the predicted route where a state change is predicted. For sections where a state change that will worsen the driver's state is predicted, the plan determination unit 207 may determine a tentative plan for providing stimuli that are estimated to improve the deterioration. For example, for a section where "irritation" due to congestion is predicted, as in G of FIG. 4, a tentative plan for providing stimuli that are estimated to improve "irritation" is determined. Examples of stimuli that are estimated to improve "irritation" include the following. An aroma that is estimated to have a calming effect may be generated from the aroma unit 32 via the air conditioning control ECU 30. The lighting of the lighting device 23 may be flickered at a slow cycle, for example, at least 6 seconds.

Also, as in J in Figure 4, if the section is predicted to cause "boredom" and "drowsiness" due to monotonous driving, a tentative plan is determined to provide stimuli that are estimated to improve the absentminded state and drowsiness. Examples of stimuli that are estimated to improve the absentminded state and drowsiness include the following: A refreshing fragrance may be generated from the aroma unit 32 via the air conditioning control ECU 30. Cool air may also be generated from the air conditioning unit 31 via the air conditioning control ECU 30. Up-tempo music may also be output from the audio output device 25.

It is preferable that the plan determination unit 207 determines a tentative plan for the stimulus so as to suppress the stimulus for a section of the predicted route where the situation prediction unit 206 predicts a situation where the driver's driving load will be high. That is, for a section where a low acceptance state due to a high load is predicted, as shown by H in FIG. 4, a tentative plan for not providing the stimulus may be determined. This is because providing the stimulus in a low acceptance state is pointless. Note that for a section where a situation where the driving load is high is predicted, a tentative plan for the stimulus may be determined so as to suppress the stimulus in order to reduce the impact on driving. In this case, suppression of the stimulus may be achieved by a configuration that reduces the intensity of the stimulus, in addition to a configuration that does not provide the stimulus.

It is preferable that the plan determination unit 207 determines a stimulation plan from a tentative plan so as to provide a more comfortable stimulation form for the driver, taking advantage of the ability of the situation prediction unit 206 to predict the en-route conditions along the predicted route.

It is preferable that the plan determination unit 207 omits a stimulus whose duration is scheduled to be less than a threshold and replaces it with a stimulus before or after the stimulus to determine the stimulus plan. The threshold here may be a value that is estimated to cause the driver to feel frequent switching of stimuli. This prevents the stimuli from switching frequently, and the driver from feeling annoyed. In the example of FIG. 4, since the duration of the stimulus F between the stimuli G and H is short, the stimulus plan is determined by replacing the stimulus F with the stimuli G and H (see EX in FIG. 4). When omitting a stimulus whose duration is scheduled to be less than a threshold and replacing it with a stimulus before or after the stimulus, the stimulus plan may be determined so that the previous stimulus is faded out and the subsequent stimulus is faded in.

For sections of the predicted route where the situation prediction unit 206 predicts a situation that will worsen the driver's condition, the plan determination unit 207 preferably determines a stimulus plan to start a stimulus that is estimated to improve the deterioration before entering the section. This makes it easier to guide the driver's condition in a positive direction compared to starting the improvement after the condition has worsened. In the example of Figure 4, the stimulus plan is determined to start a stimulus J that is estimated to improve the deterioration before entering the section C where "boredom" and "drowsiness" are predicted (see FI in Figure 4).

In this embodiment, the plan determination unit 207 determines a tentative plan, and then determines a stimulation plan based on the tentative plan. However, this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the plan determination unit 207 may be configured to determine the tentative plan as the stimulation plan.

It is preferable that the plan determination unit 207 determines multiple candidate plans for one predicted route as a stimulation plan. This allows the driver to select a preferred stimulation plan. It is preferable that the presentation control unit 204 presents information on the multiple candidate plans determined by the plan determination unit 207 as at least the plan-related information. As an example, the information on the multiple candidate plans may be displayed on a screen such as a display of a navigation device or a CID. As a display mode, a graph showing the type, timing, and time allocation of stimulation as shown in FIG. 4 may be displayed for each candidate plan. When the information on the multiple candidate plans is presented by the presentation control unit 204, the driver performs a selection input to select one stimulation plan from the multiple candidate plans based on the presented information on the candidate plans. The presentation control unit 204 may perform a presentation to prompt this selection input.

The presentation control unit 204 may superimpose on the map, as plan-related information, the predicted route, types of stimuli (hereinafter, activity types) to be given to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined by the plan determination unit 207, and the ideal state (hereinafter, ideal state) of the driver to be guided by the stimuli, thereby enabling the driver to more intuitively recognize the planned activity types and ideal state along the predicted route.

Here, an example of display of plan-related information will be described with reference to FIG. 5. Plan-related information can also be referred to as scheduling information. FIG. 5 shows an example of displaying scheduling information superimposed on an electronic map on the screen of the display device 24. The icon indicated by IMIc in FIG. 5 corresponds to information on the ideal state. SR in FIG. 5 indicates a predicted route being selected. NSR in FIG. 5 indicates a predicted route being unselected. The selection of a predicted route may be accepted by the plan selection unit 208 described later. Lines of different line types on the predicted route in FIG. 5 indicate information on the activity type. Specifically, the line type indicated by FA indicates that a stimulus estimated to improve "irritation" is applied. The line type indicated by RA indicates that a stimulus estimated to induce "relaxation" is applied. The line type indicated by EA indicates that a stimulus estimated to induce "excitement" is applied. The line type indicated by AA indicates that a stimulus estimated to improve a absent-minded state and drowsiness is applied. The line type indicated by AR indicates that the stimulus is suppressed. The same applies to the same symbols in the following drawings.

As shown in FIG. 5, the types of activities along the selected predicted route are represented by different line types superimposed on the predicted route. The types of activities may be represented by different colors. Furthermore, the ideal states along the selected predicted route are represented by icons. The types of ideal states may be classified into, for example, "neutral," "happy," "excited," "relaxed," "depressed," and "irritated." "Neutral" is a neutral state that is not classified into any other type than "neutral." Each type of ideal state may be represented by an icon imitating a different facial expression, as shown in FIG. 6. The reason why the unpleasant states of depressing and irritation are listed as candidates for the types of ideal states in FIG. 6 is that they are also considered to have the effect of making driving safer. For example, it is thought that rough driving caused by a strong irritation state will be reduced by inducing the driver to a depressing state. It is also thought that the decrease in agility of driving caused by a strong depressing state will be improved by inducing the driver to an irritated state. However, since drivers are unlikely to tolerate discomfort, it may be acceptable for this to be outside the ideal state in practical operation.

The plan selection unit 208 selects one candidate plan from among multiple candidate plans according to a selection input received from the driver. The plan determination unit 207 then determines the selected candidate plan as the stimulation plan. The selection input may be configured to be made, for example, by a touch operation on the screen of a touch panel integrated with the display, CID, etc. of the navigation device.

After the plan determination unit 207 has determined the stimulation plan, the presentation control unit 204 may present, for example, the following plan-related information. As the plan-related information, the predicted route and travel time predicted by the route prediction unit 203 may be presented. The predicted route may also include the destination. As the plan-related information, the road conditions predicted by the situation prediction unit 206 may be presented. For example, sections corresponding to traffic jams, high loads, and monotonous driving may be displayed on a map. As the plan-related information, the current state identified by the state identification unit 201 may be presented. As the plan-related information, the type of stimulation being provided or to be provided, the content of the stimulation, and the time for which the stimulation is provided may be presented.

The plan-related information is not limited to being displayed on the display device 24. The plan-related information may be output as audio from the audio output device 25. Alternatively, the plan-related information may be transmitted to the driver's mobile terminal via the NFCM 4 and displayed on the screen of the mobile terminal. For example, the plan-related information may be presented when an input requesting the presentation of the plan-related information is received from the user input device 26, the driver's mobile terminal.

When the route prediction unit 203 re-predicts the route of the vehicle, the plan determination unit 207 may re-determine the stimulus plan in accordance with the conditions along the re-predicted predicted route. When the plan determination unit 207 re-determines the stimulus plan, it is preferable that the presentation control unit 204 presents, at least as plan-related information, the changes to the stimulus plan resulting from the re-determination of the stimulus plan. As an example, which stimuli have been changed and how, on the display device 24, or output as sound from the sound output device 25.

When the state identification unit 201 actually identifies a state of the driver different from the state predicted by the state prediction unit 206 in a section that will change the state of the driver, it is preferable for the plan determination unit 207 to re-determine the plan of stimuli for the driver for that section so as to use stimuli according to the state of the driver actually identified by the state identification unit 201. This makes it possible to more accurately guide the state of the driver to a desirable state by providing stimuli according to the actual state of the driver. For example, if the state of the driver is not "irritated" in a section predicted to be congested, the plan can be re-determined so as to provide stimuli estimated to induce "relaxation" rather than stimuli estimated to improve "irritation."

The stimulus control unit 209 stimulates the driver along the predicted route used to determine the stimulus plan, in accordance with the stimulus plan determined by the plan determination unit 207. The processing in the stimulus control unit 209 corresponds to the stimulus control process. Along the predicted route refers to the route along which the vehicle is traveling along the predicted route. The stimulus control unit 209 selects a type of stimulus in accordance with the stimulus plan, and provides or suppresses the stimulus. When multiple candidate plans are determined by the plan determination unit 207, the stimulus control unit 209 stimulates the driver along the predicted route, in accordance with the plan selected by the plan selection unit 208 from among the candidate plans.

It is preferable that the stimulus control unit 209, based on the specific state identified by the state identification unit 201 along the predicted route used to determine the stimulus plan, causes the driver to receive a stimulus that is estimated to improve the specific state identified by the state identification unit 201, regardless of the stimulus plan determined by the plan determination unit 207. As described above, the specific state is an unpleasant state such as "irritation," "boredom," "fatigue," and "drowsiness." This makes it possible to prioritize and improve a specific state that is considered to have a stronger adverse effect on driving, thereby further suppressing the adverse effect on driving. When a specific state is identified by the state identification unit 201, it is preferable to immediately improve the specific state by performing a stimulus that is estimated to be effective in improving the specific state in a short period of time.

The stimulus control unit 209 preferably performs a stimulus that is estimated to improve the specific state, and after the state identified by the state identification unit 201 has improved from the specific state, the non-inducing stimulus is preferentially performed regardless of the stimulus plan determined by the plan determination unit 207, based on the fact that the stimulus that is estimated not to guide the specific state again along the predicted route (hereinafter, non-inducing stimulus) does not match the stimulus according to the stimulus plan determined by the plan determination unit 207. This makes it possible to prevent the specific state from returning immediately despite having been improved. The non-inducing stimulus may be a stimulus according to the type of the specific state. For example, in the case of "drowsiness," the specific state may be improved by a refreshing fragrance, while the non-inducing stimulus may be performed by outputting up-tempo music. Note that the process of preferentially performing the non-inducing stimulus may be configured to be limited to a certain period after the specific state has improved. The certain period referred to here may be arbitrarily settable.

When a request arises for a stimulus that does not match the stimulus according to the stimulus plan determined by the plan determination unit 207 along the predicted route used to determine the stimulus plan, the stimulus control unit 209 preferably performs the stimulus with the higher priority among the stimulus according to the stimulus plan determined by the plan determination unit 207 and the stimulus that does not match the stimulus, according to a predetermined priority order. The predetermined priority order is, in descending order of priority, a stimulus corresponding to drowsiness, a stimulus corresponding to a mindless state, a stimulus corresponding to a stressful state, a stimulus corresponding to an unpleasant state other than the specific state, and a stimulus corresponding to a comfortable state. In this way, by enabling a stimulus with a higher priority to be provided with priority, it becomes possible to perform a response with a higher priority with priority. For example, even in the same specific state, a stimulus corresponding to drowsiness is performed with priority over a stimulus corresponding to a mindless state.

It is preferable that the display control unit 204, while the vehicle is traveling along the predicted route, displays on the display device 24 the driver's state (hereinafter, the current driver state) identified by the state identification unit 201 and the type of stimulation (hereinafter, the current activity type) that the driver is being given at the time when the driver's state is identified (i.e., the current time). This makes it easier for the driver to recognize his/her current state and the stimulation given to him/her at the current time. In addition to the information on the current driver state and the current stimulation type, it is also preferable to display on the display device 24, as plan-related information, the type of stimulation (hereinafter, the planned activity type) that the driver was supposed to be given at the current time in the stimulation plan determined by the plan determination unit 207, and the ideal state of the driver that was to be induced by the stimulation (i.e., the ideal state). This makes it easier for the driver to recognize the difference between the driver's state and the activity type between the plan and the actual situation. The display control unit 204 may display the information on the current driver state and the current activity type, and the information on the ideal state and the planned activity type on the same screen of the display device 24 so that they can be compared. Note that the vehicle traveling along the predicted route also includes the case where the vehicle is temporarily stopped with the power switch, which will be described later, in the on state.

Here, an example of displaying information on the current driver state and the current active type, and information on the ideal state and the planned active type will be described with reference to Fig. 7 and Fig. 8. First, an example of displaying information superimposed on an electronic map will be described with reference to Fig. 7. CP in Fig. 7 indicates the current position of the vehicle. PU in Fig. 7 indicates information on the current driver state and the current active type. PMIc in Fig. 7 indicates information on the current driver state. CTS in Fig. 7 indicates information on the current active type. Information on the current driver state and the current active type may be displayed as a pop-up display starting from the current position, as shown in Fig. 7. The current driver state may be represented by an icon, as shown in PMIC in Fig. 7. The current active type may be displayed as the name of the current active type and an example of the display of the current active type, as shown in CTS in Fig. 7. The ideal state may be displayed superimposed on the electronic map along the predicted route, as shown in IMIc in Fig. 7. The planned activity type can be expressed by different line types superimposed on the predicted route, as shown in Figure 7. The line types used for different activity types can be the same as in the example of Figure 5.

Next, with reference to FIG. 8, an example of displaying information on the current driver state and current activity type, and information on the ideal state and planned activity type without superimposing them on an electronic map will be described. In this case, the information on the current driver state and current activity type, and the information on the ideal state and planned activity type may be displayed in front of the driver, for example, on a HUD. Pr in FIG. 8 is an example of displaying information on the current driver state and current activity type. Sc in FIG. 8 is an example of displaying information on the ideal state and planned activity type. Both the current driver state and the ideal state may be represented by icons, as shown in FIG. 8. For the current activity type, the name of the current activity type and a display example of that current activity type may be displayed, as shown in Pr in FIG. 8. For the planned activity type, the name of the planned activity type and a display example of that planned activity type may be displayed, as shown in Sc in FIG. 8.

It is preferable that the presentation control unit 204 presents information (hereinafter, "pre-notification information") that notifies the driver of a stimulus that is scheduled to be performed after the stimulus in the stimulus plan determined by the plan determination unit 207, from the middle of the stimulus being performed by the stimulus control unit 209. In the plan determined by the plan determination unit 207, the stimulus that is scheduled to be performed after a certain stimulus is, of course, a different type of stimulus from the certain stimulus. This makes it possible for the driver to change the next stimulus when a stimulus that is not desirable for the driver is scheduled as the next stimulus. The timing for presenting the pre-notification information may be the end of the previous stimulus. For example, the timing for presenting the pre-notification information may be 10 seconds before the stimulus is switched. The pre-notification information may be presented by display on the display device 24. The pre-notification information may be presented by audio output from the audio output device 25. The presentation control unit 204 may identify the next stimulus from the stimulus plan determined by the plan determination unit 207 and the current vehicle position measured by the locator 6.

An example of the display of the advance notice information will be described below with reference to FIG. 9. The advance notice information may be displayed on the HUD, or on the display of a navigation device, CID, etc. An image showing an image of the next stimulus may be displayed as the advance notice information, as shown in FIG. 9. The time remaining until switching to the next stimulus may also be displayed as the advance notice information, as shown in FIG. 9. Information indicating the type of the next stimulus may also be displayed as the advance notice information. As an example, the name of the type of next stimulus and an example display of that type of stimulus may be displayed as shown in the NTS of FIG. 9.

<Driver state guidance related processing in HCU 20>
Next, an example of the flow of the driver state guidance related process in the HCU 20 will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 10. The flowchart of Fig. 10 may be configured so that, for example, when a switch (hereinafter, a power switch) for starting the internal combustion engine or motor generator of the vehicle is turned on, the power of the HCU 20 is also turned on and started. In addition, in the case of a configuration in which the on/off setting of the function for executing the driver state guidance related process can be switched via the user input device 26, the function for executing the driver state guidance related process being on may be added as a condition.

First, in step S1, the state identification unit 201 identifies the current state of the driver of the vehicle. In step S2, plan-related processing is performed, and the process proceeds to step S3. Here, an example of the flow of plan-related processing will be explained using the flowchart in FIG. 11.

In step S201, the target estimation unit 202 estimates the target state of the driver. In step S202, the route prediction unit 203 predicts the route of the vehicle. In the example of FIG. 5, the route prediction unit 203 predicts multiple candidate routes. In step S203, the presentation control unit 204 presents information on the multiple candidate routes predicted in S202. In step S204, the route selection unit 205 selects one route from the multiple candidate routes predicted in S202 according to a selection input received from the driver. Note that the route prediction unit 203 may be configured to narrow down the prediction to one route in S202. In this case, the processes of S203 to S204 may be omitted.

In step S205, the situation prediction unit 206 predicts the road conditions of the predicted route selected in S204. If the route prediction unit 203 is configured to narrow down the prediction to one route in S202, the road conditions of the predicted route predicted in S203 may be predicted. In step S206, the plan determination unit 207 determines a stimulus plan according to the road conditions on the predicted route predicted in S205, in addition to the driver's state identified in S1 and the target state estimated in S201. In the example of FIG. 5, a description will be given assuming that multiple candidate plans are determined for one predicted route.

In step S207, the presentation control unit 204 presents information on the multiple candidate plans determined in S206. In step S208, the plan selection unit 208 selects one candidate plan from the multiple candidate plans determined in S206 in accordance with a selection input received from the driver. In step S209, the plan determination unit 207 determines the candidate plan selected in S208 as the stimulation plan, and proceeds to step S3. Note that the plan determination unit 207 may be configured to narrow down to one stimulation plan in S206. In this case, the processes of S207 to S208 are omitted, and in S209, the stimulation plan determined in S206 is directly determined as the stimulation plan.

Returning to FIG. 10, in step S3, the stimulus control unit 209 starts stimulating the driver in accordance with the stimulus plan determined in S209. The driver is stimulated along the predicted route in accordance with the stimulus plan determined in S209. For example, in sections of traffic congestion, stimuli estimated to improve "irritation" are applied. In sections of monotonous driving, stimuli estimated to improve absent-mindedness and drowsiness are applied. In sections of high load, stimuli are suppressed. For sections where no change in state is predicted, stimuli are applied to guide the driver to the ideal state in that section.

In step S4, the state identification unit 201 identifies the current state of the driver of the vehicle. In step S5, if the stimuli according to the stimulus plan determined in S209 differ from the stimuli according to the current state determined in S4 (YES in S5), the process proceeds to step S6. On the other hand, if there is no difference (NO in S5), the process proceeds to step S8. In other words, the stimuli according to the stimulus plan are continued. The stimuli according to the current state may be determined by the stimulus control unit 209 with reference to the correspondence between the driver's state and the stimuli that is previously associated. For example, for an uncomfortable state, a stimulus that eliminates the uncomfortable state may be determined. For a comfortable state, a stimulus that maintains the comfortable state may be determined.

In step S6, if the stimulation according to the current state identified in S4 is to be prioritized over the stimulation according to the stimulation plan determined in S209 (YES in S6), the process proceeds to step S7. On the other hand, if the stimulation is not to be prioritized (NO in S6), the process proceeds to step S8. In other words, the stimulation according to the stimulation plan is to be continued. The priority decision may be made by the stimulation control unit 209 according to the priority order described above. In step S7, the stimulation control unit 209 causes the stimulation according to the current state identified in S4 to be given priority over the stimulation according to the stimulation plan determined in S209.

In step S8, if the vehicle's driving route deviates from the predicted route used in the stimulation plan determined in S209 (YES in S8), the process proceeds to step S9. On the other hand, if the vehicle's driving route does not deviate from the predicted route (NO in S8), the process proceeds to step S12. In other words, the stimulation is continued according to the stimulation plan. Whether or not the vehicle's driving route deviates from the predicted route can be determined, for example, by the route prediction unit 203 using the vehicle position measured by the locator 6.

In step S9, replanning-related processing is performed. The replanning-related processing may be the same as the planning-related processing described above. Note that the replanning-related processing may be configured to use the target state estimated in the planning-related processing as the target state, or may be configured to re-estimate the target state.

In step S10, the presentation control unit 204 presents the changes to the stimulus plan resulting from the re-determination of the stimulus plan. In step S11, the stimulus control unit 209 starts stimulating the driver in accordance with the stimulus plan re-determined in the re-planning-related process of S9.

In step S12, if it is time to end the driver state guidance related process (YES in S12), the driver state guidance related process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is not time to end the driver state guidance related process (NO in S12), the process returns to S4 and is repeated. Examples of timing to end the driver state guidance related process include the power switch of the vehicle being turned off, the destination being reached, or the function that executes the driver state guidance related process being switched to an off setting.

Summary of First Embodiment
According to the configuration of the first embodiment, in addition to the specified current state and the target state of the driver, a plan of stimuli to be used for the driver along the predicted route of the vehicle is determined in order to guide the driver's state to the target state according to the conditions along the predicted route. Therefore, it is possible to plan a type of stimuli that is more suited to changes in the conditions along the route of the vehicle. Then, since the driver is given stimuli along the predicted route according to the determined plan, it is possible to give a type of stimuli that is more suited to changes in the conditions along the route of the vehicle as a stimuli to guide the driver's state to a preferred state.

According to the configuration of the first embodiment, it is possible to activate or suppress stimuli for the driver's five senses according to a schedule that matches the situation, without interfering with driving. Furthermore, if the situation changes, the stimuli are rescheduled, so it is possible to provide a type of stimulation that matches the change in the situation on the vehicle's route.

(Embodiment 2)
The configuration of the vehicle system 1 of the second embodiment may be adopted instead of the configuration of the first embodiment. An example of the configuration of the second embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. The vehicle system 1 of the second embodiment is similar to the vehicle system 1 of the first embodiment, except that the vehicle system 1 of the second embodiment includes an HCU 20a instead of the HCU 20.

<General configuration of HCU 20a>
Next, the schematic configuration of the HCU 20a will be described with reference to Fig. 12. As shown in Fig. 12, the HCU 20a includes a state identification unit 201, a presentation control unit 204a, a plan determination unit 207a, a stimulus control unit 209, a recording processing unit 210, a history storage unit 211, a mode switching unit 212, a state prediction unit 213, and an evaluation unit 214 as functional blocks for driver state guidance-related processing. In Fig. 12, functional blocks that are not related to processing different from that in the first embodiment are omitted. That is, the HCU 20a also includes a target estimation unit 202, a route prediction unit 203, a route selection unit 205, a situation prediction unit 206, and a plan selection unit 208 as functional blocks that perform the same processing as in the first embodiment. The HCU 20a is similar to the HCU 20 of the first embodiment, except that the HCU 20a includes a presentation control unit 204a and a plan determination unit 207a instead of the presentation control unit 204 and the plan determination unit 207, and includes a record processing unit 210, a history storage unit 211, a mode switching unit 212, a state prediction unit 213, and an evaluation unit 214. This HCU 20a also corresponds to a driver state induction device. In addition, the execution of the processing of each functional block of the HCU 20a by a computer also corresponds to the execution of a driver state induction method.

The recording processing unit 210 stores the history of the points where the vehicle has traveled in the past (hereinafter, point history), the stimuli at the points (hereinafter, stimulus history), and the state of the driver at the points (hereinafter, driver state history) in the history storage unit 211. The stimuli referred to here are stimuli given to the driver by the stimulus control unit 209 according to the stimulus plan determined by the plan determination unit 207. The recording processing unit 210 may identify the points where the vehicle has traveled from the current vehicle position measured by the locator 6. Then, the identified points may be treated as the point history. The recording processing unit 210 may treat the stimuli given by the stimulus control unit 209 at the points as the stimulus history at the points. The recording processing unit 210 may treat the state of the driver identified by the state identification unit 201 at the points as the driver state history at the points. Then, the recording processing unit 210 may link these histories and store them in the history storage unit 211. The recording processing unit 210 may store the history by dividing it into trips. A trip is defined as the period from when the vehicle's power switch is turned on to when it is turned off. A non-volatile memory may be used as the history storage unit 211.

The mode switching unit 212 switches the display mode according to the input received from the driver by the user input device 26. This input may be an input for selecting a display mode. Examples of the display modes include a normal mode, a history mode, a planned comparison mode, a past comparison mode, and a prediction mode. The normal mode is the default display mode. In the normal mode, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, the current plan-related information during driving is displayed. The history mode is a display mode that presents past history. The planned comparison mode is a display mode that displays information on the current driver state and the current activity type, and information on the ideal state and the planned activity type (hereinafter, planned comparison display) as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8. The planned comparison display may be configured to be performed in the normal mode, but is configured to be performed when the planned comparison mode is selected here. The past comparison mode is a display mode that displays information on the current driver state and the current activity type, and information on the driver state and activity type in the past history. The prediction mode is a display mode that displays a prediction of the change in the driver's state when a stimulus is provided and when it is not provided. The display modes that can be switched by the mode switching unit 212 may be a portion of the display modes described above.

The state prediction unit 213 predicts a change in the state of the driver when the stimulation is performed according to the stimulation plan determined by the plan determination unit 207 and when the stimulation is not performed. The state prediction unit 213 may predict a change from the current state of the driver. The current state of the driver may be specified by the state specification unit 201. The state prediction unit 213 may predict the ideal state determined by the plan determination unit 207 as a change in the state of the driver when the stimulation is performed according to the stimulation plan. As described above, the ideal state is assumed to be allocated to a route state and a target state. The state prediction unit 213 may predict a change in the state of the driver when the stimulation is not performed according to the stimulation plan based on the road situation predicted by the situation prediction unit 206. For example, at a timing when monotonous driving is predicted as the road situation, a change to the state of the driver of "boredom" or "drowsiness" may be predicted. In addition, at a timing when traffic congestion is predicted as the road situation, a change to the state of the driver of "irritation" may be predicted.

It is preferable that the presentation control unit 204a superimposes and displays history information (hereinafter, history information) stored in the history storage unit 211 on the map in response to input received from the driver via the user input device 26. This allows the driver to check and evaluate past history. When the history mode is selected, the presentation control unit 204a displays the history information. The user input device 26 corresponds to the input reception unit.

Here, an example of display of the history information will be described with reference to FIG. 13. The history information is displayed by being superimposed on the electronic map on the screen of the display device 24. The icon indicated by HMIc in FIG. 13 corresponds to the information of the driver's state history. The route from the office to the home in FIG. 13 corresponds to the information of the location history for one trip. The group of location histories for one trip corresponds to the route for one trip traveled in the past. The display expressed by dividing into line types in FIG. 13 corresponds to the information of the stimulus history. As shown in FIG. 13, the driver's past state and the stimulus performed in the past are displayed in association with each other for the route for one trip. The presentation control unit 204a may display multiple pieces of history information for each trip. For example, as shown in FIG. 13, multiple pieces of history information may be displayed for each trip in a stack display format. In this case, the history information to be displayed in the foreground may be switched according to the input received from the driver by the user input device 26.

In addition to displaying information on the driver's state (i.e., the current driver state) identified by the state identification unit 201 while the vehicle is traveling along the predicted route and the type of stimulation (i.e., the current activity type) that the driver is given at the time the driver's state is identified, it is preferable that the presentation control unit 204a also displays information on the type of stimulation and the driver's state at the same point in the past on the display device 24 based on the history stored in the history storage unit 211. This makes it easier for the driver to recognize the difference between the driver's state and activity type at the same point in the past and the past. Hereinafter, the type of stimulation at the same point in the past is referred to as the past activity type. Also, the driver's state at the same point in the past is referred to as the past driver state. When the past comparison mode is selected, the presentation control unit 204a displays information on the past driver state and past activity type in addition to information on the current driver state and current activity type. The presentation control unit 204a simply displays information on the current driver state and current activity type, and information on the past driver state and past activity type on the same screen of the display device 24 so that they can be compared.

It is preferable that the presentation control unit 204a narrows down the above-mentioned same past point to the same past point in the history stored in the history storage unit 211 in a trip where the departure point is the same as the current trip. This makes it easier for the driver to recognize the difference between the driver's state and activity type at the same point in a similar route between the present and the past. Therefore, it is easier for the driver to compare the difference between the driver's state and activity type in the present and the past in a more similar situation. In addition, it is preferable that the presentation control unit 204a narrows down the above-mentioned same past point to the same past point in the history stored in the history storage unit 211 in a trip where the predicted route of the current trip and the route from the departure point to the destination are the same. This makes it easier for the driver to recognize the difference between the driver's state and activity type at the same point in the same route between the present and the past. Therefore, it is easier for the driver to compare the difference between the driver's state and activity type in the present and the past in a particularly similar situation.

Here, an example of displaying information on the current driver state and the current active type, and information on the past driver state and the past active type will be described with reference to FIG. 14 and FIG. 15. First, an example of displaying information superimposed on an electronic map will be described with reference to FIG. 14. CP in FIG. 14 indicates the current position of the vehicle. PU in FIG. 14 indicates information on the current driver state and the current active type. PMIc in FIG. 14 indicates information on the current driver state. CTS in FIG. 14 indicates information on the current active type. The display of information on the current driver state and the current active type may be performed in a pop-up display starting from the current position, as shown in FIG. 14. The current driver state may be represented by an icon, as shown in PMIC in FIG. 14. The current active type may be displayed with the name of the current active type and a display example of the current active type, as shown in CTS in FIG. 14. The past driver state may be displayed superimposed on an electronic map along a route as a group of point history, as shown in HMIc in FIG. 14. The type of past activity can be expressed by different line types superimposed on the route as a group of point history, as shown in Figure 14. The use of different line types for different types of activity can be the same as the example in Figure 5.

Next, with reference to FIG. 15, an example of displaying information on the current driver state and current active type, and information on the past driver state and past active type without superimposing them on an electronic map will be described. In this case, the information on the current driver state and current active type, and information on the past driver state and past active type may be displayed in front of the driver, for example, on a HUD. Pr in FIG. 15 is an example of displaying information on the current driver state and current active type. Hi in FIG. 15 is an example of displaying information on the past driver state and past active type. Both the current driver state and the past driver state may be represented by icons, as shown in FIG. 15. For the current active type, the name of the current active type and a display example of the current active type may be displayed, as shown in Pr in FIG. 15. For the past active type, the name of the past active type and a display example of the past active type may be displayed, as shown in Hi in FIG. 15.

It is preferable that the presentation control unit 204a displays the results predicted by the state prediction unit 213 on the display device 24. This allows the driver to predict the change in the driver's state when stimulation is performed according to the stimulation plan and when it is not performed. This allows the driver to select whether or not to perform stimulation, taking this change into consideration. When the prediction mode is selected, the presentation control unit 204a displays the results predicted by the state prediction unit 213.

Now, with reference to FIG. 16, an example of the display of the results predicted by the current state prediction unit 213 will be described. The presentation control unit 204a may display the predicted transition of the driver's state, starting from the current driver's state, according to the presence or absence of stimulation. As a specific example, as shown in FIG. 16, the driver's state may be represented by icons imitating facial expressions. These icons may then be arranged and displayed in an order that matches the prediction of the transition of the driver's state, according to the presence or absence of stimulation.

The evaluation unit 214 evaluates at least one of the stimuli currently being given to the driver, the stimuli to be given to the driver, and the past stimuli given to the driver, in response to the input received from the driver by the user input device 26. The input related to the evaluation may be an input for selecting the stimulus to be evaluated (hereinafter, a stimulus selection input) and an input for evaluating the stimulus (hereinafter, a stimulus evaluation input). A touch panel may be used as the user input device 26 for making the stimulus selection input. In this way, a touch operation on the information on the activity type displayed on the screen of the display device 24 may be accepted as the stimulus selection input. For example, a touch operation on the information on the current activity type as shown in FIG. 7, FIG. 8, FIG. 14, and FIG. 15 is an input for selecting the stimulus to be given to the driver. For example, a touch operation on the information on the planned activity type as shown in FIG. 5 is an input for selecting the stimulus to be given to the driver. A touch operation on the information on the planned activity type of a section that the vehicle has not yet passed through as shown in FIG. 7 is also an input for selecting the stimulus to be given to the driver. A touch operation on information indicating the type of next stimulus as shown in FIG. 9 is also an input for selecting a stimulus that is planned to be performed by the driver. For example, a touch operation on information on past activity types as shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 is an input for selecting a past stimulus that was performed by the driver. A touch operation on information on a section through which the vehicle has already passed, among information on planned activity types as shown in FIG. 7, is also an input for selecting a past stimulus that was performed by the driver.

The stimulus evaluation input may be based on a rating as shown in FIG. 17. In this case, the evaluation unit 214 may determine a higher evaluation for a stimulus with a higher rating value. The evaluation unit 214 may evaluate a stimulus that is targeted under the same road conditions as the road conditions in which the stimulus was determined to be performed in the stimulus plan. Furthermore, the stimulus evaluation input may be for changing the stimulus by selecting a stimulus that is preferred by the user from options as shown in FIG. 18. In this case, the evaluation unit 214 may lower the evaluation of the changed stimulus, while raising the evaluation of the selected stimulus.

It is preferable that the plan determination unit 207a changes the stimulus so that the higher the evaluation unit 214 evaluates the stimulus, the more likely it is to be selected for the stimulus plan, while changing the stimulus so that the lower the evaluation unit 214 evaluates the stimulus, the less likely it is to be selected for the stimulus plan. This makes it possible to improve the stimulus so that it is more in line with the driver's preferences.

(Embodiment 3)
The stimulus for inducing the state of the driver is not limited to the stimulus described in the above embodiment. For example, the state of the driver may be induced by other types of stimulus, such as vibration by a vibrator.

(Embodiment 4)
In the above embodiment, the driver state guidance related process is performed by the HCU 20 or 20a, but this is not necessarily limited to the above. For example, the driver state guidance related process may be performed by the HCU 20 or 20a and another ECU, or the driver state guidance related process may be performed by another ECU.

Note that the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. The technical scope of the present disclosure also includes embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments. The control unit and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated computer that constitutes a processor programmed to execute one or more functions embodied in a computer program. Alternatively, the device and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by a dedicated hardware logic circuit. Alternatively, the device and the method described in the present disclosure may be realized by one or more dedicated computers that are configured by combining a processor that executes a computer program with one or more hardware logic circuits. Furthermore, the computer program may be stored in a computer-readable non-transient tangible recording medium as instructions executed by the computer.

(Disclosed technical idea)
This specification discloses multiple technical ideas described in the following multiple dependent claims. Some of the claims may be described in a multiple dependent form, in which the subsequent claim alternatively refers to the preceding claim. Furthermore, some of the claims may be described in a multiple dependent form, in which the subsequent claim alternatively refers to the preceding claim. The claims described in these multiple dependent forms define multiple technical ideas.

Technical thought 1
A driver state guidance device that can be used in a vehicle, comprising:
A state identification unit (201) that identifies a state of a driver of the vehicle;
A target estimation unit (202) for estimating a target state which is a state aimed at by the driver;
A route prediction unit (203) for predicting a route of the vehicle;
a situation prediction unit (206) for predicting a situation along the predicted route predicted by the route prediction unit;
a plan determination unit (207, 207a) that determines a plan of a stimulus to be used for the driver along the predicted route in order to guide the state of the driver to the target state, in accordance with the state of the driver identified by the state identification unit, the target state estimated by the target estimation unit, and a situation on the predicted route predicted by the situation prediction unit;
A driver state induction device comprising: a stimulus control unit (209) that provides stimuli to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined by the plan determination unit.

Technical thought 2
A driver state guidance device according to Technical Concept 1,
The situation prediction unit predicts, as the situation, a situation in which a driving load of the driver will be high,
The plan determination unit determines a plan of stimuli for the driver so as to suppress the stimuli for sections of the predicted route where the situation prediction unit predicts that the driver will be under a high driving load.

Technical thought 3
A driver state guidance device according to Technical Idea 1 or 2,
The plan determination unit omits a stimulus whose duration is scheduled to be less than a threshold and replaces it with stimuli before and after the stimulus, thereby determining a plan for stimuli to be provided to the driver.

Technical thought 4
A driver state guidance device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 3,
The situation prediction unit predicts, as the situation, a situation that may worsen the driver's condition,
The plan determination unit determines a plan of stimulation for the driver for a section of the predicted route where the situation prediction unit predicts a situation that will worsen the driver's condition, so as to provide stimulation that is estimated to improve the deterioration, and also determines a plan of stimulation for the driver so as to start providing stimulation that is estimated to improve the deterioration in advance before the driver enters that section.

Technical thought 5
A driver state guidance device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 4,
The situation prediction unit is a driver state guidance device that predicts, as the situation, at least one of a situation in which the driver's driving load is high, a degree of traffic congestion, and monotony of driving.

Technical thought 6
A driver state guidance device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 5,
A driver state induction device including a presentation control unit (204, 204a) that presents plan-related information, which is information regarding a plan for stimuli for the driver determined by the plan determination unit.

Technical thought 7
A driver state guidance device according to Technical Concept 6,
The presentation control unit presents the plan-related information by displaying it on at least a display device (24), and the driver state induction device displays, as the plan-related information, information on the predicted route, the type of stimulation to be given to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined by the plan determination unit, and the ideal state of the driver to be induced by the stimulation, superimposed on a map.

Technical thought 8
A driver state guidance device according to Technical Idea 6 or 7,
The presentation control unit presents the plan-related information by displaying at least on a display device (24), and in addition to displaying information on the driver's state identified by the state identification unit and the type of stimulation that is being given to the driver at the time the driver's state is identified while the vehicle is traveling along the predicted route, the driver state induction device also displays, as the plan-related information, information on the type of stimulation that was to be given to the driver at the time in the plan determined by the plan determination unit and the ideal state of the driver to which the driver wanted to be induced by that stimulation.

Technical thought 9
A driver state guidance device according to any one of Technical Ideas 6 to 8,
a history storage unit (211) for storing a history of points where the vehicle has traveled in the past, the stimuli at the points, and the state of the driver at the points;
The presentation control unit (204a) presents information by displaying at least on a display device (24), and the driver state guidance device displays the history information stored in the history memory unit superimposed on a map in response to input received by an input receiving unit (26) that receives input from the driver.

Technical thought 10
A driver state guidance device according to any one of technical concepts 6 to 9,
a history storage unit (211) that stores a history of points where the vehicle has traveled in the past, the stimuli at the points, and the state of the driver at the points;
The presentation control unit (204a) presents information by displaying at least on a display device (24), and in addition to displaying information on the driver's state identified by the state identification unit while the vehicle is traveling along the predicted route and the type of stimulation being provided to the driver at the time the driver's state is identified, the driver state induction device also displays information on the type of stimulation and the driver's state at the same location in the past based on the history stored in the history memory unit.

Technical thought 11
A driver state guidance device according to any one of Technical Ideas 6 to 10,
The presentation control unit is a driver state induction device that presents information informing the driver of the stimulus that is scheduled to be performed next after the stimulus in the plan determined by the plan determination unit, while the stimulus control unit is performing the stimulus.

Technical thought 12
A driver state guidance device according to any one of technical concepts 6 to 11,
an evaluation unit (214) that evaluates at least one of the stimulus being given to the driver, the stimulus to be given to the driver, and the stimulus given to the driver in the past, in response to an input received by an input receiving unit (26) that receives an input from the driver;
The plan determination unit (207a) changes the stimulus so that it is more likely to be selected for the plan when it is highly rated by the evaluation unit, and changes the stimulus so that it is less likely to be selected for the plan when it is low rated by the evaluation unit.

Technical thought 13
A driver state guidance device according to any one of technical concepts 6 to 12,
A state prediction unit (213) for predicting a change in the state of the driver when the stimulation is performed according to the plan determined by the plan determination unit and when the stimulation is not performed,
The presentation control unit (204a) presents information by displaying at least on a display device (24), and displays the result of prediction by the state prediction unit.

Technical thought 14
A driver state guidance device according to any one of technical concepts 6 to 13,
the route prediction unit re-predicts a route of the vehicle when a route actually traveled by the vehicle deviates from the predicted route;
when the route prediction unit re-predicts the route of the vehicle, the situation prediction unit predicts a situation along the re-predicted predicted route,
The plan determination unit, when the route prediction unit re-predicts the route of the vehicle, re-determines a plan for providing a stimulus to the driver in accordance with a situation on the re-predicted predicted route,
The presentation control unit is a driver state induction device that, when the plan determination unit redetermines a plan for providing stimuli to the driver, presents, at least as the plan-related information, the changes to the plan resulting from the redetermining of the plan for providing stimuli to the driver.

Technical thought 15
A driver state guidance device according to any one of technical concepts 6 to 14,
The route prediction unit predicts a plurality of candidate routes as a route of the vehicle,
the presentation control unit is configured to present, as at least the plan-related information, information on the plurality of candidate routes predicted by the route prediction unit,
a route selection unit (205) for selecting one route from among the plurality of candidate routes predicted by the route prediction unit in accordance with a selection input received from the driver;
The situation prediction unit is a driver state guidance device that predicts a situation along a predicted route by selecting a route by the route selection unit from among a plurality of candidate routes predicted by the route prediction unit as the predicted route.

Technical thought 16
A driver state guidance device according to any one of technical concepts 6 to 15,
The plan determination unit determines a plurality of candidate plans for one of the predicted routes as a plan for providing a stimulus to the driver,
The presentation control unit presents, as at least the plan-related information, information on the plurality of candidate plans determined by the plan determination unit,
a plan selection unit (208) that selects one plan from the plurality of candidate plans determined by the plan determination unit in accordance with a selection input received from the driver;
The stimulus control unit is a driver state induction device that provides stimuli to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with a plan selected by the plan selection unit from among the multiple candidate plans determined by the plan determination unit.

Technical thought 17
A driver state guidance device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 16,
The situation prediction unit predicts, as the situation, a situation that changes the state of the driver,
The plan determination unit is a driver state induction device that, when a state of the driver different from the state predicted by the situation prediction unit in a section that will change the state of the driver is actually identified by the state identification unit, re-determines the plan of stimuli for that section so as to use stimuli that correspond to the state of the driver actually identified by the state identification unit.

Technical thought 18
A driver state guidance device according to any one of technical concepts 1 to 17,
The state identifying unit identifies a state including a specific state that is at least one of a drowsiness, an absent-minded state, and a stressed state as a state of the driver,
The stimulus control unit is a driver state induction device that, based on the specific state identified by the state identification unit along the predicted route, provides the driver with a stimulus that is estimated to improve the specific state identified by the state identification unit, regardless of the plan determined by the plan determination unit.

Technical thought 19
A driver state guidance device according to Technical Concept 18,
The stimulus control unit applies a stimulus that is estimated to improve the specific state, and after the state identified by the state identification unit has improved from the specific state, based on a discrepancy between a non-inducing stimulus, which is a stimulus that is estimated not to guide the driver back to the specific state along the predicted route, and a stimulus that is in line with the plan determined by the plan determination unit, the driver state induction device preferentially applies the non-inducing stimulus regardless of the plan determined by the plan determination unit.

Technical thought 20
A driver state guidance device according to Technical Concept 18,
The state specifying unit specifies, as the state of the driver, at least one of a drowsiness, an absent-minded state, a stressed state, an uncomfortable state other than the specific state, and a comfortable state,
The stimulus control unit is a driver state induction device that, when a request arises along the predicted route to provide a stimulus that does not match the stimulus in line with the plan determined by the plan determination unit, provides the stimulus with the higher priority between the stimulus in line with the plan determined by the plan determination unit and the stimulus that does not match the stimulus, in the following order of priority: stimulation corresponding to drowsiness, stimulation corresponding to a distracted state, stimulation corresponding to a stressful state, stimulation corresponding to the uncomfortable state, and stimulation corresponding to the comfortable state.

Technical thought 21
A driver state guidance method usable in a vehicle, comprising:
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying a state of a driver of the vehicle;
A target estimation step of estimating a target state which is a state aimed at by the driver;
a route prediction step of predicting a route of the vehicle;
a situation prediction step of predicting a situation along the predicted route predicted in the route prediction step;
a plan determination step of determining a plan of stimuli to be used for the driver along the predicted route in order to guide the state of the driver to the target state, in accordance with the state of the driver identified in the state identification step, the target state estimated in the target estimation step, and a situation on the predicted route predicted in the situation prediction step;
and a stimulus control step of providing a stimulus to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined in the plan determination step.

1 Vehicle system, 20, 20a HCU (driver state guidance device), 24 Display device, 26 User input device (input reception unit), 201 State identification unit, 202 Target estimation unit, 203 Route prediction unit, 204, 204a Presentation control unit, 205 Route selection unit, 206 Situation prediction unit, 207, 207a Plan determination unit, 208 Plan selection unit, 209 Stimulus control unit, 210 Record processing unit, 211 History storage unit, 212 Mode switching unit, 213 State prediction unit, 214 Evaluation unit 214

Claims (23)

A driver state guidance device that can be used in a vehicle, comprising:
A state identification unit (201) that identifies a state of a driver of the vehicle;
A target estimation unit (202) for estimating a target state which is a state aimed at by the driver;
A route prediction unit (203) for predicting a route of the vehicle;
a situation prediction unit (206) for predicting a situation along the predicted route predicted by the route prediction unit;
a plan determination unit (207, 207a) that determines a plan of a stimulus to be used for the driver along the predicted route in order to guide the state of the driver to the target state, in accordance with the state of the driver identified by the state identification unit, the target state estimated by the target estimation unit, and a situation on the predicted route predicted by the situation prediction unit;
a stimulus control unit (209) that provides a stimulus to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined by the plan determination unit ;
The plan determination unit omits a stimulus whose duration is scheduled to be less than a threshold and replaces it with stimuli before and after the stimulus, thereby determining a plan for stimuli to be provided to the driver . A driver state guidance device that can be used in a vehicle, comprising:
A state identification unit (201) that identifies a state of a driver of the vehicle;
A target estimation unit (202) for estimating a target state which is a state aimed at by the driver;
A route prediction unit (203) for predicting a route of the vehicle;
a situation prediction unit (206) for predicting a situation along the predicted route predicted by the route prediction unit;
a plan determination unit (207, 207a) that determines a plan of a stimulus to be used for the driver along the predicted route in order to guide the state of the driver to the target state, in accordance with the state of the driver identified by the state identification unit, the target state estimated by the target estimation unit, and a situation on the predicted route predicted by the situation prediction unit;
a stimulus control unit (209) that provides a stimulus to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined by the plan determination unit ;
The situation prediction unit predicts, as the situation, a situation that changes the state of the driver,
The plan determination unit is a driver state induction device that, when a state of the driver different from the state predicted by the situation prediction unit in a section that will change the state of the driver is actually identified by the state identification unit, re-determines the plan of stimuli for that section so as to use stimuli that correspond to the state of the driver actually identified by the state identification unit. The driver state guidance device according to claim 2 ,
The state identifying unit identifies a state including a specific state that is at least one of a drowsiness, an absent-minded state, and a stressed state as a state of the driver,
The stimulus control unit is a driver state induction device that, based on the specific state identified by the state identification unit along the predicted route, provides the driver with a stimulus that is estimated to improve the specific state identified by the state identification unit, regardless of the plan determined by the plan determination unit. A driver state guidance device that can be used in a vehicle, comprising:
A state identification unit (201) that identifies a state of a driver of the vehicle;
A target estimation unit (202) for estimating a target state which is a state aimed at by the driver;
A route prediction unit (203) for predicting a route of the vehicle;
a situation prediction unit (206) for predicting a situation along the predicted route predicted by the route prediction unit;
a plan determination unit (207, 207a) that determines a plan of a stimulus to be used for the driver along the predicted route in order to guide the state of the driver to the target state, in accordance with the state of the driver identified by the state identification unit, the target state estimated by the target estimation unit, and a situation on the predicted route predicted by the situation prediction unit;
a stimulus control unit (209) that provides a stimulus to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined by the plan determination unit ;
The state identifying unit identifies a state including a specific state that is at least one of a drowsiness, an absent-minded state, and a stressed state as a state of the driver,
The stimulus control unit is a driver state induction device that, based on the specific state identified by the state identification unit along the predicted route, provides the driver with a stimulus that is estimated to improve the specific state identified by the state identification unit, regardless of the plan determined by the plan determination unit. The driver state guidance device according to claim 3 or 4 ,
The stimulus control unit applies a stimulus that is estimated to improve the specific state, and based on a discrepancy between a non-inducing stimulus different from the stimulus estimated to improve the specific state, which is a stimulus that is estimated not to guide the driver back to the specific state along the predicted route after the state identified by the state identification unit has improved from the specific state , and a stimulus that is in line with the plan determined by the plan determination unit, the driver state induction device preferentially applies the non-inducing stimulus regardless of the plan determined by the plan determination unit. The driver state guidance device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The situation prediction unit predicts, as the situation, a situation in which a driving load of the driver will be high,
The plan determination unit determines a plan of stimuli for the driver so as to suppress the stimuli for sections of the predicted route where the situation prediction unit predicts that the driver will be under a high driving load. A driver state guidance device according to any one of claims 2 to 4 ,
The plan determination unit omits a stimulus whose duration is scheduled to be less than a threshold and replaces it with stimuli before and after the stimulus, thereby determining a plan for stimuli to be provided to the driver. The driver state induction device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The situation prediction unit predicts, as the situation, a situation that may worsen the driver's condition,
The plan determination unit determines a plan of stimulation for the driver for a section of the predicted route where the situation prediction unit predicts a situation that will worsen the driver's condition, so as to provide stimulation that is estimated to improve the deterioration, and also determines a plan of stimulation for the driver so as to start providing stimulation that is estimated to improve the deterioration in advance before the driver enters that section. The driver state induction device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The situation prediction unit is a driver state guidance device that predicts, as the situation, at least one of a situation in which the driver's driving load is high, a degree of traffic congestion, and monotony of driving. The driver state guidance device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
A driver state induction device including a presentation control unit (204, 204a) that presents plan-related information, which is information regarding a plan for stimuli for the driver determined by the plan determination unit. The driver state guidance device according to claim 10 ,
The presentation control unit presents the plan-related information by displaying it on at least a display device (24), and the driver state induction device displays, as the plan-related information, information on the predicted route, the type of stimulation to be given to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined by the plan determination unit, and the ideal state of the driver to be induced by the stimulation, superimposed on a map. The driver state guidance device according to claim 10 ,
The presentation control unit presents the plan-related information by displaying at least on a display device (24), and in addition to displaying information on the driver's state identified by the state identification unit and the type of stimulation that is being given to the driver at the time the driver's state is identified while the vehicle is traveling along the predicted route, the driver state induction device also displays, as the plan-related information, information on the type of stimulation that was to be given to the driver at the time in the plan determined by the plan determination unit and the ideal state of the driver to which the driver wanted to be induced by that stimulation. The driver state guidance device according to claim 10 ,
a history storage unit (211) for storing a history of points where the vehicle has traveled in the past, the stimuli at the points, and the state of the driver at the points;
The presentation control unit (204a) presents information by displaying at least on a display device (24), and the driver state guidance device displays the history information stored in the history memory unit superimposed on a map in response to input received by an input receiving unit (26) that receives input from the driver. The driver state guidance device according to claim 10 ,
a history storage unit (211) that stores a history of points where the vehicle has traveled in the past, the stimuli at the points, and the state of the driver at the points;
The presentation control unit (204a) presents information by displaying at least on a display device (24), and in addition to displaying information on the driver's state identified by the state identification unit while the vehicle is traveling along the predicted route and the type of stimulation being provided to the driver at the time the driver's state is identified, the driver state induction device also displays information on the type of stimulation and the driver's state at the same location in the past based on the history stored in the history memory unit. The driver state guidance device according to claim 10 ,
The presentation control unit is a driver state induction device that presents information informing the driver of the stimulus that is scheduled to be performed next after the stimulus in the plan determined by the plan determination unit, while the stimulus control unit is performing the stimulus. The driver state guidance device according to claim 10 ,
an evaluation unit (214) that evaluates at least one of the stimulus being given to the driver, the stimulus to be given to the driver, and the stimulus given to the driver in the past, in response to an input received by an input receiving unit (26) that receives an input from the driver;
The plan determination unit (207a) changes the stimulus so that it is more likely to be selected for the plan when it is highly rated by the evaluation unit, and changes the stimulus so that it is less likely to be selected for the plan when it is low rated by the evaluation unit. The driver state guidance device according to claim 10 ,
A state prediction unit (213) for predicting a change in the state of the driver when the stimulation is performed according to the plan determined by the plan determination unit and when the stimulation is not performed,
The presentation control unit (204a) presents information by displaying at least on a display device (24), and displays the result of prediction by the state prediction unit. The driver state guidance device according to claim 10 ,
the route prediction unit re-predicts a route of the vehicle when a route actually traveled by the vehicle deviates from the predicted route;
when the route prediction unit re-predicts the route of the vehicle, the situation prediction unit predicts a situation along the re-predicted predicted route,
The plan determination unit, when the route prediction unit re-predicts the route of the vehicle, re-determines a plan for providing a stimulus to the driver in accordance with a situation on the re-predicted predicted route,
The presentation control unit is a driver state induction device that, when the plan determination unit redetermines a plan for providing stimuli to the driver, presents, at least as the plan-related information, the changes to the plan resulting from the redetermining of the plan for providing stimuli to the driver. The driver state guidance device according to claim 10 ,
The route prediction unit predicts a plurality of candidate routes as a route of the vehicle,
the presentation control unit is configured to present, as at least the plan-related information, information on the plurality of candidate routes predicted by the route prediction unit,
a route selection unit (205) for selecting one route from among the plurality of candidate routes predicted by the route prediction unit in accordance with a selection input received from the driver;
The situation prediction unit is a driver state guidance device that predicts a situation along a predicted route, the route selected by the route selection unit from among a plurality of candidate routes predicted by the route prediction unit, as the predicted route. The driver state guidance device according to claim 10 ,
The plan determination unit determines a plurality of candidate plans for one of the predicted routes as a plan for providing a stimulus to the driver,
The presentation control unit presents, as at least the plan-related information, information on the plurality of candidate plans determined by the plan determination unit,
a plan selection unit (208) that selects one plan from the plurality of candidate plans determined by the plan determination unit in accordance with a selection input received from the driver;
The stimulus control unit is a driver state induction device that provides stimuli to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with a plan selected by the plan selection unit from among the multiple candidate plans determined by the plan determination unit. A driver state guidance method usable in a vehicle, comprising:
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying a state of a driver of the vehicle;
A target estimation step of estimating a target state which is a state aimed at by the driver;
a route prediction step of predicting a route of the vehicle;
a situation prediction step of predicting a situation along the predicted route predicted in the route prediction step;
a plan determination step of determining a plan of stimuli to be used for the driver along the predicted route in order to guide the state of the driver to the target state, in accordance with the state of the driver identified in the state identification step, the target state estimated in the target estimation step, and a situation on the predicted route predicted in the situation prediction step;
a stimulus control step of providing a stimulus to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined in the plan determination step ;
In the plan determination process, for a stimulus that is scheduled to have a duration less than a threshold, the stimulus is omitted and replaced with stimuli before and after the stimulus, thereby determining a plan for stimuli to be provided to the driver . A driver state guidance method usable in a vehicle, comprising:
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying a state of a driver of the vehicle;
A target estimation step of estimating a target state which is a state aimed at by the driver;
a route prediction step of predicting a route of the vehicle;
a situation prediction step of predicting a situation along the predicted route predicted in the route prediction step;
a plan determination step of determining a plan of stimuli to be used for the driver along the predicted route in order to guide the state of the driver to the target state, in accordance with the state of the driver identified in the state identification step, the target state estimated in the target estimation step, and a situation on the predicted route predicted in the situation prediction step;
a stimulus control step of providing a stimulus to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined in the plan determination step ;
In the situation prediction step, a situation that changes the state of the driver is also predicted as the situation,
In the plan determination process, if a state of the driver different from the state predicted in the situation prediction process that will change the state of the driver is actually identified in the state identification process in a section, the driver state induction method re-determines the plan of stimuli for the driver so as to use stimuli corresponding to the state of the driver actually identified in the state identification process for that section . A driver state guidance method usable in a vehicle, comprising:
Executed by at least one processor,
A state identification step of identifying a state of a driver of the vehicle;
A target estimation step of estimating a target state which is a state aimed at by the driver;
a route prediction step of predicting a route of the vehicle;
a situation prediction step of predicting a situation along the predicted route predicted in the route prediction step;
a plan determination step of determining a plan of stimuli to be used for the driver along the predicted route in order to guide the state of the driver to the target state, in accordance with the state of the driver identified in the state identification step, the target state estimated in the target estimation step, and a situation on the predicted route predicted in the situation prediction step;
a stimulus control step of providing a stimulus to the driver along the predicted route in accordance with the plan determined in the plan determination step ;
In the state identification step, a state including a specific state that is at least one of a drowsiness, a distracted state, and a stress state is identified as a state of the driver,
In the stimulus control process, a stimulus that is estimated to improve the specific state identified in the state identification process is given to the driver as a stimulus along the predicted route, regardless of the plan determined in the plan determination process, based on the specific state identified in the state identification process .

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