Shigeru Okabayashi

Applications of driver's line of sight to automobiles-what can driver's eye tell

We will first introduce the technical trend of recording line of sight from a distant point without any contact to the subject. In addition, automotive application concepts using a drivers line of sight in a human-machine interface (HMI) will be proposed. With the progress of technology in optics and image processing, it is becoming possible to record a drivers line of sight from a distant point without any contact. The movement of a drivers line of sight while driving may have the potential to indicate a drivers intention and his/her physical or mental conditions. Therefore, it is possible to apply a drivers line of sight to the HMI systems such as the switching system using the drivers fixation, the controller of the automotive equipment using the movement of the drivers line of sight, or the sensor which detects the drivers physical or mental conditions, which are closely related to the occurrence of traffic accidents. These systems using the movement of a drivers line of sight may have potential to make automobiles safer and more convenient.<<ETX>>

A COLLISION-AVOIDANCE WARNING SYSTEM USING LASER RADAR

This paper describes a collision avoidance warning system. The system uses a laser radar sensor to detect distance and a microcomputer to both assess the risk of a rear-end collision and provide warnings in dangerous situations. The system also has an unnecessary warning suppression feature. A test of the system also showed a low false alarm rate.

Application of head-up displays for in-vehicle navigation/route guidance

The paper first discusses using HUDs for in-vehicle navigation/route guidance systems based on the results of preliminary experiments. It then discusses how and what kinds of information should be displayed by HUDs to assure ease of recognition by the driver. Finally, based on these considerations, a HUD system is proposed as a visual interface for future in-vehicle navigation/route guidance systems.<<ETX>>

How Head-Up Display Affects Recognition Of Objects In Foreground In Automobile Use

In applying a head-up display (HUD), originally developed for aircraft use, to automobiles, it is very important to analyze how it affects the drivers ability to recognize foreground objects and what kinds of advantages can be derived from its application. This paper describes the effects of reducing line of vision movement and recurring eye accommodation, as well as interference between complex HUD display patterns and foreground objects and the requirements for preventing such interference. Experiments were carried out under conditions determined in preliminary investigations using real vehicles in city driving situations. The results suggested that, so long as the brightness of the displayed objects is set properly, a HUD can be an effective automotive display system providing good recognizability of both displayed information and foreground objects.

Driver's Perception of Images in Automotive Multicolor Display System

LCDs and/or CRTs have widely been used as display devices in the information terminals, ie. GPS navigation systems, installed in automobiles built in 1990s-2000s. However, no method of determining the luminance of color images necessarily meets the visual environment in the automobiles. In order to solve this visual environmental issue, we examined the short-time legibility of the displayed images under comparative low contrast environment, which were mostly important to evaluate the performance of automotive display systems. The experimental results suggested that luminance data, derived from relative visual sensitivity to the multicolor images, were insufficient to realize satisfactory legibility, and that the spatial frequency response and difference threshold of luminance intensity for each color image on a display device were important factors to obtain good performance, rather than the relative visual sensitivity to the multicolor images