Patent Application
20110209079
Interest in providing rich user experiences in operating a vehicle has grown in parallel with the proliferation and advancement in graphical displays. In this regard, in-vehicle graphical displays, such as graphical instrument panels, installed in interior surfaces of a vehicle convey information to a vehicle operator.
With the continued development of sophisticated vehicle systems, increasing amounts of information about vehicle conditions should be accessible to a vehicle operator. Depending on the driving conditions, some instruments of the graphical instrument panel are more important than others. However, typically, the graphical instrument panel can not be dynamically configured to display some instruments prominently over other instruments. Moreover, the conventional graphical instrument panel is not equipped with functional structures that allow a vehicle operator to conveniently configure the graphical instrument panel in response to the changes that a vehicle operator encounters while operating the vehicle.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
Aspects of the disclosed subject matter are directed to a graphical display that allows a user to customize the location, appearance, and arrangement of virtual gauges on an instrument panel. In accordance with an aspect of an embodiment, a computer implemented method is provided for customizing a priority of a graphical element that conveys vehicle readings in a display panel. The computer implemented method comprises receiving input from a user that changes a priority level associated with a first graphical element and obtaining a desired location of the first graphical element from the input from the user. If the desired location of the first graphical element generally corresponds to the location of a second graphical element, the first and second graphical elements are assigned different priority levels, which results in a hierarchical structure of the first and second graphical elements. The attributes of the first and second graphical elements are updated in accordance with the priority level assigned to each element. The display panel is rendered to reflect the changed attributes of the graphical elements in that a graphical element with a higher priority level appears more prominently than a graphical element with a lower priority level.
In accordance with another aspect of an embodiment, a display panel in that arrangement of graphical elements that conveys vehicle readings is provided for user configuration. The display panel is operative to detect a triggering event to change a priority of at least one graphical element and to determine if the triggering event is caused by an abnormal condition or by a user. If the triggering event is caused by the user, a first graphical element selected by the user inputs is assigned a first priority level. The display panel is further operative to obtain a desired location of the first graphical element from the user's input. In response to obtaining the desired location, a second graphical element of which priority is affected by the user input is identified and assigned a second priority level that has lower priority than the first priority level. The attributes of the first and second graphical elements are updated in accordance with the priority level assigned to each element and the desired location. If the triggering event is cause by the abnormal condition, a graphical element associated with the abnormal condition is assigned an emergency priority level that is the highest priority level among the priority levels assigned to the graphical elements displayed on the display. The display panel is further operative to obtain a location of the graphical element to be displayed on the display. The attributes of the graphical element associated with the abnormal condition are updated in accordance with the priority emergency level and the obtained location. The display panel is operative to render the graphical elements on the display panel to reflect the changes in the attributes of the graphical elements.
In accordance with yet another aspect of an embodiment, a graphical display having modules for changing a priority of a graphical element in the graphical display is provided where the graphical element is initially assigned a default priority level. The graphical display comprises a user interface module and a priority configuration module. The user module is configured to obtain input and render graphical elements on the graphical display. The priority configuration module is operative to allow a user to select a graphical element to assign a desired priority level that is higher than the default priority level, to reassign the selected graphical element with the desired priority level, and to obtain from the user a desired location for the graphical element in the graphical display. The priority configuration module is further operative to change attributes of the selected graphical element in accordance with the priority level assigned to the selected graphical element; and to cause the user interface module to render the selected graphical element on the graphical display in accordance with the changed attributes and the desired location. In an aspect, upon detection of an abnormal condition of a vehicle, the priority configuration module reassigns an emergency priority level to a graphical element associated with an abnormal condition, and the priority configuration module causes the graphical element associated with an abnormal condition to be rendered such that the user is alerted about the abnormal condition.
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings where like numerals reference like elements is intended as a description of various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter and is not intended to represent the only embodiments. Each embodiment described in this disclosure is provided merely as an example or illustration and should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The illustrative examples provided herein are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Similarly, any steps described herein may be interchangeable with other steps, or combinations of steps, in order to achieve the same or substantially similar result.
Prior to discussing the details of the graphical display with hierarchical instrument placement, it should be understood that several sections of the following descriptions are presented largely in terms of logic and operations that may be performed by conventional components. These components, which may be grouped in a single location or distributed over a wide area, generally include processors, memory, storage devices, display panels, input devices, etc. In circumstances where the components are distributed, the components are accessible to each other via communication links. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a description of the graphical display with hierarchical gauge placement. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that the disclosed subject matter may be practiced without some or all of the specific details.
As further illustrated in
In the illustrative embodiment depicted in
In this regard and by way of example only, the information generating components 110 may report information about a number of vehicle systems, including but not limited to vehicle and engine speed, fluid levels, tire pressure monitoring, battery level, fluid level systems, transmission and engine temperatures, collision detection systems, hybrid drives, heating/cooling systems, among others. The graphical display 108 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a light emitting polymer display (LPD) that may include a “touch screen” or sensitive layer configured to recognize direct input applied to the surface of the graphical display 108. For example, the position of the direct input, the pressure of the direct input, or general direction of the direct input may be recognized in order to obtain input from a vehicle operator. In other embodiments, the truck 100 includes conventional operator control inputs (not illustrated), for obtaining input from a vehicle operation that may include, but are not limited to, buttons, switches, knobs, etc.
In the illustrative embodiment depicted in
As further illustrated in
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and others,
Now, with reference to
In the exemplary embodiment depicted in
In the exemplary embodiment depicted in
The priority levels assigned to those gauges in the hierarchical structure can be dynamically changed by a user or by an adverse vehicle condition. For example, when the user or vehicle operator wishes the reading of the coolant level gauge 212 to appear more prominently than the secondary air pressure gauge 214, the user selects the coolant level gauge 212 using a stylus or a finger. Subsequently, the priorities for these gauges 212 and 214 change so that the coolant level gauge 212 is displayed more prominently than the secondary air pressure gauge 214, readily accessible by the user while operating a vehicle, as depicted in
In addition, when an adverse vehicle condition is identified, for example, when the coolant level suddenly drops, the gauge associated with the condition (coolant gauge) is assigned a high priority level. If the gauge associated with an adverse vehicle condition is not currently shown to the user, the change in priority will result in the gauge associated with the adverse vehicle condition being displayed. In an aspect, such dynamic priority reassignment can provide an alert to the vehicle operator so that the vehicle operator can deal with the current adverse condition in a timely manner.
In some instances, it is desirable if all or most of the graphical elements are simultaneously presented to the user, thereby eliminating a need to navigate several menus to access some gauges. When the numbers of the gauges increase, the graphical elements representing the gauges cannot all be displayed at the same time within the limited display area. In such a case, a user can assign priorities to graphical elements in order to arrange the graphical elements in a hierarchical structure. By way of example only, a hierarchical structure may have two layers to provide a user or a vehicle operator with simple mechanics to manipulate graphical elements. In this example, the top layer in the hierarchical structure has a high priority level which includes a group of graphical elements for which the vehicle operator wants the readings to be convenient while operating the vehicle. A drag and drop technique may be used to assign a high priority level to the graphical elements. In general, upon being selected by a stylus or a finger, the graphical element is assigned a high priority level. The bottom layer in the hierarchical structure has a low priority level. The graphical elements included in the bottom layer will be assigned a low priority level. As will be appreciated, when only one graphical element is displayed and thus no graphical elements are layered, no hierarchical structure is needed. In that case, the graphical element is assigned a default priority level. With reference to
In an alternative embodiment, a hierarchical structure with three or more layers (not shown) may be constructed with different visual attributes. For example, when displayed, three or four gauges can be layered in order of priority levels assigned to the gauges. In this example, the first layer includes elements with the highest priority level that need to be displayed more prominently than other layers. The second layer includes elements with the next highest priority level that can be displayed less prominently than the first layer, but are still quite visible. The third layer includes elements with the next highest priority level that can be displayed much less prominently, but visible enough so that the user can select them to change their priority levels, and so on with the remain levels.
Although it is not shown, there are graphical elements (off-screen elements) that are available for display but not currently displayed on the screen. Upon the user's indication to add new graphical elements, those graphical elements may be displayed in a menu space of the graphical display or in a populated additional screen from which the user can drag and drop any off-screen elements to the graphical display. Now with reference back to
In addition or alternatively, a vehicle operator may configure the degree of prominence of each layer when setting up an initial system, i.e., at the time of start-up of the vehicle engine. The degree of prominence can be configured by a level of LCD brightness, thickness or shape of lines that form a graphical element, color of the graphical elements, or the like. By way of example only, a degree of a color contrast may be used to configure the degree of prominence of layers. If the background is “black”, “white” may be more prominent than “light gray,” which is in turn more prominent than “dark gray”. As such, white is used to display the graphical elements included in the first layer, light gray used to display the graphical elements included in the second, the dark gray to display the third, and so on. In another example, a solid line may be more prominent than a dotted line and a thicker line may be more prominent, and so on.
In some embodiments, a graphical element that conveys information about an abnormal vehicle condition may be temporally assigned an emergency priority so that the graphical element is displayed in such a way as to attract the attention of the vehicle operator. Once the abnormal vehicle condition is resolved, the graphical element will revert to the previously assigned priority, and thus disappear from the display if the graphical element was an off-screen element. In one embodiment, the vehicle operator may be prompted to confirm whether or not to remove the graphical elements from the display. In one embodiment, an emergency layer may trump all other layers having various levels of priority. The graphical element associated with the abnormal vehicle condition may be displayed with increased size, in a color indicative of an abnormal or warning condition (e.g., yellow, red, etc.) and/or flashing in one or more colors, etc.
While specific configurations of the graphical display 108 have been described above with reference to
Now with reference to
As illustrated in
The display method 300 renders a set of default graphical elements on the graphical display 108, at block 302. The graphical elements that are rendered may be defined in default settings and be similar to the graphical elements depicted in
As further illustrated in
However, other types of triggering events may change the arrangement and priorities of the graphical elements. For example, a triggering event is also generated when an abnormal vehicle condition is detected so that a corresponding graphical element may be displayed most prominently.
At decision block 306, a test is performed to determine whether the triggering event, detected at block 304, relates to an abnormal vehicle condition. To determine whether an abnormal vehicle condition exists, data collected by the electronic control unit 106 may be compared to a set of data that define normal operating parameters. For example, a vehicle manufacturer may establish normal operating parameters for various components and systems. These parameters may be compared to actual readings being reported by the information generating components 110. In instances when an actual reading is outside a normal range, the result of the test performed at block 306 is “Yes.” In this instance, when an abnormal vehicle condition is the triggering event, the display method 300 proceeds to block 316, described in further detail below. In contrast, if the triggering event relates to the user configuration then the result of the test performed at block 310 is “No.” In this instance, the display method 300 proceeds to block 310.
At block 310, a graphical element selected by the user is assigned a highest priority level. At block 312, the desired location to place the selected graphical element is obtained. Generally, the user's interaction with the GUI provides such information. For example, when using the Drag and Drop technique, the location where the user drops the graphical element is provided. If the user simply selects the graphical element, the current location of the element will be obtained. At block 314, the routine identifies other graphical elements of which priority may change due to the movement of the selected graphical element and reassigns the identified graphical elements the appropriate priority levels. In that regard, if the movement results in a hierarchical structure of gauges to be displayed, the identified gauges are reassigned different priority levels which are lower than the priority level assigned to the selected graphical element.
At block 316, attributes of the graphical elements are changed in accordance with the newly assigned priorities. At block 318, the updated display is rendered to reflect the changes made to the graphical elements.
As mentioned above, when the result of the test performed at block 306 is “Yes,” the routine proceeds to block 308 where a graphical element associated with the abnormal vehicle condition is assigned an emergency priority level. In addition or alternatively, several emergency priority levels can be assigned, depending on which vehicle component or system experiences the abnormal vehicle condition. The emergency priority level assigned may depend on the extent in which a reading diverges from normal parameters. For example, the detection of a transmission temperature that diverges substantially from a normal reading may be assigned an emergency priority level that is indicative of a critical condition. A tire pressure reading that diverges from normal parameters with a small scale may be assigned an emergency priority level that is lower than a high transmission temperature. Moreover, a manufacturer, vehicle operator, and/or user may define which emergency priority levels will be assigned to various abnormal vehicle conditions. In any event, upon detection of an abnormal vehicle condition, a graphical element associated with the abnormal condition is assigned an emergency priority level at block 308. As discussed above, the emergency level generally trumps any priority levels assigned to other graphical elements on the display.
At block 316, the attributes of the graphical element are updated in accordance with the emergency priority. The graphical element has attributes for conveying information about an abnormal vehicle condition. In the example described above with reference to
It should be well understood that the routine 300 described above with reference to
While illustrative embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosed subject matter.
