The present invention relates to a message display apparatus, and more particularly to a message display apparatus configured to send a visual message to an operator of a motor vehicle within a predetermined distance, and to further detect the facial and gesture information from the vehicle operator to improve traffic safety while driving.
Improving vehicle safety has long been a subject of public concern. As the number of vehicles has increased, so has the number of accidents. Drivers have long used simple intervehicular communication devices for alerting other drivers of impending action or danger. When used properly, such devices as turn signal lights, brake lights and horns provide convenient, low complexity message transmitters that help to maintain highway safety. These devices have failed, however, to avert the causes and problems associated with some drivers' erratic and sometimes irrational reactions to others' driving practices or discourtesy. This problem, commonly termed “road rage,” has become a growing concern as highways have become more and more crowded. The term “road rage” as used herein refers to the negative psychological reactions exhibited by drivers in a variety of driving circumstances. Particularly prevalent among these reactions are feelings of frustration, anger and helplessness.
The negative reactions associated with road rage can be combated by providing a way for the affected driver to exercise additional control over the driving environment. One way to provide additional control is to enhance the driver's ability to communicate with other drivers. In general, enhanced communication improves an individual's psychological state while driving. The ability to transmit such simple messages as “Please,” “Thank you,” and “I'm sorry” can boost the individual's sense of self-efficacy, personal control, optimism, and belonging.
Therefore, there remains a need for an apparatus to convey simple but psychologically beneficial messages from one vehicle to another, which would provide an overall improvement in road safety by reducing road rage through enhanced communication without significant distraction of either the sending or receiving drivers.
In one aspect, a display apparatus configured to receive a command, and convert the command to displayable information to an outside pedestrian or drivers in other vehicles may include a main body that includes a securing portion to secure the display apparatus to a vehicle; a communication unit to receive the command; a processor to convert the command to displayable information; a display portion having a displaying layer to display information; and a power managing unit to store and provide electrical energy for the display apparatus.
In one embodiment, power managing unit may include a power generating unit to be positioned to overlap with the displaying layer.
The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description of the presently exemplary device provided in accordance with aspects of the present invention and is not intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention may be prepared or utilized. It is to be understood, rather, that the same or equivalent functions and components may be accomplished by different embodiments that are also intended to be encompassed within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods, devices and materials similar or equivalent to those described can be used in the practice or testing of the invention, the exemplary methods, devices and materials are now described.
All publications mentioned are incorporated by reference for the purpose of describing and disclosing, for example, the designs and methodologies that are described in the publications that might be used in connection with the presently described invention. The publications listed or discussed above, below and throughout the text are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the present application. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the inventors are not entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of prior invention.
As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a”, “an”, and “the” includes reference to the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the terms “comprise or comprising”, “include or including”, “have or having”, “contain or containing” and the like are to be understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limited to. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the embodiments. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Referring to
In one aspect, referring to
In one embodiment, the securing portion 20 has a securing unit 21 that can be a circular suction disc, which can be attached to a front surface of the display portion 30 so the message display apparatus 1 can be folded as a ball-shaped unit as shown in
The message display apparatus 1 further includes a power managing unit 50 having a power generating unit 52. The message to display to the vehicle behind can be transmitted through the power generating unit 52. In other words, the power generating unit 52 has a certain extent of transparency for light transmission, and the user can adjust the angle between the securing unit 21 and the display portion 30 according to the user's preference to display messages.
The control circuit board 40 is made of a “System on Chip” which includes a processor and a communication unit. The communication unit is configured to receive a command from the user inside the vehicle and transmit the command to the processor to generate a message displayed on the display portion 30. The message can be an expression (Emoji) 60, an animation or text.
It is noted that the securing portion 20 has the inner connecting unit 17 and the securing unit 21 that is substantially circular, and the securing unit 21 can be secured on the top cover 11 through the inner connecting unit 17. When the message display apparatus 1 is folded, the securing unit 21 attaches to the display portion 30, and the center of the securing unit 21 substantially overlapped with the center of the power generating unit 52.
Referring to
Still referring to
In a further embodiment, the power generating unit 52 is a thin-film solar panel with a certain degree of light transmittance so that the information shown by the LED matrix 32 can be transmitted through the power generating unit 52. The light transmittance rate is about 34% and to further improve the transmittance, the power generating unit 52 has a light transmitting portion 53 and the light emitted by the LED matrix 32 can completely pass through the light transmitting portion 53. As shown in
It is worth mentioning that the light transmitting portion 53 can also match the number of the through holes 34 on the LED matrix. In addition, if the LED matrix 32 is replaced by LCD or OLED display unit, the power generating unit 52 in the present invention can also be attached to the display portion thereof. Also, the area of the light transmitting portion 53 is inversely proportional to the lightness of the display portion. Namely, the lighter the display portion, the smaller the area of the light transmitting portion 53. It is noted that the light transmitting portion 53 is not a necessary portion since the power generating unit 52 has a certain extent of light transmittance as discussed above.
In a further embodiment, the message display apparatus 1 may further include a light detecting unit to detect the light intensity of the environment. The light detecting signal can be transmitted to the processor to control the lightness of the display portion 30. For example, when the light detecting unit detects a high light intensity from the vehicle behind, it can send a signal to the processor to simultaneously increase the light intensity of the display portion so that the driver in the vehicle behind can still see the information displayed on the apparatus 1.
A block diagram of the present invention is shown in
In a further embodiment, the apparatus 1 can connect to the internet to conduct “Firmware Over-the-Air” (or FOTA) and through the internet connection, the apparatus can download more facial expression or animations, which can be stored in a memory device 41, such as an SD card.
In another embodiment, the driver can use a remote controller to control the message display apparatus 1. In still another embodiment, a control unit can be installed on or near the dashboard to wirelessly communicate with the message display apparatus 1 through wireless communication protocols, such as WIFI, Bluetooth, etc. The control unit may include some pre-set buttons for some commonly used terms such as “thank you,” “sorry,” “traffic ahead” . . . etc., so the driver can simply press the pre-set buttons to display certain terms to the vehicles behind.
In another aspect, the message display apparatus 1 may have a sensor to detect motor vehicles and/or other transportation means nearby. In one embodiment, the sensor can be a radar. In another embodiment, the sensor can be a sonar that can be used to detect the distance between the vehicle with other vehicles, as well as the velocity, acceleration, or direction of other vehicles.
In still another aspect, the message display apparatus 1 may be configured to conduct facial and/or gesture recognition. For example, the apparatus 1 can be used to recognize the facial/gesture of the driver behind the vehicle to further understand the mood and even the body condition of the driver behind the vehicle. Such information can be provided to the driver in the vehicle to make appropriate decision regarding safety whether to drive further away from the vehicle behind or even report to the police if the other driver's body condition is not proper to operate the vehicle. In one embodiment, the facial/gesture recognition can be done by video cameras. In another embodiment, it can be done through Infrared, X-ray devices or the like.
In a further aspect, the apparatus 1 can be used to communicate with a mobile device through an application software (“APP”). The driver in the vehicle can communicate with other drivers about the traffic, mood, etc. with other drivers. If the traffic is bad near vehicle, the driver can remind others drivers not to enter this specific area. The apparatus 1 can also obtain the data including traffic, driver's mood, body condition, etc. from the mobile device and further use such data to develop a solution to the driver through machine learning or deep learning techniques. It is noted that the data transmission can be two ways, namely the apparatus 1 can also transmit data to the mobile device that may be connected to home devices. In other words, it can be an ecosystem, which may include a mobile phone, AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology (algorithm, machine learning, deep learning) and/or IoT (Internet of Thing) techniques, the App on the mobile phone, a cloud and the message display apparatus 1.
More specifically, as shown in
In one embodiment, an IoT box can be used when the user with the mobile device is away from the vehicle. The IoT box may have the capability for 4G/5G connection along with Bluetooth or other communication protocol to communicate with the apparatus 1. The apparatus 1 can also be used to recognize nearby vehicles through cameras or Li-DAR through the vehicle's brand, model, license plate number, etc. along with GPS to obtain the vehicle's position. It is important to note that the Emoji shown on the display portion can be projected to the windshield or to the rear mirrors.
Having described the invention by the description and illustrations above, it should be understood that these are exemplary of the invention and are not to be considered as limiting. Accordingly, the invention is not to be considered as limited by the foregoing description, but includes any equivalent.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2018/049299 | 9/3/2018 | WO |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2019/083613 | 5/2/2019 | WO | A |
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