Patent Application
20130342427
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a monitoring system, and particularly to a monitoring system displaying information as to objectives such as traffic obstacles through a transparent display.
2. Description of Related Art
Traffic accidents are often caused by inattention of the driver of a vehicle. Especially for an emergency service vehicle such as fire fighting truck, ambulance, or police patrol car, traffic accidents are liable to happen when the emergency service vehicle is moving at a high speed when going to the location of the emergency. Although alarms such as sirens can be used, it is still difficult for pedestrians or the driver of other vehicles near to the emergency service vehicle to take evasive action instantly. In addition, traffic accidents are also liable to happen in the dark because vision is then reduced.
Thus, there is room for improvement in the art.
Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood with reference to the drawings. The components in the drawing(s) are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawing(s), like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
The camera unit 20 automatically produces scene images Gs (not shown) of the scene which can be viewed through the transparent display 11 from the interior of the vehicle 1000. In the illustrated embodiment, the camera unit 20 is disposed at a position corresponding to, for example, the driving seat of the vehicle 1000. In addition, the camera unit 20 includes camera(s) producing the scene images Gs such as still photographs or videos, wherein the camera unit 20 has night-vision functionality such that the scene images Gs can be produced in darkness and in a lighted environment. In other embodiments, the camera unit 20 can be disposed at other positions wherever the user 2000 (see
The storage unit 30 is a device such as a high speed random access memory, a non-volatile memory, or a hard disk drive for storing and retrieving digital information, which stores sample objective data Ds (not shown) including sample objective figures and objective conditions. Herein, “objective” when used as a noun describes an object or a movement or a state (objective conditions) on or of the road which is significant to a driver, “objective data Do” may mean statements or warnings relevant to each objective, “sample objective data Ds” is the generic name of a pre-recorded collection of all such data. These definitions may be specifically extended hereafter. In the illustrated embodiment, the sample objective figures are figures of possible traffic obstacles such as vehicles, humans, animals, huge objects, suspicious objects, or potholes in the road. The objective conditions are the statuses of the possible traffic obstacles which may cause problems to the vehicle 1000. The possible traffic obstacle can correspond to one or more objective conditions when, for instance, the possible traffic obstacle is located in the middle of a road while the vehicle 1000 is approaching, or the possible traffic obstacle is itself approaching the vehicle 1000 at high speed. In other embodiments, the sample objective figures can be figures of other types of possible objectives, for example, particular and favorite objects of the user 2000.
The control unit 40 receives the scene images Gs, and determines objective(s) 3000 (see
In the illustrated embodiment, the objective data Do includes objective information data Di (not shown) and objective position data Dp (not shown). The control unit 40 produces the objective information data Di including information concerning the objective 3000 such as the name, the type, and/or the description of the objective 3000 according to, for example, the sample objective figure and the objective condition in the sample objective data Ds which correspond to the objective 3000. For instance, when the control unit 40 determines the objective 3000 to be a possible traffic obstacle in the middle of a road according to the sample objective figure and the objective condition corresponding to the objective 3000, the objective information data Di can include the description about the possible traffic obstacle. The pre-stored information concerning the objective(s) 3000 can be in the storage unit 30, or be pre-stored in, and received from, a server connected to the monitoring system through a long distance wireless network, wherein the information can be, for example, an augmented reality information received from the server which is an augmented reality server.
In other embodiments, the particular position P can be manually configured, or automatically detected by, for instance, using a detection device to detect the position of the user 2000. In this case, the control unit 40 can compensate for a difference between the relative location between the user 2000 and the objective 3000 as well as the relative location between the camera unit 20 and the objective 3000 which has been determined by a relative location compensation unit. In addition, the control unit 40 can produce the objective position data Dp corresponding to the virtual image 111 as viewed from a particular position of other types of devices, for example, helmets or eyeglasses.
The display device 10 receives the objective data Do from the control unit 40. Objective information 112 (see
In addition to the camera unit 20, other types of sensors can be used to produce environmental data concerning the scene, such that the control unit 40 can identify the objective 3000 to the driver according to the data from the other sensors and the scene images Gs produced by the camera unit 20. For instance, microphones can be used to produce environmental voice data, such that the control unit 40 can identify and describe the objective 3000 audibly as well as by the scene images Gs. In addition to the display device 10 which displays the objective information 112, other types of device can be used to provide objective information. For instance, a loudspeaker can be used to receive the objective data Do from the control unit 40 and produce audible warning(s) according to the objective data Do, thereby warning the user 2000 of the appearance of the objective 3000.
In step S1110, the scene images Gs of the scene outside the vehicle 1000 are produced. The objective 3000 is tracked when the objective 3000 moves. In the illustrated embodiment, camera(s) with night-vision functionality are used to produce the scene images Gs.
In step S1120, the objective 3000 is determined according to the scene images Gs. The objective 3000 can be determined according to the scene images Gs by, for instance, using the sample objective data Ds including the sample objective figures and the objective conditions to analyze the scene images Gs. In the illustrated embodiment, the objective 3000 is determined by comparing the scene images Gs with the sample objective figures to recognize possible traffic obstacles, and the condition of the possible traffic obstacles with the objective conditions is compared.
In step S1130, the objective data Do corresponding to the objective 3000 is produced. The objective data Do is produced to correspond to the movement of the objective 3000 when the objective 3000 moves. In the illustrated embodiment, the objective data Do includes the objective information data Di and the objective position data Dp. The objective information data Di includes the information concerning the objective 3000. The objective position data Dp corresponds to the virtual image 111 of the objective 3000 projected on the transparent display 11, wherein the virtual image 111 is viewed from a particular position P.
In step S1140, the objective data Do is transmitted to the display device 10 with the transparent display 11 disposed in or on the vehicle 1000, thereby enabling the transparent display 11 to display the objective information 112 according to the objective data Do, wherein the objective information 112 indicates the virtual image 111 of the objective 3000 projected on the transparent display 11 by, for instance, accompanying, labeling, or pointing to the virtual image 111. In the illustrated embodiment, the transparent display 11 displays the objective information 112 according to the objective information data Di in the objective data Do, while the objective information 112 is displayed at position(s) of the transparent display 11 which correspond to the objective position data Dp in the objective data Do to accompany the virtual image 111.
The monitoring system is capable of displaying information as to objectives such as traffic obstacles through a transparent display which can be disposed on a windshield window of a vehicle or in a portable device, thereby automatically informing a user about the appearance of the objectives. Camera(s) with night-vision functionality can be used to produce images of the objectives, thereby recognizing the objectives both in darkness and in a lighted environment.
While the disclosure has been described by way of example and in terms of preferred embodiment, the disclosure is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements as would be apparent to those skilled in the art. Therefore the range of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
