HUMAN-MACHINE INTERFACE (HMI) AUTO-STEER BASED UPON-LIKELIHOOD TO EXCEED EYE GLANCE GUIDELINES

• US 20120299714A1
• Filed: 05/26/2011
• Published: 11/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company), GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Tengler, Steven C., Aryal, Bijaya, Geisler, Scott P., Wuergler, Michael A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,994,522 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/439
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/11 Instrument graphical user interfaces or menu aspects
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/146 Instrument input by gesture
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/148 Instrument input by voice
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/10 Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor

Abstract

The described method and system provide for HMI steering for a telematics-equipped vehicle based on likelihood to exceed eye glance guidelines. By determining whether a task is likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines, alternative HMI processes may be presented to a user to reduce ASGT and EORT and increase compliance with eye glance guidelines. By allowing a user to navigate through long lists of items through vocal input, T9 text input, or heuristic processing rather than through conventional presentation of the full list, a user is much more likely to comply with the eye glance guidelines. This invention is particularly useful in contexts where users may be searching for one item out of a plurality of potential items, for example, within the context of hands-free calling contacts, playing back audio files, or finding points of interest during GPS navigation.

Claims

1. A method for human machine interface (HMI) steering for a telematics-equipped vehicle based on likelihood to exceed eye glance guidelines, the method comprising:

receiving a user input relating to a task;

determining whether the task is likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines; and

if the task is determined as being likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines, steering the user to an alternative HMI screen different from the HMI screen that the user would have been steered to if the task was determined as not being likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user input corresponds to a task involving the presentation of a plurality of items that are part of a list to the user.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the list is one of the group consisting of a list of contacts, a list of audio files, and a list of points of interest.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the task is likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines includes at least one of determining whether the task is likely to cause the user to exceed guidelines for ASGT (average single glance time) and determining whether the task is likely to cause the user to exceed guidelines for EORT (eyes off the road time).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the task is likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines is based on an amount of information that is to be presented to the user.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein if the amount of information that is to be presented to the user exceeds a predetermined threshold, the task is determined to be likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the predetermined threshold is a predetermined number of list items.

8. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

determining whether the vehicle is moving; and

wherein steering the user to the alternative HMI screen if the task was determined as being likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines is performed only when the vehicle is determined to be moving.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative HMI screen presents a request for vocal input from the user.

10. The method of claim 9, the method further comprising:

receiving a vocal input from the user; and

presenting the user with information related to the task based on processing of the vocal input.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative HMI screen presents a request for input from the user utilizing T9 (text on nine keys) text input.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the alternative HMI screen presents options to the user based on heuristic processing.

13. A tangible, non-transient computer-readable medium, part of a telematics unit on a telematics-equipped vehicle, having thereon computer executable instructions for human machine interface (HMI) steering based on likelihood to exceed eye glance guidelines, the computer executable instructions comprising:

instructions for receiving a user input relating to a task;

instructions for determining whether the task is likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines; and

instructions for, if the task is determined as being likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines, presenting an alternative HMI screen different from the HMI screen that would have been presented to the user if the task was determined as not being likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the user input corresponds to a task involving the presentation of a plurality of items that are part of a list to the user.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein determining whether the task is likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines includes at least one of determining whether the task is likely to cause the user to exceed guidelines for ASGT (average single glance time) and determining whether the task is likely to cause the user to exceed guidelines for EORT (eyes off the road time).

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein determining whether the task is likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines is based on whether an amount of information that is to be presented to the user exceeds a predetermined threshold.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the computer executable instructions further comprise:

instructions for determining whether the vehicle is moving; and

instructions for presenting the user to the alternative HMI screen if the task was determined as being likely to cause the user to exceed eye glance guidelines only when the vehicle is determined to be moving.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the alternative HMI screen presents a request for vocal input from the user.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the computer executable instructions further comprise:

instructions for receiving a vocal input from the user; and

instructions for presenting the user with information related to the task based on processing of the vocal input.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the computer executable instructions further comprise at least one of:

instructions for presenting a request for input from the user utilizing T9 (text on nine keys) text input; and

instructions for presenting options to the user based on heuristic processing.