SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISTRACTION MITIGATION

• US 20150256669A1
• Filed: 03/07/2014
• Published: 09/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Original Assignee: 2236008 Ontario Inc. (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: James, Alexandre, Rigley, Mark John, Vincent, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 9,674,337 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6075 adapted for handsfree use in a vehicle H04M1/6058 takes precedence; arrangements for holding telephones in a vehicle B60R11/0241
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionality of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724631 by limiting the access to the user interface, e.g. locking a touch-screen or a keypad
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/42 for mass transport vehicles, e.g. buses, trains or aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/04 based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed

Abstract

A system and method for distraction mitigation wherein a location of a mobile device within one of one or more zones in a vehicle may be determined and the behavior of the mobile device and/or in-vehicle systems, with which the mobile device interacts, may be modified based on the determined location. In one example, the location of a smartphone may be determined to be within the area (a.k.a. zone) of an automobile cabin associated with a driver of the automobile and the smartphone user interface may be locked to prevent direct operation of the smartphone by the driver while still allowing indirect operation via, for example, a Bluetooth connection to an automobile infotainment system.

Claims

1. A method for distraction mitigation comprising:

receiving one or more signals containing location information;

determining a location of a mobile device with in a vehicle;

receiving a signal containing zone information defining one or more zones in the vehicle;

determining if the mobile device is located within any of the one or more zones; and

modifying the behavior of the mobile device responsive to an occupied zone, of the one or more zones, that the mobile device is determined to be in.

2. The method for distraction mitigation of claim 1, where the location information and the zone information may be contained in a common signal.

3. The method for distraction mitigation of claim 1, further comprising transmitting an identifier of the occupied zone and mobile device identification information to an in-vehicle system.

4. The method for distraction mitigation of claim 1, where the behavior of the mobile device is modified to mitigate distraction of an operator of the vehicle.

5. The method for distraction mitigation of claim 1, where modifying the behavior of the mobile device includes any of:

disabling one or more applications, disabling one or more features within any of one or more applications, blocking one or more functions of the mobile device, locking the mobile device, disabling one or more modes of the mobile device user interface, and displaying a warning message.

6. The method for distraction mitigation of claim 1, where the zone information includes one or more of:

a zone identifier, a zone boundary definition, a zone type, and zone restrictions

7. The method for distraction mitigation of claim 6, where the zone type includes any of:

a class having pre-defined privileges or restrictions, and a role having associated privileges or restrictions.

8. A system for distraction mitigation comprising:

a first receiver to receive one or more signals containing location information;

a second receiver to receive a signal containing zone information defining one or more zones in a vehicle;

a location unit to determine a location of the mobile device with in the vehicle responsive to the received location information;

a zone determining unit to determine if the mobile device is located within any of the one or more zones responsive to the received zone information and the determined location of the mobile device; and

a distraction controller to modify the behavior of the mobile device.

9. The system for distraction mitigation of claim 8, further comprising a transmitter to transmit an identifier of an occupied zone, that the mobile device is determined to be located in, to an in-vehicle system.

10. The system for distraction mitigation of claim 8, where the first and second receivers are adapted to receive any of:

an audio signal, a radio frequency signal and an ultrasonic signal.

11. The system for distraction mitigation of claim 8, where the location unit determines the location of the mobile device using any of:

triangulation, trilateration, ranging and multilateration.

12. The system for distraction mitigation of claim 8, where the behavior of the mobile device is modified to mitigate distraction of an operator of the vehicle.

13. The system for distraction mitigation of claim 8, where modifying the behavior of the mobile device includes any of:

disabling one or more applications, disabling one or more features within any of one or more applications, blocking one or more functions of the mobile device, locking the mobile device, disabling one or more modes of the mobile device user interface, and displaying a warning message.

14. A method for distraction mitigation comprising:

emitting one or more signals containing location information receivable by a mobile device;

emitting a signal containing zone information defining one or more zones in a vehicle receivable by the mobile device;

receiving from the mobile device an identifier of an occupied zone, of the one or more zones, that the mobile device is located within; and

modifying the behavior of one or more in-vehicle systems responsive to the occupied zone.

15. The method for distraction mitigation of claim 14, where the location information and the zone information may be contained in a common signal.

16. The method for distraction mitigation of claim 14, where the identifier of the occupied zone is a location of the mobile device from which the occupied zone can be determined.

17. The method for distraction mitigation of claim 14, where the behavior of the in-vehicle system is modified to mitigate distraction of an operator of the vehicle.

18. The method for distraction mitigation of claim 14, where modifying the behavior of the in-vehicle system includes any of:

disabling one or more applications, disabling one or more features within any of one or more applications, blocking one or more functions of the in-vehicle system, locking the in-vehicle system, disabling one or more modes of the in-vehicle system user interface, displaying a warning message, modifying interactions with the mobile device and configuring the in-vehicle system in accordance with user preferences associated with the mobile device.

19. The method for distraction mitigation of claim 14, where the zone information includes one or more of:

a zone identifier, a zone boundary definition, a zone type, and zone restrictions

20. The method for distraction mitigation of claim 19, where the zone type includes any of:

a class having pre-defined privileges or restrictions, and a role having associated privileges or restrictions.

21. A system for distraction mitigation comprising:

a location information source to provide location information from which a location in a vehicle can be determined;

a zone information source to provide zone information defining one or more zones in the vehicle;

a plurality of first emitters to emit one or more signals containing the location information;

a second emitter to emit a signal containing the zone information;

a receiver to receive an identifier of an occupied zone, of the one or more zones, for a mobile device within the vehicle determined from the emitted location information and emitted zone information; and

a distraction controller to modify the behavior of one or more in-vehicle systems responsive to the occupied zone.

22. The system for distraction mitigation of claim 21, where the second emitter comprises one or more of the plurality of first emitters.

23. The system for distraction mitigation of claim 21, where the behavior of the one or more in-vehicle systems is modified to mitigate distraction of an operator of the vehicle.

24. The system for distraction mitigation of claim 21, where modifying the behavior of the one or more in-vehicle systems includes any of:

disabling one or more applications, disabling one or more features within any of one or more applications, blocking one or more functions of the in-vehicle system, locking the in-vehicle system, disabling one or more modes of the in-vehicle system user interface, displaying a warning message, modifying interactions with the mobile device and configuring the in-vehicle system in accordance with user preferences associated with the mobile device.