En-route navigation display method and apparatus using head-up display
First Claim
1. Head-up apparatus for a vehicle for which a navigational path from a current location of the vehicle to a desired destination location of the vehicle has been computed, the head-up apparatus comprisingat least one computer, andat least one virtual cable display device controllable by the at least one computer,the at least one virtual cable display device and the at least one computer being configured in such a way that when the at least one virtual cable display device is controlled by the at least one computer, there is displayed to an observer within the vehicle, volumetrically and with continuous depth, a virtual optical image thata) appears to the observer to be a three-dimensional cable that is higher than the head of the observer and appears to be extending away from the observer in three dimensions above at least one roadway along the computed navigational path,b) is displayed to the observer with an optic flow that is consistent with the optic flow of the landscape when the vehicle is moving, thereby causing the cable to appear to remain in a substantially stationary position above both straight and curved sections of the roadway even when the vehicle is moving along those straight and curved sections of the roadway,c) is displayed with at least the depth cue of stereoscopic disparity and the depth cue of motion parallax induced by head movements of the observer, andd) is displayed in such a way that in response to the vehicle being driven along roadways above which the cable appears to extend, the vehicle is caused to arrive at the destination location.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In an en-route navigation system such as for a vehicle, an image of a cable is presented as a navigation object in a head-up display to indicate a route that the vehicle should follow. In particular embodiments the cable appears to an observer to be a real cable existing in the landscape and extending higher than the head of the observer as would, for example, a trolley cable. The cable is illustratively displayed volumetrically and with an optic flow that is consistent with the optic flow of the landscape when the vehicle is moving, thereby creating the impression that it is real. As a result, the cable can be displayed without any accompanying images that correlate points on the cable with locations in the landscape and yet nonetheless serve as a very useful tool for indicating to a driver the route over which the vehicle should go. The cable may be in any of a number of forms including a continuous line, a line with non-closely-spaced gaps, a line having non-closely-spaced segments that have a different luminance from the rest of the line or a string of closely-spaced objects.
97 Citations
19 Claims
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1. Head-up apparatus for a vehicle for which a navigational path from a current location of the vehicle to a desired destination location of the vehicle has been computed, the head-up apparatus comprising
at least one computer, and at least one virtual cable display device controllable by the at least one computer, the at least one virtual cable display device and the at least one computer being configured in such a way that when the at least one virtual cable display device is controlled by the at least one computer, there is displayed to an observer within the vehicle, volumetrically and with continuous depth, a virtual optical image that a) appears to the observer to be a three-dimensional cable that is higher than the head of the observer and appears to be extending away from the observer in three dimensions above at least one roadway along the computed navigational path, b) is displayed to the observer with an optic flow that is consistent with the optic flow of the landscape when the vehicle is moving, thereby causing the cable to appear to remain in a substantially stationary position above both straight and curved sections of the roadway even when the vehicle is moving along those straight and curved sections of the roadway, c) is displayed with at least the depth cue of stereoscopic disparity and the depth cue of motion parallax induced by head movements of the observer, and d) is displayed in such a way that in response to the vehicle being driven along roadways above which the cable appears to extend, the vehicle is caused to arrive at the destination location.
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12. A method performed in a vehicle by at least one virtual cable display device under the control of at least one computer, the method comprising
displaying, volumetrically and with continuous depth, to an observer within the vehicle, a virtual image that a) appears to the observer to be a three-dimensional cable that is higher than the head of the observer and appears to be extending away from the observer in three dimensions above at least one roadway along a navigational path that has been computed from a current location of the vehicle to a desired destination location of the vehicle, b) is displayed to the observer with an optic flow that is consistent with the optic flow of the landscape when the vehicle is moving, thereby causing the cable to appear to remain in a substantially stationary position above both straight and curved sections of the roadway even when the vehicle is moving along those straight and curved sections of the roadway, c) is displayed with at least the depth cue of stereoscopic disparity and the depth cue of motion parallax induced by head movements of the observer, and d) is displayed in such a way that in response to the vehicle being driven along roadways above which the cable appears to extend, the vehicle is caused to arrive at the destination location.
Specification