Method of providing information to a vehicle

• US 8,660,735 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2011
• Issued: 02/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/14/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Tengler, Steven C., Frye, Mark S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cheung, Mary
• Assistant Examiner(s): Trivedi, Atul
• Application Number:
  US13/325,519
• Publication Number:
  US 20130158778A1
• Time in Patent Office: 804 Days
• Field of Search: 701/24, 701/31.5, 701/32.7, 701/468, 701/522, 701/537, 340901-905, 340/988, 340/995.17, 340/995.25
• US Class Current: 701/24
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/597 Recognising the driver's state or behaviour, e.g. attention or drowsiness
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/28 Recognition of hand or arm movements, e.g. recognition of deaf sign language static hand signs G06V40/113
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control

Abstract

A method of providing information to a vehicle involves selecting content, and a source from which the information is retrievable. The information pertains to the content and the content is associated with an entity. The vehicle is tracked in real time. Via a telematics unit of the vehicle, vehicle data obtained from the tracking (including at least a then-current vehicle location and speed) is uploaded to an offboard server. The data is utilized, by a processor associated with the offboard server, to identify the entity that is within proximity of the vehicle. Information from the selected content source is obtained via the offboard server. The information is associated with the entity. The information is transmitted to the telematics unit. The information that is displayed to the vehicle is associated with an object representing the entity that is within the field of view of a vehicle occupant.

Claims

1. A method of providing information to a vehicle, comprising:

selecting content, and a source from which the information is retrievable, the information pertaining to the content and the content being associated with an entity, the source being a vehicle user address book and the entity being a person having a contact in the vehicle user address book;

tracking the vehicle in real time, the tracking being accomplished via a telematics unit operatively disposed in the vehicle;

via the telematics unit, uploading data obtained from the tracking to an offboard server, the data including at least a then-current location and a then-current speed of the vehicle;

via a processor associated with the offboard server, utilizing the data to identify the person that is within proximity of the vehicle;

via the offboard server, obtaining the information from the vehicle user address book, the information being associated with the person that is within proximity of the vehicle;

transmitting the information from the offboard server to the telematics unit; and

displaying the information to the vehicle so that the information is associated with an other vehicle representing the person, the other vehicle being within a field of view of a vehicle occupant, and the displaying including presenting any of text or graphics as an augmented overlay on or adjacent to the other vehicle.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the selecting of the content and the content source is accomplished utilizing one of a remotely accessible page, an aggregator at a call center, or an application resident on a mobile communications device.

3. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein during the selecting of the content and the content source, the method further comprises selecting at least one preference for the information to be transmitted from the offboard server to the telematics unit.

4. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

constructing a geographic boundary around the vehicle using the data obtained from the tracking;

detecting that the vehicle is within proximity of the person when the person is inside the geographic boundary constructed around the vehicle; and

displaying the information pertaining to the person upon making the detection.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein prior to the displaying of the information, the method further comprises:

detecting a then-current environment within which the vehicle is travelling; and

based on the detecting of the then-current environment, via a processor operatively associated with the telematics unit, restricting the information that is displayed by a graphic user interface, the restricting including a limit on any of a presentation, an amount, or a type of the information displayed.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein prior to displaying the information, the method further comprises determining a modality for the displaying of the information, the modality being chosen from a visual modality and a haptic modality.

7. The method as defined in claim 6 wherein the displaying is accomplished using a digital projector.

8. The method as defined in claim 7 wherein the displaying of the information further includes displaying at least one actionable item associated with the information, wherein the at least one actionable item is selectable by a vehicle user using a physical motion that is recognizable by an in-vehicle sensor.

9. The method as defined in claim 8 wherein upon displaying the information and the at least one actionable item, the method further comprises selecting the at least one actionable item via the physical motion.

10. The method as defined in claim 8 wherein the at least one actionable item includes any of:

an option to send a text message to the person represented by the other vehicle;

an option to initiate a phone call to the person represented by the other vehicle;

a yes icon for responding to a question;

a no icon for responding to a question;

a selectable icon;

or

a moveable icon.

11. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein upon displaying the information, the method further comprises:

recognizing, via a camera located in the vehicle or a capacitive sensor having a sensing range and located in the vehicle, a physical motion that is indicative of a command to capture information of interest;

in response to the recognizing, capturing the information of interest; and

storing the captured information of interest in a profile.

12. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein prior to displaying the information to the vehicle, the method further comprises restricting the information so that the restricted information is viewable by the vehicle occupant.

13. The method as defined in claim 12 wherein the restricting of the information is based on an increased driver activity.

14. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising adjusting the augmented overlay based on eye positioning of the vehicle occupant and a concavity of a windshield of the vehicle.

15. A system for providing information to a vehicle, comprising:

a remotely accessible page, an aggregator at a call center, or an application resident on a mobile communications device for selecting content that is associated with a person having a contact in a vehicle user address book, and for selecting a source from which the information is retrievable, the source being the vehicle user address book;

a telematics unit operatively disposed in the vehicle, the telematics unit to track the vehicle in real time;

an offboard server in selective communication with the telematics unit, the offboard server to receive data obtained from the telematics unit during the tracking, wherein the data includes at least a then-current location of the vehicle;

a processor operatively associated with the offboard server, the processor to run computer readable code encoded on a computer readable medium for utilizing the data obtained from the telematics unit to identify the person that is within proximity of the vehicle;

the vehicle user address book from which the information is retrievable by the offboard server; and

a graphic user interface operatively disposed in the vehicle for displaying, to an occupant of the vehicle, the information retrieved by the offboard server, the information being associated with an other vehicle representing the person that is within proximity of the vehicle and within a field of view of the vehicle occupant, and the information being presented as an augmented overlay on or adjacent to the other vehicle.