JP7647285B2 - Image display control device, image display control method, and image display control program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an image display control device, an image display control method, and an image display control program that generate an image of the field of view of a vehicle driver.

In recent years, image display control devices have been developed that display images generated by processing images acquired from sources other than the vehicle in order to display information to the driver that is difficult for the vehicle to obtain directly on an image display device equipped in a vehicle. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which, when generating an image of the driver's field of view and displaying it on an image display device, the vehicle in front is made transparent with respect to the blind spot area generated by the vehicle in front, and an image acquired from a source other than the vehicle being driven is processed to display the blind spot ahead of the vehicle in front.

JP 2020-126478 A

However, when the vehicle ahead that forms the blind spot is made transparent, the information display devices of that vehicle, such as turn signals and backlights, are also made transparent. Therefore, even if the information display device displays information to be transmitted to other vehicles, the transmitted information is no longer displayed on the image display device, making it difficult for the driver to obtain the transmitted information that the vehicle ahead is displaying to other vehicles.

The present invention aims to provide an image display control device that can make vehicles forming blind spots transparent and display the communication information displayed by those vehicles.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an image display control device causes an image display device mounted on a first vehicle to display an image of a blind spot formed by a second vehicle present in front of the first vehicle. The image display control device includes a data acquisition unit that acquires image data showing the surroundings of the first vehicle and the front of the second vehicle acquired by an image acquisition device, as well as position data of the image display device and the image acquisition device, a field of view image generation unit that processes the image data based on the position data to generate a field of view image of the front of the first vehicle as viewed from the first vehicle, a blind spot range determination unit that determines, in the field of view image, a blind spot range formed by the second vehicle, an information display determination unit that determines whether or not, in the field of view image, an information display unit provided in the second vehicle displays information to be transmitted to the outside, an image generation unit that processes the image data acquired by the image acquisition device to generate a superimposed image in which blind spot information in front of the second vehicle is superimposed on the blind spot range of the field of view image, and a communication unit that is capable of transmitting the superimposed image to the image display device. The image generation unit includes a blind spot range image generation unit that generates a blind spot range image in which blind spot information is displayed for the entire area of the second vehicle in the blind spot range when the information display determination unit determines that the information display unit is not displaying the transmitted information, and generates a blind spot range image in which blind spot information is displayed for areas in the blind spot range other than the information display unit of the second vehicle when the information display determination unit determines that the information display unit is displaying the transmitted information, and an image superimposition unit that generates a superimposed image by superimposing the blind spot range image on the field of view image .

The image display control device of the present invention can display information transmitted from the vehicle to the outside when vehicles forming blind spots in the field of view of the driver of the vehicle on which the image is displayed are made transparent to display the field of view ahead.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a traveling state of a vehicle in a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is another explanatory diagram showing the running state of the vehicle. FIG. 3 is a display example of the generated superimposed image. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image display control system. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the generation control of the superimposed image. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a traveling state of the second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a display example of the generated superimposed image. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an image display control system. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the generation control of the superimposed image. FIG. 10 shows another display example of the generated superimposed image.

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment
1 and 2 are explanatory diagrams showing a traveling state of a vehicle in this embodiment, Fig. 1 is a diagram seen from the side of the vehicle, and Fig. 2 is a diagram seen from above the vehicle.

The image display control system 100 has an image display control device 1, which is a network-connected device, an image display device 2 mounted on a vehicle V1, and an image acquisition device 3 provided on the side of the road on which the vehicle V1 is traveling. As shown in the figure, a vehicle V2 is traveling in front of the vehicle V1. In the field of vision of the driver of the vehicle V1, a blind spot is formed by the vehicle V2, and part of the field of vision is blocked by the vehicle V2 and cannot be seen.

The image display device 2 is mounted on the vehicle V1 and has a display unit that is visible from the driver's seat. The display unit is, for example, a transparent head-up display provided in front of the windshield or VR goggles that can be worn by the driver. The image display device 2 transmits its own position information to the image display control device 1, and receives image data generated in the image display control device 1 and displays an image corresponding to the image data on the display unit.

The image acquisition device 3 is equipped with a camera installed on the shoulder of the lane in which the vehicle V1 is traveling, at a position higher than the vehicle height of the vehicle V1. The image acquisition device 3 can acquire images of the blind spot D formed by the vehicle V2 present within the field of view X, in addition to the field of view X from the driver's seat of the vehicle V1. The image acquisition device 3 transmits the acquired images and position information of the image acquisition device 3 to the image display control device 1. Note that multiple image acquisition devices 3 may be installed, and may be attached to a location other than the shoulder of the road, for example, on the roof of the vehicle V2 or another vehicle (not shown).

The image display control device 1 uses the position data and image data acquired from the image acquisition device 3, and the position data acquired from the image display device 2, to generate an image showing the field of view from the driver's seat of the vehicle V1, and transmits image data corresponding to the generated image to the image display device 2. Note that this image is an image of the field of view from the driver's seat of the vehicle V1, in which the vehicle V2 is made transparent, and an image showing information showing the blind spot blocked by the vehicle V2 (hereinafter referred to as blind spot information) is superimposed. Therefore, the image finally generated by the image display control device 1 is referred to as a superimposed image.

Figure 3 is an example of a superimposed image generated by the image display control device 1. As shown in this figure, the superimposed image is an image of the field of view from the driver's seat of the vehicle V1 displayed on the image display device 2 mounted on the vehicle V1, in which the vehicle V2 is made transparent to display its outline, and blind spot information of the area blocked by the vehicle V2 in the field of view from the driver's seat of the vehicle V1 is displayed. Note that the superimposed image only needs to show information related to driving, and does not need to show the entire scenery. Such a superimposed image is displayed by the image display device 2 in the vehicle V1, separately from the forward field of view that the driver directly sees through, for example, the windshield. The driver can see the blind spot blocked by the vehicle V2 in front through the superimposed image. Note that the vehicle V2 may be configured so that the driver cannot directly see the front and can only see the image display device 2.

The image display control device 1 generates a forward view image showing the field of view from the driver's seat of the vehicle V1 from the image data acquired by the image acquisition device 3. The image display control device 1 determines the range in the forward view image in which the vehicle V2 is shown as the range in which a blind spot is formed (hereinafter referred to as the blind spot range). Then, the image display control device 1 generates an image showing blind spot information in the blind spot range (blind spot range image) from the acquired image data.

The image display control device 1 further generates a contour image that makes the vehicle V2 shown in the blind spot range of the forward field of view image transparent and displays the contour. Finally, the image display control device 1 generates a superimposed image by superimposing the blind spot range image and the contour image on the forward field of view image. As a result, as shown in the figure, a superimposed image is generated in the blind spot area in which the driving lanes and the like that exist in the blind spot ahead of the vehicle V2 are displayed.

Furthermore, the image display control device 1 extracts the information display section S1 of the vehicle V2 from the forward view image. Here, the information display section S1 is a device equipped on the vehicle V2 that displays information visible from the outside and transmitted to the outside (hereinafter referred to as transmitted information), and displays the driving state according to the illumination state of, for example, turn signals, brake lights, tail lights, etc. The image display control device 1 extracts the information display section S1 of the vehicle V2 from the forward view image and determines whether or not the transmitted information is displayed by the information display section S1.

When the image display control device 1 determines that the information display unit S1 of the vehicle V2 is displaying transmitted information, it makes transparent a portion of the vehicle V2 other than the information display unit S1, and generates a blind spot range image showing blind spot information ahead of the vehicle V2. On the other hand, when the image display control device 1 determines that the information display unit S1 of the vehicle V2 is not displaying information, it makes transparent the entire vehicle V2 that is in the blind spot range, and generates a blind spot range image showing blind spot information.

In this way, when the information display unit S1 is not displaying transmitted information, the blind spot range image shows blind spot information ahead of the vehicle V2, and when the information display unit S1 is displaying transmitted information, the information display unit S1 is displayed in addition to the blind spot information. As a result, when the information display unit S1 is displaying transmitted information, in the superimposed image that is finally generated, a part of the vehicle V2 other than the information display unit S1 is made transparent to show the blind spot information, and the transmitted information from the information display unit S1 is displayed in addition to the blind spot information.

Figure 4 is a block diagram of an image display control system 100. The image display control system 100 has an image display control device 1, an image display device 2, and an image acquisition device 3. The image display control device 1, the image display device 2, and the image acquisition device 3 each have a communication unit 11, 21, and 31, respectively, and are configured to be able to communicate with each other.

In addition to the communication unit 21, the image display device 2 includes a position information acquisition unit 22, a display unit 23, and a controller 24. When the position information acquisition unit 22 acquires the position information of the image display device 2, it transmits the acquired position information to the image display control device 1. The display unit 23 acquires image data generated in the image display control device 1 and displays a superimposed image indicated by the image data. The controller 24 controls the entire image display device 2.

In addition to the communication unit 31, the image acquisition device 3 includes a location information acquisition unit 32, a camera 33, and a controller 34. When the location information acquisition unit 32 acquires location information of the image display device 2, it transmits the acquired location information to the image display control device 1. When the camera 33 acquires an image of the periphery of the image acquisition device 3, it transmits the acquired image to the image display control device 1. The controller 34 controls the entire image acquisition device 3.

The image display control device 1 includes a communication unit 11, a data acquisition unit 12, and an image processing unit 13. The data acquisition unit 12 and the image processing unit 13 are each configured with one or more controllers, and the controller executes a predetermined program to generate a superimposed image.

The data acquisition unit 12 includes a position data acquisition unit 121 and an image data acquisition unit 122. The position data acquisition unit 121 acquires the position data of the image display device 2 acquired by the position information acquisition unit 22, and the position data of the image acquisition device 3 acquired by the position information acquisition unit 32. The position data acquisition unit 121 then determines the positional relationship between the vehicle V1 on which the image display device 2 is mounted and the image acquisition device 3 for use in the image processing described below. The image data acquisition unit 122 receives the image data acquired by the image acquisition device 3.

The image processing unit 13 includes a forward visual field image generating unit 131, a blind spot range discrimination unit 132, an information display determination unit 133, a blind spot range image generating unit 134, a contour image generating unit 135, and an image superimposing unit 136. The blind spot range image generating unit 134, the contour image generating unit 135, and the image superimposing unit 136 are collectively referred to as the image generating unit 130.

The forward field of view image generating unit 131 uses the image data acquired by the image acquisition device 3 and the positional relationship between the image display device 2 and the image acquisition device 3 determined by the position data acquiring unit 121 to generate a forward field of view image showing the field of view from the driver's seat of the vehicle V1 in which the image display device 2 is mounted.

The blind spot range determination unit 132 determines the blind spot range formed by an object (vehicle V2) present in front of the vehicle V1 equipped with the image display device 2 in the forward view image generated by the forward view image generation unit 131. The blind spot range determination unit 132 may determine the blind spot range in the forward view image by auxiliary use of image data acquired by the image acquisition device 3 and the positional relationship between the image display device 2 and the image acquisition device 3 determined by the position data acquisition unit 121. The blind spot range is not limited to the area where the vehicle V2 is shown, and an area where multiple vehicles are shown in the forward view image may be determined as the blind spot range.

The information display determination unit 133 extracts the information display unit S1 provided on the vehicle V2 from the blind spot range determined in the forward view image by the blind spot range determination unit 132, and determines whether the information display unit S1 is displaying transmitted information.

When the information display unit S1 determines that the transmitted information is not being displayed, the blind spot range image generation unit 134 uses image data acquired by the image acquisition device 3 to generate a blind spot range image showing blind spot information ahead of vehicle V2 in the field of view from the driver's seat of vehicle V1. In this way, the blind spot range image shows blind spot information ahead of vehicle V2 for the entire area of vehicle V2. Note that in the blind spot range image, areas other than the blind spot range blocked by vehicle V2 (the entire area of vehicle V2) are made transparent.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the information display unit S1 is displaying the transmitted information, the blind spot range image generation unit 134 generates a blind spot range image showing the blind spot information for a part of the vehicle V2 forming the blind spot range, excluding the information display unit S1. In this way, the blind spot range image shows the blind spot information for a part of the vehicle V2, excluding the information display unit S1. Note that in this case, in addition to the area other than the blind spot range, the blind spot range image has the area showing the information display unit S1 within the blind spot range made transparent. Therefore, as described below, the superimposed image generated by superimposing the blind spot range image on the forward view image shows the transmitted information by the information display unit S1.

The contour image generating unit 135 generates a contour image by extracting the contour of the vehicle V2 that forms the blind spot range in the forward view image determined by the blind spot range determining unit 132.

The image superimposition unit 136 generates a superimposed image by superimposing the blind spot range image generated by the blind spot range image generation unit 134 and the contour image generated by the contour image generation unit 135 onto the forward visual field image generated by the forward visual field image generation unit 131. Image data representing the superimposed image thus generated is transmitted to the image display device 2, and the superimposed image is displayed on the display unit 23 of the image display device 2.

Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the generation control of a superimposed image by the image display control device 1. The following process is performed by a controller constituting the image display control device 1 executing a program, but will be described as being executed by multiple functional blocks included in the data acquisition unit 12 and image processing unit 13.

In step S101, the data acquisition unit 12 (position data acquisition unit 121, image data acquisition unit 122) acquires image data acquired by the image acquisition device 3, and position data of the image display device 2 and the image acquisition device 3 via the communication units 11, 21, and 31. Then, the position data acquisition unit 121 determines the positional relationship between the image display device 2 and the image acquisition device 3 for image processing, which will be described later.

In step S102, the forward view image generating unit 131 generates a forward view image showing the field of view of the driver of the vehicle A using the image data obtained in step S101 and the positional relationship between the image display device 2 and the image acquisition device 3. If there is insufficient image data, the forward view image generating unit 131 uses image data obtained from another image acquisition device 3 (not shown) or pre-recorded map data to supplement the missing image data and generate a forward view image. If a vehicle V2 is present in front of vehicle V1, the vehicle V2 is shown in the forward view image, and the area in front of vehicle V2 is a blind spot range.

In step S103, the blind spot range determination unit 132 determines whether or not there is a blind spot range formed by an object (vehicle V2) present in front of vehicle V1 in the forward view image generated by the forward view image generation unit 131.

If it is determined that no blind spot area exists in the forward field of view image, the process proceeds to step S109. In step S109, the image processing unit 13 transmits image data representing the forward field of view image generated in step S102 to the image display device 2, and the forward field of view image is displayed on the display unit 23 of the image display device 2. On the other hand, if it is determined that a blind spot area exists, the process proceeds to step S104.

In step S104, the information display determination unit 133 extracts the information display unit S1 provided on the vehicle V2 forming the blind spot area determined to exist in step S103, and determines whether or not the information display unit S1 is displaying the transmitted information (the lamp is lit). If the information display unit S1 is not displaying the transmitted information, the process proceeds to step S105, and if the information display unit S1 is displaying the transmitted information, the process proceeds to step S106.

In step S105, if the information display unit S1 is not displaying the transmitted information, the blind spot range image generation unit 134 uses the image data acquired by the image acquisition device 3 to generate a blind spot range image that is an image from the field of view from the driver's seat of the vehicle V1 and shows blind spot information ahead of the vehicle V2 that forms the blind spot range.

On the other hand, in step S106, if the information display unit S1 is displaying the transmitted information, the blind spot range image generating unit 134 generates a blind spot range image showing blind spot information in a portion of the blind spot range excluding the information display unit S1. In this way, no blind spot information is shown in the area of the information display unit S1 in the blind spot range image, and blind spot information is shown in the area excluding the information display unit S1.

In step S107, the contour image generating unit 135 uses the image data acquired by the image acquisition device 3 and the positional relationship between the image display device 2 and the image acquisition device 3 to generate a contour image that shows only the contour of the vehicle V2 that forms the blind spot area by making it transparent. Note that in the contour image, parts other than the contour are made transparent.

In step S108, the image superimposition unit 136 superimposes the blind spot range image generated in step S105 or S106 and the contour image generated in step S107 on the forward field of view image generated in step S102 to generate a superimposed image.

Then, in step S109, image data representing the superimposed image generated in step S108 is transmitted to the image display device 2. Then, the display unit 23 of the image display device 2 displays the superimposed image according to the image data.

In this way, in step S106, if the information display unit S1 of the vehicle V2 is displaying transmitted information, a blind spot range image is generated that shows blind spot information for parts of the vehicle V2 other than the information display unit S1. Since the area of the information display unit S1 is made transparent in the blind spot range image, the transmitted information from the information display unit S1 is shown in the superimposed image.

Note that steps S105 to S108 are processes for generating a superimposed image, which is the final image, and therefore may be shown collectively as final image generation step S110.

The information display unit S1 is not limited to light-emitting devices such as turn signals, brake lights, and backlights, but may also be a rearview mirror that allows the driver of the vehicle V2 to check his or her actions, or a display device attached to the vehicle V2 that visually transmits information to the outside.

Also, in step S108, the image superimposition unit 136 may generate a superimposed image without including a contour image by superimposing only the blind spot range image on the forward field of view image. Even in this case, the information transmitted by the information display unit S1 is displayed in the superimposed image, so the driver of the vehicle V1 can obtain the transmitted information displayed by the information display unit S1 of the vehicle V2.

In addition, in this embodiment, vehicle V2 forming a blind spot is traveling in the same lane as vehicle V1, but this is not limited to the above. Vehicle V2 may be traveling in an adjacent lane to vehicle V1. When vehicle V2 traveling in the adjacent lane changes lanes to the same lane as vehicle V1, it flashes its turn indicators. Even if vehicle V2 is made transparent to display blind spot information, this embodiment displays information transmitted by the turn indicators on the superimposed screen, so that the driver of vehicle V1 can know that vehicle V2 is about to change lanes into the vehicle's own lane.

In this embodiment, in step S108, the image superimposition unit 136 generates a superimposed image by superimposing the blind spot range image and the contour image on the forward field of view image. When generating the superimposed image, the image superimposition unit 136 may perform image processing such as emphasizing the information display unit S1 displaying the transmitted information on the object (vehicle V2) that forms the blind spot range. For example, if the information display unit S1 is a light-emitting device, a light ray image may be added that explicitly shows the light rays extending radially from the information display unit S1, which is a light source, in a display mode like a light ray. In this way, it becomes easier for the driver of the vehicle V1 to obtain the necessary information. Note that emphasizing the display of the transmitted information on the information display unit S1 in this manner is not limited to step S108, and may be performed in any step.

In addition, in this embodiment, the image display control device 1 is connected to the image display device 2 via the communication units 11 and 21, but this is not limited to the present embodiment. The image display control device 1 may be mounted on the same vehicle V1 as the image display device 2. In addition, multiple image acquisition devices 3 may be provided, and may be attached to the roof of not only the vehicles V1 and V2, but also other vehicles, or may be provided on the roadside.

In addition, in the generation control of the superimposed image in this embodiment, when the information display unit S1 is displaying transmitted information, the image display control device 1 makes the information display unit S1 transparent in the blind spot range image, but this is not limited to this. Regardless of whether the information display unit S1 is displaying transmitted information or not, a blind spot range image showing blind spot information for the entire blind spot range may be generated, and the transmitted information by the information display unit S1 may be included in the contour image.

As another form of control over the generation of the superimposed image, when the information display unit S1 is displaying transmitted information, an information display image showing the transmitted information of the information display unit S1 may be generated, and the superimposed image may be generated by superimposing the blind spot range image, the contour image, and the information display image on the forward visual field image. In such a case, the image generation unit 130 further includes a functional block for generating the information display image, and the final image generation step S110 includes a process for generating the information display image.

According to the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first embodiment, the image display control device 1 includes a data acquisition unit 12 that acquires image data acquired by the image acquisition device 3 and position data of the image acquisition device 3, a forward view image generation unit 131 that generates a forward view image of the area in front of the first vehicle V1 as seen from the first vehicle V1, a blind spot range determination unit 132 that determines the blind spot range formed by the second vehicle V2 in the forward view image, an information display determination unit 133 that determines whether or not transmitted information is displayed by the information display unit S1 provided on the second vehicle V2 in the forward view image, and an image generation unit 130 that generates a superimposed image in which the area in front of the first vehicle V1 is seen from the first vehicle V1 and in which blind spot information of the area in front of the second vehicle V2 shown in the blind spot range is displayed.

When it is determined that the information display unit S1 is not displaying the transmitted information, the image generation unit 130 generates a superimposed image in the blind spot range that displays the blind spot information ahead of the second vehicle V2, and when it is determined that the information display unit S1 is displaying the transmitted information, it generates a superimposed image in the blind spot range that displays the transmitted information by the information display unit S1 in addition to the blind spot information.

By doing this, when the information display unit S1 of the second vehicle V2 is displaying transmission information, the transmission information displayed by the information display unit S1 is shown in the superimposed image. As a result, the driver of the vehicle V1 can more reliably recognize the transmission information that the information display unit S1 of the vehicle V2 is displaying to the outside.

According to the image display control device 1 of the first embodiment, the image generating unit 130 includes a blind spot range image generating unit 134 that generates a blind spot range image that is an image of the field of view from the first vehicle V1 and shows blind spot information ahead of the second vehicle V2, and an image superimposing unit 136 that generates a superimposed image by superimposing the blind spot range image on the forward field of view image.

When the information display determination unit 133 determines that the information display unit S1 is not displaying transmitted information, the blind spot range image generation unit 134 generates a blind spot range image in which blind spot information is displayed for the entire area of the blind spot range of the forward viewing image. On the other hand, when the information display determination unit 133 determines that the information display unit S1 is displaying transmitted information, the blind spot range image generation unit 134 generates a blind spot range image in which blind spot information is displayed for a portion of the blind spot range of the forward viewing image other than the information display unit S1.

By doing this, when the information display unit S1 of the second vehicle V2 is displaying the transmitted information, a blind spot range image is generated that shows blind spot information for a part of the vehicle V2 other than the information display unit S1. As a result, the transmitted information displayed by the information display unit S1 shown in the forward field of view image is shown in a superimposed image that is generated by superimposing the blind spot range image on the forward field of view image, so that the driver of the vehicle V1 can more reliably recognize the transmitted information shown by the information display unit S1 of the vehicle V2.

According to the image display control device 1 of the first embodiment, the image generation unit 130 further includes a contour image generation unit 135 that processes the image data to generate a contour image showing the contour of the second vehicle V2 in the field of view from the first vehicle V1. The image superimposition unit 136 then generates a superimposed image by superimposing the blind spot range image and the contour image on the forward field of view image. By displaying the contour image of the second vehicle V2 in this manner in the superimposed image, the driver of the vehicle V1 can grasp the presence of the vehicle V2 from the contour image while checking the blind spot information ahead of the vehicle V2, thereby reducing the discomfort felt by the driver when the transmitted information of the information display unit S1 is displayed in the superimposed image.

According to the image display control device 1 of the first embodiment, the information display unit S1 of the second vehicle V2 is at least one of the turn indicators, brake lights, and taillights of the second vehicle V2 traveling in the same lane as the first vehicle V1. In this configuration, the driver of the first vehicle V1 can obtain the necessary driving information indicated by the turn indicators, brake lights, and taillights of the information display unit S1 of the second vehicle V2 ahead, while checking the blind spot of the second vehicle V2 ahead in the same lane.

According to the image display control device 1 of the first embodiment, the information display unit S1 of the second vehicle V2 is the turn signal of the second vehicle V2 traveling ahead of the first vehicle V1 in the adjacent lane. In such a configuration, the driver of the first vehicle V1 can know that the second vehicle V2 will change lanes into his/her own lane by obtaining the necessary information indicated by the turn signal, which is the information display unit S1 of the second vehicle V2, while checking the blind spot of the second vehicle V2 ahead of the adjacent lane.

According to the image display control device 1 of the first embodiment, the information display unit S1 of the second vehicle V2 is at least one of a light-emitting device, a rearview mirror, and a character display device. In such a configuration, the information display determination unit 133 performs image analysis of the forward field of view image to determine whether or not the communication information is displayed on the information display unit S1, which is one of the various display devices. As a result, the communication information displayed by the various display devices is included in the superimposed image, allowing the driver of the vehicle V1 to obtain more communication information.

According to the image display control device 1 of the first embodiment, when generating a superimposed image, the image superimposition unit 136 emphasizes and displays the information display unit S1 of the object (vehicle V2) that forms the blind spot range. For example, if the information display unit S1 is a brake light, the area of the brake light is enlarged and an image of light rays extending radially from a light source is added. This improves the visibility of the communication information displayed by the information display unit S1, and the driver of the vehicle V1 can more reliably see the communication information shown by the information display unit S1 of the vehicle V2.

Second Embodiment
In the first embodiment, when the information display unit S1 shown on the object forming the blind spot area is displaying transmitted information (S104: Yes), a blind spot range image showing blind spot information in a portion of the vehicle V2 other than the information display unit S1 is generated (S106), but this is not limited to this. In the second embodiment, an example will be described in which a blind spot range image showing blind spot information in a portion of the vehicle V2 other than the information display unit S2 is generated when a risk object such as a pedestrian is present in the blind spot in front of the vehicle V2 and the information display unit of the vehicle V2 is displaying transmitted information.

Figure 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the running state of a vehicle in the second embodiment, and corresponds to Figure 1.

As shown in this figure, vehicle V2 is traveling in front of vehicle V1 equipped with image display device 2, and in front of vehicle V2, another vehicle V3 is traveling. Furthermore, in front of vehicle V3, pedestrian W is about to cross the lane. In such a case, since pedestrian W is a risk that could cause vehicle V3 to stop, vehicle V3 performs stopping control and turns on its brake lights.

Figure 7 is an example of a superimposed image generated by the image display control device 1, and corresponds to Figure 3.

As shown in this figure, the superimposed image shows the outlines of both vehicles V2 and V3, which are made transparent. The superimposed image is an image of the field of view from the driver's seat of vehicle V1, and shows the blind spots ahead of vehicles V2 and V3 in the field of view from the driver's seat of vehicle V1.

Here, because there is a pedestrian W in front of vehicle V3, vehicle V3 is performing stopping control and the information display unit S2 (brake lamps) is displaying transmission information indicating that stopping control is in progress. Therefore, a blind spot range image is generated that shows some blind spot information other than the information display unit S2 of vehicle V3. As a result, the superimposed image shows the information display unit S2 that is displaying the transmission information.

Furthermore, according to this figure, the auxiliary information display area S3 indicates how many vehicles ahead (two vehicles ahead in this embodiment) vehicle V3, which is equipped with the information display unit S2 that is displaying the transmitted information, is from vehicle V1. This auxiliary information allows the driver of vehicle V1 to know the distance to vehicle V3 that is displaying the transmitted information.

Figure 8 is a block diagram of the image display control system 100. According to this figure, compared to the configuration of the image display control system 100 of the first embodiment shown in Figure 4, the image processing unit 13 further includes a stopping cause determination unit 201.

The stopping factor determination unit 201 analyzes the image data acquired by the image acquisition device 3 to determine whether there is a risk object in front of the vehicles V1, V2, and V3 that may cause the vehicles to stop. Risk objects include pedestrians, bicycles, and objects that have fallen on the road, and they may impede the travel of the vehicles. Specifically, the stopping factor determination unit 201 determines that a risk object (a stopping factor) is present when it detects a pedestrian or bicycle by moving object detection, or detects objects that have fallen on the road by analyzing the road surface conditions.

Then, when the stopping factor determination unit 201 determines that there is a stopping factor (risk object) in front of the vehicles V2 and V3 that are in front of the vehicle V1 (in this embodiment, it is determined that there is a risk object in front of the vehicle V3), the information display determination unit 133 further determines whether the information display unit S2 equipped on the vehicle V3 is displaying transmitted information.

When the blind spot range image generating unit 134 determines that a stopping cause (risk object) is present in front of the vehicle V3 and that the information display unit S2 of the vehicle V3 is displaying transmitted information based on the determination result of the stopping cause determination unit 201, the blind spot range image generating unit 134 generates a blind spot range image showing blind spot information for a portion of the blind spot range excluding the information display unit S2 of the vehicle V3. As a result, the superimposed image shows the transmitted information by the information display unit S2 of the vehicle V3.

Figure 9 is a flowchart showing the generation control of a superimposed image by the image display control device 1. According to this figure, compared to the flowchart showing the generation control of a superimposed image of the first embodiment shown in Figure 5, the processing of step S211 is included between step S103 and step S104.

In step S211, the stopping factor determination unit 201 analyzes the image data acquired by the image acquisition device 3 to determine whether or not there is a risk object in front of vehicles V2 and V3 that are located ahead of vehicle V1. In detail, as described above, the stopping factor determination unit 201 determines that there is a stopping factor (risk object) when it detects pedestrians or bicycles by moving object detection, or detects objects that have fallen on the road by analyzing the road surface conditions.

If it is determined that a stopping factor (risk object) exists ahead of vehicles V2 and V3, then the process of step S104 is performed. If it is determined that a stopping factor (risk object) does not exist ahead of vehicles V2 and V3, then the process of step S105 is performed. In this way, when it is determined that a stopping factor (risk object) exists ahead of vehicle V3 and the information display unit S2 of vehicle V3 is displaying transmitted information, the superimposed image shows the transmitted information displayed by the information display unit S2 of vehicle V3 that has a stopping factor (risk object) ahead.

When generating the superimposed image in step S108, an auxiliary information display area S3 is additionally displayed, and the auxiliary information display area S3 indicates how many vehicles ahead of vehicle V1 vehicle V3 is (in this embodiment, two vehicles ahead) that is equipped with the information display unit S2 currently displaying information.

According to the image display control device 1 of the second embodiment, the device further includes a stopping factor determination unit 201 that determines whether or not there is a pedestrian W in front of the second vehicle V3, which is a risk that may cause the second vehicle V3 to stop. If the stopping factor determination unit 201 determines that there is a stopping factor (S211: Yes) and the information display determination unit 133 determines that the information display unit S2 is displaying transmitted information (S104: Yes), a blind spot area image showing blind spot information for a portion of the blind spot range other than the information display unit S2 is generated (S106). On the other hand, if the stopping factor determination unit 201 determines that there is no stopping factor (S211: No), a blind spot area image showing blind spot information for the entire blind spot range is generated (S105).

Here, in the case of vehicle V3 where there is a stopping factor (risk object) ahead, there is a high possibility that stopping control will be performed, and therefore the braking time will be long. Therefore, when the stopping factor determination unit 201 determines that there is a stopping factor (S211: Yes) and the information display determination unit 133 determines that the information display unit S2 is displaying the transmitted information (S104: Yes), a blind spot range image showing the blind spot ahead is generated for a part of the blind spot range other than the information display unit S2 of vehicle V3 (S106). As a result, the superimposed image shows the transmitted information shown by the information display unit S2 of vehicle V3, so that the driver of vehicle V1 can obtain information about the stopping control of vehicle V3 in advance. In this way, by displaying the transmitted information by the information display unit for a vehicle where a stopping factor exists ahead, the driver of vehicle V1 can easily obtain information that affects the running of his/her own vehicle.

According to the image display control device 1 of the second embodiment, the image superimposition unit 136 generates a superimposition image in the auxiliary information display area S3 that indicates how many vehicles ahead (two vehicles ahead in this embodiment) the vehicle V3 equipped with the information display unit S2 currently displaying information is from the vehicle V1. In this way, as shown in FIG. 8, the auxiliary information display area S3 is displayed in the superimposition image, and the driver of the vehicle V1 can grasp the distance to the vehicle V3 currently displaying information.

(First Modification)
In the second embodiment, the auxiliary information display area S3 indicates how many vehicles ahead of the vehicle V1 the vehicle V3 equipped with the information display unit S2 currently displaying information is (two vehicles ahead in this embodiment), but this is not limited to this. As shown in Fig. 10, an auxiliary information display area S4 provided separately from the superimposed image may display a view of the vehicle V1, and the vehicles V2 and V3 viewed from above, and the position of the vehicle V3 equipped with the information display unit S2 currently displaying information may be specified by the display area S5. In this manner, the driver of the vehicle V1 can also know the distance to the vehicle V3 currently displaying the transmission information.

Note that each process shown in this embodiment is executed based on a program for causing a computer to execute each processing procedure. Therefore, this embodiment can also be understood as an embodiment of a program that realizes the function of executing each of these processes, and a recording medium that stores the program. For example, the program can be stored in the storage device of the information processing device by an update process for adding a new function to the information processing device. This makes it possible to cause the updated information processing device to execute each of the processes shown in this embodiment.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the configurations described in the above embodiments and each modified example merely show some of the application examples of the present invention and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention. For example, the above embodiments and modified examples can be implemented in combination in part or in whole.

100 Image display control system, 1 Image display control device, 2 Image display device, 3 Image acquisition device, 11 Communication unit, 12 Data acquisition unit, 13 Image processing unit, 130 Image generation unit, 131 Forward field of view image generation unit, 132 Blind spot range discrimination unit, 133 Information display determination unit, 134 Blind spot range image generation unit, 135 Contour image generation unit, 136 Image superimposition unit, 201 Stopping factor determination unit, S1, S2 Information display unit, S3, S4 Auxiliary information display area, S5 Display area

Claims (11)

An image display control device that displays an image of a blind spot formed by a second vehicle in front of a first vehicle on an image display device mounted on the first vehicle,
a data acquisition unit that acquires image data showing the surroundings of the first vehicle and the front of the second vehicle acquired by an image acquisition device, and position data of the image display device and the image acquisition device;
a field of view image generating unit that processes the image data based on the position data to generate a field of view image of a region ahead of the first vehicle as viewed from the first vehicle;
a blind spot determination unit that determines a blind spot formed by the second vehicle in the field of view image;
an information display determination unit that determines whether or not a transmission information to the outside is displayed by an information display unit included in the second vehicle in the field of view image;
an image generating unit that processes the image data acquired by the image acquisition device to generate a superimposed image in which blind spot information ahead of the second vehicle is superimposed on the blind spot range of the field of view image;
a communication unit capable of transmitting the superimposed image to the image display device,
The image generating unit includes:
When the information display determination unit determines that the information display unit is not displaying the transmission information, a blind spot range image is generated in which the blind spot information is displayed for the entire area of the second vehicle in the blind spot range,
a blind spot range image generating unit that generates the blind spot range image in which the blind spot information is displayed for an area other than the information display unit of the second vehicle in the blind spot range when the information display determination unit determines that the information display unit is displaying the transmitted information; and
and an image superimposition unit that generates the superimposed image by superimposing the blind spot range image on the field of view image . 2. The image display control device according to claim 1,
A stop factor determination unit that determines whether or not there is a stop factor of the second vehicle indicated in the blind spot range in front of the second vehicle,
The image generating unit includes:
When the stop factor determination unit determines that the stop factor exists and the information display determination unit determines that the information display unit is displaying the transmission information, the blind spot range is displayed with the blind spot information and the transmission information by the information display unit is displayed,
When the stopping cause determination unit determines that the stopping cause does not exist, the image display control device generates the superimposed image indicating the blind spot information in the blind spot range. 2. The image display control device according to claim 1 ,
a contour image generating unit that processes the image data to generate a contour image showing a contour of the second vehicle as seen from the first vehicle;
The image display control device, wherein the image generation unit generates the superimposed image including the contour image. 4. The image display control device according to claim 1 ,
The information display unit is at least one of a turn signal, a brake lamp, and a backlight of the second vehicle traveling in the same lane as the first vehicle. 4. The image display control device according to claim 1 ,
The information display unit is a turn signal of the second vehicle traveling in an adjacent lane to the first vehicle. 4. The image display control device according to claim 1 ,
The information display unit is at least one of a light-emitting device, a rearview mirror, and a character display device of the second vehicle. 7. The image display control device according to claim 1 ,
The image display control device, wherein when generating the superimposed image, the image generation unit highlights the information display unit that is determined by the information display determination unit to be displaying the transmission information. The image display control device according to claim 7 ,
The image display control device, when generating the superimposed image, the image generation unit displays the transmission information in an emphasized manner by adding a light image extending radially from the information display unit to the information display unit that has been determined by the information display determination unit to be displaying the transmission information. 9. The image display control device according to claim 1 ,
The image display control device, when generating the superimposed image, further displays information indicating the positional relationship between the first vehicle equipped with the image display device and the second vehicle equipped with the information display unit that has been determined by the information display determination unit to be displaying the transmission information. 1. An image display control method for displaying an image of a blind spot formed by a second vehicle in front of a first vehicle on an image display device mounted on the first vehicle, the method comprising:
Acquiring image data showing the surroundings of the first vehicle and the front of the second vehicle, which are acquired by an image acquisition device, and position data of the image display device and the image acquisition device;
generating a field of view image of a region ahead of the first vehicle as viewed from the first vehicle by processing the image data based on the position data;
A blind spot range formed by the second vehicle is determined in the field of view image;
determining whether or not a transmission information to the outside is displayed by an information display unit provided in the second vehicle in the field of view image;
In a case where a superimposed image in which blind spot information ahead of the second vehicle is superimposed on the blind spot range of the field of view image is generated by processing the acquired image data,
When it is determined that the information display unit is not displaying the transmitted information, a blind spot range image is generated in which the blind spot information is displayed for the entire area of the second vehicle in the blind spot range,
When it is determined that the information display unit is displaying the transmission information, the blind spot range image is generated in which the blind spot information is displayed for an area other than the information display unit of the second vehicle in the blind spot range , and
The blind spot range image is superimposed on the field of view image to generate the superimposed image;
The superimposed image is transmitted to the image display device. a communication unit capable of communicating with an image display device mounted on a first vehicle and an image acquisition device that acquires image data showing the surroundings of the first vehicle and the front of a second vehicle that is present in front of the first vehicle;
a data acquisition unit that acquires, via the communication unit, the image data acquired by the image acquisition device, and position data of the image display device and the image acquisition device;
and a controller that causes the image display device to display an image of a blind spot formed by the second vehicle.
The image display control program is for the controller to:
Acquiring the image data and the position data via the data acquisition unit;
generating a field of view image of a region ahead of the first vehicle as viewed from the first vehicle by processing the image data based on the position data;
A blind spot range formed by the second vehicle is determined in the field of view image;
determining whether or not an information display unit of the second vehicle displays information to be transmitted to the outside in the field of view image;
In a case where a superimposed image in which blind spot information ahead of the second vehicle is superimposed on the blind spot range of the field of view image is generated by processing the image data,
When it is determined that the information display unit is not displaying the transmission information, a blind spot range image is generated in which the blind spot information is displayed for the entire area of the second vehicle in the blind spot range,
When it is determined that the information display unit is displaying the transmission information, a blind spot range image is generated in which the blind spot information is displayed for an area other than the information display unit of the second vehicle in the blind spot range , and
The blind spot range image is superimposed on the field of view image to generate the superimposed image;
an image display control program for causing the image display device to transmit the superimposed image;

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