Communications: electrical – Land vehicle alarms or indicators – Internal alarm or indicator responsive to a condition of the...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-21
2004-08-10
Hofsass, Jeffery (Department: 2632)
Communications: electrical
Land vehicle alarms or indicators
Internal alarm or indicator responsive to a condition of the...
C340S902000, C340S903000, C340S463000, C340S471000, C340S555000, C340S425500, C340S929000, C340S479000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06774772
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The present invention relates to a method and to a device which is suitable for carrying out a method and device for controlling the attention of an operator of technical equipment, having a display device for displaying action-relevant information in the form of images or symbols, the duration of the display of the specific image or symbol lying below a conscious and above an unconscious perception threshold of the operator
Sensors which monitor the environment are increasingly used in technical equipment for increasing safety and operating convenience. Due to the rapid development in processor technology and in the miniaturization of integrated components, cameras are meanwhile also available at a reasonable cost.
For these reasons, camera systems are increasingly used in motor vehicles as well. In recent times, one has been working on the use of image sensors which are more sensitive at night than the human eye for improving the sight for the vehicle driver. European Patent Document EP 0 686 865 discloses a night vision system working in the far infrared range. In this connection, the image generated by the system is imaged into the lower part of the windshield. In other attempts, the image data of near infrared systems were imaged via a head-up display on a plane screen in front of the windshield. However, these systems have the negative effect that, on one hand, the vehicle driver must partially turn his/her view away from the actual road scene for monitoring the additional image information and, on the other hand, that the imaged scene partially covers the road scene. It has also turned out to be difficult to impress this additional image information of the infrared system on the driver because it does not correspond to his/her habitual wealth of sensations.
To avoid these disadvantages, it has been proposed not to offer the driver an additional graphical representation of the environment but to overlay an LED line underneath the objects to be set off within a road scene. However, such an overlay creates contrast problems and is extremely disturbing due to the constant presence of additional information within the main direction of view.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Investigations into the physiology of perception show that the attention of the human being can be guided by short, hardly perceivable changes in contrast. Commonly-owned German Patent DE 199 52 506, published Jun. 7, 2001, describes a system is known in which action-relevant information is offered, via a unit for the display thereof, to an operator of technical equipment below a conscious but above an unconscious perception threshold for a short time. In this manner, it is possible to trigger the attention of the operator without overtaxing him/her by constantly displaying unnecessary information. This is known as “visual priming.” While it is not believed necessary to the further understanding of the present invention, the entire disclosure of German Patent DE 199 52 506 is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
An object of the present invention is to find a method and a device which is suitable for carrying out a method for controlling the attention of an operator of technical equipment.
The present invention provides a method for controlling the attention of an operator of technical equipment, having a display device for displaying action-relevant information in the form of images or symbols, the duration of the display of the specific image or symbol lying below a conscious and above an unconscious perception threshold of the operator. The specific image or symbol is displayed at those locations of the field of vision of the operator at which objects are located to which his/her attention is to be drawn.
The duration of the display is adjustable that it can be displayed below a conscious perception threshold and above an unconscious perception threshold of the operator. In this manner, the optical information is presented for such a short period that it cannot be consciously realized, but nevertheless is absorbed by humans. This phenomenon, known as “visual priming” is described, for example, by A. J. Marcel in “Conscious and unconscious perception: Experiments in visual masking and word recognition,” Cognitive Psychology 15 (1983), pp. 197-237. A well-known example of this phenomenon is the substitution of specific frames in a film sequence with frames having a completely different content, which cannot be consciously perceived by an observer of the film, but which nevertheless affect the observer's perceptions and/or his later behavior.
This effect is used by the present invention to provide a subliminal warning, subliminal information, or a subliminal impact on the operator of a machine. This makes it possible, for example, to indicate a warning without using a distracting signal, such as lighting an indicator light or sounding an alarm, as is done in conventional warning systems. Though experiments described in German Patent DE 199 52 506, it was shown that the subliminal presentation of action-relevant information on a display in the operator's field of vision effectively sensitized the operator to the presented information. The subliminal presentation thus considerably shortened the reaction time of the operator when the situation for which the operator was unconsciously prepared actually occurred. Moreover, it was found that the operator was not disturbed or distracted by the subliminally presented information. It was therefore concluded that, once an appropriate situation is recognized, action-relevant information can be displayed for a short time without regard to possible negative effects on the operator's actions.
According to the present invention, the specific image or symbol is displayed at least once for a short duration, wherein the duration of the display lies below a conscious perception threshold and above an unconscious perception threshold of the operator. The unconscious perception threshold is defined as the shortest display duration at which the displayed information is unconsciously absorbed, i.e. the displayed information has an effect on the operator's later behavior. The conscious perception threshold is defined as the shortest display duration at which the operator becomes consciously aware of the displayed information.
The perception thresholds may depend on the size and brightness of the presented image or symbol as well as the relative location of the image or symbol in the field of view of the operator (e.g. in the center or near the edge of the operator's field of view). It has been shown that even a momentary presentation of information in the peripheral field of an operator's view can affect the operator's behavior.
In one test arrangement described in German Patent DE 199 52 506, a test vehicle having a controllable CRT display on the dashboard in place of the otherwise typical panel of individual instruments, was modified so as to be able to measure the driver's reaction time to road signs and traffic lights. The reaction times of an adequately large number of subjects were measured both with and without subliminal optical sensitization, To sensitize the subjects, a symbol of a road sign or a traffic light was displayed for a duration of approximately 50 milliseconds on the CRT display before the actual road sign or traffic light appeared in the subject's field of vision. This subliminal sensitization resulted in a significant reduction in the reaction time of the subject of 50 milliseconds as compared to the reaction time without sensitization.
In a second test arrangement described in German Patent DB 199 52 506, a similar test vehicle with a CRT display as instrument panel was allowed to follow a vehicle driving ahead of the test vehicle at 20 to 40 km per hour. The subject was told to actuate the brake pedal as soon as the brake lights of the lead vehicle lit up. Randomly, in half of the cases, a picture of two lit brake lights was flashed in the instrument panel before the brake lights of the le
Daimler-Chrysler AG
Davidson Davidson & Kappel LLC
Hofsass Jeffery
Previl Daniel
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