EP2217992A2

EP2217992A2 - Method and apparatus for operating a device in a vehicle with a voice controller

Info

Publication number: EP2217992A2
Application number: EP08844381A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Lorenz Bohrer; Christof Bobzin
Original assignee: Volkswagen AG
Current assignee: Volkswagen AG
Priority date: 2007-11-02
Filing date: 2008-10-31
Publication date: 2010-08-18
Also published as: US20110007006A1; WO2009056637A2; WO2009056637A3; US9193315B2; DE102007052345A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for operating a device in a vehicle (8), in which an operating step is selected and a function associated with the operating step is performed. The method according to the invention is characterized in that the operation of selecting the operating step automatically activates a voice controller for input following the operating step. The invention also relates to an apparatus for operating a device in a vehicle (8), said apparatus having a display apparatus (2) for displaying operating steps, a first operating unit (6) for haptic input for selecting an operating step, a voice control unit (4, 5) for voice input for selecting an operating step, and a control unit (1) which is coupled to the display apparatus (2), the first operating unit (6) and the voice control unit (4, 5) and can be used to generate control signals for performing a function associated with a selected operating step. The apparatus according to the invention is characterized in that the control unit (1) is designed in such a manner that the operation of selecting an operating step automatically activates the voice control unit (4, 5) for input following the operating step.

Description

Method and device for operating a device of a vehicle with a voice control

The present invention relates to a method for operating a device of a vehicle, in which an operating step is selected and a function associated with the operating step is carried out. The invention further relates to a device for operating a device of a vehicle having a display device for displaying operating steps, a first operating unit for haptic input for selecting an operating step, a second operating unit for voice input designed as a voice control unit for selecting an operating step and a control unit, which is coupled to the display device, the first operating unit and the voice control unit, and with the control signals for executing a function can be generated, which is associated with a selected operating step.

Originally, the various devices provided in a vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle, were operated via separate operating elements. For example, there have been rotary switches for setting the ventilation and the temperature, switches for setting the various ventilation nozzles, switches for operating the illumination devices for the interior of the vehicle, corresponding switches for the lighting and headlight devices outside the vehicle and controls for a radio or a CD Player. In modern motor vehicles, so many means for setting various vehicle functions, information systems, including driver assistance systems and entertainment systems, are now provided that it is no longer appropriate to provide separate controls for all vehicle equipment. For this reason, the operation of the diverse vehicle facilities via a uniform operating concept with a few controls that are operated in conjunction with a display device. In this case, buttons are displayed by the display of the display device, which can be selected by the control element.

The operation of the various facilities of the vehicle and the inclusion of

Information that can be supplied by these facilities is claimed by the

Attention of the driver under circumstances such that the simultaneous safe driving of the motor vehicle by the driver is not or only possible to a limited extent is. Thus, if the driver wants to operate facilities of the vehicle whose information is displayed via the display device, he may do so before the start of a journey or interrupt the trip for the operation. Such impairments to the operation are undesirable. In many cases, they cause the driver to operate the equipment of the vehicle while driving, although this can lead to a distraction that can pose a safety risk.

It is therefore desirable to display the information in the motor vehicle so that it can be quickly and intuitively recorded by the driver, so that the detection of the displayed information does not lead to a distraction of the driver while driving. Furthermore, the operation should be so intuitive, simple and quick to carry out that the driver can operate the devices of the vehicle whose information is displayed by the display device, even while driving, even if the display device, if necessary, complex structures can be displayed. The information representation and the operation associated with an information presentation in the motor vehicle thus contribute to safety in guiding the motor vehicle.

In order in particular to enable the driver of a vehicle to operate the devices of the vehicle in which he does not have to keep his eyes away from the driving, it is known to use voice control. The driver presses in this case, a so-called push-to-talk button, which may be provided for example on the steering wheel, whereupon he makes a speech input. Pressing the push-to-talk button activates the voice control. For a specific time interval, acoustic signals are recorded by a microphone in the interior of the vehicle and analyzed with a speech recognition unit and converted into control commands. A disadvantage of such an operating system is that the voice control does not flow smoothly into the operation of, for example, a multi-function operating device, but voice commands can only be entered by previously pressing the push-to-talk key.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for operating a device of a vehicle, which provides an improved voice control.

This object is achieved by a method having the features of claim 1 and an apparatus having the features of claim 8. Advantageous embodiments and further developments emerge from the subclaims. The method according to the invention is characterized in that the selection of the operating step automatically activates a voice control for an input following the operating step.

In this case, it is thus not necessary for the user to carry out another operating step for voice control, for example by pressing a so-called push-to-talk key. Instead, the voice control is automatically activated for the input following the operating step. However, the input following the operating step does not necessarily have to be carried out by means of a linguistic input. Preferably, it can also by means of a haptic input, d. H. z. B. by pressing a control element or touching a touch screen, performed.

Preferably, it can be determined by means of an input whether the selection of the next operating step or of the following operating steps should automatically activate the voice control for an input following the respective operating step. It can thus be made a global setting for the voice control, namely for the operations for which a voice control is available. According to a preferred development, the user is presented with the available operating steps by means of buttons on a display device. A voice control symbol associated with the buttons will be displayed if the selection of the operating step also automatically activates the voice control for an input following the operating step. On the basis of this voice control symbol, the user can also recognize whether any voice control is possible for an input following the operating step.

According to a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, an operating procedure is carried out which comprises a plurality of operating steps, which are carried out by a linguistic and / or haptic input. Regardless of whether a previous operating step has been carried out by a linguistic or a haptic input, in the method according to the invention the following operating step can take place by means of a linguistic input or a haptic input. This gives the user a high degree of flexibility. He does not have to decide whether the input is linguistic or hap- tic. Both input options are provided for the operating steps with voice control function. One operation usually has a limited number of choices. The options are assigned in an embodiment of the method according to the invention in each case words or phrases composed of several words. In the method, the vocabulary is now limited by speech recognition speech recognition to the words associated with the choices, or occurring in the phrases of choices for the current operation.

The haptic input takes place in particular by touching a touch-sensitive surface by an object, such. B. the user's finger. The device for the haptic input can thus be combined with the display of a display device by a so-called touch screen is provided.

The device according to the invention is characterized in that the control unit is designed such that the speech control unit is automatically activated by the selection of an operating step for an input following the operating step. The voice control unit may comprise a microphone for detecting voice spoken within the vehicle and a voice recognition unit which converts speech detected by the microphone into input signals that can be processed by the control unit. Preferably, the speech recognition unit can be coupled to a memory in which a vocabulary is stored whose words or phrases composed of several words can be converted by the speech recognition unit into input signals. Preferably, in one operating step the vocabulary can be limited depending on the words or the words occurring in the phrases, which are assigned to a limited number of choices of the operating step.

According to a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the first operating unit comprises a touch-sensitive surface. The first operating unit and a display of the display device are provided in particular by a touchscreen. Furthermore, it is also possible that, alternatively or additionally, the first operating unit is arranged in the vehicle remote from the display device.

The invention will now be explained with reference to an embodiment with reference to the drawings.

1 shows schematically an embodiment of an operating device according to the invention, Figure 2 shows the display of the display in the display device before the selection of an operating step and

Figure 3 shows the display of the display of the display device, for the operating step, the following input.

First, the basic structure of the operating device according to the invention, which is also suitable for carrying out the method according to the invention, is explained with reference to FIG. 1:

The device comprises a central control unit 1. This is coupled to a display device 2, which has a display 3. The display may be a liquid crystal display known per se. However, any other display for visualizing information may also be used. The display device 2 is arranged in the vehicle 8 so that the display 3 is located in the driver's primary field of vision. This "primary field of vision" is usually defined so that the line of sight B of the driver 9 is an angular range in a vertical plane arranged in the vehicle longitudinal direction at a certain angle α downwards or upwards from the horizontal which intersects the eyes of the driver 9, The primary field of vision of the driver 9 is defined so that the angle α is less than 30.degree .. To view the display 3, the driver 9 thus has to turn his gaze downward less than 30.degree from an average size of the driver 9. The display device 3 is further arranged substantially at the center of the vehicle 9, so that the display 3 can be viewed by both the driver 9 and a passenger.

Within reach of the driver 9, an operating element 6 is arranged, which is also coupled to the control unit 1. The operating element 6 is, for example, a mechanical operating element, in particular a rotary-push-button switch, which may be provided by further mechanical switches, for. B. key switches, is surrounded. The "range" includes the range in which the driver 9, who has an average size, can readily grasp, ie with little or no change in his position, in a position which he normally occupies while driving To grip control element 6, the driver 9 in particular must not or only slightly prevent.

According to one embodiment of the operating device, the display device 2 displays, inter alia, information which is assigned to an operator via the operating element 6. are net. For example, from the first display device 2 different buttons can be displayed, which can be controlled and selected via the control element 6. Direct operation via the display 3 of the display device 2 is thus not required. According to a further embodiment of the operating device, however, the display 3 of the display device 2 is designed as a touch screen. The display 3 thus has a touch-sensitive surface, so that an operation can also be made directly via the display 3.

Furthermore, coupled to the control unit 1 is a voice control unit which comprises a microphone 4 and a voice recognition unit 5. The microphone 4 can be switched on and off by the control unit 1. It detects speech spoken within the vehicle 8. The speech 4 detected by the microphone is transmitted by means of electrical signals to the speech recognition unit 5, which analyzes the speech information and converts it into input signals. For this purpose, a memory may be provided in the speech recognition unit, which comprises the totality of the words contained in the totality of the selection options for operating steps. It is possible to carry out an operating step by uttering a single word or a phrase composed of several words.

The control unit 1 is further coupled to a Fahrbusbus 7. The devices of the vehicle 8, which are to be operated via the operating device, are also coupled to this Fahrzugbus 7. Furthermore, it is also possible for some vehicle devices to be coupled directly to the control unit 1. If necessary, data is transmitted from the vehicle devices via the vehicle bus 7 to the control unit 1. The data is processed there. Furthermore, graphics data are generated, which are displayed graphically by the displays 3 of the display device 2. Furthermore, the user, such. B. the driver 9, via the control element 6 or designed as a touch screens displays 3 of the display device 2 make inputs, which are transmitted to the control unit 1. There, these inputs are processed and converted as needed into control signals, via which the vehicle devices are controlled.

Furthermore, the control unit 1 is connected to a memory 10, from which data can be read out. On the memory 10, a variety of data required for the processing of the data received from the control unit may be stored. The method according to the invention or the device according to the invention is explained below by means of an example in which a contact person is selected, for example, to initiate a telephone call:

As shown in FIG. 2, the user is presented with a plurality of buttons on the display 3 of the display device 2, via which he can call specific groups of contact persons. As shown in Figure 2, there is a button for calling the business contacts and a button for calling the private contacts. Furthermore, there is a button on the bottom left, with which the voice control can be activated as a global setting. However, this global activation of voice control does not mean that in each case the operation can be done via a linguistic input. Rather, the buttons that allow voice control after being operated will display microphones as an additional icon to alert the user that speech will be available after selecting the appropriate button.

In the case shown in FIG. 2, the user selects the middle button for the private contacts via the operating element 6. This selection is transmitted to the control unit 1. The function assigned to this operating step is then executed by the control unit 1 by reading out from the memory 10 a list of the user's private contacts. Simultaneously with the execution of this operation, the voice control is automatically activated for an input following the operation. The activation of the voice control via the control unit 1. The microphone 4 is turned on by the control unit 1 and detects speech within the vehicle. At the same time, a list of private contact persons is displayed on the display 3 of the display device 2. Each contact person is assigned a button that can be selected by means of the control element 6 or via a linguistic input.

The user can now either a linguistic input or an input by means of the control element 6 a specific contact for z. For example, select a call.

In order for the speech recognition unit 5 to be able to detect the speech input quickly and reliably, the vocabulary available for the speech recognition is limited to the names which occur in the list of private contacts. With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, an operating step and an input following the operating step have been explained, which can be haptic or linguistic. In general, however, an operating sequence comprising a plurality of operating steps can be carried out in the manner explained above. In this case, an operating step can be carried out by a linguistic input or a haptic input, regardless of whether the previous operating step was carried out by a linguistic input or haptic input. However, it is possible that for certain operating steps no linguistic input option is available. In this case, the input can only be made by haptic means. A subsequent operating step can, however, then, if fundamentally possible, also take place via a linguistic input.

In the method according to the invention and the device according to the invention, the push-to-talk function, which is usually implemented in a separate operating element, is thus integrated into the selection of an operating step preceding the linguistic input. This makes operation easier, since no separate push-to-talk button must be pressed.

In addition, the vocabulary to be recognized in the speech recognition is limited by coupling to the current operating context, whereby the speech recognition can be accelerated and improved.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

control unit

display device

display

microphone

Voice recognition unit

operating element

vehicle bus

vehicle

driver

Storage

Claims

PAT EN TA NSPR O CHE

Method for operating a device of a vehicle (8), in which an operating step is selected and a function assigned to the operating step is carried out, characterized in that the selection of the operating step automatically activates a voice control for an input following the operating step.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the subsequent operation of the operating step can be carried out both by means of a linguistic input and by means of a haptic input.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is determined by means of an input, whether automatically selected by the selection of the next operating step or the following operating steps, the voice control for the respective operating step input.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the user to the selection of operating steps by means of buttons on a display device (2) are shown, and that a buttons associated with the speech control icon is displayed, if automatically selected by the selection of the operating step Voice control is activated for an input following the operating step.

5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an operating sequence is carried out, which comprises a plurality of operating steps, which are performed by a linguistic input and / or a haptic input, and regardless of whether a previous operating step by a linguistic input or a haptic input is made, the following operating step can be done by a linguistic input or a haptic input.

6. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that there are a limited number of choices in an operation that the choices each words or words composed of several words are assigned phrases, and that the vocabulary of a speech recognition of the speech control on the words is limited, which are assigned to the selections, or occur in the phrases of the choices for the current operating step.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the haptic input is effected by touching a touch-sensitive surface by an object.

8. Device for operating a device of a vehicle (8) with,

- A display device (2) for displaying operations, a first operating unit (6) for a haptic input for selecting an operating step, - a voice control unit (4, 5) for a speech input for selecting an operating step and a control unit (1), the with the display device (2), the first operating unit (6) and the voice control unit (4, 5) is coupled, and are generated with the control signals for performing a function associated with a selected operating step, characterized in that

- The control unit (1) is designed so that automatically the voice control unit (4, 5) is activated for an operation following the step by the selection of an operating step.

9. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that the voice control unit comprises a microphone (4) for detecting voice spoken within the vehicle (8) and a voice recognition unit (5), which converts speech detected by the microphone (4) into input signals which are processable by the control unit (1).

10. The device according to claims 8 or 9, characterized in that the speech recognition unit (4, 5) is coupled to a memory in which the vocabulary is stored, whose words or phrases composed of several words from the speech recognition unit (5) in Input signals are implemented, and that in one operating step, the vocabulary in response to the words or occurring in the phrases words that are associated with a limited number of choices of the operating step, can be limited.

1 1. Device according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the first operating unit comprises a touch-sensitive surface.

12. The device according to claim 11, characterized in that the first operating unit (6) and a display (3) of the display device (2) are provided by a touch screen.

13. Device according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the first operating unit (6) in the vehicle (8) offset from the display device (2) is arranged.