Vehicle, vehicle display control device, and method with variable graphic representation of inter-vehicle time and distance

1 . A vehicle display control device comprising:

a processor configured to:

acquire a vehicle speed of a subject vehicle, an inter-vehicle distance to a lead vehicle traveling in front of the subject vehicle in a traveling direction, and at least one of a specified value or a detected value of an inter-vehicle time gap, the inter-vehicle time gap being a following time required for the subject vehicle to reach a position at which the lead vehicle is present;

display inter-vehicle information indicating the specified value or the detected value of the inter-vehicle time gap and the inter-vehicle distance, at a position corresponding to a forward side of the subject vehicle represented by a first icon in the traveling direction on a display equipped in the subject vehicle, wherein the inter-vehicle information is configured such that the indication of the specified value or the detected value of the inter-vehicle time gap remains unchanged when the indication of the inter-vehicle distance varies in accordance with changes in vehicle speed;

display a graphic group in which partial graphics are arranged along a predetermined direction corresponding to the traveling direction on the display as the inter-vehicle information;

change a number of the partial graphics included in the graphic group according to the specified value of the inter-vehicle time gap; and

increase the number of the partial graphics as the specified value of the inter-vehicle time gap increases.

2 . The vehicle display control device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to:

display a graphic group in which partial graphics are arranged along a predetermined direction corresponding to the traveling direction on the display as the inter-vehicle information; and

change a total size of the graphic group along the predetermined direction according to the inter-vehicle distance.

3 . The vehicle display control device according to claim 2 , wherein the processor is configured such that the total size of the graphic group along the predetermined direction increases as the inter-vehicle distance increases.

4 . The vehicle display control device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processor is configured to display a second icon representing the other vehicle at a position according to the inter-vehicle distance in the display.

5 . A vehicle comprising:

the vehicle display control device according to claim 1 ; and

a processor configured to:

receive the specified value of the inter-vehicle time gap; and

control travel of the subject vehicle such that the detected value of the inter-vehicle time corresponds to the specified value of the inter-vehicle time.

6 . The vehicle display control device according to claim 1 , wherein a shape of the partial graphics is quadrilateral.

7 . The vehicle display control device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to display the partial graphics only in front of the first icon on the display.

8 . The vehicle display control device according to claim 1 , wherein an area of the partial graphics decreases as the partial graphics is farther away from the subject vehicle in the traveling direction.

9 . The vehicle display control device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to display the partial graphics on the display while maintaining a shape of the partial graphics.

10 . The vehicle display control device according to claim 1 , wherein the specified value of the inter-vehicle time is set by a driver of the subject vehicle operating a switch.

11 . A vehicle display control method that is executed by a computer, the vehicle display control method comprising the steps of:

acquiring a vehicle speed of a subject vehicle, an inter-vehicle distance to a lead vehicle traveling in front of the subject vehicle in a traveling direction, and at least one of a specified value or a detected value of an inter-vehicle time gap, the inter-vehicle time gap being a following time required for the subject vehicle to reach a position at which the lead vehicle is present;

displaying inter-vehicle information indicating the specified value or the detected value of the inter-vehicle time gap and the inter-vehicle distance, at a position corresponding to a forward side of the subject vehicle represented by a first icon in the traveling direction on a display equipped in the subject vehicle, such that the indication of the specified value or the detected value of the inter-vehicle time gap remains unchanged when the indication of the inter-vehicle distance varies in accordance with changes in vehicle speed;

displaying a graphic group in which partial graphics are arranged along a predetermined direction corresponding to the traveling direction on the display as the inter-vehicle information;

changing a number of the partial graphics included in the graphic group according to the specified value of the inter-vehicle time gap; and

increasing the number of the partial graphics as the specified value of the inter-vehicle time gap increases.

12 . A non-transitory storage medium storing instructions that are executable by a computer and that cause the computer to perform functions comprising the steps of:

acquiring a vehicle speed of a subject vehicle, an inter-vehicle distance to a lead vehicle traveling in front of the subject vehicle in a traveling direction, and at least one of a specified value or a detected value of an inter-vehicle time gap, the inter-vehicle time gap being a following time required for the subject vehicle to reach a position at which the lead vehicle is present;

displaying inter-vehicle information indicating the specified value or the detected value of the inter-vehicle time gap and the inter-vehicle distance at a position corresponding to a forward side of the subject vehicle represented by a first icon in the traveling direction on a display equipped in the subject vehicle, such that an indication of the specified value or the detected value of the inter-vehicle time gap remains unchanged when the indication of the inter-vehicle distance varies in accordance with changes in vehicle speed;

displaying a graphic group in which partial graphics are arranged along a predetermined direction corresponding to the traveling direction on the display as the inter-vehicle information;

changing a number of the partial graphics included in the graphic group according to the specified value of the inter-vehicle time gap; and

increasing the number of the partial graphics as the specified value of the inter-vehicle time gap increases.