VEHICLE OCCUPANT IMPAIRMENT ASSISTED VEHICLE

1 . A method, comprising:

determining, by a vehicle control system, that a vehicle occupant has an impairment; and

in response, altering a communication interface of the vehicle to accommodate the impairment.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the impairment is one or more of a vision impairment, hearing impairment, dexterity impairment, mobility impairment, language impairment, and communication impairment, wherein the communication interface is a screen on board the vehicle, and further comprising:

determining a location of the vehicle occupant and the screen corresponding to the determined occupant location, wherein the alteration is one or more of:

(i) apply screen magnification to at least part of the content displayed on the screen;

(ii) render at least part of the displayed content in a larger font and/or icon size;

(iii) initiate a screen reader to audibly provide and/or describe at least part of the displayed content to the occupant;

(iv) initiate haptic feedback to provide and/or describe at least part of the displayed content to the occupant;

(v) disable unnecessary animation effects from at least a part of the displayed content;

(vi) remove a background image from while leaving a foreground image in at least part of the displayed content;

(vii) enable a longer period for notification dialog boxes to remain open in the displayed content;

(viii) enable a longer contact period of a digit of the occupant to select a selectable object in the displayed content;

(ix) disable automatic arrangement of windows when a mouse cursor is moved to an edge of the displayed content;

(x) enable activate a window in at least part of the displayed content by hovering over the window with a mouse cursor;

(xi) enable keyboard web page navigation in the displayed content;

(xii) enable a high contrast between text and a background color in at least part of the displayed content;

(xiii) change a color and transparency of a border of a window in at least part of the displayed content;

(xiv) change a thickness of a focus rectangle around a currently selected item in a dialog box in the displayed content;

(xv) change a color, size, and/or thickness of an on-screen mouse pointer in the displayed content;

(xvi) change a keyboard setting displayed in the displayed content and/or in communication with the displayed content;

(xvii) ignore a color, font style, font size, and/or format of a web page of the displayed content in accordance with a predetermined style sheet;

(xviii) increase a size of a selectable object in at least part of the displayed content;

(xix) enable blind typing on the graphical user interface;

(xx) enable text and/or a visual alternative to an audio channel associated with the displayed content;

(xxi) increase a volume setting of the audio channel;

(xxii) change a sound provided by the audio channel;

(xxiii) enable sign language interpretation;

(xxiv) enable a text phone application;

(xxv) change a setting of a mouse associated with the displayed content; and

(xxvi) remove one or more selectable objects from the displayed content.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (i).

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (ii).

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (iii).

6 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (iv).

7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (v).

8 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (vi).

9 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (vii).

10 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (viii).

11 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (ix).

12 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (x).

13 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xi).

14 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xii).

15 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xiii).

16 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xiv).

17 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xv).

18 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xvi).

19 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xvii).

20 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xvii).

21 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xviii).

22 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xix).

23 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xx).

24 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xxi).

25 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xxii).

26 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xxiii).

27 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xxiv).

28 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xxv).

29 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the alteration is (xxvi).

30 . A vehicle configured to perform the steps of claim 1 .

31 . A tangible and non-transient computer readable medium comprising microprocessor executable instructions that, when executed, perform the steps of claim 1 .

32 . A method, comprising:

sensing, by a vehicle control system, a sound from a source external to a vehicle;

identifying, by the vehicle control system, a type and/or source of the sound;

based on the identifying step, notifying a driver of the vehicle of the type and/or source of the sound.

33 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the notification is one or more of a visual notification, an audible notification, and a haptic notification.

34 . The method of claim 32 , wherein the notification is an audible notification and wherein the audible notification is one or more of a portion of the frequency range of the received sound, a frequency shifted portion of the received sound, and a phase shifted portion of the sound.

35 . A vehicle configured to perform the steps of claim 32 .

36 . A tangible and non-transient computer readable medium comprising microprocessor executable instructions that, when executed, perform the steps of claim 32 .

37 . A method, comprising:

altering, by a vehicle control system, an interface of a vehicle based on one or more of a user impairment, user medical condition, user age, user physical condition, user driving characteristic and driving history.

38 . The method of claim 37 , wherein the interface is one or more of a steering wheel, pedal, a graphical user interface, and a setting and/or configuration of an automated vehicle response system.

39 . The method of claim 38 , wherein the automated vehicle response system is a collision avoidance system.

40 . A vehicle configured to perform the steps of claim 37 .

41 . A tangible and non-transient computer readable medium comprising microprocessor executable instructions that, when executed, perform the steps of claim 37 .