Granted Patent B2

US 12,614,475 · App. 18/462,291 · Granted Apr 28, 2026

Inventors: Alexander Blouin (Ann Arbor, MI); Kevin King (Detroit, MI); Jacob Michael Haspiel (Ann Arbor, MI); Robin Mathew Kurian (Canton, MI); Zhimin Yang (Northville, MI); Stefan Bankowski (Royal Oak, MI); Ryan Alexander Bright (Southfield, MI)

G09B29/106B60H3/0035

Abstract

Claims (56)

1 . A vehicle comprising:

a transceiver;

an infotainment system;

a body control module;

a telematics control unit configured to determine a real-time vehicle geolocation; and

a processor communicatively coupled with the transceiver and the telematics control unit, wherein the processor is configured to:

obtain a first trigger signal from the infotainment system in response to a user request received at the infotainment system, the first trigger signal including the user request and user interest areas;

obtain, based on the first trigger signal, a preview of tour information associated with a plurality of tours and the real-time vehicle geolocation, the plurality of tours being associated with the real-time vehicle geolocation and the user interest areas;

cause the infotainment system to display the preview of the tour information, wherein the preview includes a portion of a route associated with a tour, of the plurality of tours, overlaid on a map of a geographical area associated with the real-time vehicle geo-location;

receive user input selecting a first tour of the plurality of tours;

receive a second trigger signal indicating selection of the first tour;

obtain expanded information about the first tour;

determine that the real-time vehicle geolocation is equivalent to a geo-location of a first point of interest (POI) associated with the first tour; and

modify, using the body control module, a first vehicle component setting associated with a vehicle component to a second vehicle component setting, responsive to determining that the real-time vehicle geolocation is equivalent to the geo-location of the point of interest associated with the first tour, wherein the first vehicle component setting includes one or more of: illumination status of one or more interior lights of the vehicle, active or deactivate a fragrance system of the vehicle, a setting associated with an HVAC system of the vehicle, adjust a volume of a speaker of the vehicle, or vibrate a driver sitting area of the vehicle.

2 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the transceiver receives the preview of the tour information from a server.

3 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the expanded tour information comprises at least one of: a plurality of geolocations associated with a plurality of points of interest (POIs) on the first tour, an audio message or a video message associated with one or more POIs of the plurality of POIs, a textual content associated with one or more POIs of the plurality of POIs, and one or more vehicle component settings associated with one or more POIs of the plurality of POIs.

4 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether the vehicle is in motion or stationary, prior to receiving the second trigger signal.

5 . The vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine the second vehicle component setting associated with the first POI based on the tour information, responsive to determining that the vehicle is in motion; and

modify the first vehicle component setting to the second vehicle component setting, responsive to determining the second vehicle component setting.

6 . The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine a third vehicle component setting associated with the first POI based on the tour information, responsive to determining that the vehicle is stationary; and

modify the first vehicle component setting to the third vehicle component setting, responsive to determining the third vehicle component setting.

7 . The vehicle of claim 4 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

cause the infotainment system to output the audio message associated with the first POI, responsive to determining that the vehicle is in motion; and

cause the infotainment system to output at least one of the video message and the textual content, responsive to determining that the vehicle is stationary.

8 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

obtain a digital map of a geographical area comprising a plurality of POIs from a server, wherein the digital map is associated with the map; and

cause the infotainment system to display the digital map, wherein the digital map comprises a plurality of location icons associated with the plurality of POIs.

9 . The vehicle of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine turn-by-turn navigation instructions based on the digital map, when the vehicle is travelling on a route associated with the first tour; and

output the turn-by-turn navigation instructions.

10 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle component comprises at least one of: a vehicle light, a vehicle sitting area, a vehicle fragrance system, the infotainment system, a vehicle speaker system, and a vehicle heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

11 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor obtains the second trigger signal when the vehicle commences travel on the first tour.

12 . The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the processor obtains the second trigger signal after the first tour is selected.

13 . A method comprising:

obtaining, by a processor of a vehicle, a first trigger signal, the first trigger signal including a user request and user interest information;

obtaining, by the processor, a preview of tour information associated with a plurality of tours and a real-time vehicle geolocation associated with the vehicle, responsive to obtaining the first trigger signal;

displaying, on an infotainment system of the vehicle, the preview of the tour information, the preview including a portion of a route associated with a tour overlaid on a map of a geographical area associated with the real-time vehicle geo-location;

receiving user input selecting a first tour of the plurality of tours;

receiving a second trigger signal indicating selection of the first tour;

obtaining expanded information about the first tour;

determining, by the processor, that the real-time vehicle geolocation is equivalent to a geo-location of a first point of interest (POI) associated with the first tour; and

modifying, by the processor, a first vehicle component setting associated with a vehicle component to a second vehicle component setting, responsive to determining that the real-time vehicle geolocation is equivalent to the geo-location of the point of interest associated with the first tour, wherein the first vehicle component setting includes one or more of: illumination status of one or more interior lights of the vehicle, active or deactivate a fragrance system of the vehicle, a setting associated with an HVAC system of the vehicle, volume of a speaker of the vehicle, or vibration status of a driver sitting area of the vehicle.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the expanded tour information comprises at least one of: a plurality of geolocations associated with a plurality of points of interest (POIs) on the tour, an audio message or a video message associated with one or more POIs of the plurality of POIs, a textual content associated with one or more POIs of the plurality of POIs, and one or more vehicle component settings associated with one or more POIs of the plurality of POIs.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the vehicle component comprises at least one of: a vehicle light, a vehicle sitting area, a vehicle fragrance system, the infotainment system, a vehicle speaker system, and a vehicle heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein receiving the second trigger signal comprises receiving the second trigger signal when the vehicle commences travel on the first tour.

17 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereupon which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

obtain a first trigger signal from an infotainment system of a vehicle in response to a user request received at the infotainment system, the first trigger signal including the user request and user interest areas;

obtain, in response to the first trigger signal, a preview tour information associated with a plurality of tours and a real-time vehicle geolocation associated with a vehicle;

display, on the infotainment system, the preview of the tour information, wherein the preview includes a portion of a route associated with a tour overlaid on a map of a geographical area associated with the real-time vehicle geo-location;

receive user input selecting a first tour of the plurality of tours;

receive a second trigger signal indicating selection of the first tour;

obtain expanded information about the first tour;

determine that the real-time vehicle geolocation is equivalent to a geo-location of a first point of interest (POI) associated with the first tour; and

modify a first vehicle component setting associated with a vehicle component to a second vehicle component setting, responsive to determining that the real-time vehicle geolocation is equivalent to the geo-location of the point of interest associated with the first tour, wherein the first vehicle component setting includes one or more of: illumination status of one or more interior lights of the vehicle, active or deactivate a fragrance system of the vehicle, a setting associated with an HVAC system of the vehicle, adjust a volume of a speaker of the vehicle, or vibrate a driver sitting area of the vehicle.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (16)