Directional stimuli to enhance vehicle operator situational awareness
Directional stimuli are applied to a vehicle operator to enhance situational awareness. Characteristics within a vehicle's external environment may be assessed to determine whether they present at least a threshold safety risk. If so, a type and/or intensity of a directional stimulus to apply to the vehicle operator is determined. In addition, one or more output devices is selected to apply the directional stimulus. The selected output devices may, upon activation, apply the directional stimulus from a same direction as the underlying directionality, in relation to the vehicle, of a potential safety hazard present in the vehicle's external environment. In this manner, the applied stimulus elicits an immediate rise in the vehicle operator's situational awareness, and also immediately informs her—based on the direction from which the stimulus is applied/received—of the directionality of the potential safety hazard within the vehicle's external environment.
1. A vehicle system, comprising:
a plurality of output devices adapted to apply a stimulus to a vehicle operator of a vehicle; and
a vehicle control circuit comprising:
at least one memory storing machine-executable instructions; and
at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory and execute the machine-executable instructions to:
determine that detected characteristics of an environment external to the vehicle indicate level of safety risk;
determine a directionality of the detected characteristics with respect to the vehicle;
select, based on the determined directionality, and the level of safety risk a particular output device of the plurality of output devices to direct the stimulus to the vehicle operator, the particular output device equating to a particular stimulus type, wherein the particular stimulus type is different than stimulus types of others of the plurality of output devices; and
cause the stimulus to be directed to the vehicle operator via the selected output device.
2. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to select the particular output device by executing the computer-executable instructions to:
determine that the particular output device is adapted to apply the stimulus to the vehicle operator at a same directionality as the directionality of the detected characteristics with respect to the vehicle.
3. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:
receive sensor data from one or more sensors onboard the vehicle, at least a portion of the sensor data being indicative of the detected characteristics of the environment external to the vehicle; and
analyze the sensor data to determine that the detected characteristics indicate at least a threshold level of safety risk.
4. The vehicle system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to analyze the sensor data to determine that the detected characteristics indicate a level of safety risk by executing the computer-executable instructions to:
determine a safety risk score based on the sensor data; and
determine that the safety risk score exceeds a safety risk threshold value.
5. The vehicle system of claim 3 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the directionality of the detected characteristics with respect to the vehicle by executing the computer-executable instructions to:
determine the directionality of the detected characteristics based on a location of at least one sensor of the one or more sensors with respect to a longitudinal axis that coincides with a direction of travel of the vehicle.
6. The vehicle system of claim 3 , wherein the sensor data includes one or more of image data, radar data, or light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data.
7. The vehicle system of claim 3 , wherein the sensor data further includes data indicative of characteristics of the vehicle.
8. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:
receive sensor data indicative of the detected characteristics from infrastructure present in the environment external to the vehicle.
9. The vehicle system of claim 1 , further comprising an actuation device for controlling the plurality of output devices to apply to the stimulus, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the stimulus to be directed to the vehicle operator via the selected output device by executing the computer-executable instructions to:
generate a control signal indicative of the stimulus and the selected output device; and
send the control signal to the actuation device to cause the actuation device to apply the stimulus to the vehicle operator via the selected output device.
10. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:
determine a safety risk category associated with the detected characteristics; and
determine an intensity of the stimulus based on the safety risk category, wherein the at least one processor is configured to cause the stimulus to be directed to the vehicle operator via the selected output device by executing the computer-executable instructions to cause the selected output device to direct the stimulus to the vehicle operator at the determined intensity.
11. A method, comprising:
sensing characteristics of an environment external to a vehicle;
determining that the sensed characteristics indicate a level of safety risk;
determining a particular part of a body of a vehicle operator of the vehicle that, upon receiving stimuli, produces a heightened awareness for the vehicle operator as compared to one or more other parts of the body of the vehicle operator;
selecting, from a plurality of output devices adapted to apply a stimulus to different parts of the body of the vehicle operator, a particular output device adapted to direct the stimulus to a particular part of the body of the vehicle operator based on the level of safety risk, the particular output device equating to a particular stimulus type, wherein the particular stimulus type is different than stimulus types of others of the plurality of output devices; and
causing the stimulus to be directed to the particular part of the body of the vehicle operator via the selected output device.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining a directionality of the sensed characteristics with respect to the vehicle; and
selecting the particular output device further based on the determined directionality.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein selecting the particular output device further based on the determined directionality comprises determining that the particular output device is adapted to apply the stimulus to the particular part of the body of the vehicle operator at a same directionality as the directionality of the sensed characteristics with respect to the vehicle.
14. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
receiving sensor data from one or more sensors onboard the vehicle, at least a portion of the sensor data being indicative of the sensed characteristics of the environment external to the vehicle; and
analyzing the sensor data to determine that the sensed characteristics indicate at least a threshold level of safety risk.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein analyzing the sensor data further comprises:
determining a safety risk score based on the sensor data; and
determining that the safety risk score exceeds a safety risk threshold value.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the directionality of the sensed characteristics with respect to the vehicle comprises:
determining the directionality of the sensed characteristics based on a location of at least one sensor of the one or more sensors with respect to a longitudinal axis that coincides with a direction of travel of the vehicle.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein the sensor data includes one or more of image data, radar data, or light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data.
18. The method of claim 14 , the method further comprising:
receiving additional sensor data indicative of the sensed characteristics from infrastructure present in the environment external to the vehicle.
19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the particular part of the body of the vehicle operator is a hackles of the vehicle operator, and wherein the stimulus is one of heated or cooled air blown towards the hackles of the vehicle operator or heat applied from a heating element located in proximity to the hackles of the vehicle operator.
20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
determining a safety risk category associated with the detected characteristics; and
determining an intensity of the stimulus based on the safety risk category,
wherein causing the stimulus to be directed to the particular part of the body of the vehicle operator via the selected output device comprises causing the selected output device to direct the stimulus to the particular part of the body of the vehicle operator at the determined intensity.