Patent ID: 11921932
Assignee: AUDI AG
Field: Transport (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  B | IPC B  G

Claim 0:
1. A method of operating a display and operating device in a vehicle, the method comprising:
by a control device configured to receive and evaluate signals and to generate control signals, including,
specifying a graphical configuration of a group of display elements corresponding to an operating element of the vehicle and at least one operating subfunction of the operating element to be displayable in response to at least one operating action to replace the operating element with at least one three-dimensional shape, from among three-dimensional shapes of a stack and a sphere, with regions corresponding to the at least one operating subfunction, a region of the regions being selectable by at least one operating action, from among operating actions of a rotary gesture, a pressing gesture, a tapping gesture, and swiping gesture;
based on the graphical configuration,
ascertaining at least one light wave parameter, from among light wave parameters that respectively describe a physical property of a respective light wave of a group of light waves, each light wave parameter of the light wave parameters respectively describing the physical property of a frequency, an amplitude, and a wavelength of the respective light wave, and
ascertaining a totality of the light wave parameters that describe an interference pattern of the graphical configuration based on the at least one light wave parameter, so that at least a partial superposition of the group of light waves is described to generate an image representation of the operating element;

generating a first signal that describes the totality of the light wave parameters of the interference pattern describing the image representation of the operating element in the vehicle;
transferring the first signal that describes the totality of the light wave parameters of the interference pattern to an interference output device;

by the interference output device,
generating and outputting the group of light waves based on the first signal that describes the totality of the light wave parameters of the interference pattern of the graphical configuration by setting the at least one light wave parameter for each light wave, from among the group of light waves, so as to generate a light wave interference to display a first display element of the group of display elements at a position reachable by a body part of a user in the vehicle to intersect a display plane of the operating element to select the operating element by the at least one operating action;
receiving an operating signal from an operating device, the operating signal describing an operating action, from among the at least one operating action, by the user with respect to a selection of the at least one operating subfunction;
establishing a change in a relative position and/or a position in the first display element to indicate the selection of the at least one operating subfunction, based on the operating signal; and
in response to the operating action with respect to the at least one operating subfunction, adapting at least one light wave parameter, from among the light wave parameters, for at least one light wave, from among the group of light waves, to
change the first signal that describes the totality of the light wave parameters of the interference pattern of the graphical configuration to a second signal that describes a totality of light wave parameters for a changed interference pattern of the graphical configuration, to
generate a second display element of the group of display elements to replace the operating element with at least one three-dimensional shape, from among three-dimensional shapes of the stack and the sphere, based on the change in the relative position and/or the position in the first display element,
so that a position at which a body part of the user intersects the display plane is represented in form of the at least one operating action, from among the operating actions of a rotary gesture, a pressing gesture, a tapping gesture, and swiping gesture against a region of the regions of the at least one three-dimensional shape to indicate the selection of the at least one operating subfunction.