Patent ID: 9542029
Date: 2017-01-10
CPC Classifications: B60K,G06F,G09G

Claim:
1. A vehicle information system adapted to be received in a vehicle instrument panel comprising: a touchscreen display having an active surface including a first region characterized by a height greater than a width, a rear seat sensor that generates a first signal in response to the presence of a rear-seat vehicle occupant, and an interface in communication with the touchscreen display and the rear seat sensor, wherein the interface receives vehicle-specific information to be displayed in a first rendering characterized by a width greater than a height, and second application-specific information to be displayed in a second rendering, wherein in a first operating mode, the interface displays the first and second renderings in a vertically-stacked relation on the first region of the active surface of the touchscreen display, and in a second operating mode, the interface displays the second rendering over the entire first region of the active surface of the touchscreen display, wherein the interface is adapted to receive the first signal from the rear seat sensor and identify a need to blacken at least a portion of the touchscreen display in response to receiving the first signal, and wherein the interface does not display at least one of the first and second renderings in response to identifying the need to blacken at least a portion of the touchscreen display.