Abstract:
An automotive head unit wirelessly retrieves quiz questions and quiz answers from a quiz server; receives data from vehicle sensors regarding whether the vehicle is in a low-risk-driving situation. When the vehicle is in a low-risk-driving situation, the head unit: verbally administers a quiz by playing one or more quiz questions through a speaker associated with the head unit; receives, via a microphone associated with the head unit, one or more quiz answers spoken by one or more vehicle occupants; and checks the quiz answers for accuracy.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Embodiments of the invention relate to an automotive head unit configured to verbally administer quizzes to vehicle occupants during relatively low-risk-driving situations. 
     Certain driving situations are relatively low risk. For example, driving on a highway with cruise control, low traffic volume, and the like. Low risk driving situations of this type sometimes lead to drivers falling asleep. And sometimes in such situations, intellectually stimulating entertainment would be desirable as it may lead to, among other things, improved mental health and improved driver alertness. As such, an automotive head unit that administers quizzes, by issuing verbal questions and receiving verbal responses, to drivers and/or other vehicle occupants, would advance the art. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY 
     In accordance with embodiments of the invention, an automotive head unit wirelessly retrieves quiz questions and quiz answers from a quiz server; receives data from vehicle sensors regarding whether the vehicle is in a low-risk-driving situation. When the vehicle is in a low-risk-driving situation, the head unit: verbally administers a quiz by playing one or more quiz questions through a speaker associated with the head unit; receives, via a microphone associated with the head unit, one or more quiz answers spoken by one or more vehicle occupants; and checks the quiz answers for accuracy. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  depicts an operating environment for embodiments of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  depicts an apparatus in accordance with embodiments of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart that shows steps of a method in accordance with embodiments of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In accordance with embodiments of the invention, an automotive head unit may administer a trivia quiz and/or a specialized topics quiz. Such quizzes may be administered by the head unit reciting audible questions and the driver of the vehicle and/or one or more additional quiz takers in the vehicle, responding verbally with quiz answers. Many topics are available for such quizzes, such as, for example, points of interest or history of a geographic location where the vehicle is travelling, local sports teams, a local dialect, and many other possible topics. 
     A head unit may connect to a quiz server to obtain quiz questions and quiz answers via a wireless connection (e.g., cellular packet data, WiFi, Car2X, etc.). The quiz server may also be used for posting scores to compete with other quiz takers. Vehicle manufacturers may then offer prizes, if desired, to promote use for improved mental health. Prizes may be based on various achievements, such as amount of participation, reaching a minimum score, reaching a cumulative score, high score in a given time period, improvement over time, etc. Prizes may be simple things, such as coupons for service that might also bring in more dealership service business (e.g., $2 off of next oil change), automotive bling (keychains, stickers, posters, decals, etc.), or even rebates for new vehicle purchases. In other embodiments, a quiz may be stored other than on a quiz server. For example, a quiz may be stored locally in vehicle memory or on a quiz taker&#39;s smartphone. 
     The head unit may be in communication with vehicle sensors to determine appropriate times to allow a driver to participate in quizzes. Such an arrangement may prevent driver involvement when in congested traffic, on urban or suburban streets, etc., and may allow driver involvement in “low risk” conditions, including, but not limited to, driving on a highway while using cruise control and/or in low traffic volume, and the like. 
     The head unit may be linked, via Bluetooth or similar wireless technology, to data-enabled wearable devices worn by vehicle occupants. Such an arrangement allows multiple quiz takers, other than the driver, to participate in a quiz and would allow the first person to raise their hand (as detected by the wearable devices) to answer a quiz question. 
     In order to reduce voice recognition requirements, the quiz may be presented as multiple choice questions so that only a few letters get recognized (e.g., “A”, “B”, “C”, and “D”). 
     In this way, embodiments of the invention may be used to keep a driver focused/awake on long, relatively boring drives and also may be used to help students when studying for exams. Further, such use of embodiments of the invention may lead to: improved driver mental health via increased trivia knowledge/brain use; a potential revenue stream for vehicle manufacturers via prizes related to vehicle service, manufacturer branding, and/or new vehicle purchase; and improved student grades due to improved test preparation. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  depict an operating environment for, and an apparatus in accordance with, various embodiments of the invention. A vehicle  100  connects to quiz server  120  via a wireless network  110 , such as, for example, a cellular network, with a packet data connection to the server (e.g., TCP/IP) to retrieve quiz questions and quiz answers. 
     Vehicle  100  may include a head unit  210  having audio input and audio output capabilities. The head unit  210  may send a request to the quiz server  120  for quiz questions and/or quiz answers via wireless communication links  101  and  103  of the wireless network. The quiz server may provide the requested information to the head unit via wireless links  104  and  102  of the wireless network. The quiz information received from the quiz server  120  may be stored locally by the head unit  210 . 
     As is well known in the art, a head unit is a central component of a vehicle&#39;s sound system and is typically located in the center of a vehicle&#39;s dashboard. Head units typically give users control over the vehicle&#39;s entertainment media: AM/FM radio, satellite radio, CDs, MP3, GPS navigation, Bluetooth, etc. Many audio-only head units afford the user precise control over detailed audio functions such as volume, band, frequency, speaker balance, speaker fade, bass, treble, EQ, and so on. 
     A vehicle occupant  200  may request to take a quiz verbally via a microphone  220  of the head unit. The head unit may then check the vehicle&#39;s outside environment via vehicle sensors  240  to determine whether those conditions allow for a quiz (e.g., “low risk” environment) to be given. Such vehicle sensors may include, but are not limited to: one or more cameras, radar, lidar, pedestrian detection, night vision, blind spot detection, drowsiness detection, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, and the like. As is well known in the art, the various sensors may communicate with the head unit via a vehicle bus, such as, for example, a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus. 
     The head unit  210  may administer quiz questions to one or more vehicle occupants via one or more speakers  230  associated with the head unit and may obtain spoken quiz answers via the microphone  220  associated with the head unit. 
     The head unit  210  may maintain one or more quiz scores based on correct answers, question difficulty, response times, and the like. When a quiz is complete, such as, for example, when a certain number of questions have been answered, a certain score has been reached, a driver/occupant requests to end a quiz, the vehicle moves into a region requiring more driver focus, or the like), the head unit  210  may send the quiz results to the quiz server  120  via the wireless network  110 . The quiz server  120  may use the received quiz results to optionally update high score lists, determine prize awards, and the like. 
       FIG. 3  shows steps of a method in accordance with embodiments of the invention. The method begins at  302  with a quiz being initiated. As indicated above, a user may verbally request a quiz through the head unit&#39;s microphone. Such a verbal request may specify the number of quiz participants. The head unit may also automatically initiate a quiz under certain conditions, such as, for example, when the vehicle sensors detect that a driver is becoming drowsy, driving conditions are relatively boring, and the like. Conditions such as these for automatically initiating a quiz may be user-selectable and may be pre-configured by the driver of a vehicle. 
     At  304 , a determination is made with respect to whether the vehicle is in a low-risk driving situation. If the vehicle is not in a low-risk driving situation, the no branch is followed to  306  where the quiz is deactivated. If the vehicle is in a low-risk driving situation, the yes branch from  304  is followed to  308  where one or more quiz takers are asked about what type of quiz subject matter is desired. 
     At  310 , quiz questions are accessed, which, as indicated above, may involve accessing a quiz server via a wireless network. Alternatively, quiz questions may be locally saved in memory of the head unit or may be stored on a smart phone that has a data connection with the head unit. 
     At  312 , a quiz question is recited, and, at  314 , a response is awaited. A determination is then made at  316  with respect to whether there are multiple quiz participants. If there are multiple quiz participants, the yes branch from  316  is followed to  318  where an identity of the person answering the quiz question is determined. Identification of the person answering the question may be performed by speech recognition. In some embodiments, quiz participants may wear wearable devices, such as smart watches, that enable quiz participants to raise their hands such that the order in which participants raise their hand determines the order in which quiz participants are allowed to offer their answers to the current quiz question. Other suitable wearable devices could also be used in a similar way. 
     At  320 , the response is checked for correctness, and, at  322 , the respondent&#39;s score is updated. 
     At  324 , a determination is made with respect to whether the quiz is finished. If the quiz is not finished, the no branch from  324  is followed to  312 , where the next quiz question is asked. If the quiz is finished, the yes branch from  324  is followed to  326 , where the one or more quiz participants are asked whether to start another quiz. If the response is yes, then the yes branch is followed to  304 . If the response is no, then the no branch is followed to  306 , where the quiz is deactivated. 
     Although the check for a low-risk-driving situation is shown only at  304  in  FIG. 3 , in various embodiments, when a low-risk-driving situation no longer exists during a quiz, the quiz may be deactivated, such as, for example, in response to a processor interrupt or the like, upon detecting that the low-risk-driving situation no longer exists. 
     While the present invention has been illustrated by a description of various embodiments and while these embodiments have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention of the applicants to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. The invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited to the specific details, representative apparatus and method, and illustrative example shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the spirit or scope of applicant&#39;s general inventive concept.