Patent Publication Number: US-10766483-B2

Title: Active vehicle virtual reality prevention of predictive motion sickness

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Some people experience motion sickness while passengers in moving vehicles, some more prone than others. When the vehicles are controlled by human drivers, these passengers can verbally communicate their propensity to experience motion sickness to the human drivers, and the drivers can adjust their driving to minimize or avoid motions that may cause the passengers discomfort. However, with autonomous vehicles, this is not possible. 
     SUMMARY 
     Disclosed herein is a method for predictive motion sickness and a computer program product and system as specified in the independent claims. Embodiments of the present invention are given in the dependent claims. Embodiments of the present invention can be freely combined with each other if they are not mutually exclusive. 
     According to an embodiment of the present invention, a negator module of a predictive motion system determines initial parameters for a passenger profile using a virtual reality system of an autonomous vehicle. The passenger profile is associated with a passenger in the autonomous vehicle. The negator module receives upcoming driving conditions from an autonomous navigation system of the autonomous vehicle during a ride. During the ride, the passenger resides in a seat of the autonomous vehicle and uses the virtual reality system. Using a cognitive model, the negator module predicts a cognitive state of the passenger based on the passenger profile and the upcoming driving conditions. The negator module determines a first set of commands for a set of actuators coupled to the seat and a second set of commands for the virtual reality system that match the predicted cognitive state of the passenger. The negator module sends the first set of commands to the set of actuators and the second set of commands to the virtual reality system to be executed. 
     In one aspect of the present invention, the first set of commands and the second set of commands negate movement effects of the autonomous vehicle. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary environment for predictive motion sickness according to some embodiments. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a method for predictive motion sickness according to some embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a computer system, one or more of which is used to implement the predictive motion system according to some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary environment for predictive motion sickness according to some embodiments. The environment includes a predictive motion system  100  with a negator module  101 , located in an autonomous vehicle with an autonomous navigation system  110 . A passenger  105  occupies a seat  104  in the autonomous vehicle, and the seat  104  is coupled to sensors  108  that measures the movement of the seat  104  and to actuators  109  that can move the seat  104 . The predictive motion system  100  has access to a passenger profile database  111 , which stores passenger profiles, each associated with a specific passenger. The passenger profile associated with the passenger  105  describes how the passenger  105  responds to various movements of a vehicle, such as motions that are likely to result in motion sickness for the passenger  105 . The negator module  101  is configured to receive data from the sensors  108  and optionally from camera(s)  107  configured to capture images of the passenger  105  and/or microphone(s)  106  configured to capture verbal sounds from the passenger  105 . The negator module  101  further receives data from the autonomous navigation system  110  that describes the upcoming driving conditions. Any known technique for determining the upcoming road conditions may be used by the autonomous navigation system  110  of the vehicle. The vehicle further includes a virtual reality system  103 , which is used by the passenger  105  while the vehicle is moving. The functionality of the various components of the environment are described further below with reference to  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a method for predictive motion sickness according to some embodiments. The negator module  101  first determines the initial parameters for a passenger profile using the vehicles virtual reality (VR) system  103 . In some embodiments, when the passenger  105  occupies the seat  104 , the negator module  101  obtains the passenger&#39;s weight through the sensors  108  coupled to the seat  104 . While the passenger  105  occupies the seat  104 , the VR system  103  simulates various driving conditions, such as various road conditions, curvature of the terrain, speed of the vehicle, duration of travel, and G-force. The negator module  101  measures (via the sensors  108 ) the passenger&#39;s reaction to the simulation, such as change in weight distribution on the seat  104  associated with various types of driving conditions. The passenger  105  may be requested to perform specific movements, where the negator module  101  learns what measurements result from the specific movements. The negator module  101  can optionally use the cameras  107  to assess facial expressions to determine whether the passenger  105  is experiencing discomfort and record the driving conditions associated with the expressions. The negator module  101  can optionally use the microphones  106  to capture verbal cues from the passenger  105  that may indicate discomfort. The passenger  105  can also overtly indicate discomfort, either through specific verbal cues or by interfacing with a button or touch screen (not shown). The driving conditions and passenger reactions are stored as parameters for the passenger profile and associated specifically with the passenger  105 . By determining the parameters for the initial passenger profile, the negator module  101  is trained to predict when the passenger  105  may experience motion sickness while riding in the vehicle. 
     Sometime after the parameters for the initial passenger profile are determined, the passenger  105  rides in the autonomous vehicle, sits in the seat  104 , and uses the VR system  103  in the vehicle. The autonomous navigation system  110  controls the movement of the vehicle using known techniques. As part of the navigation, the autonomous navigation system  110  collects data concerning upcoming driving conditions. The negator module  101  receives these upcoming driving conditions from the autonomous navigation system  110  ( 202 ). The upcoming driving conditions can include, for example, road conditions (bumpy roads, slick wet roads, etc.), curvature of the terrain, speed of the vehicle (how fast outside objects appear to be moving, etc.), duration of travel, and G-force. The negator module  101  obtains the passenger profile, such as from a memory or storage (not shown) of the predictive motion system  100 . 
     Using a cognitive model, the negator module  101  uses the passenger profile and the upcoming driving conditions to predict a cognitive state of the passenger  105  ( 203 ). For example, when the upcoming driving conditions will include a curvature of the road beyond a configured threshold, and the speed of the vehicle will be over another configured threshold, then the cognitive model predicts that a passenger with the passenger profile is likely to experience a cognitive state of “motion sickness”. 
     The negator module  101  then determines the commands for the actuators  109  and the VR system  103  that match the predicted passenger cognitive state ( 204 ). For example, the negator module  101  determines that commands matching the cognitive state of “motion sickness” includes commands for the actuators  109  to create counter movements and for the VR system  103  to display certain vehicle movement to neutralize or negate the movement effects of the vehicle. The negator module  101  then sends the commands to the actuators  109  and commands to the VR system  103  to be executed ( 205 ). Blocks  202 - 205  are repeated throughout the ride. In this manner, the predictive motion system  100  compensates for the predicted cognitive state of a specific passenger  105 . The commands issued by the negator module  101  varies between passengers according to their individual passenger profiles and real-time responses. 
     In some embodiments, a set of responses from the passenger  105 , such as movement in the seat  104  and optionally physiological responses of the passenger  105 , captured through the sensors  108 , the microphones  106  and/or cameras  107 , may be monitored during the ride, providing the negator module  101  with real-time feedback. The negator module  101  receives the movements and physiological responses as additional inputs to the cognitive model. In this manner, the negator module  101  considers real-time passenger responses in predicting the passenger cognitive state for upcoming driving conditions. These real-time passenger responses may also be used by the negator module  101  to determine the effectiveness of the commands. When the negator module  101  determines that the effectiveness fails to meet a configured threshold, the negator module  101  adjusts the commands accordingly. The passenger profile is also modified accordingly to increase its accuracy. 
     Optionally, the predictive motion system  100  may be configured for cognitive states other than “motion sickness”. In an exemplary embodiment, the cognitive state is configured for “thrilling ride” or “smooth ride”, where the commands for the actuators  109  and the VR system  103  amplifies the upcoming driving conditions or causes less motion (for a smoother ride). 
     An additional feedback mechanism (not shown) for the predictive motion system  100  may be implemented to understand whether the commands for the actuators  109  and/or the VR system  103  exceeds the capabilities of the actuators  109  and/or the VR system  103 . When the feedback mechanism indicates that the commands exceeds their capabilities, the negator module  101  issues a request to the autonomous navigation system  110  to adjust the driving parameters to assist in matching the predicted cognitive state of the passenger  105 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a computer system, one or more of which is used to implement the predictive motion system  100  according to some embodiments. The computer system  300  is operationally coupled to a processor or processing units  306 , a memory  301 , and a bus  309  that couples various system components, including the memory  301  to the processor  306 . The bus  309  represents one or more of any of several types of bus structure, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The memory  301  may include computer readable media in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM)  302  or cache memory  303 , or non-volatile storage media  304 . The memory  301  may include at least one program product having a set of at least one program code module  305  that are configured to carry out the functions of embodiment of the present invention when executed by the processor  306 . The computer system  300  may also communicate with one or more external devices  311 , such as a display  310 , via I/O interfaces  307 . The computer system  300  may communicate with one or more networks via network adapter  308 . 
     The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention. 
     The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire. 
     Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device. 
     Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention. 
     Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions. 
     These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
     The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions. 
     The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.