Patent Description:
A Device that records and reproduces a video captured by a camera that is provided in a vehicle as what is called a drive recorder video have been known (see <CIT>).

<CIT> discloses a vehicle event data playback systems which provide users means for reviewing events recorded by a vehicle event recorder. Circumstances relating to vehicle operation may be visually presented in these playback systems. Video playback from multiple recording devices may be synchronized with each other and/or with information related to the operation of the vehicle during the recorded events to affect a presentation of information related to operation of the vehicle. A user may be presented with many data types in graphical and/or intuitive arrangements.

Even when a video captured by a normal drive recorder is reproduced in an event in which an own vehicle is involved in road rage by another vehicle around the own vehicle in addition to an event that is detected according to a crash against the own vehicle, or the like, it is difficult to determine a degree of road rage and it may be difficult to verify dangerous driving by the another vehicle.

The present disclosure is made in view of the above-described circumstances and an object of the disclosure is to enable an appropriate checking on closeness of another vehicle to the own vehicle.

In accordance with the present invention, a recording and reproducing control device, a display control method, and a program as set forth in the appended claims are provided. In particular, according to one aspect, there is provided a recording and reproducing control device comprising: a video data acquisition unit configured to acquire video data of a video imaged by an imager that captures at least one of a front view and a rear view of a vehicle; a detector configured to detect that another vehicle gets close in a distance smaller than a predetermined distance to the vehicle in a state in which the vehicle is traveling at a predetermined speed or higher; a point-of-view conversion processor configured to perform a point-of-view conversion process in which a virtual point of view is set on an upper side of the vehicle on the video data acquired by the video data acquisition unit; a recording controller configured to record the video data acquired by the video data acquisition unit; a reproduction controller configured to, when reproducing the video data of a period during which the detector detects that the another vehicle gets close in the distance smaller than the predetermined distance to the vehicle in the video data recorded by the recording controller, reproduce the video data obtained by converting the point of view of the video data by the point-of-view conversion processor; and a display controller configured to cause a display to display the video data reproduced by the reproduction controller.

According to one aspect, there is provided a reproducing control device comprising: an information acquisition unit configured to acquire video data of a video imaged by an imager that captures at least one of a front view and a rear view of a vehicle and information presenting a travel speed of the vehicle and a distance between the vehicle and another vehicle; a point-of-view conversion processor configured to perform a point-of-view conversion process in which a virtual point of view is set on an upper side of the vehicle on the video data acquired by the information acquisition unit; and a reproduction controller configured to, when reproducing the video data of a period during which the travel speed of the vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed and a distance between the vehicle and the another vehicle is a predetermined distance or smaller, reproduce the video data obtained by converting the point of view of the video data by the point-of-view conversion processor.

According to one aspect, there is provided a display control method comprising: a video data acquiring step of acquiring video data of a video imaged by an imager that captures at least one of a front view and a rear view of a vehicle; a detecting step of detecting that another vehicle gets close in a distance smaller than a predetermined distance to the vehicle in a state in which the vehicle is traveling at a predetermined speed or higher; a point-of-view conversion processing step of performing a point-of-view conversion process in which a virtual point of view is set on an upper side of the vehicle on the video data acquired at the video data acquiring step; a recording controlling step of recording the video data acquired at the video data acquiring step; a reproduction controlling step of, when reproducing the video data of a period during which it is detected at the detecting step that the another vehicle gets close in the distance smaller than the predetermined distance to the vehicle in the video data recorded at the recording controlling step, reproducing the video data obtained by converting the point of view of the video data at the point-of-view conversion processing step; and a display controlling step of causing a display to display the video data reproduced at the reproduction controlling step.

According to one aspect, there is provided a program that causes a computer that runs as a recording and reproducing control device to execute: a video data acquiring step of acquiring video data of a video imaged by an imager that captures at least one of a front view and a rear view of a vehicle; a detecting step of detecting that another vehicle gets close in a distance smaller than a predetermined distance to the vehicle in a state in which the vehicle is traveling at a predetermined speed or higher; a point-of-view conversion processing step of performing a point-of-view conversion process in which a virtual point of view is set on an upper side of the vehicle on the video data acquired at the video data acquiring step; a recording controlling step of recording the video data acquired at the video data acquiring step; a reproduction controlling step of, when reproducing the video data of a period during which it is detected at the detecting step that the another vehicle gets close in the distance smaller than the predetermined distance to the vehicle in the video data recorded at the recording controlling step, reproducing the video data obtained by converting the point of view of the video data at the point-of-view conversion processing step; and a display controlling step of causing a display to display the video data reproduced at the reproduction controlling step.

According to the present disclosure, an effect that it is possible to enable an appropriate checking of closeness of another vehicle to an own vehicle is achieved.

With reference to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of a recording and reproducing control device, a reproduction control device, a display control method and a program will be described in detail below. The embodiments below do not limit the invention.

<FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM> including a recording and reproducing control device <NUM> according to a first embodiment. When reproducing video data of a period during which another vehicle gets close in a distance smaller than a predetermined distance to a vehicle, the vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM> reproduces a video (bird's-eye-view video) <NUM> obtained by converting a point of view of the video data by a point-of-view conversion processor <NUM>.

The vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM> is a so-called drive recorder and may include, in addition to a drive recorder mounted on a vehicle, a drive recorder that is portable and usable in a vehicle. The vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM> includes a camera unit (an imager) <NUM>, a storage <NUM>, an operation unit <NUM>, a display <NUM>, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver <NUM>, an acceleration sensor <NUM>, and the recording and reproducing control device <NUM>.

The camera unit <NUM> is a camera that images an outside view of a vehicle. The camera unit <NUM> images at least one of a front view and a rear view of the vehicle. The camera unit <NUM> may be a bird's-eye-view camera unit including a front-side camera <NUM> that images the front view of the vehicle, a rear-side camera <NUM> that images the rear view of the vehicle and a left-side camera and a right-side camera that are not illustrated in the drawings. The camera unit <NUM> includes at least the front-side camera <NUM> that images the front view of the vehicle and the rear-side camera <NUM> that images the rear view of the vehicle. In the present embodiment, the camera unit <NUM> includes the front-side camera <NUM> that images the front view and the rear-side camera <NUM> that images the rear view. The front-side camera <NUM> is arranged, for example, at the front of the vehicle. The rear-side camera <NUM> is arranged, for example, at the rear of the vehicle. When not required to be distinguished, the front-side camera <NUM> and the rear-side camera <NUM> are described as the camera unit <NUM>. The camera unit <NUM> keeps imaging a video from when an engine starts until the engine stops, that is, while the vehicle is running. In the present embodiment, the camera unit <NUM> keeps imaging a video while an accessory power of the vehicle is ON. The camera unit <NUM> outputs data of the imaged video to a video data acquisition unit <NUM> of the recording and reproducing control device <NUM>. The video data is, for example, moving images consisting of images of <NUM> frames per second.

The storage <NUM> is used to temporarily record data in the vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM>. The storage <NUM> is, for example, a semiconductor memory device, such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a flash memory, or a recording unit, such as a memory card. Alternatively, it may be an external recording unit that is wirelessly connected via a communication device not illustrated in the drawings. The storage <NUM> records event recording data or loop recording data according to a control signal that is output from a recording controller <NUM> of the recording and reproducing control device <NUM>.

The operation unit <NUM> is able to receive various operations on the vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM>. For example, the operation unit <NUM> is able to receive an operation of manually saving data of the imaged video in the storage <NUM>. For example, the operation unit <NUM> is able to receive an operation of reproducing the event recording data or the loop recording data that is recorded in the storage <NUM>. For example, the operation unit <NUM> is able to receive an operation of deleting the event recording data that is recorded in the storage <NUM>. For example, the operation unit <NUM> is able to receive an operation of ending the loop recording. The operation unit <NUM> outputs operation information to an operation controller <NUM> of the recording and reproducing control device <NUM>.

The operation unit <NUM> is a touch panel provided in the display <NUM> and, for an operation of reproducing the event recording data that is recorded in the storage <NUM>, an instruction to choose and reproduce the event recording data is made by touching a list of the event recording data, or the like, that is displayed on the display <NUM>.

The display <NUM> is, for example, a display device unique to the vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM> or a display device that is shared with other systems including a navigation system. The display <NUM> is, for example, a display including a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic electro-luminescence (EL) display, or the like. The display <NUM> displays a video based on a video signal that is output from display controller <NUM> of the recording and reproducing control device <NUM>. The display <NUM> displays a video that the camera unit <NUM> is imaging or a video that is recorded in the storage <NUM>.

The GPS receiver <NUM> receives radio waves from a GPS satellite not illustrated in the drawings. The GPS receiver <NUM> outputs a signal of the received radio waves to a position information acquisition unit <NUM> of the recording and reproducing control device <NUM>.

The acceleration sensor <NUM> is a sensor that detects an acceleration applied to the vehicle. The acceleration sensor <NUM> outputs a result of detection to an acceleration information acquisition unit <NUM> of the recording and reproducing control device <NUM>. The acceleration sensor <NUM> is, for example, a sensor that detects an acceleration in three-axis directions. The three-axis directions includes a front-rear direction, a left-right direction and an up-down direction of the vehicle. Using the acceleration in the three-axis directions, it is possible to detect a shock on the vehicle.

The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> is, for example, an arithmetic processing device (control device) consisting of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), etc. The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> loads a program that is recorded in a memory and executes commands contained in the program. The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> includes an internal memory not illustrated in the drawings and the internal memory is used for a temporal storage of data in the recording and reproducing control device <NUM>, etc. The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> includes the video data acquisition unit <NUM>, a buffer memory <NUM>, a video data processor <NUM>, the recording controller <NUM>, the operation controller <NUM>, the position information acquisition unit <NUM>, the acceleration information acquisition unit <NUM>, a vehicle information acquisition unit <NUM>, an event detector (detector) <NUM>, the point-of-view conversion processor <NUM>, a reproduction controller <NUM>, and the display controller <NUM> that are connected to a bus 100X.

The video data acquisition unit <NUM> acquires the video data obtained by imaging at least one of the front view and the rear view of the vehicle. More specifically, the video data acquisition unit <NUM> acquires the video data that is output by the camera unit <NUM>.

The buffer memory <NUM> is an internal memory that is provided in the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> and that temporarily records the video data for a certain time that is acquired by the video data acquisition unit <NUM> while updating the video data.

The video data processor <NUM> converts the video data temporarily recorded in the buffer memory <NUM> into a given file format, such as an MP4 format, that is coded by a given codec method, such as H. <NUM> or MPEG-<NUM> (Moving Picture Experts Group). The video data processor <NUM> generates video data as a file for a certain period from the video data temporarily recorded in the buffer memory <NUM>. Specifically, using the video data temporarily recorded in the buffer memory <NUM>, the video data processor <NUM> generates video data of <NUM> seconds as one file in a recording. The video data processor <NUM> outputs the generated video data to the recording controller <NUM>. The video data processor <NUM> outputs the generated video data to the display controller <NUM>. The period of the video data that is generated as the file is set at <NUM> seconds as an example. However, the period is not limited thereto. The video data herein may be data containing sound in addition to the video imaged by the camera unit <NUM>.

The recording controller <NUM> performs a control to cause the video data that is generated as a file by the video data processor <NUM> to be recorded in the storage <NUM>. During a period in which a loop recording process is executed, such as a period in which the accessory power is ON, the recording controller <NUM> records the video data that is generated as a file by the video data processor <NUM> in the storage <NUM> as rewritable video data. More specifically, during the period in which the loop recording process is executed, the recording controller <NUM> keeps recording video data that is generate by the video data processor <NUM> in the storage <NUM> and, when a capacity of the storage <NUM> is full, overwrites the oldest video data with new video data and records the new video data.

When the event detector <NUM> detects an event, the recording controller <NUM> stores, in the storage <NUM>, the video data f a predetermined period from the video data generated by the video data processor <NUM> as event recording data that is prohibited from being rewritten.

Furthermore, when the event detected by the event detector <NUM> is road rage by another vehicle, the recording controller <NUM> stores event recording data to which road rage information indicating that road rage is detected is added.

The road rage information is, for example, a closeness flag. For the road rage information, for example, a folder name or a file name may be a folder name or a file name different from a usual one. The road rage information may be associated with the event recording data or may be associated with a time point at which the road rage is detected in the event recording data.

The event recording data is, during a period in which the loop recording process is performed, video data of a predetermined period before and after the time point at which the event is detected. The event recording data is, when the loop recording process is not performed and imaging starts after an event is detected, video data from the start of imaging after detecting the event until a predetermined period elapses. The predetermined period is, for example, a period approximately between <NUM> seconds and <NUM> seconds before and after the time point at which the event is detected.

The operation controller <NUM> acquires operation information on an operation that is received by the operation unit <NUM>. For example, the operation controller <NUM> acquires saving operation information indicating an operation of manually saving the video data, choosing operation information indicating an operation of choosing the video data, reproducing operation information indicating an operation of reproducing the video data, or deleting operation information indicating an operation of deleting the video data, and outputs a control signal. For example, the operation controller <NUM> acquires end operation information indicating an operation of ending the loop recording and outputs a control signal.

The position information acquisition unit <NUM> calculates information on a current position of the vehicle by a known method based on the radio waves received by the GPS receiver <NUM>. When the event detector <NUM> detects an event, the positional information calculated by the position information acquisition unit <NUM> is recorded together with the event recording data.

The acceleration information acquisition unit <NUM> acquires acceleration information indicating an acceleration applied to the vehicle from a result of detection by the acceleration sensor <NUM>.

The vehicle information acquisition unit <NUM> acquires vehicle information, such as information of a speed of the vehicle, from a CAN (Controller Area Network) and various sensors that sense a state of the vehicle. The vehicle information acquisition unit <NUM> outputs the acquired vehicle information to the event detector <NUM>.

The event detector <NUM> detects an event on the vehicle. A method by which the event detector <NUM> detects an event on the vehicle may be any method and, for example, the event detector <NUM> detects an event based on the result of detection by the acceleration sensor <NUM>. In this case, when an acceleration equal to or higher than a threshold is detected by the acceleration sensor <NUM>, the event detector <NUM> detects the acceleration as an event. As the threshold of the acceleration detected as the event by the event detector <NUM>, a threshold at which a shock on the vehicle is detected is set.

The event detector <NUM> detects road rage by another vehicle as an event. More specifically, the event detector <NUM> detects that, as an event of road rage by another vehicle, another vehicle gets close in a distance smaller than a predetermined distance to the own vehicle while traveling at a predetermined speed or higher. In the present embodiment, when the event detector <NUM> detects that the another vehicle gets close in a distance smaller than the predetermined distance to the own vehicle while traveling at the predetermined speed or higher based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit <NUM> and the data of the video imaged by the camera unit <NUM>, the event detector <NUM> detects that the another vehicle gts road rage. A state of getting close by another vehicle in the distance smaller than the predetermined distance is recognized by performing an image recognition process on the video data. Based on an area of the recognized another vehicle occupying in the video data, it is possible to determine whether another vehicle gets close in the distance smaller than the predetermined distance.

The point-of-view conversion processor <NUM> performs, on the video data that is acquired by the video data acquisition unit <NUM>, a point-of-view conversion process in which a virtual point of view E is set on an upper side of the vehicle to convert the video data into video data from the virtual point of view E. The point-of-view conversion processor <NUM> may perform the point-of-view conversion process in which the virtual point of view E is set on the upper side between an end of the own vehicle and an end of the opposing another vehicle. The point-of-view conversion processor <NUM> generates a bird's-eye-view video <NUM> displaying a predetermined display area from the vehicle. The point-of-view conversion processor <NUM> outputs the generated bird's-eye-view video <NUM> to the display controller <NUM>.

The reproduction controller <NUM> reproduces the event recording data or loop recording data that is chosen. According to control signals on a choosing operation and a reproducing operation that are output from the operation controller <NUM>, the reproduction controller <NUM> performs control to reproduce the event recording data or the loop recording data recorded in the storage <NUM>.

When reproducing the video data of a period during which the event detector <NUM> detects that another vehicle gets close in a distance smaller than the predetermined distance to the vehicle from the video data that is recorded by the recording controller <NUM>, the reproduction controller <NUM> reproduces the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> obtained by converting the point of view of the video data by the point-of-view conversion processor <NUM>. When there is road rage information that is associated with the chosen event recording data, the reproduction controller <NUM> outputs the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> to the display controller <NUM>. The reproduction controller <NUM> may reproduce the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> together with a reproduction video <NUM> that is the event recording data or the loop recording data or reproduce only the bird's-eye-view video <NUM>.

The reproduction controller <NUM> may reproduce the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> obtained by converting the point of view of the video data in a direction in which it is detected that the another vehicle gets close in a distance smaller than the predetermined distance to the own vehicle. More specifically, when the another vehicle on the rear side gets close in a distance smaller than the predetermined distance, the reproduction controller <NUM> may reproduce the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> obtained by converting the point of view of the video data obtained by imaging at least the rear view. The direction in which the another vehicle that gets close to the own vehicle is detected can be acquired from the video data in which the event detector <NUM> detects road rage by the another vehicle. When road rage by the another vehicle is detected from the video data obtained by imaging the rear view, the direction in which the another vehicle that gets close to the own vehicle is detected is the rear side.

The reproduction controller <NUM> may reproduce the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> containing a scale that makes it possible to determine a distance between the end of the own vehicle and the end of the opposing another vehicle.

The display controller <NUM> controls display of the video data on the display <NUM>. The display controller <NUM> outputs a video signal according to which the display <NUM> is caused to output the video data. More specifically, the display controller <NUM> causes the display <NUM> to display the video that is reproduced by the reproduction controller <NUM>. The display controller <NUM> outputs a video signal of the video imaged by the camera unit <NUM> or a video signal that is displayed by reproducing the event recording data or the loop recording data recorded in the storage <NUM>.

The display controller <NUM> controls display of the event recording data or the loop recording data recorded in the storage <NUM> on the display <NUM>. When the video data to be reproduced includes the road rage information, the display controller <NUM> may cause the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> (see <FIG>) to be displayed together with the reproduction video <NUM> that is the event recording data or the loop recording data or may cause only the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> (see <FIG>) to be displayed.

Using <FIG>, the video displayed on the display <NUM> by the display controller <NUM> will be described.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating an example of the video that is displayed on the display <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG>, the display controller <NUM> causes the display <NUM> to solely display the reproduction video <NUM> that is the loop recording data in a state in which an event or closeness of another vehicle is not detected.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating another example of the video that is displayed on the display <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG>, when the reproduction video <NUM> includes the corresponding road rage information, the display controller <NUM> causes the display <NUM> to display, together with the reproduction video <NUM>, the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> obtained by converting the point of view of the reproduction video <NUM>. The reproduction video <NUM> is a video in a case in which the area of another vehicle occupying in the video data is large and is a video of road rage by the another vehicle. An area of display of the reproduction video <NUM> is reduced in <FIG> compared to the case in which the reproduction video <NUM> is displayed solely on the display <NUM> as in <FIG>. The bird's-eye-view video <NUM> displays an area of approximately <NUM> from the own vehicle.

The bird's-eye-view video <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> contains a vehicle icon <NUM> that is positioned at a center surrounded by a front-side video <NUM>, a rear-side video <NUM>, a right-side video <NUM> and a left-side video <NUM>. Parts exceeding the area of imaging by the camera unit <NUM> need not be contained in the bird's-eye-view video <NUM>. The bird's-eye-view video <NUM> may consist of the rear-side video <NUM> and the front-side video <NUM>. In this case, the area corresponding to the right-side video <NUM> and the left-side video <NUM> may be a black image. Furthermore, the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> may consist of the rear-side video <NUM>. In this case, the area corresponding to the front-side video <NUM>, the right-side video <NUM> and the left-side video <NUM> may be a black image. In other words, the minimum video to be displayed is a video in a direction in which the vehicle that gets road rage is imaged and the video data obtained by imaging the vehicle that gets road rage is displayed as the reproduction video <NUM> and is displayed also as the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> obtained by converting the point of view thereof. The rear-side video <NUM> illustrated in <FIG> is obtained by performing the point-of-view conversion process on the video that is imaged by the rear-side camera <NUM> that is provided at the rear of the vehicle and therefore, practically, another vehicle <NUM> is not presented as in the drawing. The another vehicle <NUM> illustrated herein schematically represents a position of the another vehicle <NUM>.

The vehicle icon <NUM> represents a position and an orientation of the vehicle. The vehicle icon <NUM> is arranged at the center with its front-rear orientation being parallel to the front-rear orientation of the bird's-eye-view video <NUM>. <FIG> includes an information display area <NUM> in which character information is displayed under the reproduction video <NUM>. In the information display area <NUM>, for example, the fact that road rage by the another vehicle is being detected may be displayed by character information.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating still another example of the video that is displayed on the display <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG>, when the reproduction video <NUM> includes the corresponding road rage information, the display controller <NUM> causes the display <NUM> to display the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> together with the reproduction video <NUM>. The bird's-eye-view video <NUM> contains the rear-side video <NUM>, the right-side video <NUM>, the left-side video <NUM> and the vehicle icon <NUM>. The bird's-eye-view video <NUM> contains the rear view on which the road raging vehicle on the rear side is positioned and does not contain the front view.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating still another example of the video that is displayed on the display <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG>, when the reproduction video <NUM> includes the corresponding road rage information, the display controller <NUM> causes the display <NUM> to display the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> together with the reproduction video <NUM>. The bird's-eye-view video <NUM> may display distance information <NUM> presenting a distance between a rear end of the own vehicle and a front end of the another vehicle.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating still another example of the video that is displayed on the display <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG>, the area of display of the reproduction video <NUM> corresponds the area of display of the reproduction video <NUM> in the case in which the reproduction video <NUM> is displayed solely and not reduced, and the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> is displayed on the reproduction video <NUM> in a superimposed manner.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating still another example of the video that is displayed on the display <NUM>. As illustrated in <FIG>, the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> is displayed solely on the display <NUM>. A scale indicating a distance from the rear end of the vehicle may be displayed on the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> in a superimposed manner.

Based on the video data that is imaged by the camera unit <NUM>, the point-of-view conversion processor <NUM> generates the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> obtained by performing the point-of-view conversion process in which a virtual point of view E is set on an upper side of an own vehicle V. The point-of-view conversion processor <NUM> may generate the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> obtained by performing the point-of-view conversion process in which a virtual point of view EA is set on the upper side between the rear end of the vehicle V and the front end of opposing another vehicle VA. In the present embodiment, the point-of-view conversion processor <NUM> may generate the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> obtained by performing the point-of-view conversion process in which the virtual point of view EA is set on a rear side of the own vehicle V. A method of the point-of-view conversion process may be any known method and is not limited. The point-of-view conversion processor <NUM> then performs a synthesizing process of synthesizing the video data on which the point-of-view conversion process is performed. The point-of-view conversion processor <NUM> then generates the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> obtained by displaying the vehicle icon <NUM> on the synthesized video.

Using <FIG>, the virtual point of view E will be described. The virtual point of view E is set on the upper side with respect to the center of the own vehicle V. The virtual point of view E is a point of view from which the own vehicle V is looked down from above straightly. The center of the own vehicle V is a center in a width direction and a center in a front-rear direction of the own vehicle. Straightly above the own vehicle refers to a position on a vertical line on a reference plane of the own vehicle V. The reference plane is a flat plane that is parallel to a road surface when the own vehicle V is horizontal and is positioned on the road surface. In the present embodiment, the virtual point of view EA is in a position closer to the another vehicle VA than the virtual point of view E. The virtual point of view EA is a point of view from which the own vehicle V is looped down from the rear side.

Using <FIG>, a flow of a recording process in the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> will be described next. <FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a recording process in the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> according to the first embodiment. The case where the loop recording process is performed will be described here. In the description below, an example of the road rage information will be described as a closeness flag.

The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> starts a loop recording and an event detection (step S101). More specifically, by the event detector <NUM>, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> detects an event based on a result of detection by the acceleration sensor <NUM>. By the video data processor <NUM>, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> generates loop recording video data of video of a predetermined period from the video data that is recorded in the buffer memory <NUM>. By the recording controller <NUM>, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> causes the storage <NUM> to record the loop recording video data. The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> proceeds to step S102.

By the event detector <NUM>, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> determines whether road rage by another vehicle is detected as an event (step S102). More specifically, the event detector <NUM> detects road rage by another vehicle as an event when a speed of the own vehicle is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed and the another vehicle gets close to the own vehicle in a predetermined distance or smaller, in other words, when a condition is met. When road rage is detected as an event (YES at step S102), the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> proceeds to step S103. The event detector <NUM> does not detect road rage by the another vehicle as an event when the speed of the vehicle is smaller than the predetermined speed or the another vehicle does not get close in a distance smaller than the predetermined distance to the own vehicle, in other words, when the condition is not met. When road rage by the another vehicle is not detected as an event (NO at step S102), the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> proceeds to step S104.

When road rage by the another vehicle is detected as an event (YES at step S102), by the recording controller <NUM>, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> adds a closeness flag to the video data of the period during which road rage by the another vehicle is detected as an event and stores the video data (step S103). More specifically, by the video data processor <NUM>, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> adds a closeness flag to the video data containing the period during which the condition is met and generates the video data as event recording data. By the recording controller <NUM>, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> stores the event recording data to which the closeness flag is added in the storage <NUM>. The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> proceeds to step S104.

The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> determines whether the event detection and the loop recording should be ended (step S104). More specifically, by the operation controller <NUM>, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> determines that the event detection and the loop recording should be ended on a predetermined condition, such as a condition in which end operation information is output or in which the operation of the own vehicle ends (YES at step S104), and ends the process. When the end operation information is not output, by the operation controller <NUM>, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> determines that the end event detection and the loop recording should not be ended (NO at step S104) and executes the process at step S102 again.

Using <FIG>, a flow of a reproduction process in the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> will be described next. <FIG> is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the reproduction process in the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> according to the first embodiment.

When the operation controller <NUM> acquires operation information indicating an instruction to display event recording data or loop recording data in a reproduction menu, by the reproduction controller <NUM>, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> starts reproducing video data to be reproduced (step S201). The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> proceeds to step S202.

The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> determines whether there is a closeness flag at a reproduction time point the video data to be reproduced (step S202). More specifically, when there is a closeness flag at the reproduction time point of the video data to be reproduced, which is recorded in the storage <NUM>, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> determines that there is a closeness flag at the reproduction time point of the video data to be reproduced (YES at step S202) and proceeds to step S203. When there is no closeness flag at the reproduction time point of the video data to be reproduced, which is recorded in the storage <NUM>, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> determines that there is no closeness flag at the reproduction time point of the video data to be reproduced (NO at step S202) and proceeds to step S204.

When it is determined that there is a closeness flag at the reproduction time point of the video data to be reproduced (YES at step S202), the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> displays the video data on the display <NUM> in a first mode (step S203). The first mode is, for example, the display mode illustrated in <FIG>. The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> proceeds to step S205.

When it is determined that there is no closeness flag at the reproduction time point of the video data to be reproduced (NO at step S202), the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> displays the video data on the display <NUM> in a second mode (step S204). The second mode is, for example, the display mode illustrated in <FIG>. The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> proceeds to step S205.

The recording and reproducing control device <NUM> determines whether the reproduction of the video data to be reproduced (step S205) should be ended. When the video data to be reproduced is reproduced to the end or when an operation of stopping the reproduction is performed, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> determines that the reproduction of the video data to be reproduced should be ended (YES at step S205) and ends the process. When the above case does not apply, the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> determines that the reproduction of the video data to be reproduced should not be ended (NO at step S205) and executes the process at step S202 again.

As described above, in the present embodiment, when reproducing the video data of a period during which it is detected that the another vehicle gets close in a distance smaller than a predetermined distance to the own vehicle, the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> obtained by converting the point of view of the video data is reproduced and is displayed on the display <NUM>. In the present embodiment, when road rage by the another vehicle is detected, it is possible to display the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> by which a relative positional relationship between the own vehicle and the another vehicle is checked easily. According to the present embodiment, with the bird's-eye-view video <NUM>, it is possible to check closeness of the another vehicle to the own vehicle, a degree of road rage is determined easily and verifying dangerous driving can be easy. In this manner, according to the embodiment, when the another vehicle gets road rage, it is possible to check the positional relationship between the own vehicle and the another vehicle appropriately.

According to the present embodiment, the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> is displayed together with the reproduction video <NUM> that is video data to be reproduced. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to make a display such that the relative positional relationship between the own vehicle and the another vehicle is checked more easily.

According to the present embodiment, the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> in the direction in which it is detected that the another vehicle gets close in a distance smaller than the predetermined distance to the own vehicle is displayed. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to make a display such that the relative positional relationship between the own vehicle and the another vehicle is checked more easily.

According to the present embodiment, the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> contains the scale that makes it possible to determine a distance between the end of the own vehicle and the end of the another vehicle. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to check the distance between the own vehicle and the another vehicle easily.

According to the present embodiment, the virtual point of view EA of the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> is set on the upper side between the end of the own vehicle and the end of the another vehicle. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to make a display such that the relative positional relationship between the own vehicle and the another vehicle is checked more easily.

With reference to <FIG>, a reproduction device <NUM> according to the present embodiment will be described. <FIG> is a block diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of the reproduction device <NUM> including a reproduction control device <NUM> according to a second embodiment.

When event recording data or loop recording data to be reproduced includes a closeness flag, the reproduction device <NUM> reproduces and displays the bird's-eye-view video <NUM>. The reproduction device <NUM> is, for example, an electronic device that includes a personal computer, a smartphone, and a tablet. The reproduction device <NUM> includes a storage <NUM>, an operation unit <NUM>, a display <NUM>, and the reproduction control device <NUM>.

In the storage <NUM>, the event recording data, the loop recording data, etc., are recorded by the vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM>, or the like. The storage <NUM> is, for example, a semiconductor memory device, such as a flash memory, or a recording unit, such as a memory card. Alternatively, it may be an external recording unit that is wirelessly connected via a communication device not illustrated in the drawings.

The operation unit <NUM> is able to receive various operations on the reproduction device <NUM>. For example, the operation unit <NUM> is able to receive an operation of reproducing the event recording data or the loop recording data that is recorded in the storage <NUM>. For example, the operation unit <NUM> is able to receive an operation of deleting the event recording data that is recorded in the storage <NUM>. The operation unit <NUM> outputs operation information to an operation controller <NUM> of the reproduction control device <NUM>.

The operation unit <NUM> is a touch panel provided in the display <NUM> and, for an operation of reproducing the event recording data that is recorded in the storage <NUM>, an operation of touching the display <NUM> is performed to make an instruction to choose and reproduce the event recording data.

The display <NUM> is, for example, a display that includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic electro-luminescence (EL) display, or the like. The display <NUM> displays a video based on a video signal that is output from a display controller <NUM> of the reproduction control device <NUM>. The display <NUM> displays a video that is recorded in the storage <NUM>.

The reproduction control device <NUM> is, for example, an arithmetic processing device (control device) consisting of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), etc. The reproduction control device <NUM> loads a program that is recorded in a memory and executes commands contained in the program. The reproduction control device <NUM> includes an internal memory not illustrated in the drawings and the internal memory is used for a temporal storage of data in the reproduction control device <NUM>, etc. The reproduction control device <NUM> includes an information acquisition unit <NUM>, a reproduction controller <NUM>, a point-of-view conversion processor <NUM>, the operation controller <NUM> and the display controller <NUM>.

The information acquisition unit <NUM> acquires data of a video that is imaged by a camera that images at least a front view or a rear view of the own vehicle and acquires information presenting a travel speed of the own vehicle and a distance between the own vehicle and the another vehicle. The information acquisition unit <NUM> stores the acquired information in the storage <NUM>.

The reproduction controller <NUM> acquires event recording data to be reproduced from the storage <NUM> and reproduces the event recording data. According to control signals on a choosing operation and a reproducing operation that are output from the operation controller <NUM>, the reproduction controller <NUM> performs a control to reproduce the event recording data or the loop recording data recorded in the storage <NUM>.

When reproducing video data of a period during which the travel speed of the vehicle equal to or higher than a predetermined speed and the distance between the own vehicle and the another vehicle is a distance smaller than the predetermined distance, the reproduction controller <NUM> reproduces a video obtained by converting the point of view of the video data by the point-of-view conversion processor <NUM>. When there is road rage information that is associated with the event recording data that is chosen, the reproduction controller <NUM> outputs the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> to the display controller <NUM>. The reproduction controller <NUM> may perform a control to reproduce the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> together with the event recording data or the loop recording data or perform a control to reproduce only the bird's-eye-view video <NUM>.

The point-of-view conversion processor <NUM> performs a point-of-view conversion process in which a virtual point of view E is set on an upper side of the own vehicle on the video data that is acquired by the information acquisition unit <NUM>.

The operation controller <NUM> acquires operation information on an operation that is received by the operation unit <NUM>. For example, the operation controller <NUM> acquires choosing operation information indicating an operation of choosing the video data, reproducing operation information indicating an operation of the reproducing video data, or deleting operation information indicating an operation of deleting the video data and outputs a control signal.

The display controller <NUM> causes the display <NUM> to display the event recording data that is reproduced. The reproduction process in the reproduction control device <NUM> according to the second embodiment is the same as the reproduction process in the recording and reproducing control device <NUM> according to the first embodiment illustrated in <FIG>.

The display controller <NUM> controls display of the event recording data or the loop recording data recorded in the storage <NUM> on the display <NUM>. When the video data to be reproduced includes road rage information, the display controller <NUM> may cause the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> to be displayed together with the evet recording data or the loop recording data or may cause only the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> to be displayed.

In this manner, in the reproduction device <NUM> that reproduces the video data that is recorded in the vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM>, as in the first embodiment, the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> is displayed when the video data to be reproduced includes a closeness flag.

As described above, in the present embodiment, in the reproduction device <NUM> that reproduces the video data that is recorded in the vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM>, as in the first embodiment, the bird's-eye-view video <NUM> can be displayed when the video data to be reproduced includes a closeness flag. In this manner, according to the present embodiment, when the another vehicle gets road rage, it is possible to check the positional relationship between the own vehicle and the another vehicle appropriately.

The vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM> and the reproduction device <NUM> according to the disclosure have been described and the disclosure may be carried out in various different modes in addition to the above-described embodiments.

Each component of the vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM> and the reproduction device <NUM> illustrated in the drawings is functionally schematic and need not necessarily be physically configured as illustrated in the drawings. In other words, a specific mode of each device is not limited to those illustrated in the drawings, and all or part of the components may be functionally or physically distributed or integrated in a given unit according to the load of processing or usage of each device.

The configurations of the vehicle recording and reproducing device <NUM> and the reproduction device <NUM> are, for example, implemented by programs that are loaded in a memory as software. In the above-described embodiments, the configurations are described as functional blocks that are implemented by association of these sets of hardware or hardware. In other words, these functional blocks can be implemented in various forms using only hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

The components described above include those easily assumed by those skilled in the art and those substantially the same. Furthermore, the above-described components can be combined as appropriate. Various omissions, replacements and changes of the components can be made within the scope of the invention.

The case where the loop recording processing is performed has been described and this applies to a case where imaging is started after an event is detected.

Claim 1:
A recording and reproducing control device (<NUM>) comprising:
a video data acquisition unit (<NUM>) configured to acquire video data of a video imaged by an imager (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) that captures at least one of a front view and a rear view of a vehicle (V);
an event detector (<NUM>) configured to detect an event for the vehicle (V) which includes road rage by another vehicle (VA) in which the another vehicle (VA) gets close in a distance smaller than a predetermined distance to the vehicle (V) in a state in which the vehicle (V) is traveling at a predetermined speed or higher;
a point-of-view conversion processor (<NUM>) configured to perform a point-of-view conversion process on the video data acquired by the video data acquisition unit (<NUM>) to generate a bird's-eye-view video in which a virtual point of view (E) is set on an upper side of the vehicle (V) and the vehicle is viewed from the virtual point of view (E);
a recording controller (<NUM>) configured to record the video data acquired by the video data acquisition unit (<NUM>);
a reproduction controller (<NUM>) configured to:
when reproducing the video data (<NUM>) of a period during which the event is not detected by the event detector (<NUM>), reproduce the video data (<NUM>) without converting the point of view (E) of the video data (<NUM>) by the point-of-view conversion processor (<NUM>); and
when reproducing the video data (<NUM>) of a period during which the event is detected by the event detector (<NUM>), reproduce the video data (<NUM>) obtained by converting the point of view (E) of the video data (<NUM>) by the point-of-view conversion processor (<NUM>); and
a display controller (<NUM>) configured to cause a display (<NUM>) to display the video data (<NUM>, <NUM>) reproduced by the reproduction controller (<NUM>).