BACKGROUND

Modern automotive vehicles include increasing technology for a variety of purposes. For example, there are known systems that assist drivers in avoiding collisions. A variety of sensor and camera technologies are available to assist a driver in determining that an object or another vehicle is in or likely to enter the potential path of the vehicle, such as when the driver intends to move in a reverse direction or change lanes. Such systems may alert the driver regarding a condition near the vehicle through visual or audible indications and may also monitor the driver's attention level.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

According to one aspect, a system for visual awareness confirmation may include an image capture device, a global positioning system (GPS), a processor, and an input/output (I/O) device. The image capture device may capture an image of an operating environment through which a vehicle is travelling. The GPS may determine an associated position of the vehicle and an orientation of the image capture device, and associate the position of the vehicle with the image captured by the image capture device. The processor may identify a feature of the operating environment and formulate a question related to the feature. The I/O device may present the question to an occupant of the vehicle and receive a response to the question from the occupant of the vehicle. The processor may cross-reference data associated with the feature and the response to the question received from the occupant of the vehicle.

The I/O device may include a display, a touchscreen, a speaker, or a microphone. The system for visual awareness confirmation may include a sensor monitoring an awareness state of a driver of the vehicle. The processor may formulate the question related to the feature based on the awareness state of the driver of the vehicle and the I/O device may present the question to the driver of the vehicle based on the awareness state of the driver. The I/O device may present the question to the driver of the vehicle based on an awareness threshold.

The processor may identify the feature of the operating environment based on an eye gaze location of the driver of the vehicle. The processor may identify the feature of the operating environment based on a steering wheel pressure associated with a steering wheel of the vehicle. The processor may update data associated with the feature within an object recognition database based on the response to the question received from the occupant of the vehicle. The I/O device may provide an alert to the occupant of the vehicle based on the cross-reference resulting in a discrepancy above a discrepancy threshold. The vehicle may operate in an autonomous mode.

According to one aspect, a system for visual awareness confirmation may include a sensor, an image capture device, a global positioning system (GPS), a processor, a display, a speaker, a touchscreen, or a microphone. The sensor may be an awareness sensor monitoring an awareness state of a driver of a vehicle. The image capture device may capture an image of an operating environment through which the vehicle is travelling. The GPS may determine an associated position of the vehicle and orientation of the image capture device, and associate the position of the vehicle with the image captured by the image capture device. The processor may identify a feature of the operating environment and formulate a question related to the feature based on the awareness state of the driver. The display or the speaker may present the question to the driver of the vehicle based on the awareness state of the driver. The touchscreen or the microphone may receive a response to the question from the driver of the vehicle. The processor may cross-reference data associated with the feature and the response to the question received from the occupant of the vehicle.

The sensor may be an eye gaze sensor monitoring an eye gaze location of the driver of the vehicle. The processor may identify the feature of the operating environment based on the eye gaze location. The sensor may be a steering wheel pressure sensor monitoring a steering wheel pressure associated with a steering wheel of the vehicle. The sensor may be a steering angle sensor monitoring a steering angle of the vehicle or a change in the steering angle of the vehicle.

According to one aspect, a method for visual awareness confirmation may include capturing an image of an operating environment through which a vehicle is travelling, determining an associated position of the vehicle and an orientation of an image capture device capturing the image, and associating the position of the vehicle with the image, identifying a feature of the operating environment, formulating a question related to the feature, presenting the question to an occupant of the vehicle, receiving a response to the question from the occupant of the vehicle, and cross-referencing data associated with the feature and the response to the question received from the occupant of the vehicle.

The method may include monitoring an awareness state of a driver of the vehicle. The method may include formulating the question related to the feature based on the awareness state of the driver of the vehicle and presenting the question to the driver of the vehicle based on the awareness state of the driver or presenting the question to the driver of the vehicle based on an awareness threshold. The method may include identifying the feature of the operating environment based on an eye gaze location of the driver of the vehicle or identifying the feature of the operating environment based on a steering wheel pressure associated with a steering wheel of the vehicle.

