US 10,593,182 B1 · Vehicle operator emotion management system and method

Abstract

The method, system, and computer-readable medium facilitates monitoring a vehicle operator during the course of vehicle operation to determine whether the vehicle operator is in an emotionally impaired state (e.g., aggressive or agitated) and presenting appropriate stimuli (e.g., music or sound recordings) to the vehicle operator when impairment is detected. The vehicle operator, the environment surrounding the vehicle, or forces acting on the vehicle may be monitored using a variety of sensors, including optical sensors, accelerometers, or biometric sensors (e.g., skin conductivity, heart rate, or voice modulation). When the vehicle operator is determined to be in an emotionally impaired state, stimuli are selected to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator. The selection is based on sensor data and data regarding prior responses of the vehicle operator to various stimuli. After selection, the stimuli are presented to the vehicle operator while monitoring continues.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A computer-implemented method for managing an emotional state of a vehicle operator of a vehicle, comprising:

collecting, by one or more physiological sensors within the vehicle, sensor data regarding one or more physiological states of the vehicle operator;
calculating, by one or more processors, at least one impairment indicator score using the sensor data, wherein the at least one impairment indicator score indicates an extent of vehicle operator deviation from a normal emotional state with respect to a physiological metric;
when the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional state based upon the at least one impairment indicator score, selecting, by one or more processors, one or more musical stimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator based upon a user profile associated with the vehicle operator;
and
when a sound component of the vehicle is detected to be available, causing, by controlling the sound component within the vehicle and while the vehicle operator is in the impaired emotional state, the one or more musical stimuli to be played to the user to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator.

2 more elements

A computer system for managing an emotional state of a vehicle operator of a vehicle, comprising:

one or more processors;
one or more physiological sensors within the vehicle;
and
a program memory storing executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computer system to:
collect sensor data regarding one or more physiological states of the vehicle operator using the one or more physiological sensors;
calculate an impairment indicator score using the sensor data, wherein the impairment indicator score indicates an extent of vehicle operator deviation from a normal emotional state with respect to a physiological metric;
when the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional state based upon the impairment indicator score, select one or more musical stimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator by predicting the ability of the stimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator based upon a user profile associated with the vehicle operator;
and
when a sound component of the vehicle is detected to be available and while the vehicle operator is in the impaired emotional state, cause the sound component within the vehicle to play the one or more musical stimuli to the user to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator.

6 more elements

A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that when executed by one or more processors of a computer system cause the computer system to:

monitor a vehicle operator of a vehicle using sensor data from one or more physiological sensors within the vehicle;
calculate at least one impairment indicator score using the sensor data, wherein the at least one impairment indicator score indicates an extent of vehicle operator deviation from a normal emotional state with respect to a physiological metric;
when the vehicle operator is in an impaired emotional state based upon the at least one impairment indicator score, select one or more musical stimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator by predicting the ability of the stimuli to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator based upon a user profile associated with the vehicle operator;
and
when a sound component of the vehicle is detected to be available and while the vehicle operator is in the impaired emotional state, cause the sound component within the vehicle to play the one or more musical stimuli to the user to improve the emotional state of the vehicle operator.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Vehicle operator emotion management system and method

Life of this patent

Vehicle operator emotion management system and method

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20