# US 11,908,316 B2 · Walking information provision system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,908,316 B2 - Document ID: US11908316B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/883,605 - Filed: 2022-08-09 - Published: 2023-03-02 - Granted: 2024-02-20 - Earliest claimed: 2021-08-31 - Assignees: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Applicants: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha - Inventors: Tsuyoshi Miyazawa; Tomoaki Mitsuhashi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11908316B2 ## CPC - G08G 1/005: including pedestrian guidance indicator - G08B 6/00: Tactile signalling systems, e.g. tactile personal calling systems - G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93}) - G08B: SIGNALLING SYSTEMS, e.g. PERSONAL CALLING SYSTEMS; ORDER TELEGRAPHS; ALARM SYSTEMS ## Abstract When it is determined (by a notification determination unit) that there is information on walking to be notified to a visually impaired person, based on information acquired by a camera, a G sensor, and a GPS module that are built in a white cane used by the visually impaired person, an attribute of the information on walking to be notified is obtained (by an attribute setting unit), and a vibration pattern of a vibration generation device built in the white cane is decided (by an information notification state decision unit) based on the attribute. This makes it possible to optimize the information provided to the visually impaired person. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A walking information provision system for providing information on walking to a pedestrian, the walking information provision system comprising: an information acquisition unit configured to acquire at least information of a surrounding situation of the pedestrian; a notification determination unit configured to determine, based on the at least information acquired by the information acquisition unit, whether there is information on walking to be notified to the pedestrian; an attribute setting unit configured to, in response to the notification determination unit determining that there is the information on walking to be notified to the pedestrian, obtain an attribute of the information on walking to be notified to the pedestrian according to an urgency degree and an importance degree, wherein the urgency degree is based on a physical time until the pedestrian encounters a risk in walking, and the importance degree is a degree of influence brought about by a result when the pedestrian has encountered the risk in walking; and an information notification state decision unit configured to, based on the attribute of the information on walking to be notified to the pedestrian that has been obtained by the attribute setting unit, decide a notification state of the information on walking to be notified to the pedestrian, decide a vibration physical characteristic of a device carried by the pedestrian, and in response to the notification state including a repetition of a vibration ON period and a vibration OFF period, decide, according to the attribute of the information on walking, at least one of (i) an intermittent time being a sum of the one vibration ON period and the one vibration OFF period, or (ii) a duty ratio being a ratio of the one vibration ON period to the intermittent time, as the vibration physical characteristic of the device, wherein the intermittent time is set to be shorter as the urgency degree of the attribute of the information on walking is higher, and the duty ratio is set to be larger as the importance degree of the attribute of the information on walking is higher. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The walking information provision system according to claim 1, wherein the urgency degree is obtained by correcting, in accordance with an urgency degree correction parameter during walking of the pedestrian, a reference urgency degree corresponding to the physical time until the pedestrian encounters the risk in walking. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The walking information provision system according to claim 2, wherein the urgency degree correction parameter is at least one of (i) agility of the pedestrian in taking an avoidance action for encountering the risk in walking, (ii) ease of taking the avoidance action by the pedestrian due to a surrounding environment for encountering the risk in walking, or (iii) a kind of the risk in walking. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The walking information provision system according to claim 1, wherein the attribute of the information on walking is assigned to an advisory zone in response to a combination of the urgency degree and the importance degree being lower than a first predetermined value, a warning zone in response to the combination of the urgency degree and the importance degree being higher than a second predetermined value greater than the first predetermined value, and a caution zone in response to the combination of the urgency degree and the importance degree being between the first predetermined value and the second predetermined value. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The walking information provision system according to claim 4, wherein the information notification state decision unit is configured to, for the attribute of the information on walking assigned to the advisory zone, set the intermittent time to a first length, and the duty ratio to a first magnitude, for the attribute of the information on walking assigned to the caution zone, set the intermittent time to a second length less than the first length, and the duty ratio to a second magnitude greater than the first magnitude, and for the attribute of the information on walking assigned to the warning zone, set the intermittent time to a third length less than the second length, and the duty ratio to the second magnitude. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The walking information provision system according to claim 5, wherein the attribute of the information on walking is assigned to the advisory zone in response to any one of following (a)-(d): (a) the pedestrian being a visually impaired person has not approached a crosswalk and a power source of the walking information provision system is turned on, (b) a state of a traffic light is recognized based on information of an image captured by a camera of the device, (c) the state of the traffic light being switched from a red light to a green light was recognized, and (d) the visually impaired person completes crossing of the crosswalk without deviating to a left side or a right side of the crosswalk. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The walking information provision system according to claim 6, wherein the attribute of the information on walking is assigned to the caution zone in response to any one of following (e)-(g): (e) the visually impaired person starts walking toward the crosswalk and a time to reach the crosswalk is less than a predetermined time, (f) the visually impaired person deviates to the left side or the right side of the crosswalk while crossing the crosswalk, and (g) an error occurs in the walking information provision system due to the state of the traffic light not being recognized. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The walking information provision system according to claim 7, wherein the attribute of the information on walking is assigned to the warning zone in response to that the visually impaired person starts crossing the crosswalk even though the traffic light is the red light. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The walking information provision system according to claim 8, wherein the urgency degree is obtained by correcting, in accordance with an urgency degree correction parameter during walking of the pedestrian, a reference urgency degree corresponding to the physical time until the pedestrian encounters the risk in walking. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The walking information provision system according to claim 9, wherein the urgency degree correction parameter is at least one of (i) agility of the pedestrian in taking an avoidance action for encountering the risk in walking, (ii) ease of taking the avoidance action by the pedestrian due to a surrounding environment for encountering the risk in walking, or (iii) a kind of the risk in walking. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The walking information provision system according to claim 1, wherein the device is a cane used by the pedestrian being a visually impaired person, and is configured to notify the visually impaired person of the information on walking by vibration, the attribute of the information on walking is assigned, based on the urgency degree and the importance degree, to an advisory zone, a caution zone, or a warning zone, the attribute of the information on walking is assigned to the advisory zone in response to any one of following (a)-(d): (a) the visually impaired person has not approached a crosswalk and a power source of the walking information provision system is turned on, (b) a state of a traffic light is recognized based on information of an image captured by a camera of the cane, (c) the state of the traffic light being switched from a red light to a green light was recognized, and (d) the visually impaired person completes crossing of the crosswalk without deviating to a left side or a right side of the crosswalk, the attribute of the information on walking is assigned to the caution zone in response to any one of following (e)-(g): (e) the visually impaired person starts walking toward the crosswalk and a time to reach the crosswalk is less than a predetermined time, (f) the visually impaired person deviates to the left side or the right side of the crosswalk while crossing the crosswalk, and (g) an error occurs in the walking information provision system due to the state of the traffic light not being recognized, and the attribute of the information on walking is assigned to the warning zone in response to that the visually impaired person starts crossing the crosswalk even though the traffic light is the red light. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The walking information provision system according to claim 11, wherein the attribute of the information on walking is assigned to the advisory zone in response to a combination of the urgency degree and the importance degree being lower than a first predetermined value, the warning zone in response to the combination of the urgency degree and the importance degree being higher than a second predetermined value greater than the first predetermined value, and the caution zone in response to the combination of the urgency degree and the importance degree being between the first predetermined value and the second predetermined value. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The walking information provision system according to claim 12, wherein the information notification state decision unit is configured to, for the attribute of the information on walking assigned to the advisory zone, set the intermittent time to a first length, and the duty ratio to a first magnitude, for the attribute of the information on walking assigned to the caution zone, set the intermittent time to a second length less than the first length, and the duty ratio to a second magnitude greater than the first magnitude, and for the attribute of the information on walking assigned to the warning zone, set the intermittent time to a third length less than the second length, and the duty ratio to the second magnitude.