Driving assistance apparatus, driving assistance system, and driving assistance method

A driving assistance system comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory, and configured to:
• calculate a prediction error that is a difference between a predicted image and an actual image, the predicted image being predicted from an image in a traveling direction of a vehicle captured by a vehicle exterior camera that captures a periphery of the vehicle, an actual situation being captured in the actual image;
• estimate an attention state of a driver, based on the prediction error;
• and
• output driving assistance information for prompting an attention state and/or a behavior change and/or a consciousness change in relation to a driving manipulation, which are more appropriate for driving at that time, based on the attention state.

A driving assistance method comprising:

• calculating a prediction error that is a difference between a predicted image and an actual image, the predicted image being predicted from an image in a traveling direction of a vehicle captured by a vehicle exterior camera that captures a periphery of the vehicle, an actual situation being captured in the actual image;
• estimating an attention state of a driver, based on the prediction error;
• and
• outputting driving assistance information for prompting an attention state and/or a behavior change and/or a consciousness change in relation to a driving manipulation, which are more appropriate for driving at that time, based on the attention state.