Abstract: A drive switching determination apparatus for a vehicle that communicates with at least one nearby vehicle within a predetermined area includes an information notification unit that notifies the at least one nearby vehicle of a switch request to enable a manual drive mode in the vehicle, an information obtaining unit that obtains a response from the at least one nearby vehicle to the switch request, a switching determination unit that permits switching from an automatic drive mode to the manual drive mode in the vehicle based on the response from the at least one nearby vehicle, and a signal output unit that outputs a signal indicating the switching permission.

Abstract: A drive mode switch controller receives a switch request for switching from a manual drive mode to an automatic drive mode when switching the drive mode of a vehicle between the manual drive mode and the automatic drive mode. The drive mode switch controller outputs, in response to the received switch request, a first switch signal for switching from the manual drive mode to the automatic drive mode, and a disconnecting command for disconnecting the steering wheel from the wheels of the vehicle.

Abstract: Distracted driving determination reflects changes in a vehicle traveling direction. A distracted driving determination apparatus includes a first obtaining unit that obtains first information indicating a driver's gaze or face orientation, a first determiner that determines whether the driver is engaging in distracted driving based on the gaze or face orientation indicated by the first information and a determination condition for detecting distracted driving, a second obtaining unit that obtains second information indicating a change in a traveling direction of a vehicle with respect to a straight traveling direction of the vehicle, a second determiner that determines whether the vehicle is traveling straight or traveling rightward or leftward based on the second information, and a condition changer that sets the determination condition to a first condition when the vehicle is traveling straight, and to a second condition different from the first condition when the vehicle is traveling rightward or leftward.

Abstract: Distracted driving determination reflects changes in the traveling direction of the vehicle.

Abstract: The accuracy is improved for distracted driving determination performed when the vehicle changes the traveling direction. A distracted driving determination apparatus includes a first obtaining unit that obtains first information indicating a gaze or a face orientation of a driver, a second obtaining unit that obtains second information indicating an operational state of a direction indicator, and a determiner that determines distracted driving by comparing the gaze or the face orientation indicated by the first information with a predetermined criterion indicating a direction or a duration that varies depending on the operational state indicated by the second information.

Abstract: An alert to distracted driving may adversely lower the attention of the driver. An alert control apparatus (300) includes data obtaining units (41 to 43) that obtain sensing data (a to j) from sensors (6 to 15), a railroad crossing recognizer (44) that recognizes a position of a railroad crossing relative to a vehicle based on the sensing data, and a crossing entry determiner (45) that determines whether the vehicle has entered the railroad crossing based on the sensing data, and an alert controller (48) that restricts generation of an alert to distracted driving from a distracted driving alert device (200) while the vehicle is passing the railroad crossing.

Abstract: On a vehicle traveling on a downward slope, a driver's intentional checking is erroneously determined to be distracted driving, thus generating an alert. An apparatus includes an image data obtaining unit that obtains image data about a driver, a distracted driving determiner that determines distracted driving based on a face orientation and gaze of the driver captured in the image data and a determination criterion, a traveling state obtaining unit that obtains traveling state data about the vehicle, a traveling state determiner that determines whether the vehicle is traveling downward based on the traveling state data, and a criterion changer that changes, when the vehicle is determined to be traveling downward, the determination criterion for an upward face orientation and the gaze of the driver from a value used when the vehicle is determined not to be traveling downward.

Abstract: A concentration determination apparatus compares a degree of concentration on driving with a first criterion when a location of a traveling vehicle is within a first area different from a dangerous area, and compares the degree of concentration on driving with a second criterion higher than the first criterion when the location of the traveling vehicle is within a second area corresponding to the dangerous area, and outputs an instruction signal for supporting the driver when the location of the traveling vehicle is within the second area and the degree of concentration on driving does not satisfy the second criterion.

Abstract: An alert control apparatus includes a first obtaining unit that obtains first information about a gaze or face orientation of a driver, a distracted driving determiner that outputs a detection signal when detecting distracted driving, a second obtaining unit that obtains second information indicating whether an intersection is recognized, a third obtaining unit that obtains third information about a change in a vehicle traveling direction, an alert disabling unit that outputs a disabling signal disabling the detection signal in response to the intersection recognized and the traveling direction change detected, and an alert controller that outputs an instruction signal for an alert device to generate an alert in response to the detection signal output without the disabling signal, and outputs no instruction signal in response to the detection signal output with the disabling signal.

Abstract: If an alert to distracted driving is disabled, the driver can be alerted insufficiently in situations that take attention. An alert control apparatus (300) includes data obtaining units (41 to 43) that obtain sensing data (a to j) from sensors (6 to 15), a railroad crossing recognizer (44) that recognizes a railroad crossing in front of a vehicle based on the sensing data, and a crossing entry determiner (45) that determines whether the vehicle has entered the railroad crossing based on the sensing data, and a criterion changer (46) that sets, for an area defined in front of the vehicle, a determination criterion defined for causing a distracted driving alert device (200) to generate an alert in response to detection of the vehicle entering the railroad crossing.

Abstract: An information processing apparatus whereby the detection accuracy of a visual line direction of a driver can be improved, comprises an image acquiring part for acquiring an image including a face of a driver of a vehicle, a detecting part for detecting a visual line direction of the driver in the image acquired by the image acquiring part, an accumulating part for accumulating detection results by the detecting part, and a reference determining part for determining a reference of the visual line direction for the driver, using the detection results accumulated in the accumulating part.

Abstract: An information processing apparatus whereby the detection accuracy of a face direction of a driver of a vehicle can be improved, comprises an image acquiring part for acquiring an image including a face of a driver of a vehicle, a detecting part for detecting a face direction of the driver in the image acquired by the image acquiring part, an information acquiring part for acquiring information concerning a traveling condition of the vehicle, a first deciding part for deciding whether the vehicle is in a specified traveling condition based on the information acquired by the information acquiring part, and a reference determining part for determining a reference of the face direction of the driver based on the face direction of the driver while the vehicle is decided to be in the specified traveling condition by the first deciding part.

Abstract: To alert a driver looking in one direction for a relatively long time when changing the vehicle traveling direction, an apparatus includes a data obtaining unit, which obtains sensing data, a gaze direction detector, which detects a driver gaze direction, a gaze direction determiner, which determines distracted driving based on whether the gaze direction deviates by at least a predetermined angle from a traveling direction, and the deviation continues for at least a predetermined allowable duration allowing distracted driving, an alert controller, which outputs a signal instructing to generate an alert, a traveling direction determiner, which detects a change in the traveling direction, and a duration changer, which shortens the allowable duration in response to an intersection being recognized and a change detected in the traveling direction.

Abstract: An alert may not be generated at railroad crossings. An alert control apparatus (300) includes data obtaining units (41 to 43) that obtain sensing data (a to j) from sensors (6 to 15), a railroad crossing recognizer (44) that recognizes the position of a railroad crossing relative to a vehicle based on the sensing data, and a criterion changer (46) that changes, based on the recognition result, a determination criterion used by a distracted driving alert device (200) to generate an alert to distracted driving to a criterion with which the alert is more likely to be generated while the vehicle is passing the railroad crossing than at other times.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus for tracking a target object to be tracked included in a plurality of consecutively captured images, the image processing apparatus comprises an image acquisition unit configured to acquire an image; and a tracking unit configured to detect a target object to be tracked included in the image by matching and acquire over a plurality of the images an amount of movement of the target object to be tracked and a direction of the movement of the target object to be tracked, wherein the tracking unit performs first matching by using a first template corresponding to the target object to be tracked, and performs second matching by using a second template, which is different in size or shape from the first template, in a case where a score of a result of the first matching is lower than a first threshold value.

Abstract: An image processing apparatus for tracking a target object to be tracked included in a plurality of consecutively captured images, the image processing apparatus comprises an image acquisition unit configured to acquire an image; a template acquisition unit configured to acquire a template corresponding to a target object to be tracked included in the image; a masking map generation unit configured to generate a masking map serving as a map indicative of a degree of masking the target object to be tracked, which is included in the image, by another object; and a tracking unit configured to detect the target object to be tracked included in the image by using the template, and acquire over a plurality of images an amount of movement of the target object to be tracked and a direction of the movement of the target object to be tracked, based on both of the template and the masking map.

Abstract: A driver state recognition apparatus that recognizes a state of a driver of a vehicle provided with an autonomous driving system includes an image acquisition unit that acquires an image captured by a camera that captures the driver, a hand detection unit that detects the hands of the driver from the image acquired by the image acquisition unit, an object holding state detection unit that detects the holding state of an object by the hands of the driver detected by the hand detection unit, and a readiness determination unit that determines whether the driver is in a state of being able to immediately operate a steering wheel of the vehicle during autonomous driving, based on the holding state of the object detected by the object holding state detection unit.

Abstract: A driver state recognition apparatus that recognizes a state of a driver of a vehicle having an autonomous driving system includes a state recognition data acquisition unit that acquires state recognition data of a state of a foot of a driver's seat of the vehicle, a leg state inference unit that infers a state of the driver's legs using the state recognition data acquired by the state recognition data acquisition unit, and a readiness determination unit that determines whether the driver is in a state of being able to immediately operate the pedal of the vehicle during autonomous driving, based on inference information from the leg state inference unit.

Abstract: A driver state recognition apparatus that recognizes a state of a driver of a vehicle provided with an autonomous driving system includes a state recognition data acquisition unit that acquires state recognition data of an upper body of the driver, a shoulder detection unit that detects shoulders of the driver using the state recognition data acquired by the state recognition data acquisition unit, and a readiness determination unit that determines whether the driver is in a state of being able to immediately hold the steering wheel of the vehicle during autonomous driving, based on detection information from the shoulder detection unit.

Abstract: A driver state recognition apparatus that recognizes a state of the driver of a vehicle provided with an autonomous driving system includes a load data acquisition unit that acquires load data measured by a load measurement unit provided at a foot of a driver's seat of the vehicle, a sitting posture inference unit that infers the driver's sitting posture using the load data acquired by the load data acquisition unit, and a readiness determination unit that determines whether the driver is able to immediately operate the pedal of the vehicle during autonomous driving, based on inference information from the sitting posture inference unit.