Emergency reporting apparatus

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to an emergency reporting apparatus and more specifically, to an emergency reporting apparatus which makes a report to a rescue facility or the like when an emergency situation occurs.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] When a driver gets sick in a vehicle or an accident occurs, he or she usually reports to a rescue facility such as the fire station, the police station, or the like.

[0005] In an actual emergency, however, there is not always a person nearby, or the driver becomes unable to move, loses consciousness, or the like and thus cannot use a reporting apparatus in some case. Besides, even if the driver can report to the rescue facility, he or she cannot sometimes accurately inform a person at the report destination of his or her state and the like.

[0006] Hence, an emergency reporting apparatus is suggested that is provided with an emergency reporting switch for the case of occurrence of an emergency situation, so as to automatically report the occurrence of the emergency situation.

[0007] For example, an emergency reporting apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5-5626 is configured to estimate the accident position of a vehicle as well as detect the accident occurrence, store information for analyzing the accident, and contact with the outside.

[0008] Besides, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-251292, an emergency reporting apparatus is suggested that transmits to the outside vehicle information such as the present position and so on based on the operation of an airbag at the time of collision of the vehicle.

[0009] Such an emergency reporting apparatus is disposed in a vehicle, so that at the time of emergency such as when an accident or sudden illness occurs, the user can ask for a rescue by actuating the emergency reporting apparatus or by an automatic operation of the apparatus.

[0010] In a conventional emergency reporting apparatus, however, it is required to input into the apparatus driver information and vehicle information in advance, leading to burdensome. Therefore, the driver needs, at the time of emergency, to report the information which has not been inputted as the driver information. The driver, however, cannot effectively use the emergency reporting apparatus in some cases such as when he or she is at a low consciousness level, when he or she has a difficulty to have a communication because of pain, and so on.

[0011] Besides, in an apparatus which makes an emergency report through the operation of an airbag or the like, a report deputy function never serves in the case of an accident like an illness in which there is nothing wrong with a vehicle, and thus the driver needs to report by himself or herself in the end. Also in this case, even if the driver, suffering from an acute pain, can make an emergency report, he or she is not always able to give all his of her information accurately.

[0012] Moreover, when transmitting the information about the driver and vehicle to the outside, the driver cannot recognize whether the transmission is actually conducted.

[0013] The present invention is made to solve the above problems, and it is a first object of the present invention to provide an emergency reporting apparatus capable of easily collecting information necessary for an automatic report at the time of an emergency.

[0014] Further, it is a second object of the present invention to provide an emergency reporting apparatus capable of reporting by deputy passenger information even when the passenger cannot respond at the time of emergency report.

[0015] Further, it is a third object of the present invention to provide an emergency reporting apparatus capable of easily training for dealing with an emergency report through simulated questions and replies.

[0016] Further, it is a fourth object of the present invention to make it possible, when the emergency reporting apparatus reports by deputy the passenger information, for a passenger to confirm response contents at the time of report.

[0017] In the invention described in claim 1, the first object is attained by an emergency reporting apparatus which reports emergency situation information at the time of an emergency situation of a vehicle, which comprises a training means for simulating a contact and report to an emergency contact point based on an occurrence of the emergency situation; a passenger information storage means for storing as passenger information a result of the simulation by the passenger based on the training means; a detection means for detecting an occurrence of an emergency situation of the vehicle or an emergency situation of the passenger; and a passenger information transmission means for transmitting to an emergency report destination the passenger information stored in the passenger information storage means, when the detection means detects the occurrence of the emergency situation.

[0018] In the invention described in claim 2, the second object is attained by the emergency reporting apparatus described in claim 1, which further comprises a response capability judging means for judging whether the passenger is capable of responding to the emergency report destination, when the detection means detects the occurrence of the emergency situation, wherein the passenger information transmission means transmits the passenger information when the response capability judging means judges that the passenger is incapable of responding.

[0019] In the invention described in claim 3, the third object is attained by the emergency reporting apparatus described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the training means comprises a question means for outputting one or more questions imagining the emergency situation; and an answer receiving means for receiving an answer to the question by the question means.

[0020] In the invention described in claim 4, the fourth object is attained by the emergency reporting apparatus described in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the passenger information transmission means comprises a voice output means for outputting by voice in the vehicle the passenger information transmitted to the emergency report destination. In this case, for example, the voice received from the emergency report destination may be outputted in the vehicle.

[0021] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an emergency reporting apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing contents of questions in a training mode of the embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing the configuration of driver's information in the emergency reporting apparatus of the same;

[0024] FIGS. 4A and 4B are views showing the relation between an automobile and rescue facility of the same;

[0025] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing actions of a user, the emergency reporting apparatus and the rescue facility in a normal mode in the emergency report mode;

[0026] FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining actions of an agent apparatus in a training mode of the same;

[0027] FIGS. 7A to 7G show an example of scenes displayed on a display device in the training mode of the same;

[0028] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing actions of a deputy report mode of the same; and

[0029] FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing contents to be reported at the time of deputy report of the same.

[0030] Hereafter, a preferred embodiment of an emergency reporting apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0031] (1) Outline of the Embodiment

[0032] In the emergency reporting apparatus of this embodiment, a user trains the emergency reporting apparatus including a training function, so that the emergency reporting apparatus learns and stores the contents of behavior of the user. This allows the emergency reporting apparatus to report by deputy based on the learned and stored contents, when there is no reaction of the user at the time of occurrence of an actual emergency situation.

[0033] In the emergency reporting apparatus, disposed are an emergency reporting switch for selecting an emergency report mode, and a training mode switch for selecting a training mode which simulates an emergency report. In the training mode, experiences through a simulation of the operation in the case of occurrence of an emergency situation enables training imagining an imaginary circumstance based on an actual emergency situation. In the process of simulating the response at the emergency report in the training mode, the emergency reporting apparatus learns and stores as passenger information the dealing procedures and dealing contents (dealing result during the simulation) of the user. More specifically, the emergency reporting apparatus asks, in the training mode, the user simulated questions from an emergency rescue facility which will be addressed when emergency situations occur, and learns and stores the reply contents and response procedures. From the questions and replies, the emergency reporting apparatus automatically acquires the passenger information.

[0034] As for the obtaining way, the replies (passenger information) of the user to the questions may be obtained by converting the replies into data based on voice by voice recognition, or by using an input device such as a touch panel, keyboard, or the like.

[0035] When detecting an emergency situation of the vehicle or passenger, the emergency reporting apparatus makes an emergency report to a predetermined report destination. When there is no reaction of the user, the emergency reporting apparatus appropriately transmits the stored passenger information to an emergency report destination in accordance with the kind of the emergency situation, thereby reporting by deputy. Consequently, even when the user falls into the state unable to operate the emergency reporting apparatus, the user can automatically make an emergency report in his or her desiring procedures learned in the training mode.

[0036] Further, a communication with the outside by voice at the time of reporting using an interface with a learning function and outputting of the voice from an in-vehicle speaker allows the passenger to recognize a reliable report and seize the transmitted information.

[0037] It should be noted that the emergency reporting apparatus of this embodiment is configured such that an agent deals with an emergency report and deals in the training mode.

[0038] This agent is an artificial imaginary character whose appearance (planar image, three-dimensional image such as a holography, or the like) emerges in the vehicle.

[0039] The agent apparatus includes a function (hereafter referred to as a deputy function) of judging various kinds of states (including the state of the user) of the inside of the vehicle and the vehicle body, processing contents in the past, and so on, and autonomously performing processing in accordance with the judgment result. The agent apparatus includes an interactive interface and have a conversation with the user (question to the user, recognition and judgment of reply of the user to the question, suggestion to the user, instruction from the user, and so on).

[0040] The agent apparatus executes various kinds of deputy functions including the conversation with the user, in conjunction with the movement (display) and voice of the agent emerged in the vehicle.

[0041] For example, when detecting that an emergency contact button is pushed by the user, the agent apparatus performs processing of confirming the emergency contact from the user by voice outputting a question Do you make an emergency contact and displaying on a display device an image (moving image or still image) which displays asking expression on the face with pointing to the telephone and the motion of inclining the head.

[0042] Since the appearance of the agent changes, and voice is outputted in conjunction with the conversation with the user and processing by the deputy function of the agent apparatus as described above, the user feels as if the agent being the imaginary character exists in the vehicle. In the following description, the execution of a series of deputy functions of the agent apparatus as described above will be described as the behavior and movement of the agent.

[0043] The processing of the agent by the deputy function includes judgment of the circumstance of a vehicle including the vehicle body itself, passenger, oncoming vehicle, and so on and learning (including not only learning of the circumstance but also the response, reaction of the passenger, and so on), in which the agent deals (actionbehavior and voice) with variations to the passenger and vehicle based on the circumstance of the vehicle at every point of time and the learned result until then. This allows the passenger to call a plurality of agents at pleasure into the vehicle and chat (communicate) with them, making comfortable environment in the vehicle.

[0044] The artificial imaginary agent here in this embodiment has identity of a specific person, living thing, character in animation, or the like, and the imaginary agent with identity makes an output (responds by motion and voice) in such a manner to keep self-identity and continuity. The self-identity continuity are, embodied as a creature having a specific individuality, and the agent in this embodiment emerges in the vehicle differs in created voice and image in accordance with the contents of learning in the past even in the same circumstance of the vehicle.

[0045] As the various kinds of communication actions, this agent performs processing at an emergency in the emergency report mode and training mode.

[0046] Then, each action for the agent to perform including the processing at emergency is composed of a plurality of scenarios. Each scenario is standardized with a plurality of scenario data (including applications) defining the contents of a series of continuing actions by the agent, and activating conditions for activating each scenario.

[0047] (2) Details of the Embodiment

[0048] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an agent apparatus of this embodiment.

[0049] This agent apparatus of this embodiment comprises an entire processing unit 9 which controls the entire communication function. The entire processing unit 9 has a navigation processing unit 10 for searching a route to a set destination and guiding by voice and image display; an agent processing unit 11; an external I/F unit 12 for the navigation processing unit 10 and agent processing unit 11; an image processing unit 13 for processing outputs of images such as agent images, map images, and so on, and inputted images; a voice controlling unit 14 for controlling outputs of voices such as agent voice, routing-assistance voice, and so on, and inputted voice; a circumstance information processing unit 15 for processing various kinds of detection data regarding a vehicle and passenger; and an input controlling unit 16.

[0050] The navigation processing unit 10 and agent processing unit 11 each comprises a CPU (central processing unit) which performs data processing and controls actions of units, a ROM, RAM, timer, and so on connected to this CPU via a bus line such as a data bus, control bus, and the like. Both processing units 10 and 11 are networked so as to acquire processing data each other.

[0051] The agent processing unit 11 of this embodiment is configured such that after acquiring data for navigation (destination data, driving route data, and so on) from an external apparatus in an information center or the like in accordance with a scenario, and after obtaining a destination through communication with a user based on a scenario, the agent processing unit 11 supplies these data to the navigation processing unit 10.

[0052] The ROM is a read only memory pre-installed with various kinds of data and programs for the CPU to conduct control, and the RAM is a random access memory used by the CPU as a working memory.

[0053] The navigation processing unit 10 and agent processing unit 11 of this embodiment are configured such that the CPU loads the various kinds of programs installed in the ROM to execute various kinds of processing. Note that the CPU may load computer programs from an external storage medium set in a storage medium driver 23, install agent data 30 and navigation data 31 in a storage device 29 into a not-shown another storage device such as a hard disc or the like, and load a necessary program and the like from this storage device to the RAM for execution of the processing. Further, it is also adoptable to load a necessary program from the storage medium driver 23 directly into the RAM for execution of the processing.

[0054] The agent processing unit 11 is configured to perform various kinds of communication actions of an agent including conversation with a passenger in accordance with a scenario which has been previously created imagining various kinds of circumstances (stages) of a vehicle and passenger. More specifically, the following various kinds of circumstances are regarded as scenario activation conditions, such as vehicle speed, time, driving area, temperature, residual quantity of gasoline, detection of emergency situation, selection of training mode (for dealing with an emergency situation), so that the behavior of the agent in each circumstance is defined as a scenario for every circumstance.

[0055] Each scenario is composed of a plurality of continuing scenes (stages). The scene is one stage in the scenario. A question scenario after an emergency report in this embodiment is composed of scenes of stages for the agent to ask questions for collecting information based on critical care.

[0056] Each scene has a group of a title, list, balloon, background, and other small units (parts). The scenes sequentially proceed in accordance with the scenario. Some scenarios have a plurality of scenes which are selected depending on replies of the passenger to questions asked in specific scenes, circumstances of the vehicle, and so on. In short, there are scenarios in which scenes branch off in accordance with replies during the scenarios.

[0057] Data of a scenario including scenes are stored in a later-described scenario data file 302. Information of defining when and where the scenario is executed (scene activation conditions), and data of defining what image configuration is made in the execution, what action and conversation the agent takes, what instruction is given to a module of the navigation processing unit 10 and the like, and what is done next after receiving an event (which scene the flow proceeds to), are installed, in a group for every scene, in the scenario data file 302.

[0058] In this embodiment, based on thus standardized scenario data, various kinds of questions for collecting state information of a patient are converted into scenario data as emergency questions based on the knowledge of critical care.

[0059] FIG. 2 shows question contents for the agent to collect passenger information in the training mode.

[0060] As shown in FIG. 2, there are determined question items including those commonly asked for training items (accident, sudden illness, and so on) in the training mode, and those for each training item. In other words, as shown in FIG. 2, the questions asked irrespective of the kinds of training such as sudden illness accident and so on include, for example, Please tell me your name. Please tell me your sex and age. Do you know your blood type Do you have any allergies to specific medication or other things Do you have family doctor So, please tell me your doctor's name. and so on.

[0061] The questions asked in training for sudden illness include, for example, Are you suffering from a disease now or from a chronic disease Are you presently taking medication and so on.

[0062] The questions asked in training for accident include, for example, Are you injured now (from before the accident) or disabled and so on.

[0063] Further, the kinds of training include disaster and so on, though not shown, in addition to the above, and question items are previously determined for every kind of training.

[0064] Then, contents of user response to the question items (reply contents assigned to each key in the case of key entry, and recognition result through voice recognition in the case of voice entry) are obtained and stored as the passenger information.

[0065] In this embodiment, while these questions are asked every execution of the training mode to update data at all times, the questions corresponding to acquired data may be omitted and questions may be asked only about items corresponding to unacquired data. Alternatively, it is also adoptable to classify question items into those to be questioned every time irrespective of the presence or absence of data acquisition, those to be questioned only in the unacquired case, those to be questioned periodically (every n times, or every time after a lapse of a predetermined period), and so on.

[0066] It should be noted that the question items shown in FIG. 2 represent only one example, and various technical questions required for critical care are also set for practical use.

[0067] In this embodiment, a mode of executing the emergency reporting function includes an emergency report mode and a training mode. In an emergency reporting unit 21, an emergency reporting switch and a training mode switch so that selection of either switch allows one of the mode to be selected.

[0068] The emergency report mode is a mode of actually reporting to rescue facilities when there occurs an accident, health trouble of passenger, sudden illness, or the like.

[0069] The training mode is a mode for the user to simulate use of the emergency reporting unit.

[0070] In FIG. 1, the external I/F unit 12 is connected with the emergency reporting unit 21, the storage medium driver 23, and a communication controller 24; the image processing unit 13 is connected with a display device 27 and an imaging device 28; the voice controlling unit 14 is connected with a voice output device 25 and a mike (voice capturing means) 26; the circumstance information processing unit 15 is connected with a various circumstances detector 40; and the input controlling unit 16 is connected with an input device 22.

[0071] The various circumstances detector 40 comprises a present position detector 41, a circumstance detection unit 42, and an emergency situation detector 43.

[0072] The present position detector 41 is for detecting present position information such as an absolute position (in latitude and longitude) of a vehicle, and uses a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 411 which measures the position of a vehicle using an artificial satellite, an azimuth sensor 412, a rudder angle sensor 413, a distance sensor 414, a beacon receiver 415 which receives position information from beacons disposed on roads, and so on.

[0073] The GPS receiver 411 and beacon receiver 415 can measure a position by themselves, but at places where the GPS receiver 411 and beacon receiver 415 cannot receive position information, the present position is detected by dead reckoning through use of both the azimuth sensor 412 and distance sensor 414.

[0074] As the azimuth sensor 412, used is, for example, a magnetic sensor which detects earth magnetism to obtain the azimuth of a vehicle; a gyrocompass such as a gas rate gyro which detects the rotation angular velocity of a vehicle and integrates the angular velocity to obtain the azimuth of the vehicle, a fiber-optic gyro, or the like; a wheel sensor in which right and left wheel sensors are disposed to detect the turn of a vehicle through the difference in output pulse (difference in moved distance) therebetween for calculation of displacement amount in azimuth, or the like.

[0075] The rudder angle sensor 413 detects an angle of a steering through use of an optical rotation sensor, a rotation resistor volume, or the like which is attached to a rotation portion of the steering.

[0076] As the distance sensor 414, various methods are used such as a sensor which detects and counts the number of rotations of a wheel, or detects the acceleration and integrates it twice and so on.

[0077] The distance sensor 414 and rudder angle sensor 413 also serve as a driving operation circumstance detection means. In the case of suggesting execution of simulation of an emergency situation, a simulation of a vehicle collision is suggested when it is judged that the vehicle is, for example, in an overcrowded city based on the present position information detected by the present position detector 41.

[0078] The circumstance detection unit 42 comprises a brake sensor 421, a vehicle speed sensor 422, a direction indicator detector 423, a shift lever sensor 424, and a side brake (parking brake) sensor 425, which serve as a driving operation circumstance detection means for detecting the circumstances of driving operation.

[0079] Besides, the circumstance detection unit 42 comprises an air conditioner detector 427, a windshield wiper detector 428, and an audio detector 429, which serve as a device operation circumstance detection means for detecting the circumstances of device operation.

[0080] The brake sensor 421 detects whether a foot brake is depressed.

[0081] The vehicle speed sensor 422 detects the vehicle speed.

[0082] The direction indicator detector 423 detects whether the driver is operating a direction indicator, and whether the direction indicator is blinking.

[0083] The shift lever sensor 424 detects whether the driver is operating the shift lever, and the position of the shift lever.

[0084] The side brake (parking brake) sensor 425 detects whether the driver is operating the side brake, and the state of the side brake (on or off).

[0085] The air conditioner detector 427 detects whether a passenger is operating the various kinds of switches of the air conditioner.

[0086] The windshield wiper detector 428 detects whether the driver is operating the windshield wiper.

[0087] The audio detector 429 detects whether the passenger is operating an audio device such as a radio, CD player, cassette player, or the like, and whether the audio device is outputting voice.

[0088] The circumstance detection unit 42 comprises, in addition to the above, a light detection sensor which detects the operation circumstances of lights such as headlight, a room light, and the like; a seat belt detection sensor which detects wearing and removal of a seatbelt at the driver's seat or assistant driver's seat; and other sensors, as a device operation circumstance detection means.

[0089] The emergency situation detector 43 comprises a hazard switch sensor 431, a collision sensor 432, an infrared sensor 433, a load sensor 434, and a pulse sensor 435. The hazard sensor 431 is configured to detect ON or OFF state and supply it to the circumstance information processing unit 15. The circumstance information processing unit 15 is configured to supply an emergency situation signal to a circumstance judging unit 111 of the agent processing unit 11 when the switch ON state is kept supplied from the hazard switch sensor 431 for a predetermined time t or more.

[0090] The collision sensor 432 is a sensor which detects the fact of a vehicle collision. The collision sensor 432, for which various kinds of sensors can be used, is configured to detect a collision by detecting ignition of an airbag and supply a detection signal to the circumstance information processing unit 15 in this embodiment.

[0091] The infrared sensor 433 detects body temperature to detect at least one of the presence or absence and the number of passengers in a vehicle.

[0092] The load sensor 434 is disposed for each seat in a vehicle and detects from the load on each load sensor 434 at least one of the presence or absence and the number of passengers in a vehicle.

[0093] The infrared sensor 433 and load sensor 434 serve as a passenger number detection means. While this embodiment includes both the infrared sensor 433 and load sensor 434 to detect from both detection results the number of passengers in a vehicle, it is also adoptable to disposed one of them.

[0094] The pulse sensor 435 is a sensor which detects the number of pulses per minute of a driver. This sensor may be attached, for example, to a wrist of the driver to transmit and receive the number of pulses by wireless. This sensor may also be mounted in a steering wheel.

[0095] The input device 22 is also one means for inputting passenger information, or for the passenger to respond to all questions and the like by the agent according to this embodiment.

[0096] The input device 22 is for inputting the present position (point of departure) at the time of start of driving and the destination (point of arrival) in the navigation processing, a predetermined driving environment (sending condition) of a vehicle which requires to send to an information provider a demand for information such as traffic jam information and so on, the type (model) of a mobile phone used in the vehicle, and so on.

[0097] For the input device 22, there are usable various kinds of devices such as a touch panel (serving as a switch), keyboard, mouse, lightpen, joystick, remote controller using infrared light or the like, voice recognition device, and so on. Further, the input device 22 may include a remote controller using infrared light or the like and a receiving unit for receiving various kinds of signals transmitted from the remote controller. The remote controller has various kinds of keys disposed such as a menu designation key (button), a numeric keypad, and so on as well as a joystick which moves a cursor displayed on a screen.

[0098] The input controlling unit 16 detects data corresponding to the input contents by the input device 22 and supplies the data to the agent processing unit 11 and navigation processing unit 10. The input controlling unit 16 detects whether input operation is being performed, thereby serving as a device operation circumstance detection means.

[0099] The emergency reporting unit 21 comprises an emergency reporting switch so as to establish an emergency communication with a rescue facility when a passenger turns on this switch.

[0100] The communication with the rescue facility is established through various kinds of communication lines such as a telephone line, dedicated line for ambulance, the Internet, and so one.

[0101] In this embodiment, when an accident occurs, which case is detected by the collision sensor 432 or the like, and an emergency report is automatically made based on judgment of the occurrence of accident. Therefore, when the emergency reporting switch is pushed, which case is judged as an emergency circumstance because of a sudden illness, and an emergency report is made.

[0102] Further, the emergency reporting unit 21 also includes a training mode switch, so that when this switch is turned on, the emergency reporting unit 21 operates for the user similarly to the case when the emergency reporting switch is pushed or when an emergency situation is detected. In this case, however, the emergency reporting unit 21 does not establish a communication with a rescue facility but reproduces a simulative emergency situation.

[0103] In this embodiment, the emergency reporting unit 21 is configured to include the emergency reporting switch and training mode switch so that the user selects and turns on either of them. Other than that, it is also adoptable to provide the input device 22 with an emergency reporting key and training key by disposing a dedicated button or keys of a touch panel, so that the training mode is designated in advance to allow the emergency report and the training mode to be activated by the same button.

[0104] The emergency reporting switch and training mode switch do not always need to be provided near the driver's seat, but a plurality of switches can be set at positions such as the assistant driver's seat, rear seats and so on where the switches are considered as necessary.

[0105] The storage medium driver 23 is a driver for use in loading from an external storage medium computer programs for the navigation processing unit 10 and agent processing unit 11 to execute various kinds of processing. The computer programs recorded on the storage medium include various kinds of programs, data and so on.

[0106] The storage medium here represents a storage medium on which computer programs are recorded, and specifically includes magnetic storage media such as a floppy disc, hard disc, magnetic tape, and so on; semiconductor storage media such as a memory chip, IC card, and so on; optically information readable storage media such as a CD-ROM, MO, PD (phase change rewritable optical disc), and so on; storage media such as a paper card, paper tape, and so on; and storage media on which the computer programs are recorded by other various kinds of methods.

[0107] The storage medium driver 23 loads the computer programs from these various kinds of storage media. In addition, when the storage medium is a rewritable storage medium such as a floppy disc, IC card, or the like, the storage medium driver 23 can write into the abovementioned storage medium the data and so on in the RAMs of the navigation processing unit 10 and agent processing unit 11 and in the storage device 29.

[0108] For example, data such as learning contents (learning item data and response data) regarding the agent function and the passenger information are stored in an IC card, so that a passenger uses the data read from the IC card storing these data, also when taking another vehicle. This permits the passenger to communicate with the agent in the state of learning in accordance with the circumstance of his or her communication in the past. This enables not the agent for each vehicle but the agent having learning contents specific to every driver or passenger to emerge in a vehicle.

[0109] The communication controller 24 is configured to be connected with mobile phones including various kinds of wireless communication devices. The communication controller 24 can communicate with an information provider which provides data regarding traffic information such as road congestion circumstances and traffic controls, and an information provider which provides karaoke (sing-along machine) data used for online karaoke in a vehicle as well as calls via the telephone line. Further, it is also possible to transmit and receive learning contents regarding the agent function and so on via the communication controller 24.

[0110] The agent processing unit 11 in this embodiment can receive via the communication controller 24 electronic mails with attached scenarios.

[0111] Further, the agent processing unit 11 includes browser software for displaying homepages on the Internet (Internet websites) to be able to download data including scenarios from homepages via the communication controller 24.

[0112] This enables scenarios for the training for emergency report to be obtained.

[0113] Note that the communication controller 24 may self-contain a wireless communication function such as a mobile phone and the like.

[0114] The voice output device 25 is composed of one or a plurality of speakers disposed in the vehicle so as to output voice controlled by the voice controlling unit 14, for example, assistance voice in the case of routing assistance by voice, and voices by the agent in normal conversation for communication with the passenger and questions for acquiring passenger information in this embodiment and sounds.

[0115] In addition, this embodiment is configured such that when an emergency report is made and when the driver cannot communicate with an emergency report facility, the agent reports by deputy the information stored in the passenger information in accordance with learned response procedures which the use made in the training mode. The communication during the report in this case is made by voice which is outputted from the voice output device 25. This allows the passenger to recognize a reliable report, and seize the information transmitted.

[0116] The voice output device 25 may be shared with a speaker for the audio device.

[0117] The voice output device 25 and voice controlling unit 14, in conjunction with the agent processing unit 11, serve as a question means for giving questions for acquiring passenger information.

[0118] The mike 26 serves as a voice input means for inputting and outputting voice which is an object for voice recognition in the voice controlling unit 14, for example, input voice of a destination and so on in navigation processing, conversation of the passenger with the agent (including response by the passenger), and so on. For the mike 26, a dedicated mike is used which is directional for surely collecting voice of the passenger.

[0119] Note that it is also adoptable that the voice output device 25 and mike 26 form a handsfree unit for a call in telephone communication through no mobile phone.

[0120] The mike 26 and a voice recognition unit 142 serve as a conversation detection means for detecting whether the driver is talking with his or her fellow passenger, and in which case, the mike 26 and voice recognition unit 142 serve as a circumstance detection means for detecting the circumstances in the vehicle. More specifically, it is possible to detect from conversation of the passenger the fact of the passenger groaning, screaming, no conversation, and so on and judge whether the passenger can report by himself or herself.

[0121] Further, the mike 26 and voice recognition unit 142 detect from conversation whether there is a fellow passenger to serve as a fellow passenger detection means, and also serve as an ambulance crew arrival detection means for recognizing arrival of ambulance crews by recognizing an ambulance siren.

[0122] The display device 27 is configured to display thereon road maps for routing assistance by processing of the navigation processing unit 10 and various kinds of image information, and various kinds of behaviors (moving images) of the agent by the agent processing unit 11. Further, the display device 27 displays images of the inside and outside of the vehicle captured by the imaging device 28 after processed by the image processing unit 13.

[0123] The display device 27 is configured to display thereon a plurality of ambulance question scene images which are displayed when an ambulance crew agent in an appearance of an ambulance crew asks ambulance questions, a scene image which is displayed after the completion of the questions to arrival of ambulance crews, a notify scene image of notifying the ambulance crews of collected patient's information, in accordance with the ambulance question scenario of this embodiment. Further, the display device 27 serves as a display means for displaying items suggested by a later-described suggestion means.

[0124] As the display device 27, various kinds of display devices are used such as a liquid crystal display device, CRT, and the like.

[0125] Note that this display device 27 can be provided with a function as the aforementioned input device 22 such as, for example, a touch panel or the like.

[0126] The imaging device 28 is composed of cameras provided with a CCD (charge coupled device) for capturing images, which are in-vehicle camera for capturing the inside of the vehicle as well as out-vehicle cameras for capturing the front, rear, right, and left of the vehicle. The images captured by the cameras of the imaging device 28 are supplied to the image processing unit 13 for processing of image recognition and so on.

[0127] In this embodiment, the agent processing unit 11 judges, based on the image processing result by the image processing unit 13, the state (condition) of the passenger from movement of people in the vehicle captured by the in-vehicle camera. More specifically, the agent processing unit 11 judges the state (condition) of the passenger such as whether he or she can report by himself or herself and whether he or she can move by himself or herself, based on judgment criteria of movement (normal movement, no movement, convulsions, or the like), posture (normal, bending backward, crouch, or the like), others (vomiting of blood, turning up of the whites of the eyes, foaming at the mouth, or the like).

[0128] Further, recognition results (the presence of fellow passenger, the recognition of driver, and so on) by the image processing unit 13 are reflected in the communication by the agent.

[0129] In the storage device 29, the agent data 30, the navigation data 31, and vehicle data 32 are stored as the various kinds of data (including programs) necessary for implementation of the various kinds of agent functions and the navigation function according to this embodiment.

[0130] As the storage device 29, the following various kinds of storage media and respective drivers are used such as, for example, a floppy disc, hard disc, CD-ROM, optical disc, magnetic tape, IC card, optical card, DVD (digital versatile disc), and so on.

[0131] In this case, it is also adoptable to compose the storage device 29 of a plurality of different kind storage media and drivers such that learning item data 304, response data 305, passenger information 307 are formed in an IC card or a floppy disc which is easy to carry, and other data are formed in a DVD or a hard disc, and to use those storage media as drivers.

[0132] The agent data 30 stores an agent program 301, a scenario data file 302, voice data 303, the learning item data 304, the response data 305 composed of voice data, the image data 306 for images displaying the appearance and behavior of the agent, the passenger information 307, and other various kinds of data necessary for processing by the agent.

[0133] The agent program 301 stores an agent processing program for implementing the agent function.

[0134] For example, stored processing programs include, for example, condition judgment processing which judges whether an activating condition for a scenario is satisfied; scenario execution processing which activates, when the activation condition is judged to be satisfied in the condition judgment processing, the scenario corresponding to the activation condition and causes the agent to act in accordance with the scenario; and other various kinds of processing.

[0135] The learning item data 304 and response data 305 are data storing results of the agent learning through the responses and the like of the passenger.

[0136] Therefore, the learning item data 304 and response data 305 store and update (learn) data for every passenger.

[0137] The learning item data 304 stores items to be learned by the agent such as, for example, the total number of ignition ON times, the number of ON times per day, the residual fuel amount at the time of fuel feeding of the last five times, and so on. In accordance with the learning items stored in this learning item data 304, for example, the greetings of the agent when appearing change depending on the number of ignition ON times, or the agent suggests feeding of fuel when the residual fuel amount decreases to an average value or less of the fuel amounts of the last five times.

[0138] In the response data 305, a response history of the user to the behavior of the agent is stored for every scenario. The response data 305 stores response dates and hours and response contents of a predetermined number of times, for every response item. As for the response contents, respective cases such as being ignored, being refused, being received (accepted), and so on are judged based on voice recognition in each case or the input result into the input device 22, and stored. Further, in the training mode of simulating an emergency situation, the procedures responded by the passenger are stored in the response data 305.

[0139] The scenario data file 302 stores data of scenarios defining the behaviors of the agent at the respective circumstances and stages, and also stores the ambulance question scenario (question means) which is activated at the time of emergency report or at the time of simulation of an emergency report of this embodiment. The scenario data file 302 in this embodiment is stored in a DVD.

[0140] In the case of the ambulance question scenario in this embodiment, ambulance questions about the state of the passenger are asked for every scene, and respective replies to the questions are stored in the passenger information 307.

[0141] The voice data 303 in the storage device 29 (FIG. 1) stores voice data for the agent to have a conversation and so on with the passenger in accordance with scenes of a selected scenario. The voice data of conversation of the agent also stores voice data of the ambulance questions by the agent according to this embodiment.

[0142] Each data in the voice data 303 is designated by character action designation data in scene data.

[0143] The image data 306 stores still images representing the state of the agent for use in each scene designated by a scenario, moving images representing actions (animation), and so on. For example, stored images include moving images of the agent bowing, nodding, raising a right hand, and so on. These still images and moving images have assigned image codes.

[0144] The appearance of the agent stored in the image data 306 is not necessarily human (male or female) appearance. For example, an inhuman type agent may have an appearance of an animal itself such as an octopus, chick, dog, cat, frog, mouse, or the like; an animal appearance deformed (designed) into human being; a robot-like appearance; an appearance of a floor stand or tree; an appearance of a specific character; or the like. Further, the agent is not necessarily at a certain age, but may be configured to have a child appearance at the beginning and change in appearance following growth with time (changing into an appearance of an adult and into an appearance of an aged person) as the learning function of the agent. The image data 306 stores images of appearances of these various kinds of agents to allow the driver to select one through the input device 22 or the like in accordance with his or her preferences.

[0145] The passenger information 307, which is information regarding the passenger, is used for matching the behavior of the agent to demands and likes and tastes of the passenger and when suggesting a simulation of an emergency situation.

[0146] FIG. 3 schematically shows the configuration of the passenger information 307.

[0147] As shown in FIG. 3, the passenger information 307 stores passenger basic data composed of passenger's ID (identification information), name, date of birth, age, sex, marriage (married or unmarried), children (with or without, the number, ages); likes and tastes data; health care data; and contact point data at emergency.

[0148] The likes and tastes data is composed of large items such as sports, drinking and eating, travel, and so on, and detail items included in these large items. For example, the large item of sports stores detail data such as a favorite soccer team, a favorite baseball club, interest in golf, and so on.

[0149] The health care data that is data for health care stores, when a passenger suffers from a chronic disease, the name and condition of the disease, the name of family doctor, and so on, for use in suggesting simulation and for question during the simulation. The storage of passenger information as described above is regarded as a passenger information storage means of the present invention. The information stored in the health care data corresponds to the question items shown in FIG. 2, so that contents of replies to the questions based on the question items are stored therein. The health care data shown in FIG. 3 represents one example, and questions are asked including more detail data similarly to the question items in FIG. 2 so that the reply contents are stored therein.

[0150] In this embodiment, these pieces of passenger information have determined priority orders, so that the agent asks questions to the passenger in descending order of the priorities of unstored pieces of passenger information. The passenger basic data is at a higher priority to the likes and tastes data. Note that the health care data have no priority, and the questions are asked in the training mode of an emergency report.

[0151] The passenger information 307 is created for each passenger when there are a plurality of passengers. Then, a passenger is identified, and corresponding passenger information is used.

[0152] For identifying a passenger, an agent in common to all passengers appears to question the passengers, for example, at an ignition ON time to identify the individual passenger based on the replies. The questions are asked by displaying buttons on the display device for selection from among inputted passenger names and the other and outputting voice to urge the passengers to select. When the other is selected, a new user registration screen is displayed.

[0153] It is also adoptable to store in the passenger information 307 at least one piece of information specific to a passenger such as weight, fixed position the driver's seat (position in the front-and-rear direction and angle of the seat back), angle of a rearview mirror, height of sight, data acquired by digitizing his or her facial portrait, voice characteristic parameter, and so on, so as to identify a passenger based on the information.

[0154] The navigation data 31 store, as the various kinds of data files for use in routing assistance and the like, a communication area data file, picturized map data file, intersection data file, node data file, road data file, search data file, photograph data file, and so on.

[0155] The communication area data file stores communication area data for displaying on the display device 27 the area within which a mobile phone that is used in, a vehicle in connection with or without the communication controller 24 can communicate, or for using the communicable area for route searching, on a mobile phone type basis.

[0156] The picturized map data file stores picturized map data pictured on the display device 27. The picturized map data stores data of story maps, for example, maps at stories, from the uppermost story, Japan, Kanto District, Tokyo, Kanda, and so on. The map data at respective stories are assigned respective map codes.

[0157] The intersection data file stores intersection data such as number of intersection for identifying each intersection, name of intersection, coordinates of intersection (latitude and longitude), number of road whose start or end point is at the intersection, and the presence of traffic light.

[0158] The node data file stores node data composed of information such as a longitude and latitude designating coordinates of each point on each road. More specifically, the node data is data regarding one point on a road, so that assuming that a thing connecting nodes is called an ark, a road is expressed by connecting a plurality of node strings with arks.

[0159] The road data file stores number of road for identifying each road, number of intersection which is a start or end point, numbers of roads having the same start or end point, width of road, prohibition information of entry prohibition or the like, number of photograph of later-described photograph data, and so on.

[0160] Road network data composed of the intersection data, node data, and road data respectively stored in the intersection data file, node data file, road data file are used for route searching.

[0161] The search data file stores intersection string data, node string data and so on constituting routes created by route searching. The intersection string data are composed of information such as name of intersection, number of intersection, number of photograph capturing a characteristic scenery of the intersection, corner, distance, and so on. Besides, the node string data is composed of information such as east longitude and north latitude indicating the position of the node.

[0162] The photograph data file stores photographs capturing characteristic scenery and so on viewed at intersections and during going straight, in digital, analogue, or negative film form in correspondence with numbers of photographs.

[0163] The following description will be made on details of the emergency reporting function by the agent apparatus (emergency reporting apparatus) thus configured.

[0164] The emergency reporting function of the agent apparatus includes processing in the emergency report mode of making an emergency contact when an emergency situation actually occurs, and processing in the training mode of training for operation and dealing in the emergency report mode. The emergency report mode includes a normal report mode in which a passenger communicates with an emergency report facility, and a deputy report mode in which an agent reports by deputy when the passenger cannot respond such as when he or she is unconscious.

[0165] Note that, for efficient training effect, the interfaces for use in the training mode are the same as in the actual use of the emergency reporting apparatus.

[0166] The following description will be made on processing actions by the emergency reporting function of the agent apparatus such as, (i) processing action in the normal mode in the emergency report mode, (ii) processing action in the training mode, and (iii) processing action in the deputy report mode in the emergency report mode, respectively.

[0167] (i) Processing Action in the Emergency Report Mode

[0168] The emergency report mode is for the case in which a person asks for help to a rescue facility because some emergency situation actually occurs such as when the driver or passenger gets ill during driving, when a landslide occurs during moving, when being involved in a vehicle collision, or the like.

[0169] FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing the relation between an automobile and rescue facility, FIG. 4A shows the case in which the automobile directly communicates with the rescue facility, and FIG. 4B shows the case in which the automobile communicates with a center, which contacts with the rescue facility.

[0170] In FIG. 4A, the automobile 61 is a vehicle with the agent apparatus of this embodiment. The rescue facility 63 is a facility which carries out rescue work when some trouble occurs on the automobile 61, and, for example, the fire station, police station, private rescue facility, and so on apply thereto.

[0171] When a trouble occurs on the automobile 61 and its driver turns on the emergency reporting switch in the emergency reporting unit 21 (FIG. 1), the agent processing unit 11 establishes a communication line using a wireless line between the communication controller 24 and the rescue facility 63. It is adoptable to use, as the communication line established by the emergency reporting unit 21, the telephone line as well as the dedicated communication line.

[0172] When receiving a report from the agent apparatus, the rescue facility 63 confirms the contents of the emergency situation with the reporter, and dispatches a rescue party to the automobile 61 when necessary.

[0173] The emergency report network shown in FIG. 4B is composed of the automobile 61 with the agent apparatus, the center 62, the rescue facility 63, and so on. In this configuration of FIG. 4B, when an emergency situation occurs on the automobile 61 and the emergency reporting switch is selected, an emergency report is sent to the center 62. In the center 62, an operator in charge is assigned to deal with the passenger. When extracting from the passenger necessary information, based on which the operator asks for help to the rescue facility 63.

[0174] As described above, this embodiment includes, in the emergency report mode, a case in which the system is configured to report to the rescue facility 63 as a destination of a report from the emergency reporting unit 21 of the automobile 61, and a case to the center 62. Either case may be employed, or both may be employed in which the report is sent to either the rescue facility 63 or the center 62.

[0175] Other than the case in which the report is sent to the report destination (the rescue facility 62 or the center 63) configured as a system, it is also adoptable in this embodiment to contact with the contact points (telephone number of home, acquaintances, relatives, and so on, and a predetermined e-mail address) which have been obtained in the training mode. In this case, it is also adoptable to contact with the contact point as well as or in place of the report destination as the system.

[0176] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing actions of the user, the emergency reporting apparatus (the agent processing unit 11 of the agent apparatus), and the rescue facility in the normal mode of the emergency report mode in the system configuration in FIG. 4A.

[0177] It should be noted that prior to the execution of this normal mode, whether a deputy report is made is judged as described later, and when the deputy report is judged to be unnecessary, the following normal mode is executed. Here, the processing in the normal mode will be described first for facilitating the understanding of the contents of the training mode.

[0178] When some trouble occurs, a driver or passenger (assuming that the driver performs operation in the following) turns on (selects) the emergency reporting switch of the emergency reporting unit 21 (Step 11). When the emergency reporting switch is turned on, the agent apparatus starts action in the emergency report mode. Alternatively, there also is such a case that the various circumstances detector 40 detects an abnormal situation (for example, the collision sensor 432 detects a collision), and the agent processing unit 11 automatically starts action in the emergency report mode. As described above, the detection of a vehicle emergency situation or passenger emergency situation is regarded as a detection means of the present invention.

[0179] Then, the agent processing unit 11 performs display on the display device 27 rescue facilities for dealing with various kinds of troubles, such as the fire station, police station, and specific private rescue facility, to be selectable (Step 12).

[0180] Note that it is also adoptable to display, in place of the rescue facilities, the kinds of troubles such as sudden illness, accident, disaster, and so on, to be selectable. In this case, the kinds of troubles to be displayed are made to correspond to rescue facilities for a rescue, for example, the fire station in the case of a sudden illness, the police station in the case of an accident, and so on, so that a selection of the kind of trouble causes the rescue facility dealing therewith to be specified.

[0181] The passenger judges and selects a rescue facility corresponding to the kind of the trouble from among the displayed rescue facilities, and inputs it via the input device 22 (Step 13).

[0182] Note that the selection of the rescue facility can be automatically made by the agent processing unit 11. In this case, the agent processing unit 11 guesses the kind of the trouble from the detection signal of the various circumstances detector 40, and specifies a rescue facility. For example, when detecting a collision of a vehicle, the agent processing unit 11 reports to the police station, and further reports to the fire station when there is no response to the question Are you all right or when there is confirmation of a response regarding a request for an ambulance.

[0183] Alternatively, such a configuration is adoptable that the agent processing unit 11 waits for an input from the passenger for a predetermined period, and automatically selects a rescue facility when there is no input from the driver. This means that when the driver has consciousness, the passenger make a selection, and when the passenger loses consciousness, the agent processing unit 11 makes a selection as deputy for the passenger.

[0184] Next, the agent processing unit 11 establishes a communication line with the selected rescue facility using the communication controller 24, and starts a report to the rescue facility (Step 14).

[0185] In the rescue facility, an operator in charge deals with the report. The passenger can speak to the operator using the mike 26 and hear questions from the operator using the voice output device 25.

[0186] The questions that the operator asks the passenger such as questions including the contents of trouble, the presence of injury and illness, and present position are transmitted from the rescue facility to the agent apparatus via the communication line. Then, in the agent apparatus, the agent processing unit 11 announces in the vehicle the questions from the operator using the voice output device 25 (Step 15).

[0187] Then, the agent processing unit 11 obtains answers from the passenger to the questions asked from the operator, such as the contents of accident, the presence of injury and so on through the mike 26, and transmits it to the rescue facility using the communication controller 24 (Step 16).

[0188] The agent processing unit 11 repeats the above Steps 15 and 16 until the operator acquires necessary information.

[0189] The operator extracts the necessary information from the passenger and then orders, for the ambulance party to go (Step 17), and informs the passenger of the dispatch of the ambulance party (Step 18).

[0190] (ii) Processing Action in the Training Mode

[0191] Next the training mode that is a training means of the present invention will be described. The training means of the present invention means simulation of a contact and report to the emergency contact point based on the occurrence of an emergency situation. Further, the questions corresponding to the question items shown in FIG. 2 are asked to obtain replies thereto in the training mode, so as to automatically acquire the passenger information with less load on the user.

[0192] While the operator in the rescue facility deals with the passenger in the emergency report, mode, the agent processing unit 11 asks, in the training mode, the questions as deputy for the operator in accordance with a predetermine scenario (a scenario made by imagining the operator in the rescue facility dealing with the passenger).

[0193] FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining actions of the gent apparatus in the training mode. On the other hand, FIGS. 7A to 7G show one example of scenes displayed on the display device 27 in the training mode. These scenes are included in the training scenario.

[0194] The following description will be made with reference to FIG. 6 and FIGS. 7A to 7G.

[0195] First, the passenger turns on the training mode switch in the emergency reporting unit 21 for selection to thereby select the training mode. When the training mode is selected by the passenger, the agent apparatus activates the training mode to start actions in the training mode (Step 21). As described above, the training mode is activated by the passenger requiring the agent apparatus to execute the training mode.

[0196] FIG. 7A is a view showing an example of a selection screen being a scene screen that the agent processing unit 11 displays on the display device 27.

[0197] On the selection screen, an agent is displayed with a balloon of the agent Do you start the training mode Further, the agent processing unit 11 announces in the vehicle from the voice output device 25 the same contents as the balloon of the agent.

[0198] The confirmation by the passenger as described above permits the passenger to use the training function at ease without confusion with actions for a real emergency report.

[0199] On the selection screen, further Yes and No are displayed in such a manner that which is selected can be recognized, for example, one of them is highlighted or displayed in reverse video. Yes or No can be selected by the passenger setting via the input device 22 or by voice. Although not shown, when the passenger pushes a decision button on the input device 22, the agent processing unit 11 decides the selection and proceeds to the subsequent processing.

[0200] When Yes is selected, the agent processing unit 11 starts training by the training mode, and when No is selected, the agent processing unit 11 ends the training mode.

[0201] Although not shown, when Yes is selected, the agent is displayed on the display device 27 with announcement in the vehicle Training mode is selected. so that the agent declares the start of the training mode.

[0202] Returning to FIG. 6, when the training mode is selected, the agent processing unit 11 suggests in alternative form a plurality of imagining contents of troubles for sudden illness, accident, and so on, and displays the respective items (Step 22).

[0203] When the passenger selects a desired one from among the displayed plurality of trouble contents, the agent processing unit 11 obtains the contents of the selected trouble (Step 23). The suggestion and selection of a desired item from among the displayed items is regarded as an item selection means of the present invention.

[0204] Then, scenes of the scenario branch out into the traning contents for a sudden illness, an accident, and so on depending on the kind of the trouble selected by the passenger.

[0205] It should be noted that it is also adoptable to configure the training mode such that the passenger selects a rescue facility instead of the trouble contents, and the passenger keeps the selected rescue facility in mind, so that he or she makes an emergency report to the keeping rescue facility at the occurrence of the same emergency situation as the training.

[0206] FIG. 7B is a view showing an example of a trouble suggestion screen being a scene screen that the agent processing unit 11 displays on the display device 27 when Yes is selected on the selection screen in FIG. 7A.

[0207] On the trouble suggestion screen, the agent is displayed with a balloon What circumstance do you imagine for training Further, the agent processing unit 11 announces in the vehicle from the voice output device 25 the same contents as the balloon of the agent.

[0208] On the trouble imagination screen, further the trouble contents such as sudden illness accident disaster and so on are displayed in such a manner that which is selected can be recognized. The driver can select the kind of trouble via the input device 22. Although not shown, when the driver pushes the decision button on the input device 22, the agent processing unit 11 decides the selection and proceeds to the subsequent processing.

[0209] As described above, the passenger can set what circumstance the driver imagines to be in.

[0210] Further, the agent processing unit 11 can also suggest, in conjunction with the navigation, a possible accident at a point where the passenger performs training based on the information acquired from the present position detector 41. As described above, the detection of the information of the present position using the present position detector 41 is regarded as a present position information detection means.

[0211] Conceivable examples when suggesting items of emergency situation imaging items corresponding to the present position of the vehicle include, for example, a fall and a slide for the case of an uneven location. The conceivable examples also include a collision in an overcrowded city and a spin caused due to excessive speed at a place with a wide space.

[0212] Returning to FIG. 6, when the passenger selects the contents of a trouble on the trouble suggestion screen, the agent processing unit 11 reconfirms whether the passenger satisfies the selected contents, and thereafter instructs the passenger to select the emergency report. Following the instruction by the agent processing unit 11, the passenger activates the emergency reporting unit 21 (Step 24). As described above, in the training mode, report to rescue facilities is prohibited, so that no report is made even if the emergency reporting switch is turned on.

[0213] FIG. 7C is a view showing an example of a contents confirmation screen being a scene screen that the agent processing unit 11 displays on the display device 27 when confirming whether the passenger agree to processing being carried on in accordance with the contents of the selected trouble.

[0214] On the contents confirmation screen, the agent is displayed with a balloon I will start the training mode imagining an accident. Are you all right

[0215] Further, the agent processing unit 11 announces in the vehicle from the voice output device 25 the same contents as the balloon of the agent.

[0216] On the selection screen, further Yes and No are displayed in such a manner that which is selected can be recognized, for example, one of them is highlighted. Yes or No can be selected by the passenger setting via the input device 22 or by voice. Although not shown, when the passenger pushes the decision button on the input device 22, the agent processing unit 11 decides the selection and proceeds to the subsequent processing.

[0217] When Yes is selected, the agent processing unit 11 forwards processing with the contents of the selected trouble, and when No is selected, the agent processing unit 11 displays again the trouble selection screen to urge the passenger to select again.

[0218] FIG. 7D is a view showing an example of an activation instruction screen being a scene screen that the agent processing unit 11 instructs the passenger to activate the emergency reporting apparatus.

[0219] On the activation instruction screen, the agent is displayed with a balloon I have started the training mode. Please activate the emergency reporting apparatus as usual.

[0220] Further, the agent processing unit 11 announces in the vehicle from the voice output device 25 the same contents as the balloon of the agent.

[0221] As described above, after confirmation of the start of the training mode, the passenger pushes the activation button of the emergency reporting unit 21, that is, the emergency reporting switch as usual.

[0222] Returning to FIG. 6, when the passenger activates the emergency reporting unit 21 by pushing the emergency reporting switch, the agent processing unit 11 outputs from the voice output device 25 voice imitating the operator in the rescue facility for the contents of the accident including, for example, What is wrong with you Is anybody injured and so on, the presence of injury, present position, and further the questions necessary for emergency care exemplarily shown in FIG. 2 (Step 25). The output of one or a plurality of questions imagining an emergency situation such as the questions by the operator in the rescue facility and so on is regarded as a question means of the present invention. Further, the agent is displayed with a balloon on the display device 27 together with the questions.

[0223] FIG. 7E is a view showing an example of a question screen being a scene screen that the agent processing unit 11 displays after the passenger activates the emergency reporting unit 21. Note that this screen is made imagining occurrence of an accident.

[0224] On the question screen, the agent is displayed with a balloon What is wrong with you Further, the agent processing unit 11 announces in the vehicle from the voice output device 25 the same contents as the balloon of the agent.

[0225] It is also adoptable to previously display in list form the contest of the imagined emergency situations so that the passenger selects from among them an appropriate emergency state. It is naturally adoptable to use both the selection from the list display and an answer by voice (answer of explaining the contents of the emergency situation).

[0226] To the questions from the agent announced in the vehicle via the voice output device 25, the passenger answers I have a fit. I bumped into the guardrail. or the like. Further, the agent processing unit 11 asks in sequence the questions of the items which will be asked to the passenger from a rescue facility at the time of report such as Do you know your blood type Are you suffering from a disease now or from a chronic disease shown in FIG. 2, and the user replies My blood type is B. I have myocardial infarction. or the like.

[0227] The agent processing unit 11 stores into the response data 305 the response procedures of the user to the questions, and temporarily stores in a predetermined region of the RAM the contents of the replies by the user to the questions (Step 26).

[0228] The answer to the question is regarded as an answer receiving means of the present invention. The emergency reporting unit 21 detects the voice of the passenger via the mike 26, so that the agent processing unit 11 asks the next question after the passenger finishes answer to the questions.

[0229] Then, the agent processing unit 11 judges whether all the questions about the trouble contents are finished (Step 27), and if there is a remaining question (;N), the agent processing unit 11 returns to Step 25 to ask the next question.

[0230] On the other hand, when all the questions are completed (Step 27; Y), the agent processing unit 11 informs the passenger of the fact that the training has been finished, via the voice output device 25 and display device 27. In addition, the agent processing unit 11 evaluates, based on the answers stored in the answer receiving means, by outputting an advice for an actual occasion, for example, a message Please answer louder. when the passenger voice is too low to hear (Step 28). Giving of the advice for the actual occasion is regarded as a training evaluation means of the present invention.

[0231] While an advice for response in the training is given after the training in this embodiment, it is also adoptable to advise for every response of the passenger to each question.

[0232] As for the evaluation, it is also adoptable to measure time from completion of each question to answer and tell the length of the answering time in comparison with desired answering time so as to regard the answering time as a measure of the training evaluation. It is also adoptable to set the desired answering time for each question contents to make an evaluation by displaying in a graph the length of the answering time for each question, by using the length of an average answering time, or by employing both of them.

[0233] It is also adoptable to previously set an average dealing time from the start to the end of the training for every emergency situation, so as to make an evaluation using the length of the measured time from the start to the end of the training.

[0234] FIG. 7F is a view showing an example of an end screen being a scene screen that the agent processing unit 11 displays when ending the training.

[0235] On the end screen, the agent outputs voice such as Good training today. which is displayed in a balloon. Further, the agent processing unit 11 outputs by voice and in a balloon the evaluation of the dealing in the training mode. Note that it is also adoptable to display and output by voice the notification of the end of the training mode and the evaluation separately.

[0236] As described above, the user can simulate and experience on the training mode the usage of the emergency reporting unit 21 the same as imagined circumstances. A series of processing of simulating the usage of the emergency reporting unit 21 is regarded as the training means of the present invention. Further, storing the results of the simulation of the emergency report into the response data 305 is regarded as a result storage means of the present invention.

[0237] After the evaluation of the training mode, the agent processing unit 11 displays in list the reply contents (obtained replies to the questions) stored in the RAM in Step 26, as shown in FIG. 7F. In this list, the obtained replies and the question item corresponding to the replies are displayed. Further, check boxes are displayed for the respective questions in which checks are placed in all the check boxes at the beginning of displaying the list.

[0238] Then, the agent processing unit 11 outputs by voice and displays a balloon, for example, I acquired the following passenger information. Please clear checks for data you don't register. so as to confirm whether the replies obtained in the training mode may be stored in the passenger information 307 (Step 29).

[0239] The passenger clears checks in the check boxes for information different from his or her actual circumstances (trouble, chronic disease, family doctor, and so on) among the reply contents, to thereby giving the agent processing unit 11 accurate information.

[0240] The agent processing unit 11 reads from the RAM the passenger information which have been confirmed by the passenger (the question items and replies having the check boxes with checks placed therein), stores the information into the passenger information 307 together with the date and hour when the information is acquired (information update date and hour) (Step 30), and then ends the processing. As described above, storing as the passenger information the execution results of the passenger based on the training means is regarded as a passenger information storage means.

[0241] As described above, in the training mode, it is possible to obtain with ease from the replies to the questions the passenger information such as name, sex, age, blood type, with or without trouble and chronic disease, with or without medication and kinds and names of medicines, with or without allergy, with or without injury (from before the accident), with or without of disability, hospital, family doctor, and so on.

[0242] It should be noted that, while the above embodiment has been described in the case where the notification of the end of the training (Step 27), the evaluation of the training (Step 28), and the confirmation of the passenger information (Step 30) are performed in this order, these three kinds of processing may also be performed in another order.

[0243] (iii) Processing Action in the Deputy Mode in the Emergency Report Mode

[0244] This deputy report mode is a mode that when a reaction cannot be obtained from the user even through an emergency situation actually occurs, the emergency reporting apparatus is automatically activated and makes by deputy an emergency report to provide as deputy for the passenger the passenger information to rescue facilities, using the results learned from the training in the past (the response procedures and reply contents at the time of emergency).

[0245] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing actions in the deputy repot mode, and forms a passenger information transmission means.

[0246] The passenger information transmission means means transmission of the stored passenger information to an emergency report destination when the detection means detects an occurrence of an emergency situation, and is described more specifically below.

[0247] The agent processing unit 11 detects the occurrence of an emergency situation from the state of the various circumstances detector and emergency reporting apparatus (Step 40).

[0248] More specifically, the agent processing unit 11 detects an emergency situation through the operation of an airbag caused by the collision sensor, whether the emergency reporting switch of the emergency reporting unit 21 is turned on by the passenger, the movement of people in the vehicle captured by the in-vehicle camera (imaging device 28), and so on.

[0249] Further, the agent processing unit 11 may be configured to detect the emergency situation in conjunction with the navigation apparatus (navigation processing unit 10).

[0250] For example, when the rudder angle sensor 413 detects through use of the maps stored in the navigation data that a vehicle unnaturally meanders under conditions where the vehicle is at a position on a straight road and the like and thus the meandering is unnecessary, the agent processing unit 11 questions the passenger whether he or she makes a report and whether an emergency situation occurs, and judges from the replies whether there is an emergency situation. Whether it is unnatural meandering can be judged from, for example, the number of meandering times during a predetermined period, the cycle of meandering, and so on.

[0251] Further, it is adoptable to detect the emergency situation using the present position detector when detecting a place for the vehicle not to stop under normal circumstances. The agent processing unit 11 detects, for example, a stop on a highway, a stop at a place other than normal stop places (in a traffic jam on an open road, waiting at a stoplight, at a parking lot, at a destination, at a place set as a stop by), and questions the passenger whether he or she makes a report.

[0252] For the detection of the emergency situation, the above methods may be used together. For example, in the case where the collision sensor 432 can distinguish a strong collision (the airbag operates) from a weak collision (no operation), when the collision is strong, the agent processing unit 11 immediately judges the situation to be emergency, but when the collision is weak, the agent processing unit 11 judges whether the situation is emergency after starting image processing by the in-vehicle camera.

[0253] Further, when the vehicle stops at a place for the vehicle not to stop in normal circumstances, the agent processing unit 11 may judge it to be an emergency situation when detecting that the hazard switch sensor 431 is kept on for a predetermined period or more.

[0254] When detecting the emergency situation, the agent processing unit 11 judges whether to make a report by deputy (Step 41).

[0255] More specifically, the agent processing unit 11 detects the state (condition) of the passenger based on the movement of people in the vehicle by image processing the image captured by the in-vehicle camera of the imaging device 28. The agent processing unit 11 judges, for example, the state (condition) of the passenger such as whether he or she can report by himself or herself and whether he or she can move by himself or herself. The judgment criteria include movement (normal movement, no movement, convulsions, or the like), posture (normal, bending backward, crouch, or the like), others (vomiting of blood, turning up of the whites of the eyes, foaming at the mouth, or the like).

[0256] Further, the agent processing unit 11 may provide a chance for the reporter to select whether the agent processing unit 11 reports, by deputy, through the conversation function of the agent. For example, when finding abnormal condition of the reporter, the agent processing unit 11 asks questions such as Can you make a report Do you need a deputy report and so on, and detects from the replies whether to make a deputy report or to keep the normal mode.

[0257] Besides, when the passenger himself or herself judges that he or she can move but cannot have a good conversation (communication and dealing with a report facility), and the passenger can push the emergency reporting switch, and in which case the agent processing unit 11 judges that a deputy report is necessary, and makes it. The judgment whether the passenger can respond to the emergency report destination, when the detection means detects an emergency situation, as described above is regarded as a response capability judging means of the present invention.

[0258] When judging that a deputy report is unnecessary based on the report deputy judgment as described above (Step 41; N), the agent processing unit 11 performs processing in the normal mode which has been described in FIG. 5 (Step 42).

[0259] On the other hand, when judging that a deputy report is necessary (Step 41; Y), the agent processing unit 11 judges the circumstances of the emergency situation, that is, the kind of the emergency situation (accident, sudden illness, disaster, or the like), the number of passengers, who the passengers are, and so on (Step 43).

[0260] As for the kind of the emergency situation, the agent processing unit 11 judges whether the circumstance of the emergency situation is an accident or sudden illness, using various kinds of sensor such as, for example, the in-vehicle camera, pulse sensor, infrared sensor, collision sensor, and so on.

[0261] In other words, when the collision sensor (airbag detection sensor) operates, the agent processing unit 11 judges that it is an accident. When detecting an abnormal condition of the passenger from the image processing result by the in-vehicle camera or the detection value of the pulse sensor 435, the agent processing unit 11 judges that it is a sudden illness.

[0262] Besides, in the case of an accident, the collision sensor 432 detects an impact and automatically makes an emergency report, and thus when the emergency switch is pushed by a passenger operation, which case is judged to be a sudden illness.

[0263] Further, when detecting, in conjunction with the navigation apparatus, an emergency situation in Step 40, the agent processing unit 11 judges that it is a sudden illness.

[0264] The agent processing unit 11 does not always need to specify one state as the emergency situation, but detect a plurality of states as in the case of an accident with the injured. Especially when the agent processing unit 11 judges the situation to be an accident through the collision sensor 432 and so on, in which case the passenger is possibly injured. Thus, the agent processing unit 11 necessarily asks questions for confirmation of the circumstance by image processing by the in-vehicle camera and by voice, and judges the situation to be a sudden illness (injury) in accordance with the reply contents.

[0265] Further, the agent processing unit 11 is configured to detect more detail circumstances of the contents of the accident and sudden illness as much as possible. The agent processing unit 11 also detects detail circumstances, for example, the kind of accident such as a vehicle collision, a slip accident, a fall accident, or the like in the case of an accident, and the presence of consciousness, body temperature drop (by measurement by the infrared sensor), convulsions, and so on in the case of a sudden illness.

[0266] The number of passengers is detected by one or more of the in-vehicle camera, load sensor, infrared sensor, and so on.

[0267] The in-vehicle camera detects by image processing the presence of people in a vehicle.

[0268] The load sensor 434 judges from the detection value of load whether a person is on each seat to determine the number of users.

[0269] The infrared sensor 433 detects the number of people in the vehicle by detecting body temperature.

[0270] It is also adoptable to detect the number of people from a reply to a question of confirming the number of people such as Do you have fellow passengers Giving the question for identifying the fellow passengers makes it possible to identify personal information (passenger information) of the fellow passengers and, when identified, to make also the personal information of the fellow passengers an object to be reported.

[0271] As described above, the confirmation of the number of parties concerned makes it possible to transmit to rescue facilities the appropriate number of rescue vehicles and rescue crews, and to prevent malfunction of the reporting apparatus when the parties concerned cannot be detected.

[0272] Next, the agent processing unit 11 selects a contact point in accordance with the circumstance of the emergency situation (Step 44), and makes a report to the selected contact point (Step 45).

[0273] More specifically, the agent processing unit 11 makes a report to the fire station when the circumstance of the emergency situation is a sudden illness (including injury), and to the police station in the case of an accident.

[0274] Besides, in the case of an emergency report via the center (emergency report service facility) shown in FIG. 4A, the agent processing unit 11 makes the report to the center.

[0275] The other report destination (contact point) includes home, company, and so on. These are destinations of the information acquired for the cases of accident, sudden illness, and so on in the training mode. When these report destinations such as home and so on are stored in the passenger information 307, the agent processing unit 11 makes a report also to the contact points in accordance with the circumstance of the emergency situation.

[0276] Next, the agent processing unit 11 transmits to the report destinations the various kinds of information which is stored in the passenger information 307 in the training mode (Step 46).

[0277] As for the transmission of the passenger information, sine the circumstance of the emergency situation has been detected in the circumstance detection (Step 43), the agent processing unit 11 transmits the information for the case of an accident when detecting an accident, , and the information for the case of a sudden illness when detecting a sudden illness.

[0278] Since the destinations of information for the time of both accident and sudden illness are stored in the training, the agent processing unit 11 transmits the information to the corresponding report destinations. The agent processing unit 11 can also transmit the information not only to one report destination but also to a plurality of report destinations at the same time.

[0279] The agent processing unit 11 reports in a reflection of the stored passenger information 307 as the report contents. On the other hand, if the learning about the passenger information is insufficient, the agent processing unit 11 reports only the learned information.

[0280] Note that the procedures when the passenger actually dealt are stored in the response data 305 for every training item in the training mode. Therefore, when reporting by deputy, the agent processing unit 11 reports in accordance with the procedures, stored in the response data 305 in the training mode and corresponding to the circumstance of the emergency situation which has been judged in Step 43. Consequently, even when the user falls into the state unable to operate the emergency reporting apparatus, he or she can automatically get effect of the emergency reporting apparatus in, his or her desired procedures.

[0281] FIG. 9 shows the contests to be reported in the deputy report.

[0282] As shown in FIG. 9, the information to be reported includes reporter name, accident occurrence time, accident occurrence place, passenger information, report reason, state, and so on.

[0283] In short, it is reported that, as a reporter, the apparatus reports by deputy, or the passenger reports.

[0284] The accident occurrence time is obtained from the navigation apparatus (navigation processing unit 10). The agent processing unit 11 may detect the time of occurrence of the emergency situation and report the time.

[0285] As for the accident occurrence place, the present position of the accident occurrence place detected by the present position detector is obtained from the navigation processing unit 10.

[0286] The passenger information is acquired from the passenger information 307.

[0287] As the report reason, the reason such as meeting an accident, having a sudden illness, or the like is transmitted.

[0288] As the state, the present state of the vehicle and passenger detected in Step 43 is transmitted. For example, the state to be transmitted includes the state of the vehicle (during stop, collision, fall, or the like) in the case of an accident, and the state of the passenger (with or without consciousness, with or without movement, drop in body temperature, and so on) in the case of a sudden illness.

[0289] When reporting the passenger information in accordance with the contents shown in. FIG. 9, the agent processing unit 11 outputs by voice the contents (voice) of questions from the report destination and the report contents from the emergency reporting apparatus. The agent processing unit 11 makes communication (the response contents between the report destination and the emergency reporting apparatus) by voice during the report and outputs the voice from the in-vehicle speaker as described, so that the passenger can recognize a reliable report and seize the transmitted information. The voice output in the vehicle of the passenger information transmitted to the emergency report destination is regarded as a voice output means of the present invention.

[0290] As has been described, according to the emergency reporting apparatus of this embodiment, the training mode is installed to allow the passenger to experience, through a simulation, dealing in the case of meeting an emergency situation, so that the passenger becomes capable of using the emergency reporting apparatus appropriately and calmly at the time of actual emergency. Further, the simulation of the emergency report prevents the passenger from forgetting the existence of the apparatus at the time of actual accident.

[0291] Furthermore, since the various kinds of information of the passenger which needs to be reported at the time of emergency report is automatically acquired and stored in the training mode, the user can omit the work of intentionally inputting his or her information.

[0292] Moreover, the passenger information is stored in the training mode, so that when the passenger is unconscious at the time of actual emergency situation, a report can be made based on the stored information.

[0293] In the foregoing, while one embodiment of the present invention has been described, the present invention is not limited to the above described embodiment, but can be changed and modified within the scope described in the claims.

[0294] For example, while in the case of a deputy report, the apparatus responds by voice to the report destination, the apparatus may transmit all at once to the report destination the data of the passenger information corresponding to the emergency situation acquired in the training mode. In this case, what data are transmitted may be outputted by voice in the vehicle. This makes the passenger recognize a reliable report and feel safe.

[0295] To the report destination, both voice and data may be transmitted. In other words, to the report destination, the apparatus responds by voice using the passenger information and data transmits all at once the contents of the passenger information corresponding to the emergency situation.

[0296] Besides, if the police station, company, home, and so on are designated as the emergency report destination, the passenger information cannot be data received in some case. In this case, the data may be converted into a written form and transmitted by facsimile machine as well. Further, the data of the passenger information may be converted into voice and transmitted via the general telephone line as well.

[0297] While in the above-described embodiment, the description has been made on the case in which the training mode is implemented when selected by the user, the agent processing unit 11 may discriminate already acquired passenger information from untrained items, suggest the user changing the training items, and urge the user to implement the training mode (suggestion means for suggesting items corresponding to the emergency situation).

[0298] More specifically, the agent processing unit 11 manages what training the user has received in the past, what kind of passenger information is absent at present, and so on, to urge the user to accept suggestion of training, and as a result the agent processing unit 11 can acquire more efficiently the absent passenger information. For example, when the already trained sudden illness is selected, the agent processing unit 11 suggests that You haven't rained for the case of an accident yet, so I suggest this case. Further, the agent processing unit 11 is configured to suggest that There is a training mode of training for how to deal with an emergency occurrence. Would you like to practice it when the training mode is not implemented at all or after a lapse of a certain period.

[0299] The agent processing unit 11 may be configured to manage the contents of the passenger information 307 so as to update the information such as disease and injury at present, from normal conversation (communication between the agent and the user which is executed in accordance with scenarios). For example, the agent processing unit 11 asks a question By the way, have you recovered from the last injury (illness) to update the data from the reply contents.

[0300] Further, when judging that there is a change of family doctor from the conversation with the user, the agent processing unit 11 may question the user whether the learned information is to be changed, and updates the data in accordance with the reply. For example, the agent processing unit 11 asks a question You go to a doctor different from before recently, don't you Did you change your doctor (If so,) May I update your information for the time of a deputy emergency report and so on. Whether that is his or her doctor can be judged from setting of the destination in the navigation processing and the position where the vehicle stopped.

[0301] Further, the agent processing unit 11 may automatically update the age of the user soon after his or her birthday.

[0302] According to the invention described in claim 1, a training means is provided for simulating a report of an emergency situation, and a result of the simulation by the passenger based on the training means is stored as passenger information, so that information to be automatically reported at the time of emergency can be collected easily.

[0303] According to the invention described in claim 2, a deputy report means is provided, so that it is possible to report by deputy the passenger information even when the passenger cannot respond at the time of emergency report.

[0304] According to the invention described in claim 3, it is possible to train with ease for dealing with emergency report though simulated questions and replies.

[0305] According to the invention described in claim 5, a voice output means is provided which outputs by voice in the vehicle the response contents to the emergency report destination, so that in the case of a deputy report of the passenger information, the passenger can confirm the response contents to be made to feel safe.