User centric adaptation of vehicle entertainment system user interfaces

Abstract

A vehicle entertainment system includes a video display unit and a user interface (UI) control processor. The UI control processor is configured to receive passenger attributes sensed from the passenger operating the video display unit, generate a passenger metric that characterizes the passenger based on the attribute, and control a UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric. The passenger metric may be a passenger demographic metric determined based on facial features of the passenger. The passenger demographic metric may be a passenger emotion metric, a passenger attentiveness metric, a passenger UI operational effectiveness metric, a passenger biometric feature metric, etc.

1 . A vehicle entertainment system comprising:
 a video display unit configured to provide content to a passenger;   a user interface (UI) control processor configured to:
 receive passenger attributes sensed from the passenger operating the video display unit; 
 generate a passenger metric that characterizes the passenger based on the attribute; and 
 control a UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric. 
   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a camera configured to output a camera signal containing data representing the passenger's face,   wherein the UI control processor is further configured to:
 process the camera signal to identify facial features of the passenger; 
 compare the facial features to defined demographics rules; 
 determine a passenger demographic metric based on the comparison of the facial features to the defined demographics rules; and 
 control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger demographic metric. 
   
     
     
         3 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 2 , wherein the UI control processor is further configured to:
 compare the facial features to defined emotion rules;   determine a passenger emotion metric based on the comparison of the facial features to the defined emotion rules; and   control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger emotion metric.   
     
     
         4 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 2 , wherein the UI control processor is further configured to:
 compare the facial features to defined attentiveness rules;   determine a passenger attentiveness metric based on the comparison of the facial features to the defined attentiveness rules; and   control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger attentiveness metric.   
     
     
         5 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is further configured to:
 monitor a passenger's operation of the UI of the video display unit to identify passenger selections that indicate that the passenger has incorrectly selected displayed elements of the UI;   determine a passenger UI operational effectiveness metric based on the monitoring; and   control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger UI operational effectiveness metric.   
     
     
         6 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is further configured to:
 receive passenger biometric data from a biosensor;   compare the passenger biometric data to a defined rule; and   control the UI of the video display unit based on the comparison.   
     
     
         7 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is further configured to:
 receive passenger fitness tracking data through a wireless connection to a passenger fitness tracking device;   generate a passenger fitness metric based on the passenger fitness tracking data from the passenger fitness tracking device; and   control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger fitness metric.   
     
     
         8 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 selecting a layout of information for UI layers from among a plurality of different defined layouts of information for UI layers displayable on the video display unit based on the passenger metric; and   displaying the defined layout of information for the UI layers through the UI of the video display unit operated by the passenger.   
     
     
         9 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 controlling layout of graphical elements of a UI layer displayed on the video display unit based on the passenger metric.   
     
     
         10 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 selecting a layout of selectable widgets for a UI layer from among a plurality of different defined layouts of selectable widgets for a UI layer displayable on the video display unit based on the passenger metric; and   displaying the defined layout of selectable widgets for the UI layer through the UI of the video display unit operated by the passenger.   
     
     
         11 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 selecting an operational flow between passenger selectable widgets of different UI layers from among a plurality of different defined operational flows between passenger selectable widgets of different UI layers displayable on the video display unit based on the passenger metric; and   controlling the operational flow between the passenger selectable widgets of the different UI layers displayed through the UI of the video display unit operated by the passenger, based on the operational flow that was selected.   
     
     
         12 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 controlling a font size, font shape, and/or color of text displayed through the UI of the video display unit operated by the passenger, based on the passenger metric.   
     
     
         13 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 controlling a size, shape, and/or color of passenger selectable widgets displayed through the UI of the video display unit operated by the passenger, based on the passenger metric.   
     
     
         14 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 generating a list of content that are available in a memory to be displayed through the UI of the video display unit operated by the passenger;   filtering the list of content based on the passenger metric to generate a filtered list of content; and   displaying the filtered list of content through the UI of the video display unit.   
     
     
         15 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 14 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 generating a list of movies, television programs, audio programs, and/or applications that are available from the memory within a content server to be displayed through the UI of the video display unit operated by the passenger;   filtering the list of movies, television programs, audio programs, and/or applications based on the passenger metric to generate a filtered list of movies, television programs, audio programs, and/or applications; and   displaying the filtered list of movies, television programs, audio programs, and/or applications through the UI of the video display unit.   
     
     
         16 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 15 , filtering the list of movies, television programs, audio programs, and/or applications based on the passenger metric to generate a filtered list of movies, television programs, audio programs, and/or applications, comprises:
 generating a recommended list of movies, television programs, audio programs, and/or applications for display to the passenger based on correlating the passenger attributes to historical data indicating preferences of passengers having attributes corresponding to the passenger attributes.   
     
     
         17 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 controlling an order with which content is identified in a list based on the passenger metric, the content being available for display through the UI of the video display unit responsive to passenger selection among the ordered list of content;   displaying at least a portion of the ordered list of content through the UI of the video display unit.   
     
     
         18 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 selecting a help item trigger event from among a plurality of different defined help item trigger events based on the passenger metric; and   initiating display of a help item through the UI of the video display unit operated by the passenger, based on the help item trigger event that was selected becoming satisfied.   
     
     
         19 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 selecting a help content item from among a plurality of different defined help content items based on the passenger metric; and   displaying the help content item that was selected through the UI of the video display unit operated by the passenger.   
     
     
         20 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 selecting an advertisement from among a plurality of different defined advertisement based on the passenger metric; and   displaying the advertisement that was selected through the UI of the video display unit.   
     
     
         21 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein the UI control processor is configured to control the UI of the video display unit based on the passenger metric, by operations that comprise:
 selecting an advertisement trigger event from among a plurality of different defined advertisement trigger events based on the passenger metric; and   initiating display of an advertisement through the UI of the video display unit operated by the passenger, based on the advertisement trigger event that was selected becoming satisfied.   
     
     
         22 . The vehicle entertainment system of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the vehicle comprises an in-flight entertainment system configured to mounted within an aircraft fuselage; and   the video display unit is configured to be mounted to a seatback surface of seat or mounted to an armrest of a seat.