A modern motor vehicle has a number of so-called driver assistance functions, in order to relieve a driver of the motor vehicle. Routine tasks during driving of the motor vehicle are automatically or semiautomatically carried out by a device or a system. Such a driver assistance system is frequently configured to return control over the motor vehicle to the driver as soon as a situation is detected which may not be handled by the system. For the longitudinal control of the vehicle, i.e., the movement and speed control in the travel direction, systems are known which may regulate the speed of the vehicle partially or completely automatically. For example, a predetermined target speed may be maintained, the speed of the vehicle being automatically reduced if it travels excessively close to a preceding. In some specific embodiments, the speed of the motor vehicle may be regulated down to a standstill, and under certain circumstances restarting of the motor vehicle may also be controlled if the person in front stops or drives away again (“ACC stop and go”).
For the lateral control of the motor vehicle, i.e., the directional control to the right or left, systems are known which keep the motor vehicle between lane markings on the roadway, as long as the driver keeps his hands on the steering wheel.
While such systems relieve the vehicle driver of routine tasks, the vehicle driver may perceive his driving activity to be monotonous due to this relief, so that he possibly no longer generates the attentiveness required for safe control of the motor vehicle. In a known system for warning of decreased attentiveness, the vehicle driver is monitored with the aid of an interior camera and a driver assistance function is deactivated if the vehicle driver does not display the impression of sufficient concentration on an outside area of the motor vehicle.
The present invention is based on the object of providing a method, a computer program product, and a device, in order to increase the attentiveness of a vehicle driver while driving a motor vehicle having a semiautomatic driver assistance function.