DRIVER STATE ESTIMATING APPARATUS AND DRIVER STATE ESTIMATING METHOD

To provide a driver state estimating apparatus and a driver state estimating method that improve accuracy in estimating the state of a driver during vehicle traveling.SOLUTION: A driver state estimating apparatus comprises: S201 when a windshield wiper operates during driving in rain; S202 that obtains output data of a visual line detection device for detecting a visual line direction of a driver and data indicating a wiping timing of the windshield wiper; S203 that detects a change of a visual line moving width of the driver from the output data of the visual line detection device; and S204, S205, S206 that estimate the state of the driver with the use of the change of the visual line moving width of the driver and the wiping timing of the windshield wiper.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 12 【課題】車両走行時における運転者の状態を推定する精度を向上させる運転者状態推定装置及び運転者状態推定方法を提供する。【解決手段】運転者状態推定装置は、雨天走行などにおいてワイパーが作動したときＳ２０１、運転者の視線方向を示す検知する視線検知装置の出力データと、ワイパーの払拭タイミングを示すデータとを取得するＳ２０２。視線検知装置の出力データから、運転者の視線移動幅の変化を検出するＳ２０３。運転者の視線移動幅の変化とワイパーの払拭タイミングとを用いて、運転者の状態を推定するＳ２０４、Ｓ２０５、Ｓ２０６。【選択図】図１２