1. An in-vehicle system for controlling electrical systems of a vehicle, comprising:
a sensor that detects a presence or an absence of a left hand of a driver on a steering wheel of the vehicle;
a sensor that detects a presence or an absence of a right hand of the driver on the steering wheel of the vehicle;
means for selecting, based on a prediction, one or more interactive control elements with which the driver will interact, wherein the means for selecting the one or more interactive control elements bases the selection on either a detected absence of the driver left hand on the steering wheel or a detected absence of the driver right hand on the steering wheel; and
a controller that increases a brightness of lighting elements associated with the selected interactive control elements.
2. The in-vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the means for selecting the one or more interactive control elements
selects a first interactive control element on a left side of the driver based on the detected absence of the driver left hand on the steering wheel, and
selects a second interactive control element on a right side of the driver based on the detected absence of the driver right hand on the steering wheel.
3. The in-vehicle system of claim 1, further comprising
a detector that detects whether either the driver left hand or the driver right hand is approaching a target interactive control element, wherein the target interactive control element is one of the selected interactive control elements; and
wherein the controller increases the brightness of the target interactive control element a second time upon a detection that either the driver left hand or the driver right hand is approaching the target interactive control element.
4. The in-vehicle system of claim 1, further comprising
a sensor that detects whether either the driver left hand or the driver right hand is approaching interactive control elements located on the steering wheel,
wherein the controller increases a brightness of lighting elements associated with the interactive control elements located on the steering wheel in response to a detection that either the driver left hand or the driver right hand is approaching the interactive control elements located on the steering wheel.
5. The in-vehicle system of claim 1, wherein the means for selecting the one or more interactive control elements is configured to ignore position changes of the driver left hand and the driver right hand resulting from driver steering operations.
6. The in-vehicle system of claim 1, further comprising
at least one sensor that detects movements of a passenger,
wherein the means for selecting selects, based on a prediction, one or more interactive control elements with which the passenger will interact.
7. A method for controlling electrical systems of a vehicle, comprising:
detecting a presence or an absence of a driver hand on a steering wheel of the vehicle;
selecting, based upon a prediction, one or more interactive control elements with which the driver will interact; and
increasing a brightness of lighting elements associated with the selected one or more interactive control elements, wherein
the selection of the one or more interactive control elements is based on a detected absence of the driver hand on the steering wheel.
8. The method of claim 7, further comprising
detecting a presence or an absence of a driver right hand on the steering wheel of the vehicle;
detecting a presence or an absence of a driver left hand on the steering wheel of the vehicle; and
selecting the one or more interactive control elements based on either a detected absence of the driver left hand on the steering wheel or a detected absence of the driver right hand on the steering wheel.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising
selecting an interactive control element on a left side of the driver upon the detected absence of the driver left hand on the steering wheel, and
selecting an interactive control element on a right side of the driver upon the detected absence of the driver right hand on the steering wheel.
10. The method of claim 7, further comprising
detecting that the driver hand is approaching a target interactive control element among the selected interactive control elements; and
increasing the brightness of a lighting element associated with the target interactive control element a second time.
11. The method of claim 7, further comprising
detecting that the driver hand is approaching interactive control elements located on the steering wheel; and
increasing a brightness of lighting elements associated with the interactive control elements located on the steering wheel.
12. The method of claim 7, further comprising
detecting that the driver is engaged in a steering operation, and
ignoring position changes of the driver hand resulting from driver steering operations.
13. The method of claim 7, further comprising
detecting that the driver is engaged in a steering operation;
identifying a location on the steering wheel based on a magnitude of rotation of the steering wheel during the steering operation;
detecting a presence or an absence of the driver hand at the identified location on the steering wheel of the vehicle during the steering operation; and
selecting the one or more interactive control elements with which the driver will interact based on a detected absence of the hand of the driver at the identified location of the steering wheel.
14. An in-vehicle system for use in a vehicle having interactive control elements accessible to a driver of the vehicle, the system comprising:
a sensor located on a steering wheel of the vehicle;
respective lighting elements associated with the one or more interactive control elements;
a processor in electrical communication with the sensor and the respective lighting elements;
a non-transitory data storage device on which is stored computer code which, when executed on the processor, causes the in-vehicle system to:
detect a presence or an absence of a driver hand on the steering wheel of the vehicle;
select, based upon a prediction, one or more of the interactive control elements with which the driver will interact in response to a detected absence of the driver hand on the steering wheel; and
cause the lighting elements associated with the selected interactive control elements to increase in brightness.
15. The in-vehicle system of claim 14, wherein the sensor has a spatial resolution of longer than about one inch.
16. The in-vehicle system of claim 14, further comprising
a first sensor located at a first position of the steering wheel corresponding to an expected location of a driver right hand, and
a second sensor located at a second position of the steering wheel corresponding to an expected location of a driver left hand.
17. The in-vehicle system of claim 16, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are regions of a common touch-sensitive surface.
18. The in-vehicle system of claim 16, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are capacitive sensors.
19. The in-vehicle system of claim 18, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are resistive sensors.
20. The in-vehicle system of claim 18, wherein the steering wheel includes additional sensors at locations corresponding to expected locations of the hands of the driver during steering operations.
21. The in-vehicle system of claim 14, wherein the computer code, when executed on the processor, causes the in-vehicle system to:
select an interactive control element on a left side of the driver upon a detection that a driver left hand is absent from the steering wheel; and
select an interactive control element on a right side of the driver upon a detection that a driver right hand is absent from the steering wheel.
22. The in-vehicle system of claim 14, further comprising
a proximity detector associated with a target one of the selected interactive control elements and in electrical communication with the processor, wherein
the computer code, when executed on the processor, causes the in-vehicle system to
detect that the driver hand is approaching the target one of the selected interactive control elements; and
in response to the detection that the driver hand is approaching the target one of the selected interactive control elements, increase the brightness of a lighting element associated with the target interactive control element a second time.
23. The in-vehicle system of claim 14, further comprising a proximity detector associated with the steering wheel and in electrical communication with the processor, wherein the computer code, when executed on the processor, causes the in-vehicle system to:
detect that the driver hand is approaching the steering wheel; and
in response to the detection that the driver hand is approaching the steering wheel, increase the brightness of lighting elements associated with the interactive control elements located on the steering wheel.
24. The in-vehicle system of claim 14 further comprising a module in communication with the processor for detecting a magnitude of a rotation of a steering wheel during a steering operation.
25. The in-vehicle system of claim 14, further comprising means for detecting a movement of a passenger.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of investing for gain comprising:
a. Borrowing an amount of money at a simple fixed interest rate for a predetermined period of time,
b. Amortizing repayment of said borrowed money further comprising scheduling periodic payments of principal and interest over said period of time,
c. Repaying said borrowed money according to said amortization schedule further comprising payments of said principal and interest,
d. Investing said borrowed money at a compound interest rate,
e. Providing an investment return on said borrowed money greater than said principal and interest repayment over said period of time,
f. Completing said repayment of said borrowed money and simple interest,
g. Realizing an amount of money from said investment in excess of said repayment obligation;
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said borrowed money comprises an amount calculated from equity value in personal property;
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said borrowed money comprises an amount calculated from equity value in real property;
4. The method of claim 1 wherein said compound interest rate comprises a rate in excess of fifty-five percent of said simple fixed interest rate;
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said value of said investment at compound interest is insured;
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said investment is a Certificate of Deposit;
7. The method of claim 1 wherein said period of time comprises a plurality of years;
8. The method of claim 1 wherein said period of time comprises a range of five to fifty years;
9. A low risk method of real property equity investing for gain comprising:
a. Borrowing from a lender an amount of money calculated from equity value in real estate at a simple fixed interest rate for a predetermined period of time,
b. Pledging said real estate as collateral for borrowing said money,
c. Amortizing repayment of said borrowed money by scheduling periodic payments of principal and interest over said period of time,
d. Repaying said borrowed money according to said amortization schedule by payments of said principal and interest,
e. Investing said borrowed money at a compound interest rate in one or more Certificates of Deposit,
f. Pledging said Certificate of Deposit as collateral for borrowing said money,
g. Reinvesting gain from said Certificate of Deposit,
h. Providing an investment return on said borrowed money greater than said principal and interest repayment over said period of time,
i. Completing said repayment of said borrowed money and interest expense,
j. Closing said Certificate of Deposit,
k. Releasing said real estate collateral,
l. Realizing an amount of money from said investment in excess of said repayment obligation;
10. The method of claim 9 wherein said compound interest rate comprises a rate in excess of fifty-five percent of said simple fixed interest rate;
11. The method of claim 9 wherein said value of said investment at compound interest is insured;
12. The method of claim 9 wherein said period of time comprises a plurality of years;
13. The method of claim 9 wherein said period of time comprises a range of five to fifty years;
14. A method of saving money comprising:
a. Borrowing an amount of money from a lender at a simple fixed interest rate for a predetermined period of time,
b. Repaying said borrowed money further comprising periodic payments of said principal and interest,
c. Investing said borrowed money at a compound interest rate,
d. Providing an investment return on said borrowed money greater than said principal and interest repayment over said period of time,
e. Realizing an investment gain in excess of said repayment obligation;
15. The method of claim 14 wherein said compound interest rate comprises a rate in excess of fifty-five percent of said simple fixed interest rate;
16. The method of claim 14 wherein said value of said investment at compound interest is insured;
17. The method of claim 14 wherein said period of time comprises a plurality of years;
18. The method of claim 14 wherein said period of time comprises a range of five to fifty years;
19. A method of low risk equity lending for a lender in a loan comprising:
a. Securing rights by the lender to an asset of a borrower,
b. Lending an amount of money to said borrower further comprising a portion of equity in said asset,
c. Amortizing repayment of said amount of money over time further comprising periodic payments of principal and fixed simple interest by said borrower,
d. Investing the proceeds of said loaned money in a lender-controlled product paying a compound interest rate on said proceeds,
e. Reinvesting gain from said lender-controlled product,
f. Providing an investment return to said borrower greater than said repayment obligation of said principal and interest repayment over said period of time,
g. Completing said repayment of said borrowed money and interest expense,
h. Closing said loan,
i. Releasing said secured rights in said asset of said borrower,
j. Paying said equity investment gain to said borrower;
20. The method of claim 19 wherein said compound interest rate comprises a rate in excess of fifty-five percent of said simple fixed interest rate;
21. The method of claim 19 wherein said value of said investment at compound interest is insured;
22. The method of claim 19 wherein a portion of said gain is distributed during the tenure of said loan;
23. The method of claim 19 wherein said period of time comprises a plurality of years;
24. A low risk equity investment savings product for a lender comprising:
a. A loan at a simple fixed interest rate of an amount of money calculated as a portion of equity in an asset of the saving customer,
b. An amortization schedule for repayment of said loan amount principal and interest over a period of time,
c. An investment return on said loan amount greater than said repayment obligation of said principal and interest repayment over said period of time, further comprising a lender-controlled product paying a compound interest rate and reinvesting gains over said period of time,
25. The method of claim 24 wherein said compound interest rate comprises a rate in excess of fifty-five percent of said simple fixed interest rate;
26. The method of claim 24 wherein said value of said investment at compound interest is insured;
27. The method of claim 24 wherein said period of time comprises a plurality of years;
28. The method of claim 24 wherein said period of time comprises a range of five to fifty years;