A system and method for creating an enhanced perspective view of an area in front of a vehicle, using images from left-front and right-front cameras. The enhanced perspective view removes the distortion and exaggerated perspective effects which are inherent in wide-angle lens images. The enhanced perspective view uses a camera model including a virtual image surface and other processing techniques which provide corrections for two types of problems which are typically present in de-warped perspective images—including a stretching effect at the peripheral area of a wide-angle image de-warped by rectilinear projection, and double image of objects in an area where left-front and right-front camera images overlap.

In a first case a trimmed image generating section carries out trimming such that respective lateral direction lengths of a rear processed image and rear lateral processed images in the combined image are equal, and in a second case in which the trimmed image generating section judges that there is information that is included in the images of the first overlapping regions and is not included in the images of the second overlapping regions and information that should be included in the combined image, the trimmed image generating section carries out trimming such that the information that should be included in the combined image remains in the rear lateral processed images, and, as compared with the first case, the lateral direction length of the rear processed image in the combined image is short, and the lateral direction lengths of the rear lateral processed images in the combined image are long.

A driver assistance system suitable for use in a vehicle includes a forward-viewing camera mounted at a front windshield of the vehicle, and an event recorder having an image processor and memory. Based at least in part on processing by the image processor of image data captured by the camera, a lane departure warning is generated if, when a turn signal of the vehicle is not activated, at least one of (i) the vehicle is heading towards a lane marking and (ii) the vehicle is within a certain distance of an edge of a lane marking for a certain time. Based at least in part on processing by the image processor of image data captured by the camera, a forward collision alert is generated if the vehicle is heading towards a given object with the separation between the vehicle and the given object being less than a threshold.

An imaging system for a vehicle includes an imaging sensor and a video display device. The imaging system generates an overlay that is electronically superimposed on the displayed images to assist a driver of the vehicle when executing a backup maneuver. The overlay has first, second and third overlay zones, with the overlay zones indicative of respective distance ranges from the rear of the vehicle to respective distances. As indicated to the driver viewing the video display screen when executing a backup maneuver, the first distance is closer to the rear of the vehicle than the second distance and the second distance is closer to the rear of the vehicle than the third distance. The first overlay zone may be a first color and the second overlay zone may be a second color and the third overlay zone may be a third color.

A vehicular vision system includes a plurality of cameras mounted at the vehicle and having respective fields of view exterior of the vehicle. The cameras include a CMOS image sensor and a serial data interface configured for transmission of captured image data to an image processing system via a serial data bus linking the respective camera to the image processing system, which processes the transmitted captured image data. The vehicular vision system transmits data to the cameras via the respective serial data bus linking the respective camera to the image processing system. The vehicular vision system activates at least one camera of the plurality of cameras (i) responsive to a gear position of the vehicle, (ii) based on situational analysis information derived from the image processing system, or (iii) based on a driving condition.

An image generation device for referencing a correspondence relationship and generating a line-of-sight-converted image from a captured image of an in-vehicle camera mounted to a vehicle is provided. The image generation device includes a first region updating unit that, upon sensing deviation of at least one of the mounting position and the mounting angle of the in-vehicle camera and calculating a new mounting position and mounting angle, updates a correspondence relationship of a predetermined first region in the line-of-sight-converted image in accordance with the new mounting position and mounting angle, and a second region updating unit that, upon satisfaction of a predetermined updating condition after updating the correspondence relationship of the first region, updates the correspondence relationship for a second region in the line-of-sight-converted image in accordance with the new mounting position and mounting angle.

An image generation apparatus includes an image processor and a detector. The image processor generates a composite image viewed from at least one virtual viewpoint, and outputs the generated composite image to a display. The detector detects an indication of a driver intention to drive the host vehicle to a right or to a left relative to a travelling direction of the host vehicle. The image processor generates the composite image viewed from a virtual viewpoint located in front of the host vehicle in the travelling direction, the composite image showing a lateral surface of the host vehicle on a side corresponding to the detected indication of the driver intention. Thus, it is possible to make it easier to check a situation at a time of a right turn, a left turn, or a travelling direction change.

In order to enhance security of a parked vehicle, an image transmitting device to be mounted on a vehicle includes: a checking unit that checks, at a parking place of the vehicle, communicability with an external device outside of the vehicle, that is, whether an image can be transmitted from the parking place to the external device; a providing unit that provides notification information based on a result of the checking by the checking unit; a capturing unit that captures an image while the vehicle is parked; and a transmitting unit that transmits the image captured by the capturing unit to the external device.

A display control device includes: an image acquisition unit configured to acquire captured image data from an imaging unit that captures an image of a peripheral area of a vehicle; a display control unit configured to cause image data based on the captured image data to be displayed on a screen; and an operation receiving unit configured to receive designation of an arbitrary point on the screen, in which the display control unit enlarges display on the screen about the designated point as a center of enlargement in a state where a display position of the designated point does not move on the screen when the operation receiving unit receives the designation of the arbitrary point on the screen.

A method, apparatus, system, vehicle, and/or computer program provides that one or more components of a vehicle are operated as a function of a predetermined pick-up time of the vehicle at a pick-up position of a parking facility in such a way that the vehicle exhibits one or more predetermined states at the pick-up position at the predetermined pick-up time.