A method is provided using a system mounted in a vehicle. The system includes a rear-viewing camera and a processor attached to the rear-viewing camera. When the driver shifts the vehicle into reverse gear, and while the vehicle is still stationary, image frames from the immediate vicinity behind the vehicle are captured. The immediate vicinity behind the vehicle is in a field of view of the rear-viewing camera. The image frames are processed and thereby the object is detected which if present in the immediate vicinity behind the vehicle would obstruct the motion of the vehicle. The processing is preferably performed in parallel for a plurality of classes of obstructing objects using a single image frame of the image frames.

An object detection apparatus that detects an object in a vicinity of a vehicle includes: (a) an image processing circuit configured to: (i) derive vectors representing movement of feature points in captured images acquired periodically by a camera that captures images of the vicinity of the vehicle; and (ii) detect the object based on the vectors; and (b) a controller configured to (i) acquire a velocity of the vehicle; and (ii) set a parameter that affects a number of the feature points based on the velocity of the vehicle.

The purpose of the present invention is to prevent screen flicker when the screen of an on-board electronic mirror changes at a high speed, and to provide optimal information to a user. An on-board electronic minor (10), which is mounted on a vehicle, is provided with: a camera (100) for capturing images of the periphery of the vehicle; a video signal processing circuit (101) for processing the video captured by the camera (100); a monitor (105) for displaying the images processed by the video signal processing circuit (101); sensors (107-111) that are recounted on the vehicle and that detect an event during travel of the vehicle; and a video signal change circuit (103) and a video signal control circuit (112) that, on the basis of the detection results of the sensors (107-111), perform control for changing the video captured by the camera (100) to different video.

A vehicle camera includes an image sensor and a variable lens. The variable lens includes a liquid crystal layer that includes liquid crystal molecules having an arrangement that depends on a voltage applied to the liquid crystal layer. The variable lens is configured to, based on the arrangement of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer, alter light that is introduced into the image sensor.

A method of inspecting a road for substances includes generating a flash of infra-red light at a wavelength to illuminate a portion of the road. The wavelength corresponds to an absorption wavelength of a substance to be detected. The method further includes, in response to a difference in backscatter intensity of an image of the portion captured during the flash and an image of the portion captured before or after the flash being greater than a threshold amount, outputting a signal indicating presence of the substance on the portion.

An optical imaging system includes a first lens having refractive power; a second lens having refractive power; a third lens having refractive power and cemented to the second lens; a fourth lens having refractive power; a fifth lens having refractive power and cemented to the fourth lens; a sixth lens having refractive power; a seventh lens having refractive power; and an eighth lens having refractive power. The first to eighth lenses are sequentially disposed in numerical order beginning with the first lens from an object side of the optical imaging system toward an imaging plane of the optical imaging system.

Embodiments are disclosed for shifting a road view of a display for a vehicle. For one embodiment, a system determines a vehicle has come to a standstill. Upon determining that the vehicle has come to a standstill, the system automatically shifts a display of a first view for the vehicle to a second view. The system determines the vehicle is in motion after being in a standstill. Upon determining that the vehicle is in motion after being in a standstill, the system automatically shifts a display of the second view for the vehicle back to the first view. For one embodiment, the first view includes a third-person view and the second view includes an overhead view.

A drive support display device supporting a drive of a self-vehicle based on a detection result by an object detector regarding a nearby area of the self-vehicle. The device receives object information from an external source, the object information identifying a nearby object existing in the nearby area of the self-vehicle, determines whether the nearby object is detected by the object detector, and provides a warning indicator when the determination section determines that the nearby object is an undetected nearby object that is not detected by the object detector. As a result, the undetected nearby object, which is already identified as existing somewhere nearby the self-vehicle but is invisible therefrom, may be emphasized in an image provided by the drive support display device.

A method for displaying and processing an image captured by an optical system used to simulate a rear-view system of a vehicle, includes capturing the image, calculating a region of interest (ROI) on the captured image, calculating a blur factor for blurring the ROI using one or more inputs, manipulating an image gradient pixel by pixel using the blur factor to reduce at least one of a brightness or a contrast of one or more pixels of the ROI, and displaying the processed image on a display.

The invention relates to a method for operating a driver assistance system (2) for a motor vehicle (1), in which a driver-specific blind spot (3) in the surroundings (4) of the motor vehicle (1) is determined, wherein at least one boundary edge (8, 9) of a driver-specific field of vision (5) of a motor vehicle driver is determined as a function of a movement behaviour of the motor vehicle driver's head and/or as a function of the visual faculty of the motor vehicle driver, and the dimension (a2) and/or a local position of the driver-specific blind spot (3) in the surroundings (4) of the motor vehicle (1) is determined as a function of the determined boundary edge (8, 9) of the driver-specific field of vision (5).