JP2019038373A - Visual aids - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a visual recognition assisting device which can visually recognize a wide range with a small movement of the line of sight and can easily grasp the relationship between a displayed image and a directly visible visual field. An image display device includes a visual recognition assisting device (1) including image pickup devices (11, 12) and an image display device (50) arranged so as to be superimposed or adjacent to a visual field in which an occupant visually observes the front of the vehicle with the naked eye. The display magnification seen from the viewpoint of the occupant is set to be reduced with respect to the visual field viewed by the naked eye, and the reference position P set on the image is viewed from the occupant's viewpoint in the line-of-sight direction with the naked eye. It is configured to be arranged so as to substantially match the line-of-sight direction when visually observing. [Selection diagram] Fig. 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a visual assistance device that is provided in a vehicle such as an automobile and displays an image of the situation around the host vehicle. It relates to things that can be easily grasped.

  In a vehicle such as an automobile, an image captured by an imaging device such as a camera is provided so that a driver or the like during manual driving can easily recognize the situation around the host vehicle and reduce the monitoring burden. Various visual assistance devices to be presented are proposed.

For example, in Patent Document 1, in a display device for a vehicle that displays an image obtained by capturing an image of the front of the host vehicle with an infrared camera on a head-up display, when it is determined from a steering operation that the vehicle is turning a curve, Among the data, there is described what extracts and displays video data offset from the center by a predetermined image shift amount.
In Patent Literature 2, in a driving support device that magnifies and displays an image of a gaze target with a driver's eyes directed during driving, an enlarged image in which the gaze target is enlarged and an annular shape adjacent to the entire outer periphery of the enlarged image are disclosed. An image composed of an enlarged image and a surrounding reduced image that has been subjected to image reduction processing so as to be visually recognized by the driver in a state in which the image is continuously connected from the original landscape to the original landscape is generated and superimposed. It is described.
In Patent Document 3, in a display device for a vehicle, a mirror image of a road reflector in front of the host vehicle is photographed by a camera, and when the road reflector to be photographed adopts a curved mirror, it is projected and converted into a plane mirror image. It describes that image processing is performed and the image subjected to this image processing is displayed in the display area of the windshield.
In Patent Document 4, in a vehicle display device that displays an image obtained by capturing an image of the front of the host vehicle with an infrared camera on a head-up display, the image enlargement ratio is changed stepwise according to the vehicle speed, and the display unit is enlarged. The display light that shows the displayed image is emitted toward the front windshield through the opening of the instrument panel, so that the driver can see the image in front of the vehicle with the display light and realize that the enlarged display is being performed. It is described to do so.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-155307 JP 2009-43003 A JP 2005-178623 A JP 2004-168105 A

When displaying an image of the situation in front of the host vehicle or the like, the imaging field angle of the lens of the imaging device is widened to generate an image that displays a wide range at a low display magnification, and presents more information to the occupant It becomes possible.
However, when displaying such a wide-angle image, the field of view (direct field of view) that the occupant can see directly with the naked eye through the window glass is very different, so the relationship between the direct field of view and the displayed image is easily understood. I am concerned that I cannot do it.
In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a visual assistance device that can visually recognize a wide range with a small line of sight movement and can easily grasp the relationship between a displayed image and a visual field that can be directly viewed. .

The present invention solves the above-described problems by the following means.
The invention according to claim 1 is an imaging device that images the front of the host vehicle, and a display area that is arranged to overlap or be adjacent to a field of view of the front of the host vehicle with the naked eye when viewed from the viewpoint of the passenger And an image display device that displays an image captured by the imaging device, wherein the image display device has at least a horizontal display magnification when viewed from the occupant's viewpoint. It is set by reducing with respect to the visual field to be visually observed, and the position corresponding to the reference position when the line-of-sight direction viewed from the viewpoint of the occupant is the reference position set on the image displayed on the image display device is determined by the naked eye It is a visual aid device characterized by being arranged so as to substantially coincide with the line-of-sight direction at the time of visual observation.
According to this, by reducing the display magnification of the image display device with respect to the field of view visually observed by the occupant (widening the angle of view), the occupant can be provided with a wide range of front view information, and with less sight line movement. A wide range of situations can be seen.
In addition, by setting the display position so that the reference position set on the image coincides with the position corresponding to the reference position viewed by the naked eye, even a widened image can be viewed by the naked eye. The relationship with the visual field can be easily grasped.

The invention according to claim 2 includes viewpoint position detection means for detecting the viewpoint position of the occupant and reference position setting means for setting the reference position based on the detection result of the viewpoint position. Item 2. The visual assistance device according to Item 1.
According to this, by detecting the viewpoint position of the occupant, the reference position can be appropriately set on the image, and the above-described effects can be reliably obtained.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the display area of the image display device is arranged offset in the left-right direction with respect to the occupant's viewpoint, and the reference position is the occupant side in the left-right direction on the display area. It is set to the edge part of this, It is a visual recognition assistance apparatus of Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterized by the above-mentioned.
According to this, when the image display device is disposed diagonally forward of the left and right of the occupant, it is possible to easily grasp the positional relationship between the visual field that is directly visually recognized by the naked eye and the image.
Moreover, the side of the host vehicle can be visually recognized with a small amount of line-of-sight movement, and the monitoring burden on the occupant can be reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the display area of the image display device is arranged in front of the occupant's viewpoint, and the reference position is set in front of the viewpoint in the display area. It is a visual recognition assistance apparatus of Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterized by these.
According to this, when the image display device is arranged in front of the occupant, it is possible to easily grasp the positional relationship between the field of view that is directly visually recognized by the naked eye and the image.

The invention according to claim 5 is provided with risk object detection means for detecting a risk object around the host vehicle, and the image display device displays the risk object in a display mode different from normal. The visual assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
According to this, when a risk target object exists, a passenger | crew can be alerted and safety can be improved.

The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that the image display device displays an enlarged display magnification of the risk object when the risk object exists. Device.
According to this, it is possible to alert the occupant by changing the display magnification, and to enhance the visibility of the risk target object and promote appropriate countermeasures.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a visual assistance device that can visually recognize a wide range with a small amount of line-of-sight movement and can easily grasp the relationship between a displayed image and a directly visible visual field. .

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of embodiment of the visual recognition auxiliary | assistance apparatus to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows an example of the driver visual field in the vehicle which has the visual recognition auxiliary | assistance apparatus of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the visual recognition assistance apparatus of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the other example of the driver visual field in the vehicle which has the visual recognition auxiliary | assistance apparatus of embodiment, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the state in which the other vehicle is approaching from the side. It is a figure which shows the other example of the driver visual field in the vehicle which has the visual recognition auxiliary | assistance apparatus of embodiment, Comprising: It is a figure which shows the state at the time of the risk of colliding with the other vehicle approaching from the side.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a visual assistance device to which the present invention is applied will be described.
The visual assistance device of the embodiment is provided in an automobile such as a passenger car, for example, and presents an image of the front of the host vehicle or the like to an occupant such as a driver by an image display device, and assists in viewing the situation around the host vehicle.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a visual assistance device according to an embodiment.
The visual assistance device 1 according to the embodiment includes a stereo camera device 10, an environment recognition unit 20, an occupant monitoring unit 30, a display image generation unit 40, a display device 50, and the like.

The stereo camera device 10, the environment recognition unit 20, the occupant monitoring unit 30, the display image generation unit 40, and the display device 50 are connected to each other via, for example, an in-vehicle LAN system such as a CAN communication system or the like. Transmission and reception are possible.
Each unit includes an information processing unit such as a CPU, a storage unit such as a RAM and a ROM, an input / output interface, a bus for connecting them, and the like.

The stereo camera device 10 includes a camera LH11, a camera RH12, a stereo image processing unit 13, and the like.
The camera LH11 and the camera RH12 are imaging devices having an optical system such as a lens group that images the front of the host vehicle at a wide angle, a solid-state imaging device such as a CMOS, a driving device thereof, an image processing engine, an input / output interface, and the like. .
The camera LH11 and the camera RH12 are mounted with the optical axis of the optical system facing the front of the vehicle in a state of being separated in the left-right direction.
For example, the camera LH11 and the camera RH12 are fixed in a state of protruding downward from the front end portion of the roof 130 into the vehicle interior, and take an image in front of the host vehicle through the windshield 140.

Data relating to images captured by the camera LH11 and the camera RH12 is sequentially provided to the stereo image processing unit 13.
These image data are also provided to the display image generation unit 40 via the stereo image processing unit 13 in order to generate a display image of the display device 50.
For example, as in the present embodiment, when displaying the situation of the left front of the host vehicle (see FIG. 2), a display image can be generated using an image captured by the camera LH11.

The stereo image processing unit 13 performs known stereo image processing on the image data sequentially transmitted from the camera LH11 and the camera RH12 to recognize a subject existing in front of the host vehicle and to make the recognized subject relative to the host vehicle. The position is detected using the pixel position on the image, the parallax between the camera LH11 and the camera RH12, and the like.
Further, the stereo image processing unit 13 determines the type and attribute of the recognized subject (for example, other vehicle, bicycle, pedestrian, building, lane edge white line, etc.) by known image processing and image recognition techniques. Is possible.

The environment recognition unit 20 recognizes the environment in front of the host vehicle using the object detection result in front of the host vehicle by the stereo image processing unit 13.
The environment recognition unit 20 recognizes a risk object that has a high possibility of colliding with the own vehicle from other vehicles, buildings, and the like recognized by the stereo image processing unit 13 from the relative position and relative speed with respect to the own vehicle.
The environment recognition unit 20 functions as a risk object detection means according to the present invention.

When the environment recognition unit 20 determines that the collision between the risk object and the host vehicle is inevitable from the relative position and relative speed (approach speed) of the risk object with respect to the host vehicle (when the pre-crash determination is established) ), Information on the risk object is transmitted to the display image generation unit 40.
Here, examples of the information on the risk object include the type of the risk object, the relative position and the relative speed with respect to the host vehicle, and the like.

The occupant monitoring unit 30 detects an occupant state by performing image processing on an image obtained by capturing an occupant serving as a driver during manual operation with the occupant photographing camera 31.
The occupant photographing camera 31 is provided, for example, on the instrument panel 140 of the vehicle, and images the face of the occupant to be monitored.
The occupant photographing camera 31 can be provided, for example, in a combination meter 141 (see FIG. 2).
The occupant monitoring unit 30 performs predetermined image processing on the image data captured by the occupant photographing camera 31, and detects the position of the viewpoint (eye part), the line-of-sight direction, the arousal state, and the like.
Information regarding the viewpoint position of the occupant is transmitted to the display image generation unit 40.
The occupant monitoring unit 30 functions as a viewpoint position detection unit according to the present invention in cooperation with the occupant photographing camera 31.

The display image generation unit 40 uses the image data provided from the stereo camera device 10, the information related to the risk object by the environment recognition unit 20, and the detection result of the occupant viewpoint position by the occupant monitoring unit 30, by the display device 50. The display image data to be displayed is generated.
The display image generation unit 40 has a function of setting a display range and a display position displayed on the display device 50 among the image data provided from the stereo camera device 10.
The display image generation unit 40 has a visual field in which the display magnification displayed when the display image displayed on the display device 50 is viewed from the viewpoint of the occupant can be directly viewed with the naked eye in a normal state (a state in which no risk object exists). Is displayed so that the reference position P (see FIG. 2) set in a part of the screen coincides with the position corresponding to the reference position P in the visual field directly viewed by the naked eye. Set the image display range and display position.
The display image generation unit 40 functions as a reference position setting unit according to the present invention.
The function of the display image generation unit 40 will be described later in detail.

The display device 50 is an image display device that presents to the user (occupant), for example, an image obtained by imaging the situation outside the vehicle diagonally to the left of the host vehicle.
The display device 50 includes a display that displays the display image generated by the display image generation unit 40, a driving device thereof, and the like.
As the display device 50, for example, a transparent LCD that is substantially transparent when not displayed and can be seen through by an occupant can be used.
The arrangement of the display device 50 will be described in detail later.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the vehicle includes a windshield 110, a front door glass 120, a side mirror 130, an instrument panel 140, a steering wheel 150, an A pillar 160, a roof 170, a room mirror 180, and the like.

The windshield 110 is disposed on the front side of the driver.
The windshield 110 is a secondary curved glass that is formed in a substantially horizontally long rectangular shape and is curved in a direction in which the front is convex.
The windshield 110 is disposed so as to be tilted rearward so that the upper end portion is on the vehicle rear side with respect to the lower end portion.
When viewed from the occupant's viewpoint, the transparent portion of the windshield 110 (the portion excluding a black ceramic portion (not shown) provided in the vicinity) becomes a field of view when the occupant directly looks directly ahead of the vehicle with the naked eye.

The front door glass 120 is provided in the upper part of the left and right front doors used for passengers getting on and off and on the side of the driver.
The front door glass 120 includes a liftable main body 121 and a fixed triangular window 122 provided at the front of the main body 121.

The side mirror 130 is used by the driver to check the left / right rear view.
The side mirror 130 protrudes outward in the vehicle width direction from the outer panels of the left and right front doors.
In the user field of view, for example, the side mirror 130 is visible in the vicinity of the front end portion of the main body 121 of the front door glass 120.

The instrument panel 140 is an interior member provided below the windshield 110 in the vehicle interior.
The instrument panel 140 also functions as a housing that accommodates various instruments, display devices, switches, air conditioners, front passenger airbag devices, knee protection airbag devices, and the like.
The instrument panel 140 includes a combination meter 141, a multi-function display 142, a navigation device display 143, and the like.

The combination meter 141 is provided in front of the driver's seat and is a unit of various instruments such as a speedometer, an engine tachometer, and a distance meter.
The multi-function display 142 is image display means such as an LCD provided at the upper part of the instrument panel 140 in the center in the vehicle width direction.
The navigation device display 143 is an image display means such as an LCD on which a navigation device (not shown) displays a map or the like.
The navigation device display 143 is provided at the lower portion of the instrument panel 140 in the center in the vehicle width direction.

The steering wheel 150 is an annular operation member that inputs a steering operation when the driver manually operates.
The steering wheel 150 is provided substantially in front of the driver.
The combination meter 141 is visible from the inner diameter side of the upper half of the steering wheel 150 in the user view.

The A-pillar 160 is a columnar vehicle body structural member disposed along the side end portion of the windshield 110 and the front end portion of the front door glass 120.
The surface of the A pillar 160 on the vehicle interior side is covered with a resin pillar trim.

The roof 170 is formed to extend rearward from the upper end portion of the windshield 110.
A surface portion of the roof 170 on the vehicle interior side is covered with a resin roof trim.
A stereo camera housing portion 171 in which the camera LH11 and the camera RH12 are housed is provided at the front end portion of the roof 170 in the center in the vehicle width direction.

The rearview mirror 180 is a rearward confirmation mirror provided in the vehicle interior.
The room mirror 180 is provided in the vicinity of the upper end portion of the windshield 110 in the vehicle width direction central portion via a stay (not shown).

The screen portion of the display device 50 is provided, for example, so as to protrude from the vicinity of the A pillar 160 on the side opposite to the driver (left side in the case of FIG. 2) in the left-right direction to the center in the vehicle width direction (front glass 110 side). .
A part of the display device 50 is arranged so as to overlap the front side of the windshield 110 when viewed from the viewpoint of the passenger.

Next, the operation of the visual assistance device of the embodiment will be described.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the visual assistance device of the embodiment.
Hereinafter, the steps will be described step by step.

<Step S01: Obtain Front Image Data>
The display image generation unit 40 acquires image data in front of the host vehicle captured by the camera 11 and the camera RH12 from the stereo image processing unit 13 of the stereo camera device 10.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S02.

<Step S02: Occupant viewpoint position detection>
The occupant monitoring unit 30 performs predetermined image processing on the image data captured by the occupant photographing camera 31 to detect the viewpoint position of the occupant (driver during manual operation).
Information regarding the detected viewpoint position is provided to the display image generation unit 40.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S03.

<Step S03: Reference position setting>
The display image generation unit 40 sets a reference position P (see FIG. 2) on the image displayed on the display device 50.
The reference position P is set, for example, near the right end and the lower end in the display area of the display device 50.
When the display image generation unit 40 sees a position corresponding to the reference position P in the display device 50 from the viewpoint position of the occupant detected in step S02, the display image generation unit 40 temporarily returns the reference position P if the display device 50 is transparent. A portion outside the vehicle that is seen through and overlapped with the vehicle is recognized as a “location corresponding to the reference position” (subject to be displayed at the reference position P) in a visual field directly visible by the naked eye.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S04.

<Step S04: Determination of Risk Object>
The environment recognition unit 20 determines whether or not there is a risk object that is likely to collide with the host vehicle in a range around the host vehicle and capable of being displayed as an image by the display device 50.
Information regarding the determination result (presence / absence of risk object) by the environment recognition unit 20 is transmitted to the display image generation unit 40.
When there is a risk object, information such as a relative position, a relative speed, and a type with respect to the host vehicle is also transmitted to the display image generation unit 40.
If there is a risk object, the process proceeds to step S06, and if not, the process proceeds to step S05.

<Step S05: Normal Wide Angle Display Image Generation>
The display image generation unit 40 generates, as an image displayed on the display device 50, a normal wide-angle display image that displays a wide angle by reducing the display magnification with respect to the field of view in front of the host vehicle with the naked eye.
At this time, the display image generation unit 40 displays the line-of-sight direction when the reference position P set on the image is viewed from the viewpoint of the passenger (corresponding to the reference position P (displayed at the reference position P on the image). The display range and display position of the display image are set so as to substantially coincide with the line-of-sight direction when the occupant directly views the subject) with the naked eye.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S07.

<Step S06: Risk Object Close-up Image Generation>
The display image generation unit 40 generates a risk object close-up image for enlarging and displaying the risk object by trimming a region including the risk object from the image data provided from the stereo camera device 10.
At this time, for example, the display color may be changed or the display may be blinked so that the risk object close-up image is more strongly alerting the occupant.
In addition, a text message or a pictorial symbol indicating that the risk object exists may be displayed. Further, such display and voice message, warning sound, etc. may be used in combination.
Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S07.

<Step S07: Display device diagnosis>
The display image generation unit 40 determines whether or not the display device 50 can normally display an image by using a self-diagnosis function provided in the display device 50.
If the display device 50 can display an image normally, the process proceeds to step S08. If the image cannot be displayed normally due to some failure or the like, the process proceeds to step S09.

<Step S08: Image display execution>
The display image generation unit 40 causes the display device 50 to display the image generated in step S05 or step S06, and thereafter ends (returns) a series of processes.

<Step S09: Image display off>
The display image generation unit 40 stops the image display by the display device 50 and makes the display device 50 substantially transparent and visible to the occupant.
Thereafter, the series of processing is terminated.

Hereinafter, the example of a display of the display apparatus 50 in the visual recognition assistance apparatus 1 of embodiment is demonstrated.
FIG. 2 shows a state where there is no risk object.
Since there is no risk object, the display device 50 normally displays a wide-angle display image.
In the state shown in FIG. 2, trees A, B, and C stand side by side from the front side along the traveling direction of the host vehicle on the left side of the lane in which the host vehicle is traveling.
In the field of view visually observed by the occupant through the windshield 110, the entire tree A is visible, but the lower part of the tree B is blocked by the A pillar 160 and cannot be viewed. Without being blocked by the pillar 160, the upper end portion and a part of the lower end portion are only visible from the triangular window portion 122 of the windshield 110 and the front door glass 120.

On the other hand, on the image displayed on the display device 50, the tree image a, which is an image of the trees A, B, and C, is displayed by reducing the display magnification to a wide-angle display with respect to the visual field viewed with the naked eye. As for b and c, the whole is displayed, and it is possible to visually recognize a wide range of information by a relatively small line-of-sight movement compared to the visual field viewed with the naked eye.
At this time, the line-of-sight direction when the occupant looks at the reference position P is substantially the same as the line-of-sight direction when the occupant directly visually recognizes a portion corresponding to the reference position P when the display device 50 is transparent. To match.
Since the occupant is an index for grasping the positional relationship between the display image and the visual field with the naked eye, the reference position P is preferably displayed on the image with a mark or the like.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating another example of the driver field of view in the vehicle having the visual assistance device of the embodiment, and is a diagram illustrating a state in which another vehicle is approaching from the side.
In the state shown in FIG. 4, there is another vehicle V that travels in the right direction when viewed from the host vehicle, diagonally to the left of the host vehicle.
The other vehicle V is not yet recognized as a risk object at the time shown in FIG. 4, and a normal wide-angle display image is displayed on the display device 50.
In the state shown in FIG. 4, the other vehicle V is blocked by the A pillar 160 or the like in the visual field viewed with the naked eye, but is only partially visible, but the other vehicle image v is displayed on the wide-angle display device 50. Is visible almost throughout.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating another example of the driver field of view in the vehicle having the visual assistance device of the embodiment, and is a diagram illustrating a state when a risk of collision with another vehicle approaching from the side occurs.
FIG. 5 shows a state that can occur subsequent to the state shown in FIG.
The other vehicle V is recognized as a risk object at the time shown in FIG. 5 due to the increased possibility of a collision, and the risk object close-up image is displayed on the display device 50. .
In the state shown in FIG. 5, the other vehicle V is visible in the vicinity of the left end of the windshield 110 in the visual field viewed with the naked eye, but the other vehicle image v is visually observed with the naked eye on the display device 50. The other vehicle V is enlarged and displayed, the display color of the screen is changed, and a text message indicating danger is displayed to alert the occupant and encourage appropriate avoidance action. It has become.

According to the embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) In a normal wide-angle display image, a wide-angle display with a reduced display magnification with respect to a visual field directly viewed with the naked eye allows a wide range of situations including a range where a blind spot is caused by a pillar or the like to be viewed with a small amount of visual line movement. be able to.
In addition, a field of view that can be viewed with the naked eye even if the image is wide-angled by being arranged so that the reference position P set on the image coincides with a portion corresponding to the reference position that is viewed with the naked eye. Can be easily grasped.
(2) By detecting the occupant's viewpoint position by the occupant monitoring unit, the reference position P can be appropriately set on the image, and the above-described effects can be reliably obtained.
(3) In the embodiment in which the display device 50 is disposed diagonally to the left of the occupant by setting the reference position P in the vicinity of the right end and the lower end of the image displayed on the display device 50, the image is directly visually recognized by the naked eye. It is possible to easily grasp the positional relationship between the visual field and the display image.
In addition, the left side of the host vehicle including the range where the blind spot is formed by the A pillar 160 can be visually recognized with a small amount of line-of-sight movement, and the monitoring burden on the occupant can be reduced.
(4) When there is a risk object, the risk object is enlarged and displayed, and the display color is changed to display a text message indicating that there is a danger. Appropriate measures can be promoted by improving the visibility of risk objects.
(5) When the display device 50 cannot display normally due to a failure or the like, the display device 50 is turned off and the display device 50 is made transparent so that visibility with the naked eye through the display device 50 is not hindered. Can be secured.

(Modification)
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications and changes are possible, and these are also within the technical scope of the present invention.
(1) The configurations of the vehicle and the visual assistance device are not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be changed as appropriate.
For example, the position where the display device is provided and the number of display devices can be changed as appropriate.
For example, the display device may be provided in front of the occupant.
In this case, it is preferable to set the reference position in front of the occupant's viewpoint in the display area.
(2) In the embodiment, a transparent LCD is used as the display device, but the specific configuration of the display device is not limited to this and can be changed as appropriate. For example, a general LCD that is not transparent or an organic EL display may be used.
Further, an image may be projected onto a windshield or a transparent plate provided separately from the windshield using a head-up display device.
(3) In the embodiment, in the normal wide-angle display image, the display magnification is uniformly reduced in both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. However, the display magnification is not limited to this, and the display magnification in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction may be different. . Further, the display magnification may not be reduced in the vertical direction, but may be reduced only in the horizontal direction.
(4) In the embodiment, the vertical position in the screen of the display device 50 at the reference position P is arranged in the vicinity of the lower end, but it may be arranged in the vicinity of the upper end or in the middle in the vertical direction.
In particular, when it is arranged in the vicinity of the upper end, the field of view on the display device is expanded downward, and the visibility of an object at a relatively low position such as a curb or a child is improved.
(5) In the embodiment, an image captured by a stereo camera device used for environment recognition in front of the host vehicle is used to generate a display image. However, a dedicated camera unit may be provided for display image generation. .

1 Visual Auxiliary Device 10 Stereo Camera Device 11 Camera LH 12 Camera RH
13 stereo image processing unit 20 environment recognition unit 30 occupant monitoring unit 31 occupant photographing camera 40 display image generation unit 50 display device 110 windshield 120 front door glass 121 main body 122 triangular window 130 side mirror 140 instrument panel 141 combination meter 142 Multifunction display 143 Navigation device display 150 Steering wheel 160 A pillar 170 Roof 171 Stereo camera housing portion 180 Room mirror A, B, C Tree a, b, c Tree image V Other vehicle v Other vehicle image P Reference position

Claims (6)

An imaging device for imaging the front of the host vehicle;
An image display device that displays an image captured by the imaging device, having a display area that is superimposed or adjacent to a field of view in which the occupant visually observes the front of the host vehicle with the naked eye when viewed from the viewpoint of the occupant. A visual assistance device comprising:
The image display device is set such that at least the horizontal display magnification when viewed from the occupant's viewpoint is reduced with respect to the visual field viewed with the naked eye,
The line-of-sight direction when the reference position set on the image displayed on the image display device is viewed from the viewpoint of the occupant substantially coincides with the line-of-sight direction when the portion corresponding to the reference position is viewed with the naked eye. The visual assistance device is characterized by being arranged as follows. Viewpoint position detecting means for detecting the viewpoint position of the occupant;
The visual assistance device according to claim 1, further comprising a reference position setting unit that sets the reference position based on a detection result of the viewpoint position. The display area of the image display device is arranged offset in the left-right direction with respect to the viewpoint of the occupant,
The visual recognition auxiliary device according to claim 1, wherein the reference position is set at an end portion on the occupant side in a left-right direction on the display area. The display area of the image display device is disposed on the front side with respect to the viewpoint of the occupant,
The visual assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the reference position is set in front of the viewpoint in the display area. A risk object detection means for detecting a risk object around the host vehicle;
The visual assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the image display device displays the risk object in a display mode different from a normal display mode. The visual assistance device according to claim 5, wherein the image display device displays an enlarged display magnification of the risk object when the risk object exists.

Images