Abstract: The invention provides a vehicle surroundings monitoring system for synthesizing and displaying images captured by a plurality of cameras to provide images that, near the border between partial images, are more accurate and more readily understood by the user than has been the case conventionally. In the synthesized image, a partial image captured by a first camera and a partial image captured by a second camera are adjacent to one another at their border. Near this border, the capturing directions of the first and the second cameras both substantially match the direction of the border. Consequently, images of objects near the border extend along the border, and thus do not disappear on the synthesized image.

Abstract: In the vehicle surroundings display device of the invention, an image processor generates an image showing the situation around a vehicle. When an obstacle is detected by an obstacle detection means, the image processor determines an image missing region using the position of the border of the obstacle on the vehicle side detected by an obstacle position detection means and fills the image missing region with substitute image data. This eliminates unnaturalness of a display image the user may feel and enables the user to accurately recognize the position of a neighboring obstacle that is important in driving operation.

Abstract: Simple calibration of a camera mounted on a mobile object is implemented. With a joint means, a target apparatus for calibration is physically fixed to the mobile object having a camera mounted thereon. The positional relation between the vehicle and the target apparatus is finely adjusted while visually confirming a target point on the vehicle through a scope means.

Abstract: In correspondence with each face of a rectangular parallelepiped obtained when the inside of the rectangular parallelepiped is shot, a monitor screen is split into a plurality of sub-screen areas. An image shot by a vehicle-mounted camera is processed and the processed image is split correspondingly to the sub-screen areas. Each split image is displayed in the corresponding sub-screen areas. This allows intuitive understanding of the direction of an image displayed in a sub-screen thereby providing the driver with an image free from a sense of incongruity.

Abstract: For supporting a complicated driving operation, a synthesized image by using which a driver can drive with a sense of security is presented to the driver. Camera images of cameras installed on a vehicle are used so that an image with a lateral visual field of 180 degrees in the rear of the vehicle can be displayed in the form of a mirror image. Also, (a) tire loci (41) of the vehicle obtained by assuming a reverse operation are overlapped with the image to be displayed. Furthermore, (b) a far area (43) is enlarged to be displayed in a sub-window (44), or (c) auxiliary lines (45, 46 and 47) indicating distances from the vehicle are overlapped with the image to be displayed.

Abstract: A camera for taking a state behind a vehicle is installed in a position laterally shifted from the rear center of the vehicle. An image processing unit generates a rear image from a camera image by shifting merely a rectangular area of the camera image so that a vertical center line thereof can substantially accord with the center line along the lengthwise direction of the vehicle. Furthermore, processing for correcting lens distortion may be performed. As a result, when the vehicle is moved straight backward, an object present on the center line of the vehicle moves vertically in substantially the center of the screen, so that a user can be prevented from having an odd feeling to see the image.

Abstract: Parking assistance apparatus that that displays on a screen an image shot by image picking-up means mounted on a vehicle, characterized in that said parking assistance apparatus superimposes a guide line that is parallel to the line tangent to the predicted outer locus of the vehicle assumed when the vehicle is backed with the wheel at the maximum steering angle. This allows the driver to drive the vehicle so that the guide line will not overlap the image of another vehicle thus allowing parking that avoids any contact.

Abstract: There are provided a displaying means arranged at a position that can be looked at from a driver's seat of a vehicle, an image picking-up means for picking up an image of a rear portion of the vehicle containing at least a part of a hitch that is provided to the rear portion of the vehicle, and an image processing means for causing the displaying means to display a synthesized image that is obtained by image-processing an image picked up by the image picking-up means, wherein a hitch image 35a of own vehicle in addition to an image 41a of a trailed vehicle and an image 42a of the coupler are displayed on a screen of the displaying means. As a result, the relative positional relationship between the hitch and the destination coupler can be checked on the screen and thus the hitch coupling operation can be facilitated.

Abstract: In a driving aiding system for displaying a picked-up image of a rear-view camera equipped onto a rear portion of a vehicle on a screen of a displaying means arranged at a position which can be viewed from a driver's seat when the vehicle is to be backed, a locus estimated line 10 of a hitch which is equipped onto a rear portion of the vehicle is superposed on the picked-up image of the rear-view camera to display when a predetermined instruction input is received.

Abstract: The camera device for use in measurement and synthesis of an image is capable of being used for accurate measurement and synthesis even without suppressing variation in device characteristics. A camera parameter storage means stores a camera parameter indicating characteristics unique to the camera device. A state sensing means senses a state of the camera device such as a temperature. A parameter output means externally outputs a camera parameter according to state information.

Abstract: The image processor of the present invention generates a more natural synthesized image from camera images taken with a plurality of cameras capturing the surroundings of a vehicle. A parameter storage section stores a plurality of image synthesis parameter groups representing the correspondence between the camera images and the synthesized image and having different spatial or temporal resolution relations. A parameter selection section selects the image synthesis parameter group according to the output of a vehicle motion detection section for detecting the motion of the vehicle such as the driving speed and direction. An image synthesis section generates the synthesized image from the camera images according to the selected image synthesis parameter group.

Abstract: In an image processor for synthesizing images that have been taken by multiple cameras mounted on a vehicle, even if any movable part of the vehicle has changed its state, the synthesized image will have no unnatural part. A pixel synthesizer receives the images that have been captured by the cameras included in an imaging section and generates the synthesized image by reference to a mapping table. Receiving a signal indicative of the state of a movable part such as the door or hood of the vehicle, a display mode changer disables at least one of the cameras that is taking an image to be affected by any change in the state of the movable part. For that purpose, the changer rewrites mapping data stored on the mapping table and thereby eliminates the image in question from the synthesized image.

Abstract: In transmitting image data from multiple cameras to an image processing section to produce a synthesized image from respective camera images, the amount of data transmitted through a transmission path can be cut down without sacrificing the quality of the synthesized image. In accordance with a correspondence between the synthesized and camera images as described on a mapping table, a resolution specifier specifies resolutions, which should be necessary for image synthesis, for respective areas of each camera image. A compressor, provided for each of the cameras, compresses the associated camera image data according to the resolutions specified. In this manner, the image data, which has been compressed in accordance with the correspondence between the synthesized and camera images, is transmitted through the transmission path.

Abstract: In a driving operation assisting technique, the burden on a user is reduced. The user is allowed to specify, on an image representing the surrounding conditions around a vehicle, the end position of the vehicle at the end of a predetermined driving operation by using, for example, a pointer. A driving operation assisting system obtains the start position of the driving operation based on a prescribed movement pattern representing the movement of the vehicle in the driving operation, and superimposes the end position on the display image.

Abstract: Simple calibration of a camera mounted on a mobile object is implemented. With a joint means, a target apparatus for calibration is physically fixed to the mobile object having a camera mounted thereon. The positional relation between the vehicle and the target apparatus is finely adjusted while visually confirming a target point on the vehicle through a scope means.

Abstract: An image retrieving apparatus including a language analyzer, an object determiner, a rule for defining an undefined object, an image selector, a display, a word dictionary, and an image database. The language analyzer analyzes an input sentence and extracts objects of the input sentence. The object determiner determines whether the object data expresses a background or a part using a rule for defining an undefined object. Images of background and parts are separately retrieved.

Abstract: An apparatus for retrieving image objects in accordance with a natural language sentence according to the present invention includes: an input section for receiving a natural language sentence; a language processing section for parsing the natural language sentence by referring to a dictionary for language analysis so as to obtain a syntactic structure of the natural language sentence; a situation element division section for converting the syntactic structure of the natural language sentence into a semantic structure of the natural language sentence and for dividing a situation represented by the semantic structure of the natural language sentence into at least one situation element by referring to a situation element division knowledge base; an image database for storing at least one image object corresponding to the at least one situation element; and a retrieval section for retrieving at least one image object from the image database by using the situation element as an image retrieval key.

Abstract: There is provided an image editing apparatus, which comprises language image uniting dictionary storing informations on words, on relation between meanings of the words, and on image, a grammer dictionary storing grammer, image editing rule and, a language parsing means to parse a linguistic sentence, an image retrieving means to retrieve image information and an image editing means to edit image, and, being input information on an intended image in natural language, parses the input sentence, retrieves images for expressing the meaning thereof, processes and snystesizes the retrieved images, all automatically, so that, an intended image can be obtained by simple operation.