Vehicle Front Hood Overlay for Concealed Low-End Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing solutions for improving visibility at the low front end of vehicles, obscured by the front hood, require complex image processing and additional hardware, leading to high costs and cognitive effort for users.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that utilize exterior and optionally interior cameras, along with a computing processor, to estimate the user's eye position and superimpose a representation of the vehicle's front hood outline onto captured images, enhancing visibility without requiring extensive hardware resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If complex image processing solutions are used to calculate images of concealed areas from multiple exterior cameras, then visibility of concealed areas is improved, but hardware costs and device complexity increase due to additional computing processors and memory
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential information needed to solve the visibility problem - specifically, using a single exterior camera to capture images of the concealed area and processing these images to generate a simplified representation. This avoids the complexity of multiple cameras and extensive computing resources while still providing the needed visibility enhancement.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a simplified copy or representation of the concealed area by processing images from a single camera. Instead of using multiple cameras to capture the area and then computationally combining them, the system processes a single camera's output to generate a usable image representation, reducing hardware requirements while maintaining the core functionality.
2Loss of information
If real images from exterior cameras are displayed simultaneously with the user's direct view, then visibility of concealed areas is improved, but cognitive load increases requiring user effort to reconcile the two views
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing step that transforms the raw camera images into a format that naturally integrates with the user's direct view. By processing the images to show only the concealed area in a simplified manner, the system acts as a mediator that bridges the gap between what the user sees directly and what the camera captures, making the information easier to reconcile without requiring significant cognitive effort.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for displaying extended images of a low front end of a vehicle having a front hood, each extended image including an area visible to a user of the vehicle and an area concealed by the front hood of the vehicle, the vehicle being equipped with at least one exterior camera having a field of view oriented towards the low front end of the vehicle. The method carried out by the system includes the steps of: estimating a position of the vehicle user's eyes, processing images captured by the exterior camera to obtain extended images of the low front end of the vehicle; implementing a superimposition, on each image captured, of a representation of an outline of the front hood of the vehicle, the representation being dependent on the position of the eyes of the user, and displaying the extended images on an on-board display device.