Patent ID: 7528740

Claim:
A method for providing information to a driver of a vehicle for aiding parallel parking the vehicle in a parking spot having a length defined by a first end point and a second end point, comprising: measuring the parking spot, wherein the measurement includes detecting the first and second end points defining the length of the parking spot; determining a position of the vehicle relative to the first and second end points; and displaying on a display unit assigned to the driver, after detection of the first end point and prior to the detection of the second end point, an image of the vehicle and the position of the vehicle relative to one of an image of the parking spot and an image of a detected portion of the parking spot, wherein a ratio of an actual length of the vehicle to one of the length of the parking spot and a length of the detected portion of the parking spot substantially corresponds to a ratio of a length of the image of the vehicle displayed to one of a length of the image of the parking spot displayed and a length of the image of the detected portion of the parking spot displayed.