Patent ID: 8049722

Claim:
A vehicular operating apparatus comprising: a touch panel operating portion on which operating switches are arranged, which has an upper surface on which an operation is performed by a hand of a user, and which generates an operating signal that corresponds to an operating position; a display portion that is arranged in a vehicle cabin in a position physically distanced from the operating portion, and that displays an operation menu image showing the positional arrangement and function of the operating switches; an imaging portion that captures images of the operating portion and the hand of a user; a combining and displaying portion that combines the captured image of the hand with the operation menu image and displays the combined image on the display portion; and a light emitting portion provided in the operating portion that illuminates the entire operating portion to which a display concerning the operating switches is not applied, wherein the combining and displaying portion performs the combining and displaying by converting the image of the hand to a graphic image of the hand, combining the graphic image of the hand with the operation menu image and displaying the combined image on the display portion, and the graphic image of the hand is generated by displaying only an outline of the hand and applying a transparent or semi-transparent color to a region inside the outline of the hand.