Patent ID: 7065230

Claim:
Driving support apparatus for a driver of a vehicle, comprising; an image input unit configured to input an image including the driver's face area to specify the driver's gaze or face direction; a pattern generation unit configured to generate an input pattern from the image that can be compared with each of a plurality of dictionary patterns each of which differently corresponds to the driver's gaze or face direction; a dictionary unit configured to store the plurality of dictionary patterns; a pattern comparison unit configured to respectively calculate a similarity degree between the input pattern and each of the dictionary patterns by comparing the input pattern with each of the dictionary patterns; a gaze detection unit configured to detect the driver's gaze or face direction based on the similarity degree; an obstacle detection area selection unit configured to select an area outside of the driver's view based on the driver's gaze or face direction, the area representing an obstacle detection area for the vehicle; and an obstacle detection unit configured to detect an obstacle existing in the obstacle detection area.