Patent ID: 8035575

Claim:
A driving support method for assisting a driver of a vehicle by displaying an image of an area which is hidden from the driver, as a blind spot, when looking from the driver's position, which blind spot is created by one of a plurality of pillars of the vehicle, using an imaging device which is mounted on or in the vehicle, the method comprising: detecting a position of the driver; detecting an angle of a mirror; determining the driver's eye direction; calculating a range of view which the driver is able to see in the mirror, on the basis of the detected position of the driver and the detected angle of the mirror; calculating the area which is hidden as the blind spot, when looking in the determined eye direction from the driver's position; displaying an image, corresponding to the calculated blind spot area on a medial side of the one pillar of the vehicle, which image is formed from image data captured by the imaging device; responsive to a determination that the driver's eye direction is toward the mirror, identifying one pillar, among the plurality of pillars, included within the calculated range of view and creating the blind spot in the mirror, on the basis of the detected position of the driver and the detected angle of the mirror and displaying the mirror blind spot image on the medial side of the identified one pillar; and responsive to a determination that the drivers eye direction is not toward the mirror, calculating the area which is hidden as a blind spot created by a pillar associated with the driver's eye direction, on the basis of the detected position of the driver, and displaying an image of the blind spot created by the associated pillar on the medial side of the associated pillar.