Patent ID: 7630804

Claim:
In combination, a vehicle and a detection apparatus for detecting information about a vehicle occupant, the detection apparatus comprising: a cabin of the vehicle having a seat for the vehicle occupant; a detection device mounted in the cabin for obtaining an image of the vehicle occupant and the vehicle seat on which the occupant is to be seated; a storage device for storing information relating to potential vehicle occupants seated on the vehicle seat; a controller configured to derive positional information from the obtained image of a predetermined one of a plurality of body regions of the vehicle occupant by comparing the obtained image with the stored information relating to the potential vehicle occupants, the controller further being configured to derive positional information from the obtained image of a predetermined reference region of the vehicle seat; and a body size estimation unit of the controller that is configured to derive body size information of the vehicle occupant including at least one of sitting height, chest thickness, and shoulder width of the vehicle occupant based on the derived positional information of the one body region and the derived positional information of the predetermined reference region of the vehicle seat.