Patent ID: 7228213

Claim:
A vehicle environment control device for recognizing and controlling the state of vehicle-associated equipment and a vehicle environment, said vehicle environment control device comprising: a personal data storage section for storing personal data of a user of the vehicle associated with the user; a user identification section for identifying the user; a personal data reading section for reading the personal data of the user of the vehicle from the personal data storage section based on the identification result by said user identification section; a vehicle environment setting section for setting the vehicle to be an environment suitable for the identified user based on the personal data read by said personal data reading section; and an antitheft unit for generating a state of inconvenience for driving the vehicle through the use of said vehicle environment setting section; wherein the user is identified by said user identification section based on voice print information, face image information, or both of voice print information and face image information, wherein the vehicle environment set by said vehicle environment setting section includes at least one from among the positions of a seat, a brake pedal, mirrors and a steering wheel, an expanding force of an air bag, a stiffness of a suspension, and a timing of shifting, and wherein the state of inconvenience for driving the vehicle is generated when a determination is made by said user identification section that a person desiring to use the vehicle is not an authorized user of the vehicle.