Vehicle visual and non-visual data recording system

Abstract

The system described in this invention can be used for monitoring and analyzing real time visual and non-visual information pertaining to the occupant, vehicle, and surroundings prior to, during and post eccentric operating conditions for a given period of time. The system stores vehicle and occupant data from sensors throughout the vehicle and also makes use of existing vehicle sensors that may already be present in the vehicle. The invention also includes a video recording module that makes use of a fish-eye camera to capture video from the inside and the outside of the vehicle. Real-time data analysis is performed to detect and to recognize vehicle occupants, and recognize impending eccentric events. Vehicle, occupant, and video data are stored in circular buffers. When an eccentric event, a collision for example, has been detected, the device continues to record data and video for a fixed period of time. Once this time has elapsed, the data is transferred from volatile to non-volatile memory for later retrieval. A computer may be used to retrieve and display the vehicle and occupant data in a synchronization with the video data for the purposes of accident recreation, driver or vehicle monitoring.