IMAGING ENVIRONMENT RECOGNITION DEVICE

An imaging environment that greatly affects image recognition accuracy is recognized for applications in onboard systems of various sorts including imaging devices.An imaging device for imaging areas around the vehicle is mounted on a vehicle. Before executing image recognition processing, information is acquired on objects and texture, such as traffic signs and pedestrian crossings, present within a field of view of the imaging device. An object or texture present within the field of view is then recognized by an image recognition section. Degrees of distortion and defocus of a shape or texture of the object recognized are calculated based on the shape or texture of the object recognized and information previously acquired on the objects or texture. Imaging environment, such as water droplets or dirt on a lens, and whether fog occurs or not, is then recognized based on the degrees of distortion and defocus calculated from the shape or texture of the object recognized.