Device and method for generating an indication signal to the driver of a vehicle

The present invention concerns a technology of comparing the visual attention of a driver of a vehicle and an image based location of a potential obstacle to the vehicle. The visual attention of the driver is estimated using a saliency map of the image from which the potential obstacle is also detected. The idea is that a driver should be warned especially in cases where a potential collision object is likely to be overlooked. The probability of missing obstacles correlates with the saliency of the object where highly salient objects are more likely to be detected than less salient objects. By taking into account the driver's visual attention warning systems can be optimised to increase effectiveness and driver acceptance.