Motor vehicle cabin sensing system

A motor vehicle cabin sensing system comprising:

• an image sensor operable to capture at least one image, the image sensor having a field of view of a motor vehicle cabin;
• an illumination source operable to emit near-infrared light rays toward the motor vehicle cabin;
• an illumination lens array positioned forward of the illumination source and operable to optically diffuse the light rays emitting from the illumination source toward the motor vehicle cabin;
• and
• a cover configured to obscure the motor vehicle cabin sensing system from a view of a user sitting within the motor vehicle cabin;
• wherein the illumination lens array comprises a plurality of single lens elements formed on a common lens structure, each single lens element comprising at least one optical element selected from a prism, a diverging lens, or a combination thereof, the single lens elements being configured to distribute the emitted light rays toward at least one photoreceptor cell of a human retina;
• wherein diffusion of the emitted light rays by the plurality of single lens elements reduces a radiant intensity of a red-glow component incident on the at least one photoreceptor cell;
• and
• wherein the radiant intensity is 0% to 50% of the light rays emitting from the illumination source.