Vehicle driver monitoring device and operation method therefor

A driver monitoring apparatus comprising:

• a reception unit that receives surrounding environment information from a first sensor mounted on the exterior of a vehicle, which monitors the surrounding environment of the vehicle;
• a second sensor mounted inside the vehicle, which detects a driver's face and gaze direction during vehicle travel;
• and
• a processor that monitors the driver's gaze dispersion partially occurring within an attention focus region using the second sensor, determines whether or not to change the attention focus region based on the received surrounding environment information, and recognizes the driver's state corresponding to the extent of the driver's gaze dispersion, which is detected by the second sensor, based on the determination,
• wherein the processor:
• adjusts the sensitivity level for the driver's gaze dispersion partially occurring within the attention focus region on the basis of the surrounding environment information monitored by the first sensor and the sensing result from the second sensor,
• detects the presence of an object likely to cause a collision in the vicinity of the vehicle through the first sensor to acquire a result of the detection as the surrounding environment information, and
• reduces the sensitivity level for the driver's gaze dispersion while the object likely to cause a collision is detected.

A method of operating a driver monitoring apparatus, the method comprising:

• receiving surrounding environment information of a vehicle that travels, using a first sensor mounted on the exterior of the vehicle, and detecting the presence of an object likely to cause a collision in the vicinity of the vehicle through the first sensor to acquire a result of the detection as the surrounding environment information;
• determining whether or not to change an attention focus region based on the received surrounding environment information and adjusting the sensitivity level of a driver's gaze dispersion partially occurring within the determined attention focus region;
• monitoring the extent of the driver's gaze dispersion based on the adjusted sensitivity level for the driver's gaze dispersion partially occurring within the determined attention focus region using the received surrounding environment information and the second sensor mounted inside the vehicle, and reducing the sensitivity level for the driver's gaze dispersion while the object likely to cause a collision is detected;
• and
• determining whether or not attentive driving is necessary depending on the driver's state corresponding to the extent of the driver's gaze dispersion and outputting an alert.