UK-based Roke Manor Research has developed what it says is a viable 3D "black box" technology for vehicles using only a dashboard camera.

Fitted to an autonomous Toyota Prius, the company's vision-processing technology, "vPinPoint," captured data that could be used to provide a 3D reconstruction following a road incident. The company says the technology is designed to offer insurers, drivers and, in the case of autonomous vehicles, manufacturers independent evidence of the events that transpire in such instances.

An animation video showing how the technology operates can be viewed here.

James Revell, Roke consultant engineer, holds the "black box" technology known as vPinPoint. Image credit: Roke Manor Research. Early iterations of the technology were first developed by Roke for soldiers in research undertaken for the UK government’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. Over the past year, Roke has further developed and miniaturized the technology with the help of funding from Innovate UK.

“Unlike current dashcams, the technology we tested today uses computer vision algorithms to enable the precise position and orientation of any vehicle—car, bike, lorry or autonomous vehicle," says James Revell, consultant engineer at Roke. "This allows for near-perfect 3D reconstruction of any accident to be created even if the vehicle loses complete control.”

According to the company, its black box is intended not only to make vehicles safer, but also to help build public trust in driverless vehicles.

With further investment, Roke says the technology could also prove useful in sports coaching or to meet wider needs within the transportation industry.