With the advent of camera-based rearview mirrors, it was only a matter of time when a company decides to integrate a digital video recorder into it as well. Well, that time is now and the company is Gentex.

A U.S. based supplier of mirrors and other automotive electronics, Gentex has now integrated a digital video recover (aka dashcam) that automatically preserves accident footage. The first vehicle to use the built-in DVR is the Toyota Harrier.

The system builds on Gentex's Full Display Mirror, which uses a rear-facing camera to project images behind the vehicle. To that, engineers added a front-facing camera as well as a slot in the mirror for the DVR memory card.

The system automatically records as much as two hours of driving video before overwriting the images with new video. If there is an accident, the system captures 20 seconds before and 20 seconds after a crash, and saves the video as a separate file.

In the Toyota Harrier, the mirror-integrated DVR is standard on most trim levels, but as a stand-alone option, Gentex says it’ll cost around USD 830 (P 40,233) including all the necessary cameras and wiring.

Gentex says that they foresee additional demand for this rearview mirror-based DVR, especially for consumer and fleet operators in markets such as Japan and Korea. Meanwhile, Toyota says they will start studying the feasibility of technology to more markets including Southeast Asia.