Providing new generation of airbags with reliable information about the vehicle inner space occupancy in order to minimize inappropriate inflation is a real challenge. Within this paper 2 techniques to rebuilt the 3D cockpit scene are presented; beside the well-known stereoscopic vision principles, 3D reconstruction based on matricial sensor combined with an infrared structured light emitter is described. From the 3D points acquired by these sensors a 3D description of the seat area is built, pertinent attributes are extracted, and using a previously learnt data base, the current seat situation is identified amongst the learnt situations(empty seat, baby seat in normal or rear position, occupant). First promissing results are presented.