Nothing Aviation relates takes "before I invest hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars into R&D"
There is synthetic vision, not quite what you are talking about, but you may want to look into those systems.
There are several aircraft with cameras mounted on the outside, like the A380 tailcam.
Not exactly sure how the pilot would benefit, do you have an idea of the benefits?
There are the secret cameras mounted in the flightdeck for the airline to watch the pilots, but that isnt what you are talking about.
