diff --git a/msgq/visionipc/visionipc_pyx.pyx b/msgq/visionipc/visionipc_pyx.pyx
index 7f4d2209a..f89ea4c0d 100644
--- a/msgq/visionipc/visionipc_pyx.pyx
+++ b/msgq/visionipc/visionipc_pyx.pyx
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import numpy as np
 cimport numpy as cnp
 from cython.view cimport array
 from libc.string cimport memcpy
-from libc.stdint cimport uint32_t, uint64_t
+from libc.stdint cimport uint32_t, uint64_t, uintptr_t
 from libcpp cimport bool
 from libcpp.string cimport string
 
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ cdef class VisionBuf:
     buf.buf = cbuf
     return buf
 
+  def as_array(self):
+    return np.asarray(<cnp.uint8_t[:self.buf.len]> self.buf.addr)
+
   @property
   def data(self):
     return np.asarray(<cnp.uint8_t[:self.buf.len]> self.buf.addr)