Information Processing Device And Method, Program, And Information Processing System

• US 20080019564A1
• Filed: 05/12/2005
• Published: 01/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Clarkson, Brian, Aoyama, Ryu, Murata, Makoto, Kojima, Tamaki, Zhao, Wenwu
• Granted Patent: US 7,739,033 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 382/103
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/485 whereby the further system is an optical system or imaging system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/295 Markov models or related models, e.g. semi-Markov models; Markov random fields; Networks embedding Markov models
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/85 Markov-related models; Markov random fields
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/36 Indoor scenes
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/38 Outdoor scenes
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/39 Urban scenes
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/56 exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle

Abstract

An information processing device and method, a program, and an information processing system, for location identification at small granularity with high accuracy are disclosed. A portable terminal has a camera in addition to a GPS module. In a location recognition model construction phase, a location recognition model is constructed from an image sequence taken by the camera, associated with location information collected by the GPS module and the like, and stored. In a location identification phase, the current location in a global area is identified by the GPS module, and the current location in a local area is identified on the basis of the location recognition model selected from the identification result and the image sequence obtained at the time. The present invention can be applied to portable terminals such as notebook type personal computers, PDAs and mobile telephones.

Claims

1. An information processing device characterized by having:

location measuring means which makes a location measurement;

acquiring means which acquires data for recognition for performing location identification, on the basis of location information obtained by the location measurement made by said location measuring means; and

location identification means which performs location identification by using said data for recognition acquired by said acquiring means and an output from a predetermined sensor.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, characterized by further having:

creating means which creates said data for recognition on the basis of the output from said sensor.

3. The information processing device according to claim 2, characterized by further having:

storing means which stores said data for recognition created by said creating means while associating with the location information obtained by the location measurement made by said location measuring means,

wherein the acquiring means acquires said data for recognition from said storing means on the basis of the location information obtained by the location measurement made by said location measuring means.

4. The information processing device according to claim 1, characterized by further having:

transmission means which transmits said data for recognition to another device.

5. The information processing device according to claim 4, characterized by further having:

receiving means which receives the data for recognition from said another device; and

searching means which searches for said data for recognition on the basis of said location information,

wherein said transmission means transmits said data for recognition searched by said searching means to said another device.

6. The information processing device according to claim 3, characterized in that:

said acquiring means acquires said data for recognition from another device if said data for recognition corresponding to the location information obtained by the location measurement made by said location measuring means is not stored by said storing means.

7. The information processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that:

said acquiring means acquires said data for recognition at predetermined time intervals.

8. The information processing device according to claim 3, characterized in that:

in a case where;

the location information obtained by the location measurement made by said location measuring means is represented by a predetermined location coordinate, and

the location information stored in said storing means in association with said data for recognition is represented by a predetermined location coordinate range,

said acquiring means acquires said data for recognition from said another device, when the location coordinate obtained by the location measurement made by said location measuring means exceeds said predetermined location coordinate range.

9. The information processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that:

said location measuring means makes location measurements using a GPS and a PHS, and selects, from a location obtained by using the GPS and a location obtained by using the PHS, the location exhibiting a higher reliability level as a location measurement result.

10. The information processing device according to claim 1, characterized in that:

said sensor is formed of an imaging device of a camera or a plurality of optical sensors.

11. An information processing method characterized by including:

a location measuring step of making a location measurement;

an acquiring step of acquiring data for recognition for performing location identification, on the basis of location information obtained by the location measurement by a process of said location measuring step; and

a location identification step of performing location identification by using the data for recognition acquired by a process of said acquiring step and an output from a predetermined sensor.

12. A program for causing a computer to perform a process including:

a location measuring step of making a location measurement;

an acquiring step of acquiring data for recognition for performing location identification, on the basis of location information obtained by the location measurement by a process of said location measuring step; and

a location identification step for performing location identification by using the data for recognition acquired by a process of said acquiring step and an output from a predetermined sensor.

13. An information processing system including a first information processing device and a second information processing device, characterized in that:

said first information processing device has;

location measuring means which makes a location measurement;

transmission means which transmits location information obtained by the location measurement made by said location measuring means, to the second information processing device that stores data for recognition for performing location identification in association with the location information;

receiving means which receives said data for recognition searched on the basis of the location information transmitted from said transmitting means, and transmitted thereto from said second information processing device; and

location identification means which performs location identification by using said data for recognition received by said receiving means and an output from a predetermined sensor, and

said second information processing device has;

receiving means which receives said location information transmitted thereto from said first information processing device;

searching means which searches for said data for recognition on the basis of said location information received by said receiving means; and

transmission means which transmits said data for recognition searched by said searching means to said first information processing device.

14. An information processing device characterized by having:

location measuring means which makes a location measurement on the basis of transmitted information;

acquiring means which acquires data for recognition used when location identification based on an output from a predetermined sensor is performed;

location identification means which performs the location identification based on the output from said sensor, by using said data for recognition acquired by said acquiring means;

reliability level measuring means which measures a reliability level of a location obtained by the location measurement made by said location measuring means and a reliability level of a location identified by said location identification means; and

location output means which outputs location representing information according to the reliability levels measured by said reliability level measuring means.

15. An information processing method characterized by including:

a location measuring step of making a location measurement on the basis of transmitted information;

an acquiring step of acquiring data for recognition used when location identification based on an output from a predetermined sensor is performed;

a location identification step of performing the location identification based on the output from said sensor, by using the data for recognition acquired by a process of said acquiring step;

a reliability level measuring step of measuring a reliability level of a location obtained by the location measurement made by a process of said location measuring step and a reliability level of a location identified by a process of said location identification step; and

a location output step of outputting location representing information according to the reliability levels measured by a process of said reliability level measuring step.

16. A program for causing a computer to execute a process including:

a location measuring step of making a location measurement on the basis of transmitted information;

an acquiring step of acquiring data for recognition used when location identification based on an output from a predetermined sensor is performed;

a location identification step of performing the location identification based on the output from said sensor, by using said data for recognition acquired by a process of said acquiring step;

a reliability level measuring step of measuring a reliability level of a location obtained by a process of said location measurement made by the location measuring step and a reliability level of a location identified by a process of said location identification step, respectively; and

a location output step for outputting location representing information according to the reliability levels measured by a process of said reliability level measuring step.