OBJECT RECOGNITION APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANAGING DATA USED FOR OBJECT RECOGNITION

• US 20160034882A1
• Filed: 07/15/2015
• Published: 02/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toshiba Tec Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toshiba Tec Corporation (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: TAKENO, Yuishi
• Granted Patent: US 9,805,357 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/22 Matching criteria, e.g. proximity measures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 18/41 Interactive pattern learning with a human teacher
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/208 Input by product or record sensing, e.g. weighing or scanner processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/75 Organisation of the matching processes, e.g. simultaneous or sequential comparisons of image or video features; Coarse-fine approaches, e.g. multi-scale approaches; using context analysis; Selection of dictionaries
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/7788 the supervisor being a human, e.g. interactive learning with a human teacher
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/987 with the intervention of an operator
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/68 Food, e.g. fruit or vegetables
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/80 Camera processing pipelines; Components thereof

Abstract

An apparatus for managing data used for object recognition includes an image capturing unit configured to capture an image of an object, a storage unit storing image data of products registered for sale, an operation panel configured to receive a user selection, and a processor configured to determine the products registered for sale that are similar to the object, based on the captured image and the image data, display the similar products on the operation panel as user selectable items, determine one or more of the similar products designated by the user selection, and invalidate the designated similar products so that efficiency of object recognition by the apparatus can be improved.

Claims

1. An apparatus for managing data used for object recognition, comprising:

an image capturing unit configured to capture an image of an object;

a storage unit storing image data of products registered for sale;

an operation panel configured to receive a user selection; and

a processor configured to determine the products registered for sale that are similar to the object, based on the captured image and the image data, display the similar products on the operation panel as user selectable items, determine one or more of the similar products designated by the user selection, and invalidate the designated similar products so that efficiency of object recognition by the apparatus can be improved.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the image data of a product registered for sale include one or more feature values representing a feature of the product.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the processing unit determines the similar products, by calculating feature values of the object based on the captured image and comparing the feature values of the object with the feature values of each of the products registered for sale.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the operation panel includes a display unit configured to display one or more selectable icons, each representing one of the similar products.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

the selectable icon corresponding to each invalidated similar product is displayed on the operation panel in a first display state, and the selectable icons corresponding to other similar products that have not been invalidated are displayed on the operation panel in a second display state that is different from the first display state.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

the display state of a selectable icon is switched from the first display state to the second display state, in response to a user selection of a selectable icon that is displayed on the operation panel in the first display state.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein

the display state of a selectable icon is switched from the second display state to the first display state, in response to a user selection of a selectable icon that is displayed on the operation panel in the second display state.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the object is a product that is being newly registered for sale.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

the object is a product that is to be purchased by a customer.

10. A method for managing data used for object recognition carried out in an object recognition apparatus, comprising:

receiving image data of an object;

storing image data of products registered for sale;

determining the products registered for sale that are similar to the object, based on the image data of the object and the image data of the registered products;

determining one or more of the similar products designated by a user selection; and

invalidating the designated similar products so that efficiency of object recognition can be improved.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein

the image data of a product registered for sale include one or more feature values representing a feature of the product.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein

the similar products are determined by calculating feature values of the object based on the received image data and comparing the feature values of the object with the feature values of each of the products registered for sale.

13. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:

displaying one or more selectable icons, each representing one of the similar products.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein

the selectable icon corresponding to each invalidated similar product is displayed in a first display state, and the selectable icons corresponding to other similar products that have not been invalidated are displayed in a second display state that is different from the first display state.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising:

switching the display state of a selectable icon from the first display state to the second display state, in response to a user selection of a selectable icon that is displayed in the first display state.

16. The method according to claim 14, further comprising:

switching the display state of a selectable icon from the second display state to the first display state, in response to a user selection of a selectable icon that is displayed in the second display state.

17. A method for managing image data used for object recognition, comprising:

storing image data and inventory data of products registered for sale;

selecting one of the registered products;

determining whether or not the selected product is in inventory based on the inventory data of the selected product;

when the selected product that is invalidated is determined to be in inventory, validating the selected product; and

when the selected product that is validated is determined to be not in inventory, invalidating the selected product.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising:

when the selected product is in inventory and a stock-out flag is set for the selected product, clearing the stock-out flag; and

when the selected product is not in inventory and the stock-out flag is not set for the inventory data of the selected product, setting the stock-out flag.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein

the image data of a product registered for sale include one or more feature values representing a feature of a surface of the product.