Trigger Regions

• US 20170148217A1
• Filed: 07/19/2016
• Published: 05/25/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Poursohi, Arshan, Aden, Daniel, Amacker, Matthew, Barker, Charles Robert, Byrne, Paul Vincent, Du Bois, Paul, Klein, Greg Joseph, Tompkins, Steve Scott
• Granted Patent: US 10,347,047 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 10/235 based on user input or interaction
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/52 Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69

Abstract

Example implementations may relate to methods and systems for detecting an event in a physical region within a physical space. Accordingly, a computing system may receive from a subscriber device an indication of a virtual region within a virtual representation of the physical space such that the virtual region corresponds to the physical region. The system may also receive from the subscriber a trigger condition associated with the virtual region, where the trigger condition corresponds to a particular physical change in the physical region. The system may also receive sensor data from sensors in the physical space and a portion of the sensor data may be associated with the physical region. Based on the sensor data, the system may detect an event in the physical region that satisfies the trigger condition and may responsively provide to the subscriber a notification that indicates that the trigger condition has been satisfied.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing system from at least one subscriber device, an indication of at least one virtual region within a virtual representation of a physical space, wherein the at least one virtual region corresponds to at least one physical region within the physical space;

receiving, by the computing system from the at least one subscriber device, at least one trigger condition associated with the at least one virtual region, wherein the at least one trigger condition corresponds to at least one particular physical change in the at least one physical region;

receiving, by the computing system, sensor data from a plurality of sensors positioned in the physical space, wherein at least a portion of the sensor data is associated with the at least one physical region within the physical space;

based on the sensor data, the computing system detecting an event in the at least one physical region that satisfies the at least one trigger condition corresponding to the at least one particular physical change in the at least one physical region; and

in response to detecting the event, providing, by the computing system to the at least one subscriber device, a notification that indicates that the at least one trigger condition has been satisfied.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one virtual region corresponding to the at least one physical region within the physical space comprises the at least one virtual region corresponding to a three-dimensional (3D) sub-volume of the physical space.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the indication of the at least one virtual region comprises receiving characteristics of the at least one virtual region, and wherein the characteristics comprise one or more of:

(i) size of the at least one virtual region, (ii) shape of the at least one virtual region, (iii) relative location of the at least one virtual region within the virtual representation of the physical space, (iv) relative orientation of the at least one virtual region within the virtual representation of the physical space, and (v) a selection between the at least one virtual region being at least one static virtual region or at least one dynamic virtual region.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one physical region comprises at least one dynamic physical region that is associated with movement of at least one actor from at least a first point of the physical space to at least a second point of the physical space, and wherein the at least one virtual region comprises at least one dynamic virtual region that corresponds to the at least one dynamic physical region.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one dynamic physical region has (i) a first shape while the at least one actor is at the first point and (ii) a second shape while the at least one actor is at the second point, and wherein the at least one dynamic virtual region respectively takes on the first and second shapes while the at least one actor is at the first and second points.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first and second shapes respectively correspond to particular shapes of the at least one actor while the at least one actor is at the first and second points.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to receiving the indication of the at least one virtual region and the at least one trigger condition, determining at least one sensor interpretation rule for detecting the event in the at least one physical region that satisfies the at least one trigger condition, wherein detecting the event comprises detecting the event based at least in part on the at least one sensor interpretation rule.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the at least one sensor interpretation rule comprises determining the at least one sensor interpretation rule based at least in part on characteristics of one or more of the plurality of sensors positioned in the physical space.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the characteristics comprise one or more of:

(i) sensor types, (ii) sensor models, (iii) sensor locations, (iv) sensor orientations, (v) sensor association with the at least one physical region, and (vi) sensor association with the at least one subscriber device.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the at least one sensor interpretation rule comprises selecting one or more particular sensors, from among the plurality of sensors, to use in detecting the event.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein selecting one or more particular sensors comprises selecting at least (i) a first sensor configured to generate first sensor data and (ii) a second sensor configured to generate second sensor data, wherein determining the at least one sensor interpretation rule further comprises making a decision to use at least the first and second sensor data for detecting the event, and wherein detecting the event based at least in part on the at least one sensor interpretation rule comprises detecting the at least one particular physical change in the at least one physical region based on evaluation of at least the first and second sensor data.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein determining at least one sensor interpretation rule comprises determining the portion of the sensor data that is associated with the at least one physical region within the physical space, and wherein detecting the event based at least in part on the at least one sensor interpretation rule comprises detecting the at least one particular physical change in the at least one physical region based on evaluation of the portion of the sensor data.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one particular physical change comprises one or more of:

(i) entry of at least one actor into the at least one physical region,

(ii) exit of the at least one actor from the at least one physical region,

(iii) presence of the at least one actor in the at least one physical region, and

(iv) occupancy of the at least one physical region, wherein the occupancy corresponds to presence of at least a threshold number of actors in the at least one physical region.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one particular physical change comprises one or more of:

(i) a particular sound in the at least one physical region, and

(ii) a particular phrase in the at least one physical region.

15. A computing system comprising:

one or more processors;

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the one or more processors to;

receive, from at least one subscriber device, an indication of at least one virtual region within a virtual representation of a physical space, wherein the at least one virtual region corresponds to at least one physical region within the physical space;

receive, from the at least one subscriber device, at least one trigger condition associated with the at least one virtual region, wherein the at least one trigger condition corresponds to at least one particular physical change in the at least one physical region;

receive sensor data from a plurality of sensors positioned in the physical space, wherein at least a portion of the sensor data is associated with the at least one physical region within the physical space;

based on the sensor data, detect an event in the at least one physical region that satisfies the at least one trigger condition corresponding to the at least one particular physical change in the at least one physical region; and

in response to detecting the event, provide, to the at least one subscriber device, a notification that indicates that the at least one trigger condition has been satisfied.

16. The computing system of claim 15, wherein the at least one physical region comprises at least one dynamic physical region that is associated with movement of at least one actor from at least a first point of the physical space to at least a second point of the physical space, and wherein the at least one virtual region comprises at least one dynamic virtual region that corresponds to the at least one dynamic physical region.

17. The computing system of claim 16, wherein the at least one dynamic physical region has (i) a first shape while the at least one actor is at the first point and (ii) a second shape while the at least one actor is at the second point, wherein the at least one dynamic virtual region respectively takes on the first and second shapes while the at least one actor is at the first and second points, and wherein the first and second shapes respectively correspond to particular shapes of the at least one actor while the at least one actor is at the first and second points.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by one or more processors to cause a computing system to perform functions comprising:

receiving, from at least one subscriber device, an indication of at least one virtual region within a virtual representation of a physical space, wherein the at least one virtual region corresponds to at least one physical region within the physical space;

receiving, from the at least one subscriber device, at least one trigger condition associated with the at least one virtual region, wherein the at least one trigger condition corresponds to at least one particular physical change in the at least one physical region;

receiving sensor data from a plurality of sensors positioned in the physical space, wherein at least a portion of the sensor data is associated with the at least one physical region within the physical space;

based on the sensor data, detecting an event in the at least one physical region that satisfies the at least one trigger condition corresponding to the at least one particular physical change in the at least one physical region; and

in response to detecting the event, providing, to the at least one subscriber device, a notification that indicates that the at least one trigger condition has been satisfied.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 18, the functions further comprising:

in response to receiving the indication of the at least one virtual region and the at least one trigger condition, determining at least one sensor interpretation rule for detecting the event in the at least one physical region that satisfies the at least one trigger condition, wherein determining the at least one sensor interpretation rule comprises determining the at least one sensor interpretation rule based at least in part on characteristics of one or more of the plurality of sensors positioned in the physical space, and wherein detecting the event comprises detecting the event based at least in part on the at least one sensor interpretation rule.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19,

wherein determining the at least one sensor interpretation rule comprises (a) selecting at least (i) a first sensor configured to generate first sensor data and (ii) a second sensor configured to generate second sensor data and (b) making a decision to use at least the first and second sensor data for detecting the event, and

wherein detecting the event based at least in part on the at least one sensor interpretation rule comprises detecting the at least one particular physical change in the at least one physical region based on evaluation of at least the first and second sensor data.

21. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein determining at least one sensor interpretation rule comprises determining the portion of the sensor data that is associated with the at least one physical region within the physical space, and wherein detecting the event based at least in part on the at least one sensor interpretation rule comprises detecting the at least one particular physical change in the at least one physical region based on evaluation of the portion of the sensor data.