Recognition of live object in motion

• US 7,685,433 B2
• Filed: 09/09/2005
• Issued: 03/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Valtion Teknillinen Tutkimuskeskus
• Original Assignee: Valtion Teknillinen Tutkimuskeskus
• Inventors: Lindholm, Mikko, Ailisto, Heikki, Mäntyjärvi, Jani
• Primary Examiner(s): Chai; Longbit
• Application Number:
  US11/222,113
• Publication Number:
  US 20060080551A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,656 Days
• Field of Search: 713/186
• US Class Current: 713/186
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0002 Remote monitoring of patients using telemetry, e.g. transmission of vital signals via a communication network A61B5/07 takes precedence; transmission systems for measured values G08C; transmission H04B; transmission of digital information H04L; wireless communication networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1038 Measuring plantar pressure during gait
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/681 Wristwatch-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6829 Foot or ankle
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6831 Straps, bands or harnesses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2218/00 Aspects of pattern recognition specially adapted for signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/20 Movements or behaviour, e.g. gesture recognition recognition of facial expressions G06V40/16
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence

Abstract

Movement of a living object is measured by a movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming one measurement signal per one living object. The measurement signal is compared with a predetermined reference signal which may be measured from a known living object in a similar way. A recognition operation is performed based on the comparison between the measurement signal and the predetermined reference signal, the recognition operation resulting in recognition or non-recognition.

Claims

1. A method of identifying a carrier of a portable device, the method comprising:

identifying a carrier of a device by analyzing using a computer a measurement signal provided by an acceleration sensor of the device carried by the carrier, identification and signal analysis between the measurement signal from the acceleration sensor and a reference signal being based on at least one of the following;

cross correlation, Fourier coefficients, structural pattern recognition; and

the identification and the signal analysis comprising comparing the measurement signal from the acceleration sensor with a plurality of reference signals, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison and the plurality of reference signals and the measurement signal being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison.

2. The method of claim 1, the method being based on an analysis of a gait code of the carrier formed by at least one acceleration sensor, the analysis being carried out in the portable device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification and the signal analysis between the signal from the acceleration sensor and the reference signals being further based on amplitude histogram features.

4. A method of forming signals for recognizing a living object which is moving, the method comprising:

measuring movement of at least one predetermined living object by at least one movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming a plurality of reference signals per one living object;

measuring movement of at least one living object by the at least one movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming at least one measurement signal per one living object;

comparing said at least one measurement signal with said plurality of reference signals, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for comparison; and

shifting the plurality of reference signals and the at least one measurement signal with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison.

5. The method of claim 4, the method further comprising:

dividing, when measuring a reference signal, a signal received from the movement sensor into partial signals each relating to different movements, forming an averaged signal of each movement, concatenating the averaged signals in the reference signal, and normalizing the reference signal; and

dividing, when measuring a measurement signal, a signal received from the movement sensor into partial signals each relating to different movements, forming an averaged signal of each movement, concatenating the averaged signals in the measurement signal, and normalizing the measurement signal.

6. The method of claim 4, the method further comprising performing the measurement of movement of each living object in at least two dimensions for including two-dimensional information in the measurement.

7. The method of claim 4, the method further comprising performing the measurement of movement as a measurement of acceleration as a function of time.

8. The method of claim 4, the method further comprising storing the plurality of reference signals in a portable device carried by the living object.

9. The method of claim 4, the method further comprising storing the plurality of reference signals in a remote device not carried by the living object.

10. A method of performing a recognition operation relating to a living object which is moving, the method comprising:

measuring movement of at least one living object by a movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming at least one measurement signal per one living object;

comparing the at least one measurement signal with a plurality of predetermined reference signals using a computer, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison;

shifting the plurality of reference signals and the at least one measurement signal with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison; and

performing a recognition operation based on the comparison between the at least one measurement signal and the plurality of predetermined reference signals, the recognition operation resulting in recognition or non-recognition.

11. The method of claim 10, the method further comprising recognising the living object in the recognition operation as one of the following:

a desired living object, an undesired living object, a non-recognised living object.

12. The method of claim 10, the method further comprising dividing a signal received from the movement sensor into partial signals each relating to different movements, forming an averaged signal of each movement, concatenating the averaged signals in the measurement signal, and normalizing the measurement signal.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining a living object having at least one measurement signal that provides a largest similarity with the plurality of reference signals of a desired living object as a desired living object.

14. The method of claim 13, the method further comprising performing the determination if the similarity is greater than a predetermined threshold.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising determining a living object having at least one measurement signal that provides a largest similarity with the plurality of reference signals of an undesired living object as an undesired living object.

16. A method of controlling use of a device relating to a living object which is moving, the method comprising:

measuring movement of at least one user by a movement sensor carried by one user at a time for forming at least one movement signal per living object;

comparing the at least one movement signal with a plurality of predetermined reference signals using a computer, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison;

shifting the plurality of reference signals and the at least one movement signal with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison;

performing a recognition operation based on the comparison between the at least one movement signal and the at plurality of predetermined reference signals, the recognition operation resulting in recognition or non-recognition of the living object; and

controlling the use of the device by the living object based on the result of the recognition operation.

17. The method of claim 16, the method further comprising restricting the use of the device in relation to the movement sensor if the recognition operation results in non-recognition or in recognition of an undesired living object, the device being a portable device or a remote device separate from the portable device.

18. The method of claim 17, the method further comprising shifting the plurality of reference signals and the measurement signal with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising determining a living object having at least one measurement signal that provides a largest similarity with the plurality of reference signals of a desired living object as a desired living object.

20. The method of claim 19, the method further comprising performing the determination if the similarity is greater than a predetermined threshold.

21. The method of claim 17, further comprising determining a living object having at least one measurement signal that provides a largest similarity with the plurality of reference signals of an undesired living object as an undesired living object.

22. The method of claim 16, the method further comprising dividing a signal received from the movement sensor into partial signals each relating to different movements, forming an averaged signal of each movement, concatenating the averaged signals in the measurement signal, and normalizing the measurement signal.

23. A portable device carried by a carrier, the device comprising:

an acceleration sensor providing an acceleration signal of the carrier;

a recognizer configured to identify the carrier of the device by comparing a difference between a measurement signal provided by the acceleration sensor and a plurality of reference signals, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison, and the plurality of reference signals and the measurement signal being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison, identification and analysis of the signal being based on at least one of the following;

cross correlation, Fourier coefficients, structural pattern recognition.

24. The portable device of claim 23, wherein the recognizer is configured to identify the carrier on the basis of an analysis of a gait code of the carrier formed by at least one acceleration sensor, the analysis being carried out in the recognizer.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the identification and the signal analysis between the signal from the acceleration sensor and the reference signals being further based on amplitude histogram features.

26. A portable device carried by a moving carrier, the device comprising:

a movement sensor configured to measure movement of each predetermined living object of at least one living object by the movement sensor carried by the one living object at a time for forming a plurality of reference signals per one living object;

said movement sensor being configured to measure movement of each living object of at least one living object by the movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming at least one measurement signal per one living object, said device being configured to compare said at least one measurement signal with said plurality of reference signals, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for comparison, and the plurality of reference signals and the at least one measurement signal being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison; and

memory for storing the plurality of reference signals.

27. The portable device of claim 26, wherein the portable device includes a filter configured to divide, during measurement of a reference signal, a signal received from the movement sensor into partial signals each relating to different movements, to form an averaged signal of each movement, and to concatenate the averaged signals in a reference signal;

the filter is configured to divide, during measurement of a measurement signal, a signal received from the movement sensor into partial signals each relating to different movements, to form an averaged signal of each movement, and to concatenate the averaged signals in a measurement signal; and

the filter is configured to normalize the reference signal and the measurement signal.

28. The portable device of claim 27, wherein the filter is configured to shift consecutive reference signals of the plurality of reference signals with respect to each other by said predetermined offset for comparison.

29. The portable device of claim 26, wherein the movement sensor is configured to measure movement of each living object in at least two-dimensions for including two dimensional information per one living object in the measurement.

30. The portable device of claim 26, wherein the movement sensor is configured to measure acceleration as a function of time.

31. The portable device of claim 26, wherein the portable device includes a recogniser and a controller;

the recogniser is configured to perform a recognition operation based on the comparison between the at least one movement signal and the at least one predetermined reference signal, the recognition operation resulting in recognition or non-recognition of the user; and

the controller configured to control the use of the device based on the result of the recognition operation.

32. The portable device of claim 31, wherein the recogniser is configured to determine a living object having at least one measurement signal that provides a largest similarity with the plurality of reference signals of a desired living object as a desired living object.

33. The portable device of claim 32, wherein the recogniser is configured to perform the determination if the similarity is greater than a predetermined threshold.

34. The portable device of claim 31, wherein the recogniser is configured to determine a living object having at least one measurement signal that provides a largest similarity with the plurality of reference signals of an undesired living object as an undesired living object.

35. The portable device of claim 31, wherein the controller is configured to restrict the use of the portable device in relation to the movement sensor, if the recognition operation results in non-recognition or in recognition of an undesired user.

36. A system including a portable device carried by a moving carrier, the device comprising:

at least one movement sensor configured to measure movement of each predetermined living object of at least one living object by a movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming a plurality of reference signals per one living object; and

configured to measure movement of each living object of at least one living object by a movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming at least one measurement signal per one living object, said device being configured to compare said at least one measurement signal with said plurality of reference signals, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for comparison, and the plurality of reference signals and the at least one measurement signal being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein the system includes a memory configured to store at least one reference signal, the memory being situated in a separate device not carried by the living object.

38. The system of claim 36, wherein the system includes a filter external to the portable device configured to divide a reference signal received from the movement sensor into partial signals each relating to different movements, to form an averaged signal of each movement, and to concatenate the averaged partial signals into a reference signal;

and

the filter external to the portable device configured to divide a measurement signal received from the movement sensor into partial signals each relating to different movements, to form an averaged signal of each movement, and to concatenate the averaged partial signals into a measurement signal.

39. The system of claim 36, wherein the system includes a recogniser and a controller;

the recogniser being configured to perform a recognition operation based on the comparison between the at least one measurement signal and the plurality of predetermined reference signals, the recognition operation resulting in recognition or non-recognition of the user; and

the controller being configured to control the use of at least one device included in the system based on the result of the recognition operation.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the recogniser is configured to determine a living object having at least one measurement signal that provides a largest similarity with the plurality of reference signals of a desired living object as a desired living object.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein the recogniser is configured to perform the determination if the similarity is greater than a predetermined threshold.

42. The system of claim 39, wherein the recogniser is configured to determine the living object having at least one measurement signal that provides a largest similarity with the plurality of reference signals of an undesired living object as an undesired living object.

43. The system of claim 36, wherein the controller is configured to restrict the use of the portable device including a movement sensor if the recognition operation results in non-recognition or recognition of an undesired carrier.

44. The system of claim 36, wherein the controller is configured to restrict the use of the remote device separate from the portable device, if the recognition operation results in recognition of an undesired carrier or non-recognition of the carrier.

45. A computer readable storage medium readable by a computer encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for forming signals for recognizing a living object which is moving, the process comprising:

measuring movement of at least one predetermined living object by at least one movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming a plurality of reference signals per one living object;

measuring movement of at least one living object by the at least one movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming at least one measurement signal per one living object;

comparing said at least one measurement signal with said plurality of reference signals, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for comparison, and

shifting the plurality of reference signals and the at least one measurement signal with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison.

46. A computer readable storage medium readable by a computer encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for performing a recognition operation relating to a living object which is moving, the process comprising:

measuring movement of at least one living object by a movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming at least one movement signal per one living object;

comparing the at least one movement signal with a plurality of predetermined reference signals, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for comparison;

shifting the plurality of reference signals and the at least one movement signal with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison; and

performing a recognition operation based on the comparison between the at least one movement signal and the plurality of predetermined reference signals, the recognition operation resulting in recognition or non-recognition.

47. A computer readable storage medium readable by a computer encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for controlling the use of a device relating a living object which is moving, the process comprising:

measuring movement of at least one user by a movement sensor carried by one user at a time for forming at least one movement signal per one user;

comparing the at least one movement signal with a plurality of predetermined reference signals, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for comparison;

shifting the plurality of reference signals and the at least one movement signal with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison

performing a recognition operation based on the comparison between the at least one movement signal and the plurality of predetermined reference signals, the recognition operation resulting in recognition or non-recognition of the user; and

controlling the use of the device based on the result of the recognition operation.

48. A computer readable storage medium readable by a computer and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for forming signals for recognizing a living object which is moving, the process comprising:

measuring movement of at least one predetermined living object by at least one movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming at least one reference signal per one living object;

measuring movement of at least one living object by the at least one movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming at least one measurement signal per one living object;

comparing said at least one measurement signal with said plurality of reference signals, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for comparison; and

shifting the plurality of reference signals and the at least one measurement signal with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison.

49. The computer readable storage medium of claim 48, including at least one of the following mediums:

a computer readable medium, a program storage medium, a record medium, a computer readable memory, a computer readable software distribution package, a computer readable signal, a computer readable telecommunications signal, and a computer readable compressed software package.

50. A computer readable storage medium readable by a computer and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for performing a recognition operation relating to a living object which is moving, the process comprising:

measuring movement of at least one living object by a movement sensor carried by one living object at a time for forming at least one movement signal per one living object;

comparing the at least one movement signal with a plurality of predetermined reference signals, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for comparison;

shifting the plurality of reference signals and the at least one movement signal with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison; and

performing a recognition operation based on the comparison between the at least one movement signal and the plurality of predetermined reference signals, the recognition operation resulting in recognition or non-recognition.

51. A computer readable storage medium readable by a computer and encoding a computer program of instructions for executing a computer process for controlling the use of a device carried by a moving user, the process comprising:

measuring movement of at least one user by a movement sensor carried by one user at a time for forming at least one movement signal per one user;

comparing the at least one movement signal with a plurality of predetermined reference signals, consecutive reference signals being shifted with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for comparison;

shifting the plurality of reference signals and the at least one movement signal with respect to each other by a predetermined offset for the comparison;

performing a recognition operation based on the comparison between the at least one movement signal and the plurality of predetermined reference signals, the recognition operation resulting in recognition or non-recognition of the user; and

controlling the use of the device based on the result of the recognition operation.