Method and apparatus for identifying a driver based on sensor information

• US 9,428,054 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2014
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Tuukkanen, Marko Tapio
• Primary Examiner(s): Lieu, Julie
• Application Number:
  US14/245,842
• Publication Number:
  US 20150283902A1
• Time in Patent Office: 879 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/006 Mixed reality object pose determination, tracking or camera calibration for mixed reality G06T7/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/20 in augmented reality scenes
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/593 Recognising seat occupancy
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/597 Recognising the driver's state or behaviour, e.g. attention or drowsiness

Abstract

An approach is provided for causing, at least in part, a collection of sensor data from at least one virtual or augmented reality device associated with at least one user. The approach involves processing and/or facilitating a processing of the sensor data to cause, at least in part, a classification of the at least one user as a driver of at least one vehicle. The approach also involves causing, at least in part, an optimization of content information presented via the at least one virtual or augmented reality device based, at least in part, on the classification.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

causing, at least in part, a collection of sensor data from at least one virtual or augmented reality device associated with at least one user, wherein the sensor data includes, at least in part, image data captured via one or more camera sensors of the at least one virtual or augmented reality device;

processing and/or facilitating a processing of the sensor data to cause, at least in part, a classification of the at least one user as a driver of at least one vehicle;

causing, at least in part, an optimization of content information presented via the at least one virtual or augmented reality device based, at least in part, on the classification;

processing and/or facilitating a processing of the image data to identify a relative position of at least one user in the at least one vehicle; and

causing, at least in part, a comparison of the relative position to at least one reference position to determine the classification of the at least one user as the driver of the at least one vehicle.

2. A method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing and/or facilitating a processing of the image data to identify one or more visible objects; and

causing, at least in part, a calculation of the relative position information based, at least in part, on position information associated with the one or more visible objects.

3. A method of claim 2, wherein the one or more visible objects include, at least in part, a windshield, a windshield frame, a steering wheel, a driving lane marker, a mirror, a car frame, a user hand, or a combination thereof.

4. A method of claim 1, wherein the relative position includes, at least in part, one or more driver positions, one or more passenger positions, or a combination thereof.

5. A method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing and/or facilitating a processing of location information associated with the at least one vehicle to determine a region, a country, or a combination thereof associated with the at least one vehicle; and

causing, at least in part, a selection of the at least one reference driver position based, at least in part, on the region, the country, or a combination thereof.

6. A method of claim 5, further comprising:

causing, at least in part, an identification of the at least one vehicle as a left-side drive vehicle or a right-side drive vehicle,

wherein the selection of the at least one reference driver position is further based, at least in part, on the identification.

7. A method of claim 1, wherein the sensor data includes, at least in part, movement data, the method further comprising:

processing and/or facilitating a processing of the movement data to identify one or more movement patterns; and

causing, at least in part, a comparison of the one or more movement patterns to at least one reference movement associated with the classification of the at least one user as the driver of the at least one vehicle.

8. A method of claim 7, further comprising:

processing and/or facilitating a processing of the one or more movement patterns to cause, at least in part, a detection of user head movement information; and

causing, at least in part, an identification of one or more missing objects from a field of field associated with the at least one virtual or augmented reality device based, at least in part, on the detection of the user head movement information,

wherein the classification of the at least one user as the driver of the at least one vehicle is further based, at least in part, on the user head movement information and the one or more missing objects.

9. A method of claim 1, wherein the optimization of the content information comprises at least one of:

causing, at least in part, a reduction or a limiting of the content information; and

causing, at least in part, an activation of at least one policy to cause, the reduction or the limiting of the content information.

10. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs,

the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following;

cause, at least in part, a collection of sensor data from at least one virtual or augmented reality device associated with at least one user, wherein the sensor data includes, at least in part, image data captured via one or more camera sensors of the at least one virtual or augmented reality device;

process and/or facilitate a processing of the sensor data to cause, at least in part, a classification of the at least one user as a driver of at least one vehicle;

cause, at least in part, an optimization of content information presented via the at least one virtual or augmented reality device based, at least in part, on the classification;

process and/or facilitate a processing of the image data to identify a relative position of at least one user in the at least one vehicle; and

cause, at least in part, a comparison of the relative position to at least one reference position to determine the classification of the at least one user as the driver of the at least one vehicle.

11. An apparatus of claim 10, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

process and/or facilitate a processing of the image data to identify one or more visible objects; and

cause, at least in part, a calculation of the relative position information based, at least in part, on position information associated with the one or more visible objects.

12. An apparatus of claim 10, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

process and/or facilitate a processing of location information associated with the at least one vehicle to determine a region, a country, or a combination thereof associated with the at least one vehicle; and

cause, at least in part, a selection of the at least one reference driver position based, at least in part, on the region, the country, or a combination thereof.

13. An apparatus of claim 12, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

cause, at least in part, an identification of the at least one vehicle as a left-side drive vehicle or a right-side drive vehicle,

wherein the selection of the at least one reference driver position is further based, at least in part, on the identification.

14. An apparatus of claim 10, wherein the sensor data includes, at least in part, movement data, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

process and/or facilitate a processing of the movement data to identify one or more movement patterns; and

cause, at least in part, a comparison of the one or more movement patterns to at least one reference movement associated with the classification of the at least one user as the driver of the at least one vehicle.

15. An apparatus of claim 14, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

process and/or facilitate a processing of the one or more movement patterns to cause, at least in part, a detection of user head movement information; and

causing, at least in part, an identification of one or more missing objects from a field of field associated with the at least one virtual or augmented reality device based, at least in part, on the detection of the user head movement information,

wherein the classification of the at least one user as the driver of the at least one vehicle is further based, at least in part, on the user head movement information and the one or more missing objects.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause an apparatus to at least perform the following steps:

cause, at least in part, a collection of sensor data from at least one virtual or augmented reality device associated with at least one user, wherein the sensor data includes, at least in part, image data captured via one or more camera sensors of the at least one virtual or augmented reality device;

process and/or facilitate a processing of the sensor data to cause, at least m part, a classification of the at least one user as a driver of at least one vehicle;

cause, at least in part, an optimization of content information presented via the at least one virtual or augmented reality device based, at least in part, on the classification;

process and/or facilitate a processing of the image data to identify a relative position of at least one user in the at least one vehicle; and

cause, at least in part, a comparison of the relative position to at least one reference position to determine the classification of the at least one user as the driver of the at least one vehicle.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the apparatus is further caused to:

process and/or facilitate a processing of the image data to identify one or more visible objects; and

cause, at least in part, a calculation of the relative position information based, at least in part, on position information associated with the one or more visible objects.