Apparatus, method and computer program for monitoring positions of objects

• US 9,761,108 B2
• Filed: 12/02/2015
• Issued: 09/12/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Beaurepaire, Jerome
• Primary Examiner(s): Flores, Leon
• Application Number:
  US14/956,740
• Publication Number:
  US 20160189516A1
• Time in Patent Office: 650 Days
• Field of Search: 34053913
• CPC Class Codes: A45C 13/18 Devices to prevent theft or loss of purses, luggage or hand carried bags
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0233 System arrangements with pre-alarms, e.g. when a first distance is exceeded
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0263 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect the direction in which child or item is located
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0275 Electronic Article Surveillance [EAS] tag technology used for parent or child unit, e.g. same transmission technology, magnetic tag, RF tag, RFID
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0277 Communication between units on a local network, e.g. Bluetooth, piconet, zigbee, Wireless Personal Area Networks [WPAN]
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0294 Display details on parent unit
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/24 Reminder alarms, e.g. anti-loss alarms
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 5/22 using electric transmission; using electromagnetic transmission

Abstract

An apparatus, method and computer program, the apparatus comprising: processing circuitry; and memory circuitry including computer program code; the memory circuitry and the computer program code configured to, with the processing circuitry, cause the apparatus to, at least in part: obtain information relating to a position of an object relative to a user; determine a field of vision of the user; determine whether or not the object is in the field of vision of the user; and if it is determined that the object is not in the field of vision of the user enable an alert to be provided.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform:

obtain information relating to a position of an object relative to a user;

determine a field of vision of the user, wherein determination of the field of vision of the user comprises using three dimensional model information stored in memory circuitry and relating to a location, height and shape of one or more items to determine whether the one or more items will obstruct the field of vision of the user;

determine whether or not the object is in the field of vision of the user; and

based on the determination that the object is not in the field of vision of the user, enable a visual, audio or haptic alert to be provided.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising causing the apparatus to monitor a trajectory of the object relative to the user and provide a warning alert if it is determined that the object is predicted to go out of the field of vision of the user.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising causing the apparatus to associate the object with a further object and predict movement of the object based on the movement of the further object.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein determination of the field of vision of the user comprises determination of at least one of:

a direction the user is looking, a direction the user is travelling, a location of a user, or items positioned between the user and the object.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the alert is provided to the user and/or the object.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising causing the apparatus to enable communication between a plurality of user devices and determine the field of vision of the plurality of users associated with the devices and enable an alert to be provided if the object moves out of the field of vision of the plurality of users.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising providing information regarding a temporary object in order to update the three dimensional model information, wherein the temporary object is temporarily located at a respective position.

8. A method comprising:

obtaining information relating to a position of an object relative to a user;

determining, with at least one processor, a field of vision of the user, wherein determining the field of vision of the user comprises using three dimensional model information stored in memory circuitry and relating to a location, height and shape of one or more items to determine whether the one or more items will obstruct the field of vision of the user;

determining whether or not the object is in the field of vision of the user; and

based on the determination that the object is not in the field of vision of the user enabling a visual, audio or haptic alert to be provided.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising monitoring a trajectory of the object relative to the user and provide a warning alert if it is determined that the object is predicted to go out of the field of vision of the user.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising associating the object with a further object and predicting movement of the object based on the movement of the further object.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein determining the field of vision of the user comprises determining at least one of:

a direction the user is looking, a direction the user is travelling, or a location of a user.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the alert is provided to the user and/or the object.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising enabling communication between a plurality of user devices and determining the field of vision of the plurality of users associated with the devices and enabling an alert to be provided if the object moves out of the field of vision of the plurality of users.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising providing information regarding a temporary object in order to update the three dimensional model information, wherein the temporary object is temporarily located at a respective position.

15. A computer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising:

program code instructions for obtaining information relating to a position of an object relative to a user;

program code instructions for determining a field of vision of the user, wherein determination of the field of vision of the user comprises using three dimensional model information stored in memory circuitry and relating to a location, height and shape of one or more items to determine whether the one or more items will obstruct the field of vision of the user;

program code instructions for determining whether or not said object is in the field of vision of said user; and

program code instructions for enabling, based on a determination that said object is not in the field of vision of said user, a visual, audio or haptic alert to be provided.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising program code instructions for monitoring a trajectory of the object relative to the user and provide a warning alert if it is determined that the object is predicted to go out of the field of vision of the user.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, further comprising program code instructions for associating the object with a further object and predicting movement of the object based on the movement of the further object.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein determining the field of vision of the user comprises determining at least one of:

a direction the user is looking, a direction the user is travelling, or a location of a user.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the alert is provided to the user and/or the object.

20. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising program code instructions for enabling communication between a plurality of user devices and determining the field of vision of the plurality of users associated with the devices and enabling an alert to be provided if the object moves out of the field of vision of the plurality of users.

21. The computer program product of claim 15, providing information regarding a temporary object in order to update the three dimensional model information, wherein the temporary object is temporarily located at a respective position.