Patent ID: 7421092
Filing Date: 2008-09-02
Classification: G06K

Abstract:
1. A situation recognition apparatus that recognizes a current situation by using optical information, the apparatus comprising: an optical information acquisition unit configured to acquire first optical information and second optical information about an external environment; a storage configured to store the first optical information in an image archive comprising optical information about the external environment; a processing unit configured to determine whether the second optical information is a redundant copy of the first optical information based on either a dissimilarity or a time interval between the first optical information and the second optical information, wherein the second optical information is stored in the image archive if the dissimilarity or the time interval surpasses a threshold; the storage being configured to store a probabilistic model, constructed from optical information in the image archive, that numerically represents transitions between optical information in the image archive; wherein the processing unit includes; an output unit configured to output a result of the matching.