Patent ID: 9007463
Filing Date: 2015-04-14
Classification: G06K,G06T

Abstract:
1. Tangible, non-transitory computer readable storage having computer readable software embodied thereon for programming at least one processor to perform a method for tracking participants in a baseball game at a baseball park, the baseball park includes a playing field, the method performed comprises: defining first and second areas around a landmark on the playing field, the first and second areas each have a specified size and are positioned in specified way with respect to the landmark, and the second area is larger than the first area; defining a region of the baseball park, the region is outside the first and second areas; analyzing video frames obtained from one or more cameras, the video frames provide images of the participants in the baseball park; based on the analyzing: determining a merged track of at least first and second participants in the baseball park, the merged track indicates successive locations of the at least first and second participants in the baseball park during a merged time interval in which the first and second participants are merged in the video frames, determining one non-merged track of the first participant in the baseball park during one non-merged time interval adjacent to the merged time interval in which the first and second participants are not merged in the video frames, and determining one non-merged track of the second participant in the baseball park during the one non-merged time interval; determining that the first participant remains within the first area during the one non-merged time interval based on the one non-merged track of the first participant; determining that the second participant performs a movement during the one non-merged time based on the one non-merged track of the second participant, the movement is at least one of: from the region to the second area or from the second area to the region; identifying a role of the first participant from among a plurality of roles in the baseball game, the identifying the role of the first participant comprises determining that the first participant is associated with the landmark, the determining that the first participant is associated with the landmark is based on the determining that the first participant remains within the first area during the one non-merged time interval; identifying a role of the second participant from among the plurality of roles, the identifying the role of the second participant comprises determining that the second participant is associated with the region, the determining that the second participant is associated with the region is based on the determining that the second participant performs the movement during the one non-merged time interval; and responsive to the identifying the role of the first participant and the identifying the role of the second participant, updating a digital record of the baseball game to associate the first participant with the merged track and the one non-merged track of the first participant, and to indicate that the first participant was merged with the second participant in the merged track.