Information management apparatus, information management method, and non-transitory recording medium

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11676286-B2
Application number	US-202117166731-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 3, 2021
Priority date	Feb 7, 2020
Publication date	Jun 13, 2023
Grant date	Jun 13, 2023

Abstract

An information management apparatus includes at least one processor configured to execute a program stored in a storage. The at least one processor acquires sequentially captured frames. The at least one processor acquires a movement state of a position of a light source in an imaging area, based on light source images contained in the acquired frames. The light source transmits information by means of light including an illumination pattern of the light. The at least one processor causes the storage to store the information and the movement state in association with each other.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An information management apparatus comprising:
at least one processor configured to execute a program stored in a storage, wherein
the at least one processor
acquires sequentially captured frames of a plurality of light sources,
acquires movement states of positions of the plurality of light sources in an imaging area based on light source images of the plurality of light sources contained in the acquired frames, the plurality of light sources transmitting information including illumination patterns indicating respective IDs of the plurality of light sources, and
determines a kind of an operation based on movement states of positions of the plurality of light sources transmitting information including illumination patterns of the light indicating the respective IDs of the plurality of light sources.

2. The information management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
the at least one processor
specifies a start frame at start of a displacement of the light source from the acquired frames, and
causes the storage to store the start frame for the movement state.

3. The information management apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein in a case in which the at least one processor acquires the movement state, the at least one processor acquires information including a variation in at least one of a length and an angle of a movement vector of at least one of the plurality of light sources.

4. The information management apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein
the at least one processor
determines (i) whether variations in lengths of movement vectors of at least part of the plurality of light sources are equal to or more than a first predetermined threshold, (ii) whether the lengths of movement vectors of at least part of the plurality of light sources are less than a second threshold that is less than the first threshold in a case in which the lengths of movement vectors of at least part of the plurality of light sources are determined not to be more than the first predetermined threshold, and (iii) whether a number of movement vectors of at least part of the plurality of light sources that are determined to be less than the first predetermined threshold and more than the second threshold is more than a preset value; and

determines the kind of the operation based on movement vectors of at least part of the plurality of light sources, wherein the number of movement vectors of at least part of the plurality of light sources is more than the preset value.

5. The information management apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein
the storage stores a reference information table serving as reference information for the information on movement of the plurality of light sources, and
in a case in which the information on movement of the plurality of light sources is acquired, the at least one processor determines whether the information on movement of the plurality of light sources matches the information in the reference information table.

6. The information management apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein in a case in which the at least one processor determines that the information on the movements of the plurality of light sources does not match the information in the reference information table, the at least one processor causes a display to display an alert screen.

7. The information management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the information transmitted from the plurality of light sources includes status information on objects of an operator equipped with respective ones of the plurality of light sources.

8. The information management apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein
the at least one processor detects behaviors of the object, and
the status information includes information on the detected behaviors of the object.

9. The information management apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein
the information stored in the storage is information indicating an operation process executed by the operator.

10. The information management apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein
the object is a moving body for carrying a load, and
the status information includes information on existence of the load on the moving body or information on a type of the load.

11. The information management apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor generates moving image data including the acquired frames.

12. An information management method executed by an information management apparatus comprises:
acquiring frames of a plurality of light sources sequentially captured by an imager;
acquiring movement states of positions of the plurality of light sources in an imaging area based on light source images of the plurality of light sources contained in the acquired frames, the plurality of light sources transmitting information including illumination patterns indicating respective IDs of the plurality of light sources; and
determining a kind of an operation based on movement states of positions of the plurality of light sources transmitting information including illumination patterns of the light indicating the respective IDs of the plurality of light sources.

13. The information management method according to claim 12 , the method further comprising:
specifying a start frame at start of a displacement of the light source from the acquired frames, and,
causing the storage to store the start frame for the movement state.

14. The information management method according to claim 13 , wherein in a case in which the at least one processor acquires the movement state, the at least one processor acquires information including a variation in at least one of a length and an angle of a movement vector of at least one of the plurality of light sources.

15. The information management method according to claim 14 , further comprising:
determining (i) whether variations in lengths of movement vectors of at least part of the plurality of light sources are equal to or more than a first predetermined threshold, (ii) whether the lengths of movement vectors of at least part of the plurality of light sources are less than a second threshold that is less than the first threshold in a case in which the lengths of movement vectors of at least part of the plurality of light sources are determined not to be more than the first predetermined threshold, and (iii) whether a number of movement vectors of at least part of the plurality of light sources that are determined to be less than the first predetermined threshold and more than the second threshold is more than a preset value; and
determining the kind of the operation based on movement vectors of at least part of the plurality of light sources, wherein the number of movement vectors of at least part of the plurality of light sources is more than the preset value.

16. The information management method according to claim 12 , wherein the information transmitted from the plurality of light sources includes status information on objects of an operator equipped with respective ones of the plurality of light sources.

17. The information management method according to claim 16 , the method further comprising:
detecting behaviors of the object, wherein
the status information includes information on the detected behaviors of the object.

18. The information management method according to claim 16 , wherein
the information stored in the storage is information indicating an operation process executed by the operator.

19. The information management method accordi

Assignees

• Casio Computer Co Ltd

Inventors

• Iizuka Nobuo

Classifications

• G06T2207/30204

  Marker · CPC title

• G06V20/52

  Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects (recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69) · CPC title

• G06V10/255

  Detecting or recognising potential candidate objects based on visual cues, e.g. shapes · CPC title

• G06T2207/10016

  Video; Image sequence · CPC title

• G06V40/28

  Recognition of hand or arm movements, e.g. recognition of deaf sign language (static hand signs G06V40/113) · CPC title