# US 11,992,930 B2 · Information processing apparatus and information processing method, and robot apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,992,930 B2 - Document ID: US11992930B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/979,179 - Filed: 2019-01-07 - Published: 2020-12-31 - Granted: 2024-05-28 - Earliest claimed: 2018-03-20 - Assignees: Sony Corporation - Applicants: Sony Corporation - Inventors: Hiroaki Ogawa; Noriko Totsuka - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11992930B2 ## CPC - B25J 11/0005: {Manipulators having means for high-level communication with users, e.g. speech generator, face recognition means} - G06N 3/008: based on physical entities controlled by simulated intelligence so as to replicate intelligent life forms, e.g. based on robots replicating pets or humans in their appearance or behaviour - B25J 13/00: Controls for manipulators (program controls B25J9/16) - G06N 3/00: Computing arrangements based on biological models - G06N 5/04: Inference or reasoning models - G06N 20/00: Machine learning - G06T 7/00: Image analysis - G06V 40/172: {Classification, e.g. identification} - G10L 15/06: Creation of reference templates; Training of speech recognition systems, e.g. adaptation to the characteristics of the speaker's voice (G10L15/14 takes precedence) - G10L 15/187: Phonemic context, e.g. pronunciation rules, phonotactical constraints or phoneme n-grams - G10L 15/22: Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue - G10L 17/00: Speaker identification or verification techniques - G10L 17/04: Training, enrolment or model building - G10L 17/06: Decision making techniques; Pattern matching strategies - B25J: MANIPULATORS; CHAMBERS PROVIDED WITH MANIPULATION DEVICES ({manipulators specially adapted for use in surgery A61B34/70; manipulators used in cleaning hollow articles B08B9/04}; manipulators associated with rolling mills B21B39/20; manipulators associated with forging machines B21J13/10; {manipulators associated with picking-up and placing mechanisms B23P19/007}; means for holding wheels or parts thereof B60B30/00; {vehicles with ground-engaging propulsion means, e.g. walking members B62D57/02, B62D57/032; devices for picking-up and depositing articles or materials between conveyors B65G47/90, B65G47/91; manipulators with gripping or holding means for transferring packages B65H67/065}; cranes B66C; {manipulators used in the protection or supervision of pipe-line installations F17D5/00; walking equipment adapted for nuclear steam-generators F22B37/006}; manipulators specially adapted for, or associated with, nuclear reactors G21C; {apparatus used for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor H10P72/50}) - G06N: COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS - G06T: IMAGE DATA PROCESSING OR GENERATION, IN GENERAL - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING ## Abstract An information processing apparatus and an information processing method, and a robot apparatus that process information to be used for user identification and the like are provided. An information processing apparatus for performing processing related to a first device configured to autonomously behave to a user identified by an identification device, includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire a state of the identification device, and a decision unit configured to decide a behavior of the first device on the basis of the state. The decision unit decides a behavior of the first device for collecting voice data from a user whose voice data is insufficient, and decides a behavior of the first device for collecting face image data from a user whose face image data is insufficient, from the user. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An information processing apparatus for performing processing related to a device configured to autonomously behave to an object identified by an identifier, the information processing apparatus comprising: circuitry configured to: acquire a state of the identifier; decide a behavior of the device on a basis of the state; determine a decline in identification performance for the identifier identifying a user; and decide a behavior of the device for identifying a cause for a decline in identification performance, and control the identifier to handle data newly acquired from the user along with a decline in the identification performance, wherein, in a case where the circuitry identifies that the cause is attributed to a temporary change of the user, the circuitry controls the identifier to use newly-acquired data only temporarily. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry acquires identification performance of the identifier for an object, and the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for resolving a cause for which the identification performance is low. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry acquires a state of data to be used by the identifier for identification of an object, and the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for acquiring data from an object of which data for identification is insufficient. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the identifier includes a speaker identifier configured to identify a speaker from voice data of a user, and the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for collecting voice data from a user whose voice data is insufficient. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the circuitry acquires whether voice data for user identification is sufficient or insufficient for each phonological voice or each phoneme, and the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for collecting voice data including a lacking phonological voice or phoneme, from a user. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the circuitry acquires a state of an identifier configured to identify a user on a basis of biological information, and the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for acquiring biological information from a user whose biological information is insufficient. ### Claim 7 (depends on 4) The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the circuitry generates a question sentence to the user for identifying a cause for a decline in the identification performance, and identifies a cause by analyzing a response from the user. ### Claim 8 (depends on 4) The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein, in a case where the circuitry identifies that the cause is attributed to a lasting or continuing change of the user, the circuitry instructs the identifier to replace with newly-acquired data. ### Claim 9 (depends on 3) The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the identifier includes a face identifier configured to identify a face image of a user, and the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for collecting face image data of a user whose face image data is insufficient. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The information processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the circuitry acquires whether face data for user identification is sufficient or insufficient for each face orientation, and the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for collecting a face image in a lacking face orientation. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The information processing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein, in a case where an amount of data to be used by the identifier for identification of the user under a certain environment is insufficient, the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for acquiring data under the environment from the user. ### Claim 12 (depends on 3) The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for acquiring data from a user whose data for identification has become old. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the circuitry acquires states of a plurality of identifiers, and the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for acquiring data to be used by at least one of the plurality of identifiers for object identification, on a basis of respective states of the plurality of identifiers. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The information processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein, in a case where data for identifying, by a second identifier, an object that has been identified by a first identifier is insufficient, the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for acquiring data to be used by the second identifier for identification, from the object. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The information processing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein, in a case where a checking score of data for identifying, by a second identifier, an object that has been identified by a first identifier is low, the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for acquiring data to be used by the second identifier, from the object. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the identifier includes a speaker identifier configured to identify a speaker from voice data of a user, and a face identifier configured to identify a face image of a user, in a case where a checking score of voice data for identifying, as a speaker, a user whose face has been identified is low, the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for acquiring voice data from the user, and in a case where a checking score of face image data for identifying a face of a user who has been identified as a speaker is low, the circuitry decides a behavior of the device for acquiring face image data from the user. ### Claim 17 An information processing method for performing processing related to a device configured to autonomously behave to an object identified by an identifier, the information processing method comprising: acquiring a state of the identifier; deciding a behavior of the device on a basis of the state; determining a decline in identification performance for the identifier identifying a user; and deciding a behavior of the device for identifying a cause for a decline in identification performance, and controlling the identifier to handle data newly acquired from a user along with a decline in the identification performance, wherein, in a case where it is identified that the cause is attributed to a temporary change of the user, controlling the identifier to use newly-acquired data only temporarily. ### Claim 18 A robot apparatus comprising: a sensor; a driver; circuitry configured to: identify an object on a basis of an output of the sensor; decide a behavior that uses the driver, on a basis of a state of the circuitry; determine a decline in identification performance for the sensor identifying a user; and decide a behavior of the robot apparatus for identifying a cause for a decline in identification performance, and control the sensor to handle data newly acquired from a user along with a decline in the identification performance, wherein, in a case where the circuitry identifies that the cause is attributed to a temporary change of the user, the circuitry controls the identifier to use newly-acquired data only temporarily.