# US 12,179,801 B2 · Information processing apparatus, mobile object, control method thereof, and storage medium > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,179,801 B2 - Document ID: US12179801B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/704,716 - Filed: 2022-03-25 - Published: 2022-10-06 - Granted: 2024-12-31 - Earliest claimed: 2021-03-31 - Assignees: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. - Inventors: Anirudh Reddy Kondapally; Kentaro Yamada - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12179801B2 ## CPC - B60W 60/00253: {Taxi operations} - G06V 20/56: exterior to a vehicle by using sensors mounted on the vehicle - G06F 3/167: {Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback} - G06V 20/52: Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects (recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69) - G06V 20/64: Three-dimensional [3D] objects - G06V 40/10: Human or animal bodies, e.g. vehicle occupants or pedestrians; Body parts, e.g. hands - G06V 40/25: {Recognition of walking or running movements, e.g. gait recognition} - G10L 15/16: using artificial neural networks - G10L 15/22: Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue - H04W 4/021: Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences - H04W 4/029: Location-based management or tracking services - H04W 4/40: for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] - B60W 2300/34: Compact city vehicles, e.g., microcars or kei cars - B60W 2540/041: Potential occupants - G06V 2201/07: Target detection - G10L 2015/228: {of application context} - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G10L: SPEECH ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES OR SPEECH SYNTHESIS; SPEECH RECOGNITION; SPEECH OR VOICE PROCESSING TECHNIQUES; SPEECH OR AUDIO CODING OR DECODING - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract An information processing apparatus of the present invention acquires, from a communication device of a user, at least one of utterance information by the user and position information of the communication device, specifies a predetermined region according to a mark included in the utterance information; acquires a movement direction of the user from at least one of the utterance information and the position information acquired from the communication device of the user, and setting a probability distribution that the user exists to a divided region of the predetermined region based on the acquired movement direction of the user; and presumes the user based on the set probability distribution. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An information processing apparatus comprising: a storage device that stores instructions; and at least one processor that executes the instructions to: acquire, from a communication device of a user, utterance information by the user and position information of the communication device; specify a predetermined region according to a mark included in the utterance information; acquire a movement direction of the user from the utterance information and the position information acquired from the communication device of the user, divide the predetermined region to a plurality of regions based on the acquired movement direction of the user, and set a probability distribution including probabilities that the user exists to each of the plurality of regions; and presume the user based on the set probability distribution. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor executes instructions in the storage device to: acquire a captured image captured around the specified predetermined region, and detect one or more persons in the acquired captured image. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least one processor executes instructions in the storage device to: analyze movement directions of the one or more persons with respect to the mark from the captured image, and presumes the user based on the set probability distribution and the analyzed movement directions of the one or more persons. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the at least one processor executes instructions in the storage device to: give a higher probability to a person in a movement direction matched with the movement direction of the user among the analyzed movement directions of the one or more persons than a person in a movement direction not matched with the movement direction of the user. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the at least one processor executes instructions in the storage device to: presume the user based on a combined probability of the set probability distribution and a probability given to the one or more persons. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the at least one processor executes instructions in the storage device to: presume a person with the corresponding combined probability is the highest as the user. ### Claim 7 (depends on 5) The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the presumption unit presumes a person whose corresponding combined probability is a predetermined value or more as the user. ### Claim 8 (depends on 5) The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the at least one processor executes instructions in the storage device to: in a case where specifying one user is disabled, acquire utterance information by the user, update the combined probability from the acquired utterance information and the captured image, and presume the user. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the at least one processor executes instructions in the storage device to: make an inquiry to the user based on analysis of a captured image captured by a mobile object located around the user, and acquire utterance information by the user as a response to the inquiry from the communication device. ### Claim 10 (depends on 2) The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least one processor executes instructions in the storage device to: acquire at least one of a captured image captured by a mobile object located around the user and a captured image captured by an imaging unit located around the mobile object. ### Claim 11 (depends on 2) The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the at least one processor executes instructions in the storage device to: provide screen information for displaying a result of language analysis of the acquired utterance information to the communication device. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The information processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the at least one processor executes instructions in the storage device to: provide screen information for selectively displaying a plurality of candidate users among one or more persons detected in the acquired captured image to the communication device. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor executes instructions in the storage device to: presume a meeting position of the user and a mobile object according to the presumed user. ### Claim 14 A method of controlling an information processing apparatus, the method comprising: acquiring, from a communication device of a user, utterance information by the user and position information of the communication device; specifying a predetermined region according to a mark included in the utterance information; acquiring a movement direction of the user from the utterance information and the position information acquired from the communication device of the user, dividing the predetermined region to a plurality of regions based on the acquired movement direction of the user, and setting a probability distribution including probabilities that the user exists to each of the plurality of regions; and presuming the user based on the set probability distribution. ### Claim 15 A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program for causing a computer to execute each step of a method of controlling an information processing apparatus: acquiring, from a communication device of a user, utterance information by the user and position information of the communication device; specifying a predetermined region according to a mark included in the utterance information; acquiring a movement direction of the user from the utterance information and the position information acquired from the communication device of the user, to dividing the predetermined region to a plurality of regions based on the acquired movement direction of the user, and setting a probability distribution including probabilities that the user exists to each of the plurality of regions; and presuming the user based on the set probability distribution. ### Claim 16 A mobile object comprising: a communication unit configured to communicate with a communication device of a user; an imaging unit configured to image a surrounding portion of the mobile object; a storage device that stores instructions; and at least one processor that executes the instructions to: acquire, from the communication device of the user and by the communication unit, utterance information by the user and position information of the communication device; specify a predetermined region according to a mark included in the utterance information; acquire a movement direction of the user from the utterance information and the position information acquired from the communication device of the user, divide the predetermined region to a plurality of regions based on the acquired movement direction of the user, and set a probability distribution including probabilities that the user exists to each of the plurality of regions; and presume the user based on the set probability distribution. ### Claim 17 A method of controlling a mobile object including a communication unit configured to communicate with a communication device of a user and an imaging unit configured to image a surrounding portion of the mobile object, the method comprising: acquiring, from the communication device of the user and by the communication unit, utterance information by the user and position information of the communication device; specifying a predetermined region according to a mark included in the utterance information; acquiring a movement direction of the user from the utterance information and the position information acquired from the communication device of the user, to dividing the predetermined region to a plurality of regions based on the acquired movement direction of the user, and setting a probability distribution including probabilities that the user exists to each of the plurality of regions; and presuming the user based on the set probability distribution.