Anomaly detection method and apparatus

An apparatus for detecting an anomaly of an evaluation target condition of a road, the apparatus comprising:

• a storage that stores a reference data set correlating to a predetermined attribute and being comprised of reference data samples, the reference data samples having been respectively collected from reference vehicles as reference driving data items at the predetermined attribute under a normal condition of the road, the reference driving data item for each of the reference vehicles representing at least one driving operation of the corresponding one of the reference vehicles;
• and
• an anomaly level calculator configured to:
• obtain, from target vehicles, an evaluation data set correlating to the predetermined attribute and being comprised of evaluation data samples, the evaluation data samples being collected from the respective target vehicles as target driving data items at the predetermined attribute under the evaluation target condition of the road, the target driving data item for each of the target vehicles representing at least one driving operation of the corresponding one of the target vehicles;
• and
• compare the reference data set with the evaluation data set to thereby calculate an anomaly level of the evaluation target condition of the road.