IP Library Granted Patent US 12694786
Granted Patent B2
US 12694786 · App. 18/836,360 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium

Inventors: Seiji Suzuki (Tokyo, JP); Shinichi Iriya (Tokyo, JP); Katsuji Miyazawa (Tokyo, JP); Satoshi Akagawa (Tokyo, JP)
Assignees: Sony Group Corporation; Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation
G08G1/143G06F3/04817G06V20/586G08G1/0969G08G1/144
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12694786
App. No.
18/836,360
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

An image processing apparatus for this determination includes processing circuitry configured to acquire feature information about a vehicle or a person in a parking lot, e.g., information on at least one feature among a color, an orientation, a location, a size, a vehicle brand, and a vehicle type, using information detected by a sensor; and generate a parking lot map including an icon corresponding to the vehicle or the person. The icon includes information on at least one feature among a color, an orientation, a location, a size, a vehicle brand, and a vehicle type of an object such as a vehicle and a person.

Claims (65)

1 . An information processing apparatus comprising:

processing circuitry configured to

acquire, by a sensor, feature information about another vehicle in a parking lot,

generate a parking lot map including a vehicle icon corresponding to the another vehicle, wherein the vehicle icon indicates the feature information about the another vehicle, wherein the parking lot map is a virtual image of the parking lot viewed from above, and

simultaneously display the parking lot map with the vehicle icon and a camera-captured image captured by a camera of a host vehicle,

wherein in response to determining a target parking location at which the host vehicle is to be parked, display the information on a parking travel route from a current location of the host vehicle to the target parking location on the parking lot map.

2 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the feature information about the another vehicle is a color of the another vehicle, and

the vehicle icon indicates the color of the another vehicle.

3 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the feature information about the another vehicle is an orientation of the another vehicle, and

the vehicle icon indicates the orientation of the another vehicle.

4 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 ,

wherein the vehicle icon indicates one or more of a side mirror, a headlight, a windshield, and a forward-backward direction identification mark based on the orientation of the another vehicle.

5 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the feature information about the another vehicle includes one or more of a color, an orientation, a location, a size, a vehicle brand, and a vehicle type of the another vehicle, and

the vehicle icon indicates the one or more of the color, the orientation, the location, the size, the vehicle brand, and the vehicle type of the another vehicle.

6 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to

determine whether each parking area in the parking lot is a parking-available area where no other vehicle is parked or a parking-unavailable area where the another vehicle is parked,

wherein the parking lot map includes the parking-available area indicated by a parking-available area icon and the parking-unavailable area indicated by the vehicle icon indicating the feature information about the another vehicle parked in the parking area.

7 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 6 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to

display parking-available area identification graphic data indicating the parking-available area superimposed on a camera-captured image.

8 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 6 ,

wherein in response to detecting that a host vehicle is stopped, the processing circuitry is further configured to change a display mode of the parking-available area icon in the parking lot map.

9 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 8 ,

wherein in response to detecting that the host vehicle is stopped, the processing circuitry is further configured to change a plurality of parking-available area icons in the parking lot map to identifier setting icons to which identifiers are set.

10 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to display the information on the parking travel route as graphic data having gradation depending on a distance from a location of the host vehicle on the parking lot map.

11 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to display graphic data indicating the parking travel route from the current location of the host vehicle to the target parking location superimposed on a camera-captured image.

12 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to

acquire feature information about an object other than the another vehicle in the parking lot,

generate an object icon indicating a feature of the object other than the another vehicle, and

display the parking lot map with the object icon.

13 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 12 ,

wherein the feature information about the object is a color of the object, and

the object icon indicates the color of the object.

14 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 12 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to

acquire a color of clothes of a person in the parking lot,

generate a person icon indicating the color of the clothes of the person, and

display the parking lot map with the person icon.

15 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 12 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to

acquire a color of a cone in the parking lot, and

generate the object icon indicating the color of the cone.

16 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 12 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to

acquire a color of drawing information on a road surface in the parking lot, and

generate the object icon indicating the color of the drawing information on the road surface in the parking lot.

17 . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 ,

wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to transmit the parking lot map including the vehicle icon to an external user terminal.

18 . An information processing method executed by an information processing apparatus, the information processing method comprising:

acquiring, by a sensor, feature information about another vehicle in a parking lot;

generating, by processing circuitry, a parking lot map including a vehicle icon corresponding to the another vehicle, wherein the vehicle icon indicates the feature information about the another vehicle, wherein the parking lot map is a virtual image of the parking lot viewed from above, and

simultaneously displaying, by the processing circuitry, the parking lot map with the vehicle icon and a camera-captured image captured by a camera of a host vehicle,

wherein in response to determining a target parking location at which the host vehicle is to be parked, displaying information on a parking travel route from a current location of the host vehicle to the target parking location on the parking lot map.

19 . A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

acquiring feature information about another vehicle in a parking lot;

generating a parking lot map including a vehicle icon corresponding to the another vehicle, wherein the vehicle icon indicates the feature information about the another vehicle, wherein the parking lot map is a virtual image of the parking lot viewed from above; and

simultaneously displaying the parking lot map with the vehicle icon and a camera-captured image captured by a camera of a host vehicle,

wherein in response to determining a target parking location at which the host vehicle is to be parked, displaying information on a parking travel route from a current location of the host vehicle to the target parking location on the parking lot map.