COMPUTER IMPLEMENTED METHOD, COMPUTER SYSTEM AND NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM FOR DETECTING AN OCCUPANCY OF A SEAT IN A VEHICLE CABIN

1 . Computer implemented method for detecting an occupancy of a seat within a vehicle cabin,

the method comprising:

capturing, by means of an imaging device, an image of the vehicle cabin;

identifying, by means of the processing device, a set of characteristics associated with a seat in the captured image;

determining, by means of the processing device, a region associated with the identified seat based on the set of characteristics, wherein the region is configured to cover at least a portion of the seat; and

determining a seat occupancy status of the seat by processing information obtained from the corresponding region.

2 . Computer implemented method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the seat occupancy status is determined by comparing the information obtained from the corresponding region with reference information obtained from the corresponding region.

3 . Computer implemented method according to the preceding claim 2 ,

wherein the reference information is obtained from at least one previously captured image.

4 . Computer implemented method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the set of characteristics comprises a first characteristic and a second characteristic defining the region associated with the seat.

5 . Computer implemented method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the set of characteristics comprises a third characteristic and a fourth characteristic defining the region associated with the seat.

6 . Computer implemented method according to claim 4 ,

wherein the first characteristic defines a first corner of the region and the second characteristic defines a second corner of the region; and

wherein the first corner of the is diagonally opposite to the second corner.

7 . Computer implemented method according to claim 5 ,

wherein the third characteristic defines a first edge of the region and the fourth characteristic defines a second edge of the region; and

wherein the first edge is parallel to the second edge.

8 . Computer implemented method according to claim 4 ,

wherein the first characteristic is a seat belt mount of the seat and/or the second characteristic is a seat belt buckle of the seat.

9 . Computer implemented method according to claim 5 ,

wherein the third characteristic is a top edge of the back rest of the seat and/or the fourth characteristic is a front edge of the bottom rest of the seat.

10 . Computer implemented method according to claim 4 ,

the method further comprising:

identifying, by means of the processing device, a sub-region based on the region; and

determining, by means of the processing device, a type of occupancy of the seat based on the first sub-region.

11 . Computer implemented method according to the preceding claim 10 , the method further comprising:

identifying, by means of the processing device, a second sub-region based on the region; and

determining, by means of the processing device, a type of occupancy of the seat based on the second sub-region.

12 . Computer implemented method according to claim 10 ,

the method further comprising:

identifying, by means of the processing device, a reference body point in the first sub-region; and

determining, by means of the processing device, a type of occupancy of the seat based on the reference body point.

13 . Computer system, the computer system being configured to carry out the computer implemented method of claim 1 .

14 . Non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions for carrying out the computer implemented method of claim 1 .