Object Tracking Apparatus Prioritizing User Selection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing image capture systems, such as digital cameras, face challenges in accurately tracking a user-selected main object during continuous image capture, as they often struggle to differentiate between user-intended and automatically detected objects, leading to inappropriate object selection.
Innovation Solution
An object tracking apparatus and method that includes a tracking unit, setting unit, determining unit, and control unit to prioritize user-selected objects by suppressing changes in the tracking target until the suitability of candidate objects drops below a predetermined threshold or a specified time has elapsed, ensuring consistency with the user's intentions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If automatic object determination is used to select the main object, then the system can operate without user intervention, but the system may select objects that do not align with user intentions
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by suppressing automatic object determination results when a user has manually selected an object. The control unit identifies when manual selection has occurred and prevents the automatic determination unit from overriding that choice, thereby preserving user intent while maintaining automated operation for cases where no manual selection is made.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the tracking target can be easily changed to adapt to different objects, then the system becomes more versatile, but the system may frequently switch between objects causing instability
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies dynamics by making the switching behavior context-dependent. When manual selection is detected, the system enters a state where automatic switching is suppressed, providing stability. When manual selection is not detected, the system allows automatic switching based on object suitability, providing adaptability. This dynamic adjustment of switching behavior resolves the contradiction between stability and versatility.
3Reliability
If the system prioritizes user-selected objects, then tracking consistency with user intentions is improved, but the system becomes more complex in determining user selection
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies self-service by using the automatic determination unit itself to detect whether manual selection has occurred. The control unit leverages the existing automatic object determination mechanism to identify when a user has manually selected an object, rather than requiring a separate complex detection system. This allows the system to prioritize user-selected objects while avoiding additional complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus performs tracking processing that takes a predetermined object in images captured in succession as a tracking target, sets an object as the tracking target in accordance with a user operation, determines an object as the tracking target on the basis of at least one of the images, and performs control so that, in control that changes a current tracking target to the determined object, it is more difficult for the tracking target to be changed when the current tracking target has been set than when the current tracking target has not been set.