US 11,947,005 B2
Correcting depth estimations derived from image data using acoustic information
Christopher T. Eubank, San Francisco, CA (US); and Ryan S. Carlin, Santa Clara, CA (US)
Assigned to APPLE INC., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed by Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA (US)
Filed on Nov. 1, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/978,859.
Application 17/978,859 is a continuation of application No. 16/580,337, filed on Sep. 24, 2019, granted, now 11,520,041.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/737,614, filed on Sep. 27, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2023/0047317 A1, Feb. 16, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G06K 9/00 (2022.01); G01S 15/89 (2006.01); G06T 7/50 (2017.01)
CPC G01S 15/89 (2013.01) [G06T 7/50 (2017.01); G06T 2207/10028 (2013.01)] 25 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method comprising:
at a device including one or more processors and non-transitory memory:
obtaining image data including one or more images of a real-world environment;
obtaining a first depth estimation characterizing a distance between the device and the real-world environment in a direction relative to the device, wherein the first depth estimation is derived from the image data;
obtaining acoustic data representing audio in the real-world environment;
obtaining a second depth estimation characterizing the distance between the device and the real-world environment in the direction relative to the device, wherein the second depth estimation is derived from the acoustic data, wherein the first depth estimation characterizes a distance between the device and a first surface in the real-world environment and the second depth estimation characterizes a distance between the device and a second surface in the real-world environment different than the first surface; and
in response to determining that a difference between the first depth estimation and the second depth estimation exceeds a threshold value, determining a confirmed depth estimation characterizing the distance between the device and the real-world environment in the direction relative to the device as the second depth estimation.