Patent attributes
A robot visuoauditory system that makes it possible to process data in real time to track vision and audition for an object, that can integrate visual and auditory information on an object to permit the object to be kept tracked without fail and that makes it possible to process the information in real time to keep tracking the object both visually and auditorily and visualize the real-time processing is disclosed. In the system, the audition module (20) in response to sound signals from microphones extracts pitches therefrom, separate their sound sources from each other and locate sound sources such as to identify a sound source as at least one speaker, thereby extracting an auditory event (28) for each object speaker. The vision module (30) on the basis of an image taken by a camera identifies by face, and locate, each such speaker, thereby extracting a visual event (39) therefor. The motor control module (40) for turning the robot horizontally. extracts a motor event (49) from a rotary position of the motor. The association module (60) for controlling these modules forms from the auditory, visual and motor control events an auditory stream (65) and a visual stream (66) and then associates these streams with each other to form an association stream (67). The attention control module (6) effects attention control designed to make a plan of the course in which to control the drive motor, e.g., upon locating the sound source for the auditory event and locating the face for the visual event, thereby determining the direction in which each speaker lies. The system also includes a display (27, 37, 48, 68) for displaying at least a portion of auditory, visual and motor information. The attention control module (64) servo-controls the robot on the basis of the association stream or streams.
