Patents by Inventor Makoto Murata

Makoto Murata has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20120039514
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a face detector detecting face images from still-image frames successively extracted from a moving-image stream in accordance with image information items regarding the still-image frames, a face-feature-value calculation unit calculating face feature values of the face images in accordance with image information items regarding the face images, an identity determination unit determining whether a first face image in a current frame and a second face image in a previous frame represent an identical person in accordance with at least face feature values of the first and second face images, and a merging processor which stores one of the first and second face images when the first face image and the second face image represent an identical person, and which stores the first and second face images when the first face image and the second face image do not represent an identical person.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 24, 2011
    Publication date: February 16, 2012
    Inventors: Yun Sun, Tamaki Kojima, Tomohiko Gotoh, Makoto Murata, Masatomo Kurata
  • Publication number: 20120036047
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a service providing system, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program. An information processing apparatus (base unit) 2 receives user information detected by sensors provided in an information processing apparatus (remote unit) 3 from the information processing apparatus (remote unit) 3, acquires article information of articles sold in a shop from a shop-information portal site server 5, selects an article to be recommended to a user based on the acquired user information and article information, and transmits the article information of the selected article to the information processing apparatus (remote unit) 3. The information processing apparatus (remote unit) 3 displays the received article information in, for example, a display to recommend the article. The present invention can be applied to an electronic apparatus connected to a network.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 17, 2011
    Publication date: February 9, 2012
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Junko FUKUDA, Hiroaki Nakano, Hidenori Karasawa, Takuo Ikeda, Ryuta Kanno, Takahiko Sueyoshi, Makoto Murata, Hiroshi Goto, Ryoji Amemiya, Hiroki TaMAI
  • Publication number: 20110249904
    Abstract: Provided is a face clustering device that detects a face included in an image, detects a direction of the detected face, detects, taking into account the detected direction of the face, a face with a similar feature and forms a collection of pieces of face information showing a feature of this face, narrows down, for each collection of pieces of face information which has been formed, the number of pieces of face information to a number set in advance for each face direction and sets each collection of pieces of face information for which the number has been narrowed down as a unit group, and performs, with the set unit group as a unit, clustering based on pieces of face information included in each unit group.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 2, 2011
    Publication date: October 13, 2011
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Shunsuke MOCHIZUKI, Makoto Murata, Yun Sun, Tomohiko Gotoh
  • Patent number: 8027523
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a face detector detecting face images from still-image frames successively extracted from a moving-image stream in accordance with image information items regarding the still-image frames, a face-feature-value calculation unit calculating face feature values of the face images in accordance with image information items regarding the face images, an identity determination unit determining whether a first face image in a current frame and a second face image in a previous frame represent an identical person in accordance with at least face feature values of the first and second face images, and a merging processor which stores one of the first and second face images when the first face image and the second face image represent an identical person, and which stores the first and second face images when the first face image and the second face image do not represent an identical person.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2009
    Date of Patent: September 27, 2011
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Yun Sun, Tamaki Kojima, Tomohiko Gotoh, Makoto Murata, Masatomo Kurata
  • Patent number: 8017238
    Abstract: To provide a tungsten oxide photocatalyst which shows a high photocatalytic activity by irradiating with visible light even under the environment where ultraviolet light is not irradiated, the tungsten oxide photocatalyst has tungsten oxide particles and Pt particles having a primary particle size of 3 to 20 nm supported on the surface of the tungsten oxide particles in an amount of 0.03 to 5 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the tungsten oxide particles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2011
    Assignees: National University Corporation Hokkaido University, Sumitomo Chemical Company, Limited
    Inventors: Bunsho Ohtani, Ryu Abe, Yoshiaki Sakatani, Makoto Murata, Hiroaki Nishimine
  • Publication number: 20110107999
    Abstract: A rotary internal combustion engine including: a cylinder having a cylinder circumferential wall provided with a horizontal valve groove on its inner circumferential surface; a working shaft concentrically run through said cylinder and held so as to freely rotate; a rotor comprising a rotor base made up of a circular shell and a rotor blade standing in a radial direction of a rotor base surrounding wall; a shutoff valve to perform intermittent movements of insertion and returning between an outside of said cylinder and a cylinder space; and side ribs each having a longitudinal valve groove.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 19, 2009
    Publication date: May 12, 2011
    Inventor: Makoto Murata
  • Publication number: 20110081634
    Abstract: Provided is a mobile terminal including a movement sensor that detects a movement of a user and outputs movement information, acquires information on a building existing at a current location or information on buildings existing in a vicinity of the current location, analyses the movement information output from the movement sensor, and detects a first behaviour pattern corresponding to the movement information from multiple first behaviour patterns obtained by classifying behaviours performed by the user over a relatively short period of time, and analyses the information on a building or buildings and the first behaviour pattern, and detects a second behaviour pattern corresponding to the information on a building or buildings and the first behaviour pattern from multiple second behaviour patterns obtained by classifying behaviours performed by the user over a relatively long period of time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2010
    Publication date: April 7, 2011
    Inventors: Masatomo Kurata, Makoto Murata, Takashi Ogata, Yasutaka Fukumoto, Masanori Katsu
  • Patent number: 7917020
    Abstract: An information processing device includes a processing unit that recognizes an action based on sensor data output by a sensor and obtained in a same timing as a photographing timing of an image string. The processing unit associates information indicating the action as information for a selection of a reproduction position at a time of a reproduction of the image string with the image string. In addition, the processing unit extracts a plurality of features from the sensor data. The processing unit recognizes the action based on a time series of the plurality of features using a model for a recognition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 1, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2011
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Makoto Murata, Masatomo Kurata, Yoshihiro Yamaguchi, Brian Clarkson
  • Patent number: 7907184
    Abstract: A picture processing apparatus is disclosed which includes: an acquiring device which, apart from a first picture sequence picked up for reproduction purposes, acquires a second picture sequence picked up in synchronism with the first picture sequence, the second picture sequence being made up of pictures wider in angle than those constituting the first picture sequence; a calculating device operable to calculate degrees of similarity between scenes each made up of a predetermined number of consecutive pictures included in the second picture sequence; and a linking device which, after appropriating the degrees of similarity calculated by the calculating device for the degrees of similarity between the corresponding scenes in the first picture sequence, links together those of the corresponding scenes which have high degrees of similarity in the first picture sequence.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 3, 2005
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2011
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Makoto Murata, Machiko Segawa, Keigo Ihara, Nobuyuki Matsushita, Eiji Takahashi, Ryu Aoyama, Caoyi Lu, Hiroyuki Maruyama, Brian Clarkson
  • Publication number: 20100191697
    Abstract: There is provided an information processing apparatus including: a sensor data generator sensing a user behavior and generating sensor data corresponding to the user behavior; a behavior recognizing unit performing a predetermined threshold value process on the sensor data to recognize the behavior exhibited by the user and generating behavior information that is information indicating the behavior exhibited by the user; a behavior manager managing the behavior information generated by the behavior recognizing unit in correspondence with the time point at which the behavior corresponding to the behavior information is exhibited; and a behavior information post-processing unit performing a predetermined post-process on the behavior information managed by the behavior manager, wherein the behavior recognizing unit further includes a plurality of behavior determination units specified to specific behaviors exhibited by the user and generates the behavior information based on the determination results of the plur
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 26, 2010
    Publication date: July 29, 2010
    Inventors: Yasutaka FUKUMOTO, Makoto MURATA, Masatomo Kurata, Masanori Katsu
  • Publication number: 20100176748
    Abstract: A transmitter includes a voltage conversion circuit converting supply voltage externally supplied into drive voltage and outputting the drive voltage; and an optical output unit which is supplied with the drive voltage and outputs an optical signal, wherein the voltage conversion circuit and the optical output unit are included in a same module.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2010
    Publication date: July 15, 2010
    Applicant: ROHM CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Makoto MURATA
  • Patent number: 7747687
    Abstract: An information processing device connected via a network to another information processing device that recognizes action of a user on a basis of an output of a sensor incorporated in the other information processing device and transmits action information indicating the recognized action of the user includes: a table DB configured to manage correspondence relation between each action recognizable in the other information processing device and communication tools; and a communication means selection processing unit configured to select a communication tool corresponding to the action of the user of the other information processing device, the action of the user being indicated by the action information, as a tool used for communication with the user of the other information processing device on a basis of the correspondence relation managed by the table DB, and execute an application that manages the selected communication tool.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2010
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Masatomo Kurata, Makoto Murata, Brian Clarkson, Yoshihiro Yamaguchi, Junko Fukuda
  • Patent number: 7739033
    Abstract: An information processing device and method, a program, and an information processing system, for location identification at small granularity with high accuracy are disclosed. A portable terminal has a camera in addition to a GPS module. In a location recognition model construction phase, a location recognition model is constructed from an image sequence taken by the camera, associated with location information collected by the GPS module and the like, and stored. In a location identification phase, the current location in a global area is identified by the GPS module, and the current location in a local area is identified on the basis of the location recognition model selected from the identification result and the image sequence obtained at the time. The present invention can be applied to portable terminals such as notebook type personal computers, PDAs and mobile telephones.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 12, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Makoto Murata, Tamaki Kojima, Wenwu Zhao, Ryu Aoyama, Brian Clarkson
  • Publication number: 20100146433
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus, comprising: a storage unit that records predetermined information about a first user and a second user registered by the first user; a data control unit that generates a video signal that displays objects corresponding to the first user and the second user in a two-dimensional display screen at a distance calculated based on the predetermined information; and a display control unit that displays the video signal in the two-dimensional display screen.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2009
    Publication date: June 10, 2010
    Inventors: Makoto Murata, Masatomo Kurata, Takashi Ogata, Masanori Katsu, Mitsuo Okumura
  • Publication number: 20100123465
    Abstract: In a vehicle having an electrical system including a ground circuit that provides an operative connection from the electrical system to an electrical ground and an electric power generator driven by an engine of the vehicle, the generator arranged to selectively provide electric power to an electrical load of the vehicle and to selectively charge a battery of the vehicle, a fault detection system is provided for detecting an open circuit or high resistance fault in the ground circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2008
    Publication date: May 20, 2010
    Inventors: Richard Owens, Makoto Murata, Tadashi Fujiwara
  • Publication number: 20090316962
    Abstract: An image processing apparatus includes a face detector detecting face images from still-image frames successively extracted from a moving-image stream in accordance with image information items regarding the still-image frames, a face-feature-value calculation unit calculating face feature values of the face images in accordance with image information items regarding the face images, an identity determination unit determining whether a first face image in a current frame and a second face image in a previous frame represent an identical person in accordance with at least face feature values of the first and second face images, and a merging processor which stores one of the first and second face images when the first face image and the second face image represent an identical person, and which stores the first and second face images when the first face image and the second face image do not represent an identical person.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 15, 2009
    Publication date: December 24, 2009
    Inventors: Yun SUN, Tamaki Kojima, Tomohiko Gotoh, Makoto Murata, Masatomo Kurata
  • Publication number: 20090305879
    Abstract: A photocatalyst dispersion liquid contains titanium oxide particles, tungsten oxide particles, a phosphoric acid (salt) and a dispersion medium, and a containing amount of the phosphoric acid (salt) is from 0.001 mol times to 0.2 mol times with respect to the titanium oxide particles. In this photocatalyst dispersion liquid, the aggregation of the particles is suppressed and thus solid-liquid separation is not easily generated. According to this process for producing a photocatalyst dispersion liquid, titanium oxide particles are dispersed in a dispersion medium containing a phosphoric acid (salt) dissolved therein to obtain a titanium oxide particle dispersion liquid, and then tungsten oxide particles are mixed in the titanium oxide particle dispersion liquid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2009
    Publication date: December 10, 2009
    Applicant: SUMITOMO CHEMICAL COMPANY, LIMITED
    Inventors: Yoshiaki SAKATANI, Kensen Okusako, Makoto Murata
  • Patent number: 7623688
    Abstract: An image recognition apparatus, method and program capable of discriminatively recognizing an object at an enhanced recognition rate despite an increase in the total number of reference images registered in image databases. When any individual person or public corporation for example is to be specified from the object image obtained by shooting the person or the like, one image database of the attribute corresponding to various situations, or familiarity to the object image is selected automatically, and then the person or corporation is specified from the shot image while referring to the reference images stored in the image database of the selected attribute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2009
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Machiko Segawa, Hiroshi Goto, Toshihiro Watanabe, Zhao Wenwu, Makoto Murata, Keigo Ihara
  • Publication number: 20090243822
    Abstract: A warning system for conveying alerts and information relating to a vehicle blind spot and objects detected therein, is disclosed. The system conveys an assortment of information through a single light emitting indicator. Also disclosed are various methods of indicating the advisability of lane changes, and modes of configuring the indicator and an associated sensing system and controller.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 23, 2008
    Publication date: October 1, 2009
    Applicant: HOND MOTOR CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Christopher Hinninger, Makoto Murata, Masahito Shingyoji, Fumie Nakamura, Yasuhiko Fujita
  • Patent number: 7583824
    Abstract: An image recognition apparatus, method and program capable of discriminatively recognizing an object at an enhanced recognition rate despite an increase in the total number of reference images registered in image databases. When any individual person or public corporation for example is to be specified from the object image obtained by shooting the person or the like, one image database of the attribute corresponding to various situations, or familiarity to the object image is selected automatically, and then the person or corporation is specified from the shot image while referring to the reference images stored in the image database of the selected attribute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2009
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Machiko Segawa, Hiroshi Goto, Toshihiro Watanabe, Zhao Wenwu, Makoto Murata, Keigo Ihara