Abstract: Disclosed herein is a user interface apparatus and control method for the control of service robots. The user interface apparatus for the control of service robots includes an interaction server, an index block, and a robot control server. The interaction server receives control commands to control a service robot from a user, analyzes the control commands, and outputs the results of the analysis to the user. The index block determines the degree of difficulty of each of the analyzed control commands. The robot control server determines the operating mode of the service robot depending on the analyzed control command and the degree of difficulty, and controls the service robot in the determined operating mode.

Abstract: An apparatus and method can effectively detect both hands and hand shape of a user from images input through cameras. A skin image detecting skin regions from one of the input images and a stereoscopic distance image are used. For hand detection, background and noise are eliminated from a combined image of the skin image and the distance image and regions corresponding to actual both hands are detected from effective images having a high probability of hands. For hand shape detection, a non-skin region is eliminated from the skin image based on the stereoscopic distance information, hand shape candidate regions are detected from the remaining region after elimination, and finally a hand shape is determined.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is an apparatus and method for managing images based on user preferences. The apparatus includes a database for storing images, an image search module for searching the images stored in the database, an image output module for outputting at least one image retrieved by the image search module, a preference input module for, when the retrieved image is output through the image output module, receiving a user preference for the output image from a user, and an image path database for storing a storage path of the image, output through the image output module, based on the user preference received through the user preference input module. The image search module searches images whose storage paths are stored in the image path database or images whose storage paths are not stored in the image path database according to the user's selection.

Abstract: Disclosed herein is a user interface apparatus and control method for the control of service robots. The user interface apparatus for the control of service robots includes an interaction server, an index block, and a robot control server. The interaction server receives control commands to control a service robot from a user, analyzes the control commands, and outputs the results of the analysis to the user. The index block determines the degree of difficulty of each of the analyzed control commands. The robot control server determines the operating mode of the service robot depending on the analyzed control command and the degree of difficulty, and controls the service robot in the determined operating mode.

Abstract: An apparatus and method can effectively detect both hands and hand shape of a user from images input through cameras. A skin image detecting skin regions from one of the input images and a stereoscopic distance image are used. For hand detection, background and noise are eliminated from a combined image of the skin image and the distance image and regions corresponding to actual both hands are detected from effective images having a high probability of hands. For hand shape detection, a non-skin region is eliminated from the skin image based on the stereoscopic distance information, hand shape candidate regions are detected from the remaining region after elimination, and finally a hand shape is determined.