TOPOLOGY MAP-BASED USER LOCATION ESTIMATION APPARATUS AND METHOD

A topology map-based user location estimation apparatus includes an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) module, an OCR filter, and a location finding module. The OCR module is configured to recognize characters from an image of an environment surrounding a user. The OCR filter is configured to, based on a similarity determination with location information stored in a topology map that is generated based on a guide map image, filter one or more characters from the recognized characters. The location finding module is configured to, based on the filtered one or more characters, detect a current location of the user on the topology map.