METHOD, APPARATUS, AND SYSTEM FOR CATEGORIZING A STAY POINT BASED ON PROBE DATA

An approach is provided for detecting stay points from probe data. The approach, for example, involves segmenting a probe trajectory into a first trajectory segment type (e.g., on-road), a second trajectory segment type (e.g., off-road), an unknown trajectory segment type, or a combination thereof. The approach also involves merging the unknown trajectory segment into either the first trajectory segment type or the second trajectory segment type based on a co-occurrence with the unknown trajectory segment. The approach further involves segmenting the first trajectory segment type into first sub-segments and the second trajectory segment type second sub-segments based on a minimum enclosing ball or any other bounding volume with a radius less than or equal to the distance threshold. The approach further involves processing each first sub-segment and each second sub-segment to determine stay points.