A sensor data processing system and method is described. Contemplated systems and methods derive a first recognition trait of an object from a first data set that represents the object in a first environmental state. A second recognition trait of the object is then derived from a second data set that represents the object in a second environmental state. The sensor data processing systems and methods then identifies a mapping of elements of the first and second recognition traits in a new representation space. The mapping of elements satisfies a variance criterion for corresponding elements, which allows the mapping to be used for object recognition. The sensor data processing systems and methods described herein provide new object recognition techniques that are computationally efficient and can be performed in real-time by the mobile phone technology that is currently available.