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Aircraft having gesture-based control for an onboard passenger service unit

  • US 10,146,320 B2
  • Filed: 11/16/2016
  • Issued: 12/04/2018
  • Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2007
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. An aircraft comprising a fuselage including a cabin with a plurality of seats, and for a seat of the plurality of seats:

  • a passenger service unit including a reading light, an attendant call button, and an air vent for a passenger seated in the seat;

    a camera configured to acquire an image of the passenger; and

    a control module coupled to the passenger serviced unit and camera, and configured to at least;

    receive the image of the passenger from the camera;

    receive non-tactile gesture preference data and dominant hand data, input by the passenger or from an associated user profile of the passenger, the non-tactile gesture preference data representing a desired non-tactile hand signal or a desired non-tactile hand gesture, and the dominant hand data specifying a dominant hand of the passenger to monitor for the desired non-tactile hand signal or the desired non-tactile hand gesture, the dominant hand of the passenger being chosen by the passenger;

    correlate the image of the passenger to the dominant hand of the passenger specified by the dominant hand data;

    access a non-tactile gesture data store that includes a plurality of images of non-tactile hand signals or non-tactile hand gestures;

    generate non-tactile gesture data in accordance with and indicative of the desired non-tactile hand signal or the desired non-tactile gesture made by the passenger, the non-tactile gesture data being generated based on the image of the passenger correlated to the dominant hand of the passenger specified by the dominant hand data, the non-tactile gesture preference data, and the plurality of images of non-tactile hand signals or non-tactile hand gestures; and

    control one or more cabin systems including in at least one instance the reading light, attendant call button or air vent of the passenger service unit based on the non-tactile gesture data.

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