Mobile terminal and method for detecting a gesture to control functions

• US 10,162,512 B2
• Filed: 06/20/2014
• Issued: 12/25/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Seo, Ho-Seong, Cho, Shi-Yun
• Primary Examiner(s): Desir, Pierre Louis
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kim, Jonathan C
• Application Number:
  US14/310,716
• Publication Number:
  US 20140379341A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,649 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3231 Monitoring the presence, absence or movement of users
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3262 Power saving in digitizer or tablet
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/012 Head tracking input arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 15/22 Procedures used during a speech recognition process, e.g. man-machine dialogue
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 2015/223 Execution procedure of a spoken command
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/271 controlled by voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/67 by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/52 including functional features of a camera constructional features concerning the integration of cameras in portable phones H04M1/0264
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/74 with voice recognition means voice activated dialling H04M1/271; voice recognition algorithms G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a portable terminal, and more particularly, to a portable terminal and a method of detecting a gesture and controlling a function. A method of controlling a function of a portable terminal includes: detecting a gesture; activating a voice recognition module in response to the detected gesture; and analyzing a voice input into the activated voice recognition module, and executing a function corresponding to the input voice.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a function of a wearable electronic device, comprising:

detecting a predetermined gesture by a motion sensor of the wearable electronic device, for activating a voice recognition function of the wearable electronic device, wherein the wearable electronic device is worn on a wrist of a user;

driving a timer for calculating a time period from an instance when the predetermined gesture is detected;

recognizing eyeballs of the user through one or more cameras of the wearable electronic device;

activating a touch screen and the voice recognition function when the time period calculated by the driven timer exceeds a predetermined time period and the eyeballs of the user are recognized;

displaying, on the touch screen, a screen of the activated voice recognition function for receiving a voice input to control the voice recognition function of the wearable device;

receiving the voice input through the activated voice recognition function;

determining whether one or more functions executable by the received voice input include a user'"'"'s personal information of the wearable electronic device;

if the one or more functions executable based on the voice input do not include the user'"'"'s personal information, analyzing the voice input by using the activated voice recognition function, and executing a function that does not include the user'"'"'s personal information, based on the voice input; and

if the one or more functions executable based on the voice input include the user'"'"'s personal information of the wearable electronic device, outputting, through the activated touch screen, a message indicating that the one or more functions including the user'"'"'s personal information are not executable,

wherein the output message includes a function list of one or more functions that are executable by at least one voice input different from the received voice input and do not include the user'"'"'s personal information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined gesture is a movement raising the touch screen of the wearable electronic device making an altitude of the wearable electronic device higher.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the executed function which does not include the user'"'"'s personal information includes one of Internet searches, call communication, map searches, broadcasts viewing, or news and weather information viewing, and is not interconnected with another function.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more functions executable based on the voice input which include the user'"'"'s personal information includes a phonebook search function, e-mails, text messages, a call list, a diary, a messenger, and a photo album, and is preset by the user.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if a command is not input for a predetermined time after the voice recognition function is executed, switching the executed function to be in an inactive state.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising, if the one or more functions executable based on the voice input include the user'"'"'s personal information, outputting a voice notifying that a function corresponding to the voice input is not executable.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting the function list with a voice.

8. A wearable electronic device for controlling a function by using voice recognition, comprising:

a touch screen;

a sensor; and

a processor configured to;

control the sensor to detect a predetermined gesture for activating a voice recognition function of the wearable device, wherein the wearable electronic device is worn on a wrist of a user,

drive a timer for calculating a time period from an instance when the predetermined gesture is detected,

recognize eyeballs of the user through one or more cameras of the wearable electronic device,

activate the touch screen and the voice recognition function when the time period calculated by the driven timer exceeds a predetermined time period and the eyeballs of the user are recognized,

control the touch screen to display a screen of the activated voice recognition function for receiving a voice input to control the voice recognition function of the wearable electronic device,

receive the voice input through the activated voice recognition function,

determine whether one or more functions executable by the received voice input include a user'"'"'s personal information of the wearable electronic device,

if the one or more functions executable based on the voice input do not include the user'"'"'s personal information, analyze the voice input by using the activated voice recognition function, and execute a function that does not include the user'"'"'s personal information, based on the voice input, and

if the one or more functions executable based on the voice input include the user'"'"'s personal information of the wearable electronic device, output, through the activated touch screen, a message indicating that the one or more functions including the user'"'"'s personal information are not executable,

wherein the output message includes a function list of one or more functions that are executable by at least one voice input different from the received voice input and do not include the user'"'"'s personal information.

9. The wearable electronic device of claim 8, wherein the sensor is further configured to detect whether the predetermined gesture is a movement raising the touch screen of the wearable electronic device making an altitude of the wearable electronic device higher.

10. The wearable electronic device of claim 8, further comprising a camera module including the one or more cameras configured to recognize the eyeballs of the user moving the wearable electronic device.

11. The wearable electronic device of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to activate a microphone configured to receive the voice input, if the wearable electronic device is maintained in a horizontal state for a predetermined time after the predetermined gesture is detected.

12. The wearable electronic device of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to determine whether a function corresponding to the voice input includes personal information of the user of the wearable electronic device and to determine whether to execute the voice recognition function.

13. The wearable electronic device of claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to switch the executed function to be in an inactive state, if a command is not input for a predetermined time after the execution of the voice recognition function.