Method and apparatus for detecting a manipulation of a portable device

• US 10,175,777 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2014
• Issued: 01/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Commissariat a L'Energie Atomique (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission), Movea
• Original Assignee: French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, Movea
• Inventors: Villien, Christophe
• Primary Examiner(s): Marinelli, Patrick F
• Application Number:
  US15/106,772
• Publication Number:
  US 20170003721A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,477 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• 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

Abstract

A method for detecting a manipulation of a mobile device, comprises the following steps: a) determining, by means of a sensor, the orientation of the vertical direction in a reference frame tied to the mobile device at a plurality of successive instants; b) calculating, for each instant, the angle formed by the orientation of the vertical direction in the reference frame and a reference orientation, and c) detecting a manipulation when the angle exceeds a first threshold. An apparatus for detecting a manipulation of a mobile device comprises: a sensor for measuring the orientation of a vertical direction in a reference frame tied to the mobile device, and a processor connected to the sensor configured or programmed to implement such a method. A mobile phone comprising such an apparatus is also provided.

Claims

1. A method for detecting a manipulation of a mobile device, comprising the following steps:

determining, by means of a sensor fixed to said mobile device, an orientation of a vertical direction in a reference frame tied to said mobile device at a plurality of successive instants;

calculating, for each instant, an angle formed by the orientation of said vertical direction in said reference frame at each instant and a reference orientation corresponding to the vertical direction at a prior instant, wherein said reference orientation is chosen so as to be equal to the orientation of said vertical direction at a prior instant that precedes each instant by a duration τ

of between 0.5 and 5 seconds; and

detecting a manipulation when said angle exceeds a first threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said sensor is a three-axis accelerometer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the orientation is determined by a low-pass filtering operation on a signal generated by said sensor.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said low-pass filtering operation is implemented with a cutoff frequency that is lower than or equal to 1 Hz.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of successive instants are spaced apart by a mean interval of between 1 second and 1 millisecond.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said first threshold is between 15°

and 45°

.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said mobile device is a mobile phone or a touchscreen tablet.

8. An apparatus for detecting a manipulation of a mobile device, comprising:

a sensor, fixed to said mobile device, configured to determine an orientation of a vertical direction in a reference frame tied to said mobile device at a plurality of successive instants;

a processor connected to said sensor;

the processor configured to calculate, for each instant, an angle formed by the orientation of said vertical direction in said reference frame at each instant and a reference orientation corresponding to the vertical direction at a prior instant, wherein said reference orientation is chosen so as to be equal to the orientation of said vertical direction at a prior instant that precedes each instant by a duration τ

of between 0.5 and 5 seconds; and

the processor further configured to detect a manipulation when said angle exceeds a first threshold.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said sensor is a three-axis accelerometer.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the orientation is determined by a low-pass filtering operation on a signal generated by said sensor.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said low-pass filtering operation is implemented with a cutoff frequency that is lower than or equal to 1 Hz.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the plurality of successive instants are spaced apart by a mean interval of between 1 second and 1 millisecond.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said first threshold is between 15°

and 45°

.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said mobile device is a mobile phone or a touchscreen tablet.

15. A mobile phone comprising an apparatus for detecting a manipulation, comprising:

a sensor, fixed to said mobile phone, configured to determine an orientation of a vertical direction in a reference frame tied to said mobile phone at a plurality of successive instants;

a processor connected to said sensor;

the processor configured to calculate, for each instant, an angle formed by the orientation of said vertical direction in said reference frame at each instant and a reference orientation corresponding to the vertical direction at a prior instant, wherein said reference orientation is chosen so as to be equal to the orientation of said vertical direction at a prior instant that precedes each instant by a duration τ

of between 0.5 and 5 seconds; and

the processor further configured to detect a manipulation when said angle exceeds a first threshold.

16. A touchscreen tablet comprising an apparatus for detecting a manipulation, comprising:

a sensor, fixed to said touchscreen tablet, configured to determine an orientation of a vertical direction in a reference frame tied to said touchscreen tablet at a plurality of successive instants;

a processor connected to said sensor;

the processor configured to calculate, for each instant, an angle formed by the orientation of said vertical direction in said reference frame at each instant and a reference orientation corresponding to the vertical direction at a prior instant, wherein said reference orientation is chosen so as to be equal to the orientation of said vertical direction at a prior instant that precedes each instant by a duration τ

of between 0.5 and 5 seconds; and

the processor further configured to detect a manipulation when said angle exceeds a first threshold.