User interaction apparatus and method

• US 10,429,949 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2017
• Issued: 10/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Original Assignee: HTC Corporation
• Inventors: Peng, Tzu-Yen, Chin, Ssu-Po
• Primary Examiner(s): Jansen, II, Michael J
• Application Number:
  US15/640,418
• Publication Number:
  US 20190004620A1
• Time in Patent Office: 823 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/211 using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/012 Head tracking input arrangements
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object

Abstract

The user interaction apparatus receives several movement values from a controller, calculates several applied force vectors according to the movement values, and determines that a specific applied force vector among the applied force vectors is greater than a threshold. Then, the user interaction apparatus determines that an angle between the specific applied force vector and an orientation vector is smaller than another threshold, receives a control position corresponding to the specific applied force vector from the controller, defines a boundary according to a calibrated position of a positioning apparatus or the orientation vector, and determines that the control position is outside the boundary. The user interaction apparatus controls a movement of a virtual object on a display after determining that the control position is outside the boundary.

Claims

1. A user interaction apparatus, comprising:

an interface, being configured to receive a calibrated position from a positioning apparatus; and

a processor, being electrically connected to the interface and configured to determine that a virtual object shown on a display is under a control of a controller, wherein the interface further receives a plurality of movement values from the controller, the processor further calculates a plurality of applied force vectors according to the movement values, and the processor further determines that a specific applied force vector among the applied force vectors is greater than a first threshold,

wherein the interface further receives an orientation vector corresponding to the specific applied force vector from the positioning apparatus and determines that an angle between the specific applied force vector and the orientation vector is smaller than a second threshold,

wherein the interface further receives a control position corresponding to the specific applied force vector from the controller and the processor further defines a boundary according to one of the calibrated position of a positioning apparatus and the orientation vector, determines that the control position is outside the boundary, and controls a movement of a virtual object on a display after determining that the control position is outside the boundary, defines a plurality of areas according to the calibrated position, a first plane, and a second plane, wherein the first plane and the second plane intersect,

wherein the processor further determines that the control position is within a specific area among the areas, decides a movement path according to the specific area, and calculates an output vector for the virtual object on the display according to the specific area and the specific applied force vector.

2. The user interaction apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor determines that the angle between the specific applied force vector and the orientation vector is smaller than the second threshold by determining that a multiplied value of a component of the specific applied force vector and a component of the orientation vector is greater than a third threshold, wherein the component of the specific applied force vector and the component of the orientation vector correspond to the same orientation.

3. The user interaction apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor defines the boundary according to the calibrated position by defining a first volume centered at the calibrated position and defining a second volume centered at a position within a predetermined distance of the calibrated position, wherein the first volume and the second volume overlap and a surface of the first volume and the second volume forms the boundary.

4. The user interaction apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first volume is a capsule, the second volume is a cuboid, and the position is at an opposite orientation of a calibrated orientation to the calibrated position.

5. The user interaction apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor defines the boundary according to the orientation vector by determining that an angle between the orientation vector and a calibrated orientation vector is greater than a third threshold and defining a third plane perpendicular to the calibrated orientation vector and at a predetermined distance to the calibrated position, wherein the third plane is the boundary.

6. The user interaction apparatus of claim 1, wherein the areas include an overhand area, a lower hand area, a side-arm left area, and a side-arm right area, the specific area is one of the lower hand area, the side-arm left area, and the side-arm right area, the processor calculates the output vector by averaging a subset of the applied force vectors, and the subset includes the specific applied force vector.

7. The user interaction apparatus of claim 1, wherein the areas include an overhand area, a lower hand area, a side-arm left area, and a side-arm right area, the specific area is the overhand area, the processor further calculates a first vector by averaging a subset of the applied force vectors, the subset includes the specific applied force vector, the processor further calculates a second vector by averaging the specific applied force vector and the applied force vector right before the specific applied force vector, the processor further calculates a third vector by averaging the first vector and the second vector, the processor further calculates an angle between each of the first vector, the second vector, and the third vector and each of a calibrated orientation vector and an opposite orientation vector of the calibrated orientation vector, and the processor decides the output vector to be the vector corresponding to the smallest angle.

8. The user interaction apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor further applies a weight to the output vector.

9. A user interaction method for use in an electronic computing apparatus, the electronic computing apparatus being electrically connected to a positioning apparatus and a controller, the user interaction method comprising the following steps of:

receiving a calibrated position from the positioning apparatus;

determining that a virtual object shown on a display is under the control of the controller;

receiving a plurality of movement values from the controller;

calculating a plurality of applied force vectors according to the movement values;

determining that a specific applied force vector among the applied force vectors is greater than a first threshold;

receiving an orientation vector corresponding to the specific applied force vector from the positioning apparatus;

determining that an angle between the specific applied force vector and the orientation vector is smaller than a second threshold;

receiving a control position corresponding to the specific applied force vector from the controller;

defining a boundary according to one of the calibrated position of the positioning apparatus and the orientation vector;

determining that the control position is outside the boundary;

defining a plurality of areas according to the calibrated position, a first plane, and a second plane, wherein the first plane and the second plane intersect determining that the control position is within a specific area among the areas;

deciding a movement path according to the specific area; and

calculating an output vector for the virtual object on the display according to the specific area and the specific applied force vector.

10. The user interaction method of claim 9, wherein the step of determining that the angle between the specific applied force vector and the orientation vector is smaller than the second threshold is achieved by:

determining that a multiplied value of a component of the specific applied force vector and a component of the orientation vector is greater than a third threshold, wherein the component of the specific applied force vector and the component of the orientation vector correspond to the same orientation.

11. The user interaction method of claim 9, wherein the step of defining the boundary according to one of the calibrated position of the positioning apparatus and the orientation vector is achieved by:

defining a first volume centered at the calibrated position and defining a second volume centered at a position within a predetermined distance of the calibrated position, wherein the first volume and the second volume overlap and a surface of the first volume and the second volume forms the boundary.

12. The user interaction method of claim 11, wherein the first volume is a capsule, the second volume is a cuboid, and the position is at an opposite orientation of a calibrated orientation to the calibrated position.

13. The user interaction method of claim 9, wherein the step of defining the boundary according to one of the calibrated position of the positioning apparatus and the orientation vector is achieved by:

determining that an angle between the orientation vector and a calibrated orientation vector is greater than a third threshold and defining a third plane perpendicular to the calibrated orientation vector and at a predetermined distance to the calibrated position, wherein the third plane is the boundary.

14. The user interaction method of claim 9, wherein the areas includes an overhand area, a lower hand area, a side-arm left area, and a side-arm right area, the specific area is one of the lower hand area, the side-arm left area, and the side-arm right area, the step of calculating the output vector for the virtual object on the display according to the specific area and the specific applied force vector is achieved by:

(k) calculates the output vector by averaging a subset of the applied force vectors, and the subset includes the specific applied force vector.

15. The user interaction method of claim 9, wherein the areas includes an overhand area, a lower hand area, a side-arm left area, and a side-arm right area, the specific area is the overhand area, and the step of calculating the output vector for the virtual object on the display according to the specific area and the specific applied force vector comprises the following steps of:

calculating a first vector by averaging a subset of the applied force vectors, wherein the subset includes the specific applied force vector;

calculating a second vector by averaging the specific applied force vector and the applied force vector right before the specific applied force vector;

calculating a third vector by averaging the first vector and the second vector; and

calculating an angle between each of the first vector, the second vector, and the third vector and each of a calibrated orientation vector and an opposite orientation vector of the calibrated orientation vector; and

deciding the output vector to be the vector corresponding to the smallest angle.

16. The user interaction method of claim 9, further comprising a step for applying a weight to the output vector.