GESTURE-BASED COMMUNICATIONS

• US 20080104547A1
• Filed: 10/25/2006
• Published: 05/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Roehm, Steven Phillip, Mahesh, Prakash, Morita, Mark, Kariathungal, Murali Kumaran
• Application Number:
  US11/552,815
• Publication Number:
  US 20080104547A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/863
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Application workflows can be improved using gesture recognition. Interpreting non-functional attributes of gestures, such as relative sizes and/or positions and/or locations, can indicate relative degrees of functionality of the gesture. Thus, gesture inputs trigger proportionate functionality at an application, whereby the gesture input can include a gesture component and at least one of a size component and/or a position component modifying the gesture component.

Claims

1. A gesture-based communication system, comprising:

an interface for receiving at least one or more non-functional attributes of a gesture; and

an application for interpreting said non-functional attributes as indicating a relative degree of functionality of said gesture.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said attributes is size.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said attributes is position.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of said attributes is size and another is position.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said application responds to said non-functional attributes in proportion to said relative degree of functionality.

6. A gesture-based communication method, comprising:

interpreting at least one or more non-functional attributes of a gesture as indicating a relative degree of functionality of said gesture.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein at least one of said attributes is size.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein at least one of said attributes is position.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein at least one of said attributes is size and another is position.

10. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

responding to said non-functional attributes in proportion to said relative degree of functionality.

11. A method for facilitating workflow, comprising:

establishing a communication link between an interface and an application; and

utilizing gesture input to trigger functionality at said application via said communication link, wherein said gesture input includes a gesture component and at least one of a size component and position component modifying said gesture component.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving a response from said application.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

authenticating said communication link.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

using said gesture input to perform at least one of data acquisition, data retrieval, order entry, dictation, data analysis, image review, image annotation, display modification, and image modification.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

displaying a response from said application.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein said gesture input corresponds to a sequence of application commands for execution by said application.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein said interface or application includes a default translation between said gesture input and said functionality.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

customizing a translation between said gesture input and said functionality for at least one of a user and a group of users.

19. A computer-readable medium having a set of instructions for execution on a computer, said set of instructions comprising:

an input routine configured to receive gesture-based input at an interface, said input routine capturing a gesture and a characteristic associated with said gesture-based input; and

a translation routine configured to translate between said gesture-based input and an application function, said translation routine modifying said application function corresponding to said characteristic of said gesture-based input.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein said translation routine includes a default translation.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein said translation routine allows customization of said translation between said gesture-based input and said application function.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein said translation routine allows configuring at least one of an additional gesture-based input and application function.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein said gesture-based input corresponds to a sequence of application functions.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein said gesture-based input facilitates a workflow using said application function.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein said characteristic includes at least one of a position and a size of said gesture.

26. A method for associating a gesture with an application function, comprising:

mapping a gesture to an application function; and

modifying said mapping based on a characteristic associated with said gesture.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein said characteristic includes at least one of a position and a size of said gesture.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

storing said modified mapping.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein said storing comprises storing said modified mapping for at least one of a user and a group of users.

30. The method of claim 26, wherein said modified mapping is created dynamically during use.

31. The method of claim 26, wherein said modified mapping corresponds to a sequence of application functions.

32. The method of claim 26, wherein said application function comprises a healthcare application function.