FINGER MOTION DETECTING APPARATUS AND METHOD

• US 20110054360A1
• Filed: 07/21/2010
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
• Inventors: LEE, Dong-Woo, SON, Yong-Ki, KIM, Bae-Sun, LIM, Jeong-Mook
• Granted Patent: US 8,292,833 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/595
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1126 using a particular sensing technique
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4523 Tendons
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/4528 Joints A61B5/4533, A61B5/4538 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/681 Wristwatch-type devices
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/6826 Finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/014 Hand-worn input/output arrangements, e.g. data gloves
• 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

Abstract

The present invention relates to a finger-motion detecting apparatus and method and includes a sensing unit to be disposed on a wrist of a subject person, said sensing unit being configured to output a measurement signal into the wrist of the subject person and to receive a reflected signal of the measurement signal according to the motion of tendons in the wrist of the subject person, a signal control unit configured to control whether the measurement signal is outputted and to adjust the measurement signal on the basis of the reflected signal, and a finger-motion recognizing unit configured to detect finger motion of the subject person from the reflected signal. According to the present invention, since a sensor capable of detecting finger motion is worn on a wrist, the problem of inconvenience in existing methods is resolved.

Claims

1. A finger-motion detecting apparatus comprising:

a sensing unit to be disposed on a wrist of a subject person, said sensing unit configured to output a measurement signal into the wrist of the subject person and to receive a reflected signal of the measurement signal according to the motion of tendons in the wrist of the subject person;

a signal control unit configured to control whether the measurement signal is outputted and to adjust the measurement signal on the basis of the reflected signal; and

a finger-motion recognizing unit configured to detect finger motion of the subject person from the reflected signal.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the sensing unit outputs the measurement signal to a carpal tunnel containing the tendons controlling the motion of fingers.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the signal control unit adjusts at least one of the strength of a signal output, the frequency of a signal output, a signal output time point, and a signal output cycle regarding the measurement signal.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the signal control unit senses a signal regarding the finger motion by triggering the reflected signal.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein:

the finger-motion recognizing unit detects the finger motion from the waveform of the signal regarding the finger motion.

6. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein:

the finger-motion recognizing unit determines a time block having a time period for processing the signal regarding the finger motion and buffers the signal input until end point of the time block.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein:

the finger-motion recognizing unit determines the start and end of the time block in reference to time points when predetermined finger motions are sensed.

8. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein:

the sensing unit further comprises an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor, and

the finger-motion recognizing unit detects hand motion of the subject person on the basis of a signal input by the acceleration sensor or the gyro sensor until end point of the time block.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the measurement signal is in a form of at least one of an infrared ray, a laser, and an ultrasonic wave.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a command generating unit configured to generate a command corresponding to the finger motion.

11. A finger-motion detecting method comprising:

outputting a measurement signal into a wrist of a subject person;

receiving a reflected signal of the measurement signal according to motion of tendons in the wrist of the subject person;

adjusting the measurement signal on the basis of the reflected signal; and

detecting finger motion of the subject person from the reflected signal during a time period when the measurement signal is output while being adjusted.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein:

in the outputting of the measurement signal, the measurement signal is output into a carpal tunnel containing the tendons controlling the finger motion.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein:

in the adjusting of the measurement signal, at least one of the strength of a signal output, the frequency of a signal output, a signal output time point, and a signal output cycle regarding the measurement signal is adjusted.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein:

the detecting of the finger motion further comprises sensing a signal regarding the finger motion by triggering the reflected signal.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein:

in the detecting of the finger motion, the finger motion is detected from the waveform of the signal regarding the finger motion.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein:

the detecting of the finger motion comprises

determining a time block having a time period for processing the signal regarding the finger motion, and

buffering the signal input until end point of the time block.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein:

the detecting of the finger motion further comprises determining the start and end of the time block in reference to time points when predetermined finger motions are sensed.

18. The method according to claim 16, further comprising:

receiving a signal from an acceleration sensor or a gyro sensor; and

detecting hand motion of the subject person on the basis of a signal input by the acceleration sensor or the gyro sensor until end point of the time block.

19. The method according to claim 11, wherein:

the measurement signal is in a form of at least one of an infrared ray, a laser, and an ultrasonic wave.

20. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:

generating a command corresponding to the finger motion.