ITEM NAVIGATION USING MOTION-CAPTURE DATA

• US 20110310007A1
• Filed: 06/22/2010
• Published: 12/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Margolis, Jeffrey, Lee, Tricia, Martinez, Gregory A., Kipman, Alex Aben-Athar
• Granted Patent: US 8,416,187 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/157
• 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

A system and method is provided for using motion-capture data to control navigating of a cursor in a user interface of a computing system. Movement of a user'"'"'s hand or other object in a three-dimensional capture space is tracked and represented in the computing system as motion-capture model data. The method includes obtaining a plurality of positions for the object from the motion-capture model data. The method determines a curved-gesture center point based on at least some of the plurality of positions for the object. Using the curved-gesture center point as an origin, an angular property is determined for one of the plurality of positions for the object. The method further includes navigating the cursor in a sequential arrangement of selectable items based on the angular property.

Claims

1. A method of using motion capture to control a computing system, the method comprising:

obtaining, from motion-capture model data, a plurality of positions for an object, said plurality of positions being representative of a user'"'"'s movement of the object in a three-dimensional motion-capture space;

determining a curved-gesture center point based on at least some of the plurality of positions for the object;

using the curved-gesture center point as an origin, determining an angular property for one of the plurality of positions for the object; and

in a user interface, navigating a cursor in a sequential arrangement of selectable items based on the angular property.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the curved-gesture center point is determined by determining an average position using the plurality of positions.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the angular property is an angle defined between a reference line and a line extending between the curved-gesture center point and said one of the plurality of positions for the object, and wherein navigating the cursor includes positioning the cursor in a location in the sequential arrangement of selectable items that corresponds to the angle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the angular property is a change in angular position, and wherein navigating the cursor includes causing the cursor to traverse a number of the selectable items that is in proportion to the change in angular position.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the number of selectable items that are traversed is further in proportion to a radius between the curved-gesture center point and said one of the plurality of positions for the object.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the angular property is an angular velocity, and wherein navigating the cursor includes causing the cursor to move through the selectable items at a rate that is in proportion to the angular velocity.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the object is a user'"'"'s hand.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating the curved-gesture center point;

using such updated curved-gesture center point, determining an angular property for a second one of the plurality of positions for the object; and

in the user interface, navigating the cursor in the sequential arrangement of selectable items based on the angular property for the second one of the plurality of positions for the object.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the selectable items are locations within a media selection.

10. A computing system having a user interface that is controllable through motion capture, comprising:

a logic subsystem;

a display subsystem operatively coupled with the logic subsystem and configured to display a user interface having a sequential arrangement of selectable items;

a data-holding subsystem operatively coupled with the logic subsystem and containing motion-capture model data, the data-holding subsystem also containing user interface instructions executable by the logic subsystem to;

obtain, from the motion-capture model data, a plurality of positions for an object, said plurality of positions being representative of a user'"'"'s movement of the object in a three-dimensional motion-capture space;

determine a curved-gesture center point based on at least some of the plurality of positions for the object;

using the curved-gesture center point as an origin, determine an angular property for one of the plurality of positions for the object; and

navigate a cursor in the sequential arrangement of selectable items based on the angular property.

11. The computing system of claim 10, wherein the user interface instructions are configured to determine the curved-gesture center point by determining an average position for the plurality of positions.

12. The computing system of claim 10, wherein the angular property is an angle defined between a reference line and a line extending between the curved-gesture center point and said one of the plurality of positions for the object, and wherein the user interface instructions are configured to position the cursor in a location in the sequential arrangement of selectable items that corresponds to the angle.

13. The computing system of claim 10, wherein the angular property is a change in angular position, and wherein the user interface instructions are configured to cause the cursor to traverse a number of the selectable items that is in proportion to the change in angular position.

14. The computing system of claim 10, wherein the angular property is an angular velocity, and wherein the user interface instructions are configured to cause the cursor to move through the selectable items at a rate that is in proportion to the angular velocity.

15. The computing system of claim 10, wherein the object is a user'"'"'s hand.

16. The computing system of claim 10, wherein the user interface instructions are further configured to:

update the curved-gesture center point;

use such updated curved-gesture center point to determine an angular property for a second one of the plurality of positions for the object; and

navigate the cursor in the cursor in the sequential arrangement of selectable items based on the angular property for the second one of the plurality of positions for the object.

17. The computing system of claim 10, wherein the selectable items are locations within a media selection.

18. A method of using motion capture to control a computing system, the method comprising:

obtaining, from motion-capture model data, a plurality of positions for a hand of a user, said plurality of positions being representative of the user'"'"'s hand moving in a three-dimensional capture space;

determining a first curved-gesture center point based on a first set of hand positions from the plurality of positions;

determining a first angular property using the first curved-gesture center point as an origin;

determining a second curved-gesture center point based on a second set of hand positions from the plurality of positions;

determining a second angular property using the second curved-gesture center point as an origin; and

changeably navigating a cursor in a sequential arrangement of selectable items, such that the cursor is first navigated based on the first angular property, and then subsequently navigated based on the second angular property.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein changeably navigating the cursor includes varying a rate at which the cursor is caused to move through the selectable items.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the selectable items are locations within a media selection.