MOBILE TERMINAL AND OPERATION CONTROL METHOD THEREOF

• US 20120083312A1
• Filed: 07/26/2011
• Published: 04/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: KIM, Jonghwan
• Granted Patent: US 9,323,324 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/556.1
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 13/001 Miniaturised objectives for electronic devices, e.g. portable telephones, webcams, PDAs, small digital cameras G02B23/243 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0093 with means for monitoring data relating to the user, e.g. head-tracking, eye-tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/27 involving lenticular arrays
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/30 involving parallax barriers
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 30/33 involving directional light or back-light sources
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0304 Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means constructional details of pointing devices not related to the detection arrangement using opto-electronic means G06F3/033; optical digitisers G06F3/042
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/128 Adjusting depth or disparity
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/383 for tracking with gaze detection, i.e. detecting the lines of sight of the viewer's eyes
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 13/398 Synchronisation thereof; Control thereof

Abstract

A mobile terminal and an operation control method thereof are provided. The operation control method includes displaying a stereoscopic 3D image, which is created based on the disparity between left- and right-eye images, on a display module; determining a position of a user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image by performing eye tracking; and varying a 3D effect of a portion of the stereoscopic 3D image corresponding to the determined gaze position. Therefore, it is possible to effectively control various operations performed by a mobile terminal in connection with a stereoscopic 3D image by using eye tracking.

Claims

1. An operation control method of a mobile terminal, the operation control method comprising:

displaying a stereoscopic three-dimensional (3D) image, which is created based on the disparity between left- and right-eye images, on a display module;

determining a position of a user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image by performing eye tracking; and

varying a 3D effect of a portion of the stereoscopic 3D image corresponding to the determined gaze position.

2. The operation control method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to the position of the user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image moving, displaying the stereoscopic 3D image portion corresponding to the determined gaze position with an original 3D effect.

3. The operation control method of claim 1, further varying a 3D effect of an object corresponding to the determined gaze position.

4. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a camera;

a display module configured to display a stereoscopic 3D image, which is created based on the disparity between left- and right-eye images; and

a controller configured to determine a position of a user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image by performing eye tracking based on an image of the user captured by the camera and to vary a 3D effect of a portion of the stereoscopic 3D image corresponding to the determined gaze position.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 4, wherein the controller is further configured to, in response to the position of the user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image moving, display the stereoscopic 3D image portion corresponding to the determined gaze position with an original 3D effect.

6. An operation control method of a mobile terminal, the operation control method comprising:

displaying a stereoscopic 3D image, which is created based on the disparity between left- and right-eye images, on a display module;

in response to an occurrence of a communication event being detected, determining a position of a user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image by performing eye tracking; and

displaying notice information indicating the occurrence of the communication event at a portion of the stereoscopic 3D image corresponding to the determined gaze position.

7. The operation control method of claim 6, wherein the communication event comprises an incoming message, an incoming call, and an incoming email.

8. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a camera;

a display module configured to display a stereoscopic 3D image, which is created based on the disparity between left- and right-eye images; and

a controller configured to, in response to an occurrence of a communication event being detected, determine a position of a user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image by performing eye tracking based on an image of the user captured by the camera and to displaying notice information indicating the occurrence of the communication event at a portion of the stereoscopic 3D image corresponding to the determined gaze position.

9. An operation control method of a mobile terminal, the operation control method comprising:

displaying a stereoscopic 3D menu screen, which is created based on the disparity between left- and right-eye images, on a display module;

determining a position of a user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D menu screen by performing eye tracking; and

performing a function relevant to an object in the stereoscopic 3D menu screen corresponding to the determined gaze position.

10. The operation control method of claim 9, further comprising varying a 3D effect of the object corresponding to the determined gaze position.

11. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a camera;

a display module configured to display a stereoscopic 3D menu screen, which is created based on the disparity between left- and right-eye images; and

a controller configured to determining a position of a user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D menu screen by performing eye tracking based on an image of the user captured by the camera and to perform a function relevant to an object in the stereoscopic 3D menu screen corresponding to the determined gaze position.

12. An operation control method of a mobile terminal, the operation control method comprising:

displaying a stereoscopic 3D image, which is created based on the disparity between left- and right-eye images, on a display module;

determining a position of a user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image by performing eye tracking; and

displaying a stereoscopic 3D pointer over a portion of the stereoscopic 3D image corresponding to the determined gaze position.

13. The operation control method of claim 12, further comprising moving the stereoscopic 3D pointer along with the position of the user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image.

14. The operation control method of claim 12, further comprising, in response to the position of the user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image not changing for more than a predetermined amount of time, performing an operation corresponding to an object pointed to by the stereoscopic 3D image.

15. The operation control method of claim 12, further comprising displaying one or more objects in the stereoscopic 3D image belonging to the same depth layer as the stereoscopic 3D pointer distinguishably from other objects.

16. The operation control method of claim 12, further comprising displaying depth information corresponding to the stereoscopic 3D pointer over the stereoscopic 3D image.

17. The operation control method of claim 12, further comprising providing a menu for adjusting a transparency of the stereoscopic 3D pointer.

18. The operation control method of claim 12, further comprising correcting a spatial position in the stereoscopic 3D image pointed to by the stereoscopic 3D pointer.

19. A mobile terminal, comprising:

a camera;

a display module configured to display a stereoscopic 3D image, which is created based on the disparity between left- and right-eye images; and

a controller configured to determine a position of a user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image by performing eye tracking based on an image of the user captured by the camera and to display a stereoscopic 3D pointer over a portion of the stereoscopic 3D image corresponding to the determined gaze position.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 19, wherein, the controller is further configured to, in response to the position of the user'"'"'s gaze on the stereoscopic 3D image not changing for more than a predetermined amount of time, perform an operation corresponding to an object pointed to by the stereoscopic 3D image.