SINGLE-CAMERA DISPLAY DEVICE DETECTION
First Claim
1. A method for determining a distance of an object from a surface of an interactive display device with a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, the method comprising:
- directing infrared (IR) light to the object above the surface of the interactive display device, the IR light being reflected by the object back to the interactive display device;
refracting IR light reflected from the object into two rays travelling in two different directions based on a polarization state of the reflected IR light;
switching a polarization state of the LCD device to allow a first of the two refracted rays to pass through the LCD device;
receiving, at a detector, the first of the two refracted rays that passes through the LCD device;
switching the polarization state of the LCD device to allow a second of the two refracted rays to pass through the LCD;
receiving, at the detector, the second of the two refracted rays that passes through the LCD device; and
estimating a distance of the object from the surface of the interactive display device based on triangulation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Various embodiments related to determining a distance of an object from a surface of an interactive display device are disclosed herein. For example, one disclosed embodiment provides a method comprising, directing infrared (IR) light to the object above the surface which is reflected by the object back to the interactive display device, and refracting IR light reflected from the object into two rays travelling in different directions based on a polarization state of the reflected IR light. The method further comprises switching a polarization state of an LCD device to allow one of the two refracted rays to pass through the LCD device, and receiving, at a detector, the one of the two refracted ray that passes through the LCD device. Further, the method comprises estimating a distance of the object from the surface based on triangulation.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for determining a distance of an object from a surface of an interactive display device with a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, the method comprising:
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directing infrared (IR) light to the object above the surface of the interactive display device, the IR light being reflected by the object back to the interactive display device; refracting IR light reflected from the object into two rays travelling in two different directions based on a polarization state of the reflected IR light; switching a polarization state of the LCD device to allow a first of the two refracted rays to pass through the LCD device; receiving, at a detector, the first of the two refracted rays that passes through the LCD device; switching the polarization state of the LCD device to allow a second of the two refracted rays to pass through the LCD; receiving, at the detector, the second of the two refracted rays that passes through the LCD device; and estimating a distance of the object from the surface of the interactive display device based on triangulation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An interactive display device with a computing system, comprising:
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a display subsystem of the computing system configured to display an image on a surface of the interactive display device with which a user interacts; a vision subsystem of the computing system configured to detect an object above a surface of the interactive display device; an optical system, comprising; an infrared (IR) light source which directs IR light toward the object; a birefringent prism configured to split an incoming ray of IR light reflected from the object into two rays of light travelling, in two different directions based on a polarization state of the incoming ray of IR light; a liquid crystal display (LCD) device including an LCD and a polarizer; wedge-shaped light guide; and a detector coupled to an end of the wedge-shaped light guide; and a computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable by the computing system to switch a polarization state of the LCD so that IR light in one polarization state passes through the LCD while IR light in another polarization state is absorbed by the LCD, and to estimate a distance of the object from the surface of the interactive display device based on triangulation. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An interactive display device, comprising:
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an infrared light source positioned to emit light away from a surface of the interactive display device and toward an object positioned above the surface of the interactive display device; a birefringent prism which includes a sawtooth-shaped region that is filled with liquid crystal, the birefringent prism configured to cause an incoming ray of light reflected from the object above the surface of the interactive display device to be refracted into two rays travelling in different directions based on a polarization state of the incoming ray of light reflected from the object; a liquid crystal display (LCD) device positioned below the birefringent prism, the LCD device including an LCD and a polarizer; a wedge-shaped light guide positioned below the LCD device; a camera positioned at a wide end of the wedge-shaped light guide so that the camera receives refracted rays of light from the birefringent prism; and a computer-readable medium comprising instructions executable by a computing device to switch a polarization state of the LCD so that light in one polarization state passes through the LCD while light in another polarization state is absorbed by the LCD, and to estimate a distance of the object from the surface of the interactive display device based on triangulation. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification