METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRACKING ORIENTATION OF A USER

• US 20120172126A1
• Filed: 04/01/2011
• Published: 07/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Julian, David Jonathan, Keating, Virginia Walker, Burdo, Rinat, Padovani, Niccolo A.
• Granted Patent: US 9,436,286 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 463/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/011 Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality blind teaching G09B21/00
• 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
• 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

Abstract

An apparatus for data processing, according to one or more aspects of the disclosure, includes a processing system configured to communicate with at least one of a plurality of reference nodes worn on body parts to obtain body positioning data relating to relative position between the body parts, and provide body tracking based on the body positioning data. The body positioning data relates to ranging and/or angular position between each of the reference nodes and a reference plane defined by one or more of the reference nodes.

Claims

1. An apparatus for data processing comprising:

a processing system configured to communicate with at least one of a plurality of reference nodes worn on body parts to obtain body positioning data relating to relative position between the body parts, and provide body tracking based on the body positioning data,

wherein the body positioning data relates to ranging between each of the reference nodes and a reference plane defined by one or more of the reference nodes.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a game console, and wherein the processing system is further configured to support one or more gaming applications by providing body tracking based on the body positioning data.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for supporting the apparatus on the body.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising at least one sensor configured to generate reference data relating to relative position of at least one body part in relation to the apparatus.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the body positioning data further relates to angular position between each of the reference nodes and the reference plane.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is configured to communicate with at least one of the reference nodes when worn on body parts of multiple users to obtain the body positioning data.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the body positioning data comprises one or more physical dimensions of the body.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the body positioning data comprises one or more movements of the body.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the body positioning data comprises one or more physical dimensions of the body, one or more movements of the body, and a relationship between the one or more physical dimensions of the body and the one or more movements of the body.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the body positioning data comprises one or more physical dimensions of the body, and wherein the processing system is configured to create a historical record of the one or more physical dimensions of the body from the body positioning data.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the body positioning data comprises data related to one or more movements of the body, and wherein the processing system is configured to create a historical record of the body positioning data related to the one or more movements of the body.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is configured to generate at least a portion of the body positioning data.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing system is configured to receive at least a portion of the body positioning data from the at least one of the reference nodes.

14. A method for data processing comprising:

communicating with at least one of a plurality of reference nodes worn on body parts to obtain body positioning data relating to relative position between the body parts; and

providing body tracking based on the body positioning data,

wherein the body positioning data relates to ranging between each of the reference nodes and a reference plane defined by one or more of the reference nodes.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the body positioning data further relates to angular position between each of the reference nodes and the reference plane.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein communicating with the at least one of the reference nodes includes communicating with the at least one of the reference nodes when worn on body parts of multiple users to obtain the body positioning data.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the body positioning data comprises one or more physical dimensions of the body.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the body positioning data comprises one or more movements of the body.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the body positioning data comprises one or more physical dimensions of the body, one or more movements of the body, and a relationship between the one or more physical dimensions of the body and the one or more movements of the body.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the body positioning data comprises one or more physical dimensions of the body, and wherein providing body tracking comprises creating a historical record of the one or more physical dimensions of the body from the body positioning data.

21. The method of claim 14, wherein the body positioning data comprises data related to one or more movements of the body, and wherein providing body tracking comprises creating a historical record of the body positioning data related to the one or more movements of the body from the body positioning data.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising generating at least a portion of the body positioning data.

23. The method of claim 14, further comprising receiving at least a portion of the body positioning data from the at least one of the reference nodes.

24. An apparatus for data processing comprising:

means for communicating with at least one of a plurality of reference nodes worn on body parts to obtain body positioning data relating to relative position between the body parts; and

means for providing body tracking based on the body positioning data,

wherein the body positioning data relates to ranging between each of the reference nodes and a reference plane defined by one or more of the reference nodes.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the apparatus comprises a game console, and wherein the apparatus further comprises means for supporting one or more gaming applications.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the apparatus further comprises means for supporting the apparatus on the body.

27. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising a sensing means for generating reference data relating to relative position of at least one body part.

28. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the body positioning data further relates to angular position between each of the reference nodes and the reference plane.

29. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the means for communicating with the at least one of the reference nodes comprises means for communicating with the at least one of the reference nodes when worn on body parts of multiple users to obtain the body positioning data.

30. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the body positioning data comprises one or more physical dimensions of the body.

31. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the body positioning data comprises one or more movements of the body.

32. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the body positioning data comprises one or more physical dimensions of the body, one or more movements of the body, and a relationship between the one or more physical dimensions of the body and the one or more movements of the body.

33. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the body positioning data comprises one or more physical dimensions of the body, and wherein the means for providing body tracking is configured to create a historical record of the one or more physical dimensions of the body from the body positioning data.

34. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the body positioning data comprises data related to one or more movements of the body, and wherein the means for providing body tracking is configured to create a historical record of the body positioning data related to the one or more movements of the body from the body positioning data.

35. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means for generating at least a portion of the body positioning data.

36. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising means for receiving at least a portion of the body positioning data from the at least one of the reference nodes.

37. A computer program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising codes executable to cause an apparatus to;

communicate with at least one of a plurality of reference nodes worn on body parts to obtain body positioning data relating to relative position between the body parts; and

provide body tracking based on the body positioning data,

wherein the body positioning data relates to ranging between each of the reference nodes and a reference plane defined by one or more of the reference nodes.

38. A game console comprising:

a receiver configured to receive information from a user; and

a processing system configured to communicate with at least one of a plurality of reference nodes worn on body parts of the user to obtain body positioning data relating to relative position between the body parts of the user, and provide body tracking of the user based on the body positioning data,

wherein the body positioning data relates to ranging between each of the reference nodes and a reference plane defined by one or more of the reference nodes.