APPARATUS AND METHOD OF PROVIDING USER INTERFACE ON HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY AND HEAD MOUNTED DISPLAY THEREOF

• US 20140078043A1
• Filed: 06/12/2013
• Published: 03/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: KIM, Jihwan
• Granted Patent: US 9,448,624 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• 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 3/012 Head tracking input arrangements
• 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 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/34 Graphical or visual programming

Abstract

An apparatus and method of providing a user interface (UI) on head mounted display and the head mounted display (HMD) thereof are discussed. The apparatus comprises a sensor unit detecting whether an object exists in the proximity of the HMD and if the object is detected, the sensor unit senses a distance between the object and the HMD. The apparatus further comprises a processor controlling a User Interface (UI) of the HMD based on a result of the sensor unit. A physical User Interface (UI) mode is applied if the detected object is within a predetermined distance from the HMD and a non-physical User Interface (UI) mode is applied if the object is not detected or is not within the predetermined distance from the HMD.

Claims

1. A method providing a User Interface (UI) for a Head Mounted Display (HMD), the method comprising:

detecting whether an object exists in the proximity of the HMD;

determining one of a physical UI mode and a non-physical UI mode as an HMD UI mode based on the detecting step, wherein if the object is within a predetermined distance from the HMD, the physical UI mode is applied, and if the object is not detected or is not within the predetermined distance from the HMD, the non-physical UI mode is applied;

detecting whether a state of the object is changed; and

changing the HMD UI mode from the physical UI mode to the non-physical UI mode if the state of the detected object is varied beyond the predetermined distance from the HMD, and changing the HMD UI mode from the non-physical UI mode to the physical UI mode if the state of the detected object is varied within the predetermined distance from the HMD.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a user command in the physical UI mode by contacting the object and in the non-physical UI mode by not contacting the object.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the physical UI mode displays an imaginary UI function on a surface of the detected object.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the physical UI mode comprises at least one of a virtual keyboard User Interface (UI) or a drawing User Interface (UI).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-physical UI mode comprises at least one of a voice recognition User Interface (UI) or a gesture User Interface (UI).

6. A User Interface (UI) apparatus for a Head Mounted Display (HMD) comprising:

a sensor unit detecting whether an object exists in the proximity of the HMD and if the object is detected, sensing a distance between the object and the HMD; and

a processor determining one of a physical UI mode and a non-physical UI mode as an HMD UI mode based on the detecting step, wherein if the object is within a predetermined distance from the HMD, the physical UI mode is applied, and if the object is not detected or is not within the predetermined distance from the HMD, the non-physical UI mode is applied,

wherein the processor continuously detects whether a state of the object is changed; and

changes the HMD UI mode from the physical UI mode to the non-physical UI mode if the state of the detected object is varied beyond the predetermined distance from the HMD, and changes the HMD UI mode from the non-physical UI mode to the physical UI mode if the state of the detected object is varied within the predetermined distance from the HMD.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processor receives a user command in the physical UI mode by contacting the object and in the non-physical UI mode by not contacting the object.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the physical UI mode displays an imaginary UI function on a surface of the detected object.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the physical UI mode comprises at least one of a virtual keyboard User Interface (UI) or a drawing User Interface (UI).

10. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the non-physical UI mode comprises at least one of a voice recognition User Interface (UI) or a gesture User Interface (UI).