LIGHT-BASED TOUCH CONTROLS ON A STEERING WHEEL

• US 20140303841A1
• Filed: 06/24/2014
• Published: 10/09/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Neonode, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Neonode, Inc.
• Inventors: Frjdh, Gunnar Martin, Fellin, Simon, Eriksson, Thomas, Karlsson, John, Hedin, Maria, Berglind, Richard
• Granted Patent: US 8,918,252 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/36
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/141 Activation of instrument input devices by approaching fingers or pens
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/1446 Touch switches
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/782 on the steering wheel
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/141 Activation by approaching fingers or pens
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/1446 Touch switches
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/782 on the steering wheel
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/10 Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/60 Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/037 for occupant comfort , e.g. for automatic adjustment of appliances according to personal settings, e.g. seats, mirrors, steering wheel
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 1/046 Adaptations on rotatable parts of the steering wheel for accommodation of switches
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3664 Details of the user input interface, e.g. buttons, knobs or sliders, including those provided on a touch screen; remote controllers; input using gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/033 Pointing devices displaced or positioned by the user , e.g. mice, trackballs, pens or joysticks; Accessories therefor digitisers characterised by the transducing means G06F3/041
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0421 by interrupting or reflecting a light beam, e.g. optical touch-screen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/22 : including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector digitizers for touch screens G06F3/041
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/42201 : biosensors, e.g. heat sensor for presence detection, EEG sensors or any limb activity sensors worn by the user input arrangements for interaction with the human body based on nervous system activity detection G06F3/015

Abstract

A system for use in a vehicle, including a steering element situated opposite a driver seat in a vehicle, the steering element including a plurality of proximity sensors encased in the periphery of the steering element operable to detect hand gestures along the outer periphery of the steering element, an interactive deck housed in the vehicle, for providing at least one of radio broadcast, video broadcast, audio entertainment, video entertainment and navigational assistance in the vehicle, and a processor housed in the vehicle, coupled with the proximity sensors and the deck, operable to identify the hand gestures detected by the proximity sensors, and to control the deck in response to thus-identified hand gestures.

Claims

1-21. -21. (canceled)

22. A system for use in a vehicle, comprising:

a steering element, situated opposite a driver'"'"'s seat in a vehicle, comprising a plurality of proximity sensors for detecting multiple fingers concurrently touching the steering element;

an interactive deck housed in the vehicle, for providing at least one of radio broadcast, video broadcast, audio entertainment, video entertainment, telephone communication and navigational assistance in the vehicle; and

a processor housed in the vehicle, coupled with said proximity sensors and said deck, wherein, when said proximity sensors detect that one of the fingers is raised from said steering element, the processor determines which one of the fingers was lifted based on a relative location of the raised finger within the multiple fingers, and wherein the processor performs different functions of said deck in response to similar gestures performed by different thus-determined ones of the fingers.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein said processor identifies the multiple fingers concurrently touching said steering element as being fingers of one hand, based upon the size of a segment covered by a hand holding said steering element.

24. The system of claim 22 wherein said processor identifies the multiple fingers concurrently touching said steering element as being fingers of one hand, by detecting up to four fingers adjacent to one another along a periphery of said steering element.

25. The system of claim 22 wherein said processor controls a radio or an audio function of said deck in response to a tap gesture performed by a first determined finger, and controls a telephone function of said deck in response to a similar tap gesture performed by a second determined finger, different than the first determined finger.

26. The system of claim 22 wherein said processor further determines which of the driver'"'"'s hands the detected fingers belong to, by associating detections along a left half of said steering element with the driver'"'"'s left hand, and associating detections along a right half of said steering element with the driver'"'"'s right hand.

27. The system of claim 26 wherein said processor executes first and second control functions in response to tap gestures performed by index and middle fingers of the driver'"'"'s left hand, respectively, and executes third and fourth control functions, different than the first and second control functions, in response to tap gestures performed by index and middle fingers of the driver'"'"'s right hand, respectively.

28. A system for use in a vehicle, comprising:

a steering element situated opposite a driver'"'"'s seat in a vehicle, comprising a plurality of proximity sensors operable to detect hand gestures along an outer periphery of the steering element;

an interactive deck housed in the vehicle, for providing at least one of radio broadcast, video broadcast, audio entertainment, video entertainment, telephone communication and navigational assistance in the vehicle;

a memory for storing a plurality of different driver tables, each driver table associating each of a plurality of hand gestures with a respective control function for said deck; and

a processor housed in the vehicle, coupled with said proximity sensors, said deck and said memory, operable (i) to select a driver table appropriate for a current driver, (ii) to identify the hand gestures detected by said proximity sensors, and (iii) to execute the deck control functions associated with the thus-identified hand gestures, as per the selected driver table.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein said processor further comprises:

a user identification module for identifying a current driver; and

a communication module for wirelessly communicating with a remote server,

wherein said processor downloads the driver table appropriate for the current driver from the remote server to said memory when the current driver is identified by said user identification module.

30. The system of claim 29 for use in a rental car, wherein the current driver is a renter of the car.

31. The system of claim 29 wherein each driver table is automatically populated by a respective driver interacting with a simulated driver environment outside of an automobile.