GESTURE CONTROLLABLE SYSTEM USES PROPRIOCEPTION TO CREATE ABSOLUTE FRAME OF REFERENCE

• US 20140317577A1
• Filed: 01/30/2012
• Published: 10/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Chen, Njin-Zu, Thijssen, Paulus Thomas Arnoldus
• Application Number:
  US13/977,743
• Publication Number:
  US 20140317577A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/863
• 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

Abstract

A system has a contactless user-interface for control of the system through pre-determined gestures of a bodily part of the user. The user-interface has a camera and a data processing system. The camera captures video data, representative of the bodily part and of an environment of the bodily part. The data processing system processes the video data. The data processing system determines a current spatial relationship between the bodily part and another bodily part of the user. Only if the spatial relationship matches a pre-determined spatial relationship representative of the pre-determined gesture, the data processing system sets the system into a pre-determined state.

Claims

1-3. -3. (canceled)

4. A contactless user-interface configured for use in a system for enabling a user to control the system in operational use through a pre-determined gesture of a bodily part of the user, wherein:

the user-interface comprises a camera system and a data processing system;

the camera system is configured for capturing video data, representative of the bodily part and of an environment of the bodily part;

the data processing system is coupled to the camera system and is configured for processing the video data for;

extracting from the video data a current spatial relationship between the bodily part, and a pre-determined reference in the environment;

determining if the current spatial relationship matches a pre-determined spatial relationship between the bodily part and the pre-determined reference, the pre-determined spatial relationship being characteristic of the pre-determined gesture; and

producing a control command for setting the system into a pre-determined state, in dependence on the current spatial relationship matching the pre-determined spatial relationship; and

the pre-determined reference comprises a physical object external to the user and within the environment.

5. The contactless user-interface of claim 4, wherein the pre-determined spatial relationship is representative of at least one of:

a relative position of the bodily part with respect to the pre-determined reference;

a relative orientation of the bodily part with respect to the pre-determined reference; and

a relative movement of the bodily part with respect to the pre-determined reference.

6. The contactless user-interface of claim 4, wherein at least one of the pre-determined reference, the pre-determined spatial relationship and the pre-determined state is programmable or re-programmable.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the pre-determined spatial relationship is representative of at least one of:

a relative position of the bodily part with respect to the reference;

a relative orientation of the bodily part with respect to the reference; and

a relative movement of the bodily part with respect to the pre-determined reference.

7. A method for controlling a system in response to a pre-determined gesture of a bodily part of the user, wherein the method comprises:

receiving video data, captured by a camera system and representative of the bodily part and of an environment of the bodily part; and

processing the video data;

the processing of the video data comprises;

extracting from the video data a current spatial relationship between the bodily part and a pre-determined reference in the environment;

determining if the current spatial relationship matches a pre-determined spatial relationship between the bodily part and the pre-determined reference, the pre-determined spatial relationship being characteristic of the pre-determined gesture; and

producing a control command for setting the system into a pre-determined state, in dependence on the current spatial relationship matching the pre-determined spatial relationship;

and the pre-determined reference comprises a physical object external to the user and within the environment.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein at least one of the pre-determined reference, the pre-determined spatial relationship and the pre-determined state is programmable or re-programmable.

10. Control software stored on a computer-readable medium and operative to configure a system so as to be controllable in response to a pre-determined gesture of a bodily part of the user, wherein:

the control software comprises first instructions for processing video data, captured by a camera system and representative of the bodily part and of an environment of the bodily part;

the first instructions comprise;

second instructions for extracting from the video data a current spatial relationship between the bodily part and a pre-determined reference in the environment;

third instructions for determining if the current spatial relationship matches a pre-determined spatial relationship between the bodily part and the pre-determined reference, the pre-determined spatial relationship being characteristic of the pre-determined gesture; and

fourth instructions for producing a control command for setting the system into a pre-determined state, in dependence on the current spatial relationship matching the pre-determined spatial relationship; and

the pre-determined reference comprises a physical object external to the user and within the environment.

11. The control software of claim 10, wherein the pre-determined spatial relationship is representative of at least one of:

a relative position of the bodily part with respect to the reference;

a relative orientation of the bodily part with respect to the reference; and

a relative movement of the bodily part with respect to the pre-determined reference.

12. The control software of claim 10, comprising fifth instructions for programming or re-programming at least one of:

the pre-determined reference, the pre-determined spatial relationship and the pre-determined state.