Method and Apparatus for a Virtual Keyboard Plane
First Claim
1. A keyboard apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of cameras located on a same surface of a wireless potable unit as a display screen;
a displayed keyboard located on a screen of said display screen;
a virtual keyboard located parallel and above said displayed keyboard on said screen;
said virtual keyboard has dimensions proportionally larger than said displayed keyboard; and
a finger estimating system to identify locations of fingertips relative to said virtual keyboard using images obtained from said cameras.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Two cameras forming a 3-D camera system are used to project the key pattern of the plane from the displayed keyboard of a small display of a smartphone to that of a larger initialization plane of a virtual keyboard which is displaced in a parallel plane and increased in size from the displayed keyboard plane. The displayed keyboard is located on a screen of the display screen of the smartphone. The angular variation of the finger'"'"'s position from the displayed keyboard plane based on the camera image indicates the keyboard character being depressed. Plenoptic cameras can also be used. The displacement distance or baseline of the plenoptic cameras is advantageous to increase. Highlighting the keys on the displayed keyboard when the fingers are in the initialization plane or activation plane of a virtual keyboard either by color, shading, or any other visual means provides positive feedback to the user.
14 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A keyboard apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of cameras located on a same surface of a wireless potable unit as a display screen; a displayed keyboard located on a screen of said display screen; a virtual keyboard located parallel and above said displayed keyboard on said screen; said virtual keyboard has dimensions proportionally larger than said displayed keyboard; and a finger estimating system to identify locations of fingertips relative to said virtual keyboard using images obtained from said cameras. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A keyboard apparatus comprising:
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a plurality of plenoptic cameras located on a same surface of a wireless potable unit as a display screen; a displayed keyboard located on a screen of said display screen; a virtual keyboard located parallel and above said displayed keyboard on said screen; said virtual keyboard has dimensions proportionally larger than said displayed keyboard; an embedded algorithm to identify a Plane of depth (POD) of location of fingertips relative to said virtual keyboard using a Light Field Photograph (LFP) image obtained from said cameras; and a finger estimating system to identify said locations of fingertips in an x-y Cartesian coordinate plane. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of using a virtual keyboard comprising the steps of:
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placing a plurality of cameras beside a display screen of a wireless portable unit; calculating a number of baselines based on said plurality of cameras; evaluating angles of elevation and altitude for each fingertip in an obtained image from each camera; calculating a height of each fingertip from said display screen based on said angles using the finger estimation system; determining a sequence of fingertips that are depressed; mapping said sequence of fingertips to a sequence of keys; and printing characters corresponding to said sequence of keys in a text box of said display screen. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification