DISPLAY NAVIGATION USING TOUCH-LESS GESTURES

• US 20150002384A1
• Filed: 07/01/2013
• Published: 01/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Mankowski, Peter, Wu, Xiaowei, Rang, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 9,489,051 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• 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 device and method to facilitate display navigation by touch-less gesture are described. The device includes two or more ambient light sensors arranged at respective surface locations of the device, each of the two or more ambient light sensors measuring light intensity at the respective surface location. The device also includes a processor to detect a gesture as a detected gesture performed by an object in touch-less communication with the device and output a signal corresponding with the detected gesture, and a navigation gesture library to store two or more gestures and corresponding two or more signals, wherein the processor accesses the navigation gesture library when the device is not executing an application with an associated application gesture library.

Claims

1. A device to facilitate display navigation by touch-less gesture, the device comprising:

two or more ambient light sensors arranged at respective surface locations of the device, each of the two or more ambient light sensors configured to measure light intensity at the respective surface location;

a processor configured to detect a gesture as a detected gesture performed by an object in touch-less communication with the device and output a signal corresponding with the detected gesture; and

a navigation gesture library configured to store two or more gestures and corresponding two or more signals, wherein the processor accesses the navigation gesture library when the device is not executing an application with an associated application gesture library.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein, when the device is executing the application with the associated application gesture library, the processor accesses the associated application gesture library instead of the navigation gesture library.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein, when the device is executing the application with the associated application gesture library, the processor accesses the associated application gesture library in addition to the navigation gesture library.

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein, when the detected gesture has a corresponding first signal in the navigation gesture library and a corresponding second signal in the associated application gesture library, the processor outputs the second signal.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the detected gesture is based on a movement of the object in three dimensions.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the detected gesture is based on a rotation or a tilt of the object.

7. The device according to claim 5, wherein the detected gesture is performed by a hand as the object with two fingers coming together or moving apart.

8. The device according to claim 1, further comprising a second processor configured to change a display of the device to a previous or a next image based on the signal.

9. The device according to claim 8, wherein the second processor increases or decreases a zoom level of an image on the display.

10. A method of navigating a display of a device by touch-less gesture, the method comprising:

measuring, using two or more ambient light sensors arranged at respective surface locations of the device, light intensity at the respective surface locations;

detecting, using a processor, a gesture as a detected gesture performed by an object in touch-less communication with the device;

accessing, using the processor, a navigation gesture library configured to store two or more gestures and corresponding two or more signals; and

outputting, using the processor, a signal among the two or more signals corresponding with the detected gesture, wherein the accessing the navigation gesture library is done by the processor when the device is not executing an application with an associated application gesture library.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising accessing, using the processor, the associated application gesture library instead of the navigation gesture library when the device is executing the application with the associated application gesture library.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising accessing, using the processor, the associated application gesture library in addition to the navigation gesture library when the device is executing the application with the associated application gesture library.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising the processor outputting a first signal corresponding with the detected gesture according to the associated application gesture library when the detected gesture corresponds with the first signal according to the associated application gesture library and corresponds with a second signal according to the navigation gesture library.

14. The method according to claim 10, further comprising the processor detecting the gesture based on a movement of the object in three dimensions.

15. The method according to claim 10, further comprising the processor detecting the gesture based on a rotation or a tilt of the object.

16. The method according to claim 10, further comprising the processor detecting the gesture based on two fingers of a hand as the object coming together or moving apart.

17. The method according to claim 10, further comprising changing a display of the device, using a second processor, to be a previous or next image based on the signal.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising the second processor increasing or decreasing a zoom level of an image on the display.