DEVICES AND METHODS FOR FACILITATING WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS BASED ON IMPLICIT USER CUES

• US 20150256674A1
• Filed: 03/10/2014
• Published: 09/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: King, Bennett Michael, Liu, Kexi, Renschler, Martin Hans, Iwasaki, Jill Sayuri
• Granted Patent: US 10,394,330 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• 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: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons

Abstract

Access terminals are adapted to facilitate automated wireless communication interactions based on implicit user cues. According to one example, an access terminal can obtain a plurality of user cues, including user cues from at least two primary sensor inputs, as well as other optional user cues. The access terminal may identify the occurrence of a predefined combination of user cues from among the plurality of user cues. In response to the identification of the predefined combination of user cues, the access terminal may affect a wireless communication link with an access terminal associated with another user. Other aspects, embodiments, and features are also included.

Claims

1. An access terminal, comprising:

a wireless communications interface;

a plurality of sensors; and

a processing circuit coupled to the communications interface and the plurality of sensors, the processing circuit adapted to;

detect user cues via the plurality of sensors, wherein the user cues correspond to at least two of an eye gaze, an audio cue, and a gesture;

determine that the user cues indicate a desire to communicate with another user; and

affect a wireless communication link via the wireless communications interface with an access terminal associated with the other user in response to the detected user cues.

2. The access terminal of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit adapted to affect the wireless communication link with the other user in response to the detected user cues comprises the processing circuit adapted to:

establish a wireless communication link with the access terminal associated with the other user.

3. The access terminal of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit adapted to affect the wireless communication link with the other user in response to the detected user cues comprises the processing circuit adapted to:

send one or more transmissions over a wireless communication link to the access terminal associated with the other user.

4. The access terminal of claim 3, wherein the processing circuit adapted to send one or more transmissions over a wireless communication link to the access terminal associated with the other user comprises the processing circuit adapted to:

transmit information obtained from the user cues to the access terminal associated with the other user.

5. The access terminal of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit adapted to affect the wireless communication link with the other user in response to the detected user cues comprises the processing circuit adapted to:

terminate a wireless communication link with the access terminal associated with the other user.

6. The access terminal of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sensors comprise two or more sensors selected from the group of sensors including a microphone, an eye gaze tracker, and a gesture detector.

7. The access terminal of claim 6, wherein the plurality of sensors further comprise at least one sensor selected from the group of sensors including a location detector, a motion detector, and a biometric sensor.

8. The access terminal of claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is further adapted to:

detect user cues corresponding to at least one of a geographic location, motion, and a biometric cue.

9. A method of wireless communication between a first user and a second user, comprising:

obtaining a plurality of user cues, including user cues from at least two primary sensor inputs;

determining an occurrence of a predefined combination of user cues from among the plurality of obtained user cues; and

affecting a wireless communication link with an access terminal associated with another user in response to the determination of the occurrence of the predefined combination of user cues.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein affecting a wireless communication link with an access terminal associated with another user comprises at least one of:

establishing a wireless communication link with the access terminal associated with the other user;

sending transmissions over a wireless communication link to the access terminal associated with the other user; and

terminating a wireless communication link with the access terminal associated with the other user.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein sending transmissions over a wireless communication link to the access terminal associated with the other user comprising:

transmitting information associated with the obtained user cues to the access terminal associated with the other user.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein obtaining the plurality of user cues, including user cues from at least two primary sensor inputs comprises:

obtaining user cues from at least two primary sensor inputs selected from a group of primary sensor inputs comprising an eye gaze, an audio cue, and a gesture.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein obtaining a plurality of user cues further comprises:

obtaining a user cue from at least one secondary sensor input.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein obtaining a user cue from at least one secondary sensor input comprises:

obtaining a user cue from at least one of secondary sensor input selected from a group of secondary sensor inputs comprising a location, motion, and a biometric cue.

15. An access terminal, comprising:

means for detecting a plurality of user cues, including user cues from at least two primary sensor inputs selected from a group of primary sensor inputs comprising an eye gaze, an audio cue, and a gesture;

means for determining that the user cues indicate a desire to communicate with another user; and

means for affecting a wireless communication link with an access terminal associated with the other user in response to the detected user cues.

16. The access terminal of claim 15, wherein the means for affecting a wireless communication link with an access terminal associated with the other user comprises at least one of:

means for establishing a wireless communication link with the access terminal associated with the other user;

means for sending transmissions over a wireless communication link to the access terminal associated with the other user; and

means for terminating a wireless communication link with the access terminal associated with the other user.

17. The access terminal of claim 16, wherein the means for sending transmissions over a wireless communication link to the access terminal associated with the other user comprises:

means for transmitting information associated with the detected user cues to the access terminal associated with the other user.

18. The access terminal of claim 15, further comprising:

means for detecting at least one user cue from at least one secondary sensor input.

19. The access terminal of claim 18, wherein the means for detecting at least one user cue from at least one secondary sensor input comprises:

means for detecting a user cue from at least one of secondary sensor input selected from a group of secondary sensor inputs comprising a location, a motion, and a biometric cue.

20. A processor-readable storage medium, comprising programming for causing a processing circuit to:

obtain a plurality of user cues, wherein the plurality of user cues comprise user cues from at least two primary sensor inputs selected from a group of primary sensor inputs comprising an eye gaze, an audio cue, and a gesture;

determine an occurrence of a predefined combination of user cues from among the plurality of obtained user cues; and

affect a wireless communication link with an access terminal of another user in response to the determination of the occurrence of the predefined combination of user cues.

21. The processor-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the programming for causing a processing circuit to affect a wireless communication link with an access terminal associated with another user comprises programming for causing a processing circuit to:

establish a wireless communication link with the access terminal associated with the other user.

22. The processor-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the programming for causing a processing circuit to affect a wireless communication link with an access terminal associated with another user comprises programming for causing a processing circuit to:

send transmissions over a wireless communication link to the access terminal associated with the other user.

23. The processor-readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the programming for causing a processing circuit to send transmissions over a wireless communication link to the access terminal associated with the other user comprises programming for causing a processing circuit to:

transmit information associated with the obtained user cues to the access terminal associated with the other user.

24. The processor-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the programming for causing a processing circuit to affect a wireless communication link with an access terminal associated with another user comprises programming for causing a processing circuit to:

terminate a wireless communication link with the access terminal associated with the other user.

25. The processor-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the programming for causing a processing circuit to obtain a plurality of user cues comprises programming for causing a processing circuit to:

obtain a user cue from at least one secondary sensor input.

26. The processor-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein the programming for causing a processing circuit to obtain a user cue from at least one secondary sensor input comprises programming for causing a processing circuit to:

obtain a user cue from at least one of secondary sensor input selected from a group of secondary sensor inputs comprising a location, motion, and a biometric cue.