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Wearable Device with Intelligent User-Input Interface

  • US 20160320919A1
  • Filed: 07/12/2016
  • Published: 11/03/2016
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/17/2012
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A method for receiving user inputs in a wearable device, the wearable device comprising one or more processors, a camera and a light source, the light source being configured to generate a plain sheet of light and a structured-light pattern, the method comprising:

  • when a finger-like object having a tip is detected within a field of view (FOV) of the camera, and when a reference surface is also detected present within the FOV, determining a height of the tip above the reference surface so that one or more of the user inputs are determinable according to the tip'"'"'s height;

    wherein the determining of the tip'"'"'s height above the reference surface comprises;

    determining parameters of a surface-plane equation for geometrically characterizing the reference surface;

    determining a height of the camera and a height of the light source above the reference surface according to the parameters of the surface-plane equation;

    projecting the plain sheet of light to an area that substantially covers at least a region-of-interest (ROI) comprising an area surrounding and including the tip, such that the object around the tip is illuminated to form a shadow on the reference surface unless the object is substantially close to the reference surface;

    estimating a camera-observed shadow length from a ROI-highlighted image, wherein the ROI-highlighted image is captured by the camera after the plain sheet of light is projected, and wherein the camera-observed shadow length is a length of a part of the shadow formed on the reference surface along a topographical surface line and observed by the camera;

    estimating a shadow-light source distance from the ROI-highlighted image; and

    estimating the tip'"'"'s height above the reference surface based on a set of data including the surface-plane equation, the camera-observed shadow length, the shadow-light source distance, a distance measured in a direction parallel to the reference surface between the light source and the camera, the height of the camera above the reference surface, and the height of the light source above the reference surface.

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