VIRTUAL SPACE POSITIONING METHOD AND APPARATUS

• US 20190227693A1
• Filed: 01/25/2018
• Published: 07/25/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/25/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Institute For Information Industry
• Original Assignee: Institute For Information Industry
• Inventors: LIAO, Hsien-Cheng
• Granted Patent: US 10,444,932 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• 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 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 3/012 Head tracking input arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/014 Hand-worn input/output arrangements, e.g. data gloves
• 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: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/003 Navigation within 3D models or images

Abstract

A virtual space positioning method and apparatus are provided. The virtual space positioning method is adapted for a human machine interface (HMI) and includes the steps of: receiving a plurality of first sensed data sets from an inertial measurement unit (IMU), determining that a data feature of the first sensed data sets conforms to a first predetermined data model, receiving a plurality of second sensed data sets from the IMU, determining that a data feature of the second sensed data sets conforms to a second predetermined data model, calculating a moving direction and a moving distance according to the first sensed data sets and the second sensed data sets, defining a first coordinate system of a real space according to the moving direction and the moving distance, and creating a relationship between the first coordinate system and the second coordinate system of a virtual space corresponding to the HMI.

Claims

1. A virtual space positioning method adapted for a human machine interface (HMI), the virtual space positioning method being executed by a processor and comprising:

(A) receiving, by the processor, a plurality of first sensed data sets from an inertial measurement unit (IMU), wherein the first sensed data sets correspond to a first position in a real space;

(B) determining, by the processor, that a first data feature of the first sensed data sets conforms to a first predetermined data model;

(C) receiving, by the processor, a plurality of second sensed data sets from the IMU, wherein the second sensed data sets correspond to a second position in the real space;

(D) determining, by the processor, that a second data feature of the second sensed data sets conforms to a second predetermined data model;

(E) calculating, by the processor, a first moving direction and a first moving distance according to the first sensed data sets and the second sensed data sets;

(F) defining, by the processor, a first coordinate system of the real space according to the first moving direction and the first moving distance; and

(G) creating, by the processor, a relationship between the first coordinate system and a second coordinate system of a virtual space corresponding to the HMI.

2. The virtual space positioning method of claim 1, wherein the first coordinate system has a plurality of first coordinate axes, each of the first coordinate axes has a first maximum value, the second coordinate system has a plurality of second coordinate axes, each of the second coordinate axes has a second maximum value, and the step (G) maps, by the processor, an origin of the second coordinate system to an origin of the first coordinate system and maps the second maximum values to the first maximum values respectively.

3. The virtual space positioning method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, a plurality of third sensed data sets from the IMU, wherein the third sensed data sets correspond to a third position of the real space;

calculating, by the processor, a second moving direction and a second moving distance according to the first sensed data sets and the third sensed data sets;

determining, by the processor, that the third position is located within a coordinate range of the first coordinate system according to the second moving direction and the second moving distance;

determining, by the processor, a coordinate point of the third position in the second coordinate system according to the second moving direction, the second moving distance, and the relationship; and

displaying the virtual space on a display unit and displaying a virtual object at the coordinate point of the virtual space.

4. The virtual space positioning method of claim 1, wherein the IMU is disposed on a hand of a user, and the first predetermined data model and the second predetermined data model respectively correspond to a first specific gesture and a second specific gesture of the user.

5. The virtual space positioning method of claim 1, wherein the IMU comprises an accelerator, each of the first sensed data sets comprises a first acceleration datum, and each of the second sensed data sets comprises a second acceleration datum.

6. The virtual space positioning method of claim 5, wherein the IMU further comprises a gyroscope and a magnetometer, each of the first sensed data sets further comprises a first angular acceleration datum and a first direction angle datum, and each of the second sensed data sets further comprises a second angular acceleration datum and a second direction angle datum.

7. The virtual space positioning method of claim 1, wherein the step (B) determines, by the processor, that the first data feature conforms to the first predetermined data model via a convolutional neural network (CNN), and the step (D) determines, by the processor, that the second data feature conforms to the second predetermined data model via the CNN.

8. The virtual space positioning method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving, by the processor, a plurality of first training messages corresponding to the first specific gesture, wherein each of the first training messages comprises a plurality of first training sensed data sets;

receiving, by the processor, a plurality of second training messages corresponding to the second specific gesture, wherein each of the second training messages comprises a plurality of second training sensed data sets;

establishing, by the processor, the first predetermined data model via a convolutional neural network (CNN) according to a data feature of each of the first training messages; and

establishing, by the processor, the second predetermined data model via the CNN according to a data feature of each of the second training messages.

9. A virtual space positioning apparatus adapted for a human machine interface (HMI), comprising:

a signal receiving interface, being configured to receive a plurality of first sensed data sets and a plurality of second sensed data sets from an inertial measurement unit (IMU), wherein the first sensed data sets and the second sensed data sets correspond to a first position and a second position in a real space respectively; and

a processor electrically connected with the signal receiving interface, being configured to determine that a first data feature of the first sensed data sets conforms to a first predetermined data model, determine that a second data feature of the second sensed data sets conforms to a second predetermined data model, calculate a first moving direction and a first moving distance according to the first sensed data sets and the second sensed data sets, define a first coordinate system of the real space according to the first moving direction and the first moving distance, and create a relationship between the first coordinate system and a second coordinate system of a virtual space corresponding to the HMI.

10. The virtual space positioning apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first coordinate system has a plurality of first coordinate axes, each of the first coordinate axes has a first maximum value, the second coordinate system has a plurality of second coordinate axes, each of the second coordinate axes has a second maximum value, and the processor maps an origin of the second coordinate system to an origin of the first coordinate system and maps the second maximum values to the first maximum values respectively.

11. The virtual space positioning apparatus of claim 9, further comprising:

a display unit electrically connected with the processor and being configured to display the virtual space,

wherein the signal receiving interface receives a plurality of third sensed data sets from the IMU, the third sensed data sets corresponding to a third position of the real space, the processor calculates a second moving direction and a second moving distance according to the first sensed data sets and the third sensed data sets, the processor determines that the third position is located within a coordinate range of the first coordinate system according to the second moving direction and the second moving distance, the processor determines a coordinate point of the third position in the second coordinate system according to the second moving direction, the second moving distance, and the relationship, and the display unit displays a virtual object at the coordinate point of the virtual space.

12. The virtual space positioning apparatus of claim 9, wherein the IMU is disposed on a hand of a user, and the first predetermined data model and the second predetermined data model respectively correspond to a first specific gesture and a second specific gesture of the user.

13. The virtual space positioning apparatus of claim 9, wherein the IMU comprises an accelerator, each of the first sensed data sets comprises a first acceleration datum, and each of the second sensed data sets comprises a second acceleration datum.

14. The virtual space positioning apparatus of claim 13, wherein the IMU further comprises a gyroscope and a magnetometer, each of the first sensed data sets further comprises a first angular acceleration datum and a first direction angle datum, and each of the second sensed data sets further comprises a second angular acceleration datum and a second direction angle datum.

15. The virtual space positioning apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor determines that the first data feature conforms to the first predetermined data model via a convolutional neural network (CNN) and determines that the second data feature conforms to the second predetermined data model via the CNN.

16. The virtual space positioning apparatus of claim 12, wherein the signal receiving interface further receives a plurality of first training messages corresponding to the first specific gesture and a plurality of second training messages corresponding to the second specific gesture, each of the first training messages comprising a plurality of first training sensed data sets, each of the second training messages comprising a plurality of second training sensed data sets, the processor further establishes the first predetermined data model via a convolutional neural network (CNN) according to a data feature of each of the first training messages, and the processor further establishes the second predetermined data model via the CNN according to a data feature of each of the second training messages.