Interaction arrangement for interaction between a screen and a pointer object

• US 9,582,115 B2
• Filed: 06/07/2010
• Issued: 02/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Almeva AG
• Original Assignee: Almeva AG
• Inventors: Baeuerle, Jens-Uwe, Hauke, Rudolf
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Sanjiv D
• Application Number:
  US12/795,267
• Publication Number:
  US 20110102320A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,458 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-178, 178 1809- 1811
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction
• 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 3/017 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 3/0304 Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means constructional details of pointing devices not related to the detection arrangement using opto-electronic means G06F3/033; optical digitisers G06F3/042
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/042 by opto-electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0421 by interrupting or reflecting a light beam, e.g. optical touch-screen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0428 by sensing at the edges of the touch surface the interruption of optical paths, e.g. an illumination plane, parallel to the touch surface which may be virtual sensing beam interruptions in a planar beam grid of an optical touch-screen G06F3/0421

Abstract

An interaction arrangement for interaction between at least one screen arranged behind a transparent pane and at least one pointer object located in front of the pane, comprising at least two cameras arranged behind the pane, wherein there is associated with each of the cameras a deflection unit by means of which at least one optical path from an interaction area in the vicinity of and in front of the pane can be directed into the camera, and comprising a computing unit connected to all of the cameras for determining a position of the pointer object which is guided so as to be visible for at least two of the cameras, wherein at least the interaction area can be stroboscopically illuminated with infrared light, and the cameras are sensitive to infrared light and can be synchronized with the stroboscopic illumination.

Claims

1. An interaction arrangement configured to interact between at least one screen arranged behind a transparent pane and at least one pointer object located in front of the pane, the arrangement comprising:

at least two cameras arranged behind the pane;

a deflection unit associated with each of the cameras, wherein an optical path from an interaction area in a vicinity of and in front of the pane is directed into the camera via the deflection unit;

a computing unit connectable to each of the cameras, the computing unit configured to determine a position of the pointer object that is guided so as to be visible for at least two of the cameras; and

a narrowband infrared light source configured to illuminate the interaction area with infrared light having a grid pattern,

wherein, at least one optical path from a waiting area in front of the pane, which is further away from the pane than the interaction area, is directed through or past the deflection unit into the camera such that a person located in the waiting area is at least partly in a visibility range of the camera, and

wherein content displayed on a screen is modified as a function of a gesture and a characteristic of the person that has been determined.

2. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein an infrared transmission filter is provided for each of the cameras.

3. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the position of the pointer object is determined by triangulation.

4. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the cameras are synchronized with one another.

5. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the deflection unit is configured as a beam splitter.

6. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein optical recognition of the pointer object via pattern recognition is provided in the computing unit.

7. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein a height of the person is quantifiable as the characteristic.

8. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein optical recognition is provided in the computing unit.

9. The interaction arrangement according to claim 8, wherein an age of the person is quantifiable as the characteristic for optical recognition based on a face and/or a height.

10. The interaction arrangement according to claim 8, wherein a gender of the person is recognizable as the characteristic for optical recognition based on a face and/or a height.

11. The interaction arrangement according to claim 8, wherein eyeglasses worn by a person is recognizable as the characteristic for optical recognition.

12. The interaction arrangement according to claim 8, wherein a direction of gaze of eyes of a person with respect to a screen is captured.

13. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the content displayed on the screen is modified as a function of a behavior of the pointer object or of the person.

14. The interaction arrangement according to claim 13, wherein an avatar of the person is displayed on the screen.

15. The interaction arrangement according to claim 14, wherein the avatar is displayed in mirror-imaged form.

16. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, further comprising a shield via which unwanted optical paths to the cameras are suppressed.

17. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the content displayed on the screen is modified as a function of a behavior of the person.

18. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein infrared light in a wavelength range between 700 nm and 1.4 μ

m is provided for the stroboscopic illumination.

19. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the at least two cameras are devoid of infrared absorbing filters.

20. The interaction arrangement according to claim 8, wherein a user profile is created based on the optical recognition.

21. The interaction arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the waiting area is illuminated with infrared light.

22. An interaction arrangement configured to interact between at least one screen arranged behind a transparent pane and at least one pointer object located in front of the pane, the arrangement comprising:

at least two cameras arranged behind the pane;

a deflection unit associated with each of the cameras, wherein an optical path from an interaction area in a vicinity of and in front of the pane is directed into the camera via the deflection unit; and

a computing unit connectable to each of the cameras, the computing unit configured to determine a position of the pointer object that is guided so as to be visible for at least two of the cameras,

wherein, at least one optical path from a waiting area in front of the pane, which is further away from the pane than the interaction area, is directed through or past the deflection unit into the camera such that a person located in the waiting area is at least partly in a visibility range of the camera,

wherein at least the interaction area is stroboscopically illuminated with infrared light in a grid pattern, and wherein the cameras are sensitive to infrared light and are synchronizable with the stroboscopic illumination, and

wherein content displayed on a screen is modified as a function of a gesture and a characteristic of the person that has been determined.

23. The interaction arrangement according to claim 22 wherein infrared light in the near infrared range is provided for the stroboscopic illumination.

24. The interaction arrangement according to claim 22, wherein an optical path of the at least two cameras is different from an optical path of the infrared light.

25. The interaction arrangement according to claim 22 wherein infrared light in a wavelength range about 800 nm is provided for the stroboscopic illumination.