Enabling device features according to gesture input

• US 9,971,412 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2013
• Issued: 05/15/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo PC International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: VanBlon, Russell Speight, Mese, John Carl, Peterson, Nathan J., Waltermann, Rod D., Weksler, Arnold S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bhatia, Ajay M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pan, Phoebe X
• Application Number:
  US14/137,386
• Publication Number:
  US 20150177841A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,607 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 3/017 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: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/33 using wearable devices, e.g. using a smartwatch or smart-glasses
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/68 Gesture-dependent or behaviour-dependent

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and program product are disclosed for determining an initial position of an electronic device using a positioning sensor located on the electronic device, detecting, based on movement away from the initial position, a gesture using a gesture detector located on the electronic device, and enabling a feature of the electronic device in response to the detected gesture being a feature-enabling gesture.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining an initial position of an electronic device worn on a user'"'"'s arm using a positioning sensor located on the electronic device in response to detecting that movement of the user'"'"'s arm is below a predetermined threshold;

calibrating the one or more gesture detectors located on the electronic device based on the initial position of the electronic device, wherein the electronic device comprises a calibration sensor configured to calibrate the electronic device;

detecting, based on movement away from the initial position, a primary gesture using a gesture detector located on the electronic device, the primary gesture comprising detecting a movement of the user'"'"'s arm;

detecting a secondary gesture in response to the primary gesture, the secondary gesture comprising an additional action by the user that corresponds to the primary gesture, the primary gesture and the secondary gesture comprising a feature-enabling gesture for enabling one or more features of the electronic device;

enabling the feature of the electronic device in response to the feature-enabling gesture; and

disabling the enabled feature of the electronic device in response to one of performing the feature-enabling gesture in reverse and performing the feature-enabling gesture.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device comprises a wearable device, and wherein the initial position of the wearable device is determined based on the position of the wearable device on a user'"'"'s body.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein enabling a feature of the electronic device comprises enabling speech recognition capabilities of the electronic device such that the electronic device recognizes voice commands provided by a user.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the electronic device comprises a plurality of microphones configured to detect voice input, and wherein at least a portion of the microphones are enabled in response to the detected gesture.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the electronic device performs a task associated with a voice command in response to detecting a predetermined gesture.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein speech recognition is enabled in response to a completed gesture such that voice commands are not received while the gesture is being performed.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein enabling a feature of the electronic device comprises enabling a display of the electronic device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a feature-enabling gesture not performed within a predetermined period of time is ignored.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic device comprises a low-power state and a high-power state, the low-power state configured to detect movement within a predetermined movement threshold, the high-power state configured to detect movement exceeding the predetermined movement threshold, and wherein a gesture is detected in response to the electronic device switching from a low-power state to a high-power state.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining a feature-enabling gesture based on user input such that a user-defined gesture is associated with a feature of the electronic device.

11. An apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a positioning sensor operably coupled to the processor;

a memory that stores machine readable code executable by the processor;

a setup module that determines an initial position of an electronic device worn on a user'"'"'s arm using the positioning sensor located on the electronic device in response to a predetermined amount of time elapsing after detecting that movement of the user'"'"'s arm is below a predetermined threshold;

a tuning module that calibrates the one or more gesture detectors located on the electronic device based on the initial position of the electronic device, wherein the electronic device comprises a calibration sensor configured to calibrate the electronic device;

a gesture module that;

detects, based on movement away from the initial position, a primary gesture using a gesture detector located on the electronic device, the primary gesture comprising detecting a movement of the user'"'"'s arm; and

detects a secondary gesture in response to the primary gesture, the secondary gesture comprising an additional action by the user that corresponds to the primary gesture, the primary gesture and the secondary gesture comprising a feature-enabling gesture for enabling one or more features of the electronic device;

a feature module that enables the feature of the electronic device in response to the feature-enabling gesture; and

a deactivate module that disables the enabled feature of the electronic device in response to one of performing the feature-enabling gesture in reverse and performing the feature-enabling gesture.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a notification module that ignores a feature-enabling gesture in response to the feature-enabling gesture not being performed within a predetermined period of time after receiving a notification.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a customization module that defines a feature-enabling gesture based on user input such that a user-defined gesture is associated with a feature of the electronic device.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the electronic device is a wearable device, and wherein the initial position of the wearable device is determined based on the position of the wearable device on a user'"'"'s body.

15. A program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing machine readable code executable by a processor to perform:

determining an initial position of an electronic device worn on a user'"'"'s arm using a positioning sensor located on the electronic device in response to a predetermined amount of time elapsing after detecting that movement of the user'"'"'s arm is below a predetermined threshold;

calibrating the one or more gesture detectors located on the electronic device based on the initial position of the electronic device, wherein the electronic device comprises a calibration sensor configured to calibrate the electronic device;

detecting, based on movement away from the initial position, a primary gesture using a gesture detector located on the electronic device, the primary gesture comprising detecting a movement of the user'"'"'s arm;

detecting a secondary gesture in response to the primary gesture, the secondary gesture comprising an additional action by the user that corresponds to the primary gesture, the primary gesture and the secondary gesture comprising a feature-enabling gesture for enabling one or more features of the electronic device;

enabling the feature of the electronic device in response to the feature-enabling gesture; and

disabling the enabled feature of the electronic device in response to one of performing the feature-enabling gesture in reverse and performing the feature-enabling gesture.