Electronic apparatuses and methods for providing a man-machine interface (MMI)

• US 9,983,685 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2016
• Issued: 05/29/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/17/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Xueshan Technologies Inc. (Wi-LAN Inc.)
• Original Assignee: MediaTek, Inc.
• Inventors: Hu, Yueh-Wei, Chen, Cheng-Che, Chiou, Ting, Tsai, Yu-Pao
• Primary Examiner(s): Elahi, Shan E
• Application Number:
  US15/365,342
• Publication Number:
  US 20170083105A1
• Time in Patent Office: 545 Days
• Field of Search: 348 47
• 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: G06T 2207/30196 Human being; Person
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/593 from stereo images
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/12 Acquisition of 3D measurements of objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/113 Recognition of static hand signs

Abstract

An electronic apparatus includes at least two camera devices and a processing device. The processing device determines a first distance to a surface formed by the two camera devices and a second distance to the surface in response to detecting an object positioned at a first time by the two camera devices, and determines a third distance from the object positioned at a second time to the surface, wherein the second time is later than the first time, and the third distance is longer than the first distance and shorter than the second distance. Also, the processing device determines a depth in a virtual space corresponding to the object positioned at the second time according to the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance.

Claims

1. An electronic apparatus, comprising:

a display device, configured to display a virtual space;

at least two camera devices, configured to capture images of an object placed in front of the display device; and

a processing device, configured to;

determine a first distance and a second distance to a surface formed by the two camera devices, by processing two images of the object captured by the two camera devices at a first time, in response to detecting the object positioned at the first time by the two camera devices,

determine a third distance from the object positioned at a second time to the surface to be a position within an operation area determined according to the first distance and the second distance, by processing two images of the object captured by the two camera devices at the second time, and

transform the position within the operation area into a depth in the virtual space corresponding to the object positioned at the second time according to the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance,

wherein the second time is later than the first time, and the third distance is longer than the first distance and shorter than the second distance.

2. The electronic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the two camera devices are disposed at a fourth distance from each other, and the object in one of the images captured at the first time or the second time is positioned at a fifth distance from the object in the other one of the images.

3. The electronic apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first distance is determined according to the fourth distance and a respective angle of view corresponding to each of the two camera devices, and the second distance or the third distance is determined according to the fourth distance and the corresponding fifth distance.

4. The electronic apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processing device further determines a sixth distance from a user'"'"'s face positioned at the first time to the surface, and the second distance is determined by subtracting a predetermined length from the sixth distance, and the first distance, the third distance, or the sixth distance is determined according to the fourth distance and the corresponding fifth distance.

5. The electronic apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first distance is determined according to the fourth distance and a respective angle of view corresponding to each of the two camera devices, and the processing device further determines a sixth distance from a user'"'"'s face positioned at the first time to the surface, and the second distance is determined by subtracting a predetermined length from the sixth distance, and the third distance or the sixth distance is determined according to the fourth distance and the corresponding fifth distance.

6. The electronic apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first distance and the second distance correspond to a farthest end and a nearest end of the virtual space, respectively.

7. The electronic apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processing device further divides a length from the second distance to the first distance into a plurality of sections, each of which corresponds to a predetermined depth in the virtual space, and determines the section where the third distance is located, and the depth equals the predetermined depth corresponding to the section.

8. The electronic apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processing device further divides a length from the second distance to the first distance into a plurality of sections and determines the section where the third distance is located, and the depth is determined using the following formula:

9. A method for use in an electronic apparatus comprising at least two camera devices and a display device, the method comprising:

displaying, by the display device, a virtual space;

determining a first distance and a second distance to a surface formed by the two camera devices, by processing two images of an object captured by the two camera devices at a first time, in response to detecting the object positioned in front of the display device at the first time by the two camera devices;

determining a third distance from the object positioned at a second time to the surface to be a position within an operation area determined according to the first distance and the second distance, by processing two images of the object captured by the two camera devices at the second time, wherein the second time is later than the first time, and the third distance is longer than the first distance and shorter than the second distance; and

transforming the position within the operation area into a depth in the virtual space corresponding to the object positioned at the second time according to the first distance, the second distance, and the third distance.

10. The method of claim 9,

wherein the two camera devices are disposed at a fourth distance from each other, and the object in one of the images captured at the first time or the second time is positioned at a fifth distance from the object in the other one of the images.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first distance is determined according to the fourth distance and a respective angle of view corresponding to each of the two camera devices, and the second distance or the third distance is determined according to the fourth distance and the corresponding fifth distance.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining a sixth distance from a user'"'"'s face positioned at the first time to the surface,

wherein the second distance is determined by subtracting a predetermined length from the sixth distance, and the first distance, the third distance, or the sixth distance is determined according to the fourth distance and the corresponding fifth distance.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining a sixth distance from a user'"'"'s face positioned at the first time to the surface,

wherein the first distance is determined according to the fourth distance and a respective angle of view corresponding to each of the two camera devices, and the second distance is determined by subtracting a predetermined length from the sixth distance, and the third distance or the sixth distance is determined according to the fourth distance and the corresponding fifth distance.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the first distance and the second distance correspond to a farthest end and a nearest end of the virtual space, respectively.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

dividing a length from the second distance to the first distance into a plurality of sections, each of which corresponds to a predetermined depth in the virtual space; and

determining the section where the third distance is located, wherein the depth equals the predetermined depth corresponding to the section.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

dividing a length from the second distance to the first distance into a plurality of sections; and

determining the section where the third distance is located, and the depth is determined using the following formula;