Distance scalable no touch computing

• US 10,048,763 B2
• Filed: 08/18/2014
• Issued: 08/14/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Berkes, Otto G., Bathiche, Steven, Clavin, John, LeGrow, Ian, Molnar, Joseph Reginald Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Sang H
• Application Number:
  US14/462,275
• Publication Number:
  US 20150100926A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,457 Days
• 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 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 30/242 Division of the character sequences into groups prior to recognition; Selection of dictionaries
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/20 Movements or behaviour, e.g. gesture recognition recognition of facial expressions G06V40/16

Abstract

Disclosed herein are techniques for scaling and translating gestures such that the applicable gestures for control may vary depending on the user'"'"'s distance from a gesture-based system. The techniques for scaling and translation may take the varying distances from which a user interacts with components of the gesture-based system, such as a computing environment or capture device, into consideration with respect to defining and/or recognizing gestures. In an example embodiment, the physical space is divided into virtual zones of interaction, and the system may scale or translate a gesture based on the zones. A set of gesture data may be associated with each virtual zone such that gestures appropriate for controlling aspects of the gesture-based system may vary throughout the physical space.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for associating sets of gesture data to virtual zones in a physical space comprising:

capturing data from a capture device, wherein the captured data is representative of the physical space and a gesture of a user in the physical space;

identifying a plurality of virtual zones, wherein each virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones is representative of a respective portion of the physical space and determined based on a distance to the capture device;

associating a set of gesture data to each virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones;

at a boundary between two virtual zones of the plurality of virtual zones, modifying evaluation of the set of gesture data based on determining a probability that a particular gesture of the set of gesture data was intended for one virtual zone of the two virtual zones;

comparing the gesture of the user to each set of gesture data associated with a respective virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones; and

identifying the gesture of the user based on the comparison of the gesture and the modified evaluation of the set of gesture data.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the set of gesture data associated with each virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones is scaled proportionate to a distance of a respective virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones from the capture device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein gesture data in a first set of gesture data associated with a first virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones and gesture data in a second set of gesture data associated with a second virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones both correspond to a control in a gesture-based system.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the user can change preferences for the set of gesture data associated with the virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the portion of the physical space represented by a virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones is determined based on a type of input applicable for the portion of the physical space, the type of input being at least one of a touch-screen input, a finger-scale input, a body-scale input, a small motion input, or a large motion input.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the captured data is further representative of a user.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

identifying a position of the user in the physical space, from the captured data, relative to a virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones.

8. A computing system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more memories having stored therein computer-executable instructions that, upon execution by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising;

capturing data from a capture device, wherein the captured data is representative of a physical space and a gesture of a user in the physical space;

identifying a plurality of virtual zones, wherein each virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones is representative of a respective portion of the physical space;

associating a set of gesture data to each virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones based on a distance of each virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones from the capture device;

at a boundary between two virtual zones of the plurality of virtual zones, modifying evaluation of the set of gesture data based on determining a probability that the user intended to perform a particular gesture of the set of gesture data in one virtual zone of the two virtual zones;

comparing the gesture of the user to each set of gesture data associated with a respective virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones; and

identifying the gesture of the user based on the comparison of the gesture and the modified evaluation of the set of gesture data.

9. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the set of gesture data associated with each virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones is scaled proportionate to a distance of a respective virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones from the capture device.

10. The computing system of claim 8, wherein gesture data in a first set of gesture data associated with a first virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones and gesture data in a second set of gesture data associated with a second virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones both correspond to a control in a gesture-based system.

11. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the user can change preferences for the set of gesture data associated with the virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones.

12. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the portion of the physical space represented by a virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones is determined based on a type of input applicable for the portion of the physical space, the type of input being at least one of a touch-screen input, a finger-scale input, a body-scale input, a small motion input, or a large motion input.

13. The computing system of claim 8, wherein the captured data is further representative of a user.

14. The computing system of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise:

identifying a position of the user in the physical space, from the captured data, relative to a virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones.

15. One or more computer-readable storage memories, which are components of a system, having stored thereon computer-executable instructions, upon execution by one or more processors, cause the system to perform operations comprising:

capturing data from a capture device, wherein the captured data is representative of a physical space and a gesture of a user in the physical space;

identifying a plurality of virtual zones, wherein each virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones is representative of a respective portion of the physical space based on a distance from a predefined reference point;

associating a set of gesture data to each virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones;

at a boundary between two virtual zones of the plurality of virtual zones, modifying evaluation of the set of gesture data based on determining a probability a particular gesture of the set of gesture data is associated with one virtual zone of the two virtual zones;

comparing the gesture of the user to each set of gesture data associated with a respective virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones; and

identifying the gesture of the user based on the comparison of the gesture and the modified evaluation of the set of gesture data.

16. The one or more computer-readable storage memories of claim 15, wherein the set of gesture data associated with each virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones is scaled proportionate to a distance of the respective virtual zone from the capture device.

17. The one or more computer-readable storage memories of claim 15, wherein gesture data in a first set of gesture data associated with a first virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones and gesture data in a second set of gesture data associated with a second virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones both correspond to a control in a gesture-based system.

18. The one or more computer-readable storage memories of claim 15, wherein the user can change preferences for the set of gesture data associated with the virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones.

19. The one or more computer-readable storage memories of claim 15, wherein the portion of the physical space represented by a virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones is determined based on a type of input applicable for the portion of the physical space, the type of input being at least one of a touch-screen input, a finger-scale input, a body-scale input, a small motion input, or a large motion input.

20. The one or more computer-readable storage memories of claim 19, wherein the captured data is further representative of a user, and wherein the operations further comprise:

identifying a position of the user in the physical space, from the captured data, relative to a virtual zone of the plurality of virtual zones.