Electronic device and method of controlling the same

• US 10,338,688 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2016
• Issued: 07/02/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (Samsung Group)
• Inventors: Cho, Yong-jin, Lee, Sung-yeon, Kim, Ki-hwan, Kim, Jong-yoon, Yeo, Moon-ki, Lee, Dae-kyu
• Primary Examiner(s): Sherman, Stephen G
• Application Number:
  US15/390,229
• Publication Number:
  US 20170185160A1
• Time in Patent Office: 921 Days
• Field of Search: 345 8, 345156
• 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 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• 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

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a method of controlling an electronic device, the method includes, based on a magnetic field generated by a source, obtaining a coordinate of a user'"'"'s hand; and reflecting the obtained coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand in a virtual reality environment based on a change of a location of the source due to a movement of the user.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising:

a source configured to generate a magnetic field;

a motion detector configured to obtain a coordinate of a user'"'"'s hand based on the generated magnetic field; and

a virtual reality providing device configured to reflect the coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand received from the motion detector in a virtual reality environment based on a change of a location of the source due to a movement of the user,

wherein the virtual reality providing device is further configured to display an object resembling a type of an accessory coupled to the motion detector together with the user'"'"'s hand,

wherein the source and the virtual reality providing device are implemented as a hardware device.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the source is further configured to be attachable to and detachable from the virtual reality providing device.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the virtual reality providing device is further configured to correct the coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand, received from the motion detector, based on the location of the source, in relation to a portion of the body of the user based on the change of the location of the source due to the movement of the user.

4. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the virtual reality providing device comprises:

a communicator configured to communicate with the motion detector;

a sensor configured to detect the movement of the user; and

a processor configured to obtain a coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand by correcting the coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand received from the motion detector based on a portion of the body of the user being used as a reference point.

5. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the virtual reality providing device further comprises a display configured to display the virtual reality environment having reflected therein the coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand to the user.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the virtual reality providing device is further configured to generate a vibration generating signal based on a coordinate of an object in the virtual reality environment and the coordinate of the hand of the user.

7. A method of controlling an electronic device, the method comprising:

based on a magnetic field generated by a source, obtaining a coordinate of a user'"'"'s hand based on the generated magnetic field;

reflecting the obtained coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand in a virtual reality environment based on a change of a location of the source due to a movement of the user; and

displaying an object resembling a type of an accessory coupled to a motion detector together with the user'"'"'s hand.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising attaching the source generating a magnetic field to the virtual reality providing device,

wherein, in the obtaining of the coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand, the coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand is obtained based on the magnetic field generated by the attached source.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the reflecting of the obtained coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand in the virtual reality comprises correcting the coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand based on a location of the source in relation to a portion of the body of the user as a reference point, and the detected change of the location of the source due to the movement of the user.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising displaying the virtual reality environment having reflected therein the coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand to the user.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising transmitting the virtual reality environment having reflected therein the coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand to an external display apparatus.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising generating a vibration generating signal based on a coordinate of an object in the virtual reality environment and the reflected coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the generating of the vibration generating signal comprises:

calculating the coordinate of an object in the virtual reality environment;

determining whether the coordinate of the object overlaps the reflected coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand within a certain range; and

generating a vibration based on a result of the determining.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the obtaining of the coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand comprises further obtaining finger movement information regarding the user by using at least one sensor located at a side of a motion detector that obtains the coordinate of the user'"'"'s hand.