METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR MAPPING VIRTUAL COORDINATES

• US 20070126696A1
• Filed: 12/01/2006
• Published: 06/07/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Navisense
• Original Assignee: Navisense
• Inventors: BOILLOT, MARC
• Granted Patent: US 7,788,607 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• 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 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials

Abstract

A system (100) and method (200) for mapping a virtual user interface (VUI) to a graphical user interface (GUI) is provided. The method can include identifying (202) a range of object movement in a first coordinate system of the Virtual User Interface (101), identifying (204) a display range in a second coordinate system of the graphical user interface (103), and mapping (206) the range of object motion to the display range to produce a virtual mapping. The method can further include tracking (211) a finger (214) movement (310), applying (213) the virtual mapping to the finger movement to produce a second movement (312), and handling (215) a touchless control (102) in accordance with the second movement.

Claims

1. A method for mapping a virtual user interface (VUI) to a graphical user interface (GUI), the method comprising:

identifying a range of object movement in a first coordinate system of the virtual user interface (VUI);

identifying a display range in a second coordinate system of the graphical user interface (GUI); and

mapping the range of object motion to the display range to produce a virtual mapping.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying a range of object movement further comprises:

identifying a pivot point of the object;

identifying a distance of the object to the pivot point;

identifying a displacement of the object; and

generating a spherical representation of the range from the pivot point, the radius, and the displacement.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying a display range further comprises:

generating a rectangular representation of the display range from the screen area.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of mapping the range of finger motion to the display range further comprises:

converting a spherical representation to a rectangular representation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of mapping the range of finger motion to the display range further comprises:

converting a polar representation to a Cartesian representation.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual mapping provides a one-to-one correspondence of a first location in the VUI to a second location in the GUI.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

tracking a finger movement in the virtual user interface (VUI);

applying the virtual mapping to the finger movement to produce a second movement; and

handling a touchless object in accordance with the second movement.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the virtual mapping provides a one-to-one correspondence of the first coordinate system to the second coordinate system, such that a fixed finger movement distance in the first coordinate system corresponds to a fixed handling of the touchless object

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor maps the first finger movement by a spherical to rectangular transformation that uses a pivot point of the finger, a radius of the pivot point to the finger, and an arc length of the first finger movement.

9. A method to equalize touchless control sensitivity, the method comprising:

tracking a first movement of an object in a first coordinate system;

mapping the first movement to a second movement in a second coordinate system; and

adjusting a touchless control in the second coordinate system in accordance with the second movement.

wherein the mapping provides a one-to-one correspondence of the first coordinate system to the second coordinate system that equalizes a sensitivity of the touchless control.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein a fixed distance of an object movement in the first coordinate system corresponds to a fixed adjustment of the touchless control.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of identifying a first movement comprises:

identifying a start location and an end location for the first movement;

identifying a pivot point of the object;

identifying a distance of the object to the pivot point; and

determining a displacement from the start location, the end location, the pivot point, and the radius.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the step of mapping the first movement to a second movement further comprises:

identifying a start location and an end location for the first movement; and

applying a pre-stored virtual mapping to the start location and the end location to produce the second movement.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein identifying a first location comprises

estimating at least one time of flight (TOF) to the object;

and

calculating the first location of the object from the at least one TOF.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein identifying a second location comprises

estimating a differential time of flight (dTOF);

and

calculating the second location from the TOF and the dTOF.

15. A system for equalizing touchless control sensitivity, comprising:

a touchless sensing unit that tracks a finger movement in a touchless sensing space of a Virtual User Interface (VUI); and

a processor that handles a touchless control in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) in accordance with a mapped finger movement,

wherein the processor maps the finger movement in the VUI to produce the mapped movement in the GUI to equalize a sensitivity of the touchless control.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor adjusts the touchless control with a one-to-one correspondence of a finger movement, such that a fixed displacement of a finger movement in the VUI is mapped to a fixed control adjustment of the touchless control in the GUI.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor

identifies a start location and an end location for the finger movement;

and

applies a pre-stored virtual mapping to the start location and the end location to produce a touchless control adjustment.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor moves a cursor in accordance with the mapped finger movement, such that a fixed displacement of the finger in the first coordinate system produces a fixed displacement of the cursor in the second coordinate system.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the touchless sensing unit identifies a location of the finger using time of flight (TOF) measurements, and generates an arc length from a start location and an end location of the first finger movement.