SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMICALLY CHANGING A DISPLAY

• US 20090164896A1
• Filed: 12/20/2007
• Published: 06/25/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Thorn, Karl Ola
• Granted Patent: US 8,209,635 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/700
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1686 the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 40/16 Human faces, e.g. facial parts, sketches or expressions
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0261 in the context of movement of objects on the screen or movement of the observer relative to the screen

Abstract

A technique for managing the display of content on a display of an electronic device may be based on a distance of the user to the display. The distance may be estimated by analyzing video data to detect a face of the user and establish a distance parameter based on a relationship between facial features. Based on this information, the displayed content may be adjusted to facilitate easy viewing of the displayed content, such as by changing the size of the displayed content, the layout of the displayed content, or the number of visual elements that make up the displayed content.

Claims

1. A method of controlling visual content that is displayed on a display of an electronic device, comprising:

analyzing a video signal to detect facial features of a user of the electronic device and to establish a parameter indicative of a distance of the user from the display based on the detected facial features; and

adjusting the displayed content based on the parameter to facilitate user viewing of the displayed content at the indicated distance.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the parameter is derived from a relationship between at least two of the detected facial features.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting changes a size of visual elements from the displayed content.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the size is changed by scaling the visual content.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the content includes text and the size of the text is changed by at least one of changing point size of the text or changing a font of the text.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the adjusting changes a layout of visual elements from the displayed content.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing includes determining a viewing angle of the user with respect to the display and the adjusting includes non-uniformly varying a size of the displayed content across the display based on the viewing angle.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing includes determining a relative orientation of the user to the electronic device and the adjusting includes rotating the orientation of the displayed content if the user and the electronic device have different orientations.

9. A method of controlling visual content that is displayed on a display of an electronic device, comprising:

analyzing a video signal to detect facial features of a user of the electronic device and to establish a parameter indicative of a distance of the user from the display based on the detected facial features;

displaying plural items of visual content when the indicated distance is less than a predetermined threshold; and

detecting that the indicated distance has increased to be greater than the predetermined threshold and, upon the detection, removing at least one of the plural displayed items from the display and increasing a size of a remaining one of the items.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the parameter is derived from a relationship between at least two of the detected facial features.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the plural items of visual content are associated with a navigation application that provides directions to the user to reach a specified location.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the plural items of visual content are associated with an audio file that is undergoing playback during the displaying.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the item that is increased in size is artwork associated with the audio file.

14. An electronic device, comprising:

an imaging device that generates a video signal containing a representation of a user of the electronic device;

a display that displays visual content to the user; and

a controller that analyzes the video signal to detect facial features of the user of the electronic device and that establishes a parameter indicative of a distance of the user from the display based on the detected facial features, and wherein the controller adjusts the displayed content based on the parameter to facilitate user viewing of the displayed content at the indicated distance.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the parameter is derived from a relationship between at least two of the detected facial features.

16. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the adjustment is a change in a size of visual elements from the displayed content.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the size is changed by scaling of the visual content.

18. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the content includes text and the size of the text is changed by at least one of changing point size of the text or changing a font of the text.

19. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the adjustment is a change in a layout of visual elements from the displayed content.

20. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the controller determines a viewing angle of the user with respect to the display and the adjustment to the displayed content includes non-uniformly varying a size of the displayed content across the display based on the viewing angle.

21. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the controller determines a relative orientation of the user to the electronic device and the adjustment to the displayed content includes rotating the orientation of the displayed content if the user and the electronic device have different orientations.

22. The electronic device of claim 14, further comprising call circuitry to establish a call over a network.