Occluded Gesture Recognition

• US 20160054803A1
• Filed: 09/24/2014
• Published: 02/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Poupyrev, Ivan
• Granted Patent: US 9,778,749 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/42 Simultaneous measurement of distance and other co-ordinates indirect measurement G01S13/46
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/88 Radar or analogous systems specially adapted for specific applications electromagnetic prospecting or detecting of objects, e.g. near-field detection, G01V3/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/316 by observing the pattern of computer usage, e.g. typical user behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• 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

Abstract

This document describes techniques and devices for occluded gesture recognition. Through use of the techniques and devices described herein, users may control their devices even when a user'"'"'s gesture is occluded by some material between the user'"'"'s hands and the device itself. Thus, the techniques enable users to control their mobile devices in many situations in which control is desired but conventional techniques do permit effective control, such as when a user'"'"'s mobile computing device is occluded by being in a purse, bag, pocket, or even in another room.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

authenticating a person permitted to control a mobile computing device;

determining identifying indicia for a hand of the authenticated person;

receiving a hand gesture of the authenticated person'"'"'s hand;

mapping the received hand gesture to a control input; and

recording the identifying indicia and the mapping of the received hand gesture effective to enable a later-received hand gesture to be identified as being from the authenticated person and mapped to the control input.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein authenticating the person permitted to control the mobile computing device comprises receiving and authenticating authentication credentials.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein authenticating the person permitted to control the mobile computing device comprises providing a radar field, receiving a human-tissue reflection, determining the identifying indicia based on the human-tissue reflection, and confirming that the identifying indicia match recorded identifying indicia for the person permitted to control the mobile computing device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the identifying indicia for the hand of the authenticated person includes providing a radar field, receiving multiple human-tissue reflections caused by the hand within the radar field, and determining the identifying indicia for the hand based on the multiple human-tissue reflections.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the received hand gesture is received responsive to presentation of a proposed gesture and a proposed control input to cause with the proposed gesture.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein receiving the hand gesture includes presenting a radar field, receiving multiple human-tissue reflections caused by the hand gesture within the radar field, and recording gesture-specific indicia for the hand gesture based on the multiple human-tissue reflections.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein mapping the received hand gesture is responsive to a user selection of the control input to be controlled through the received hand gesture.

8. A computer-implemented method comprising:

providing, at a mobile computing device and through an occluded-gesture recognition system, a radar field through one or more occlusions;

sensing, at the mobile computing device and through the occluded-gesture recognition system, an interaction of an occluded gesture within the radar field;

recognizing the occluded gesture;

determining a control input associated with the recognized gesture; and

passing the determined control input effective to control an entity associated with the mobile computing device.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein providing the radar field provides a directed radar field in a region in which gestures are anticipated.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the region in which gestures are anticipated is determined based on a location of the mobile computing device relative to a location of a person known to be associated with the mobile computing device.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising determining the location of the person known to be associated by identifying, based on identifying indicia, a hand of the person known to be associated.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein a direction of the directed radar field is determined based on tracking a hand of a person known to be associated with the mobile computing device.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, further comprising determining an identity of a person making the occluded gesture and wherein determining the control input or passing the determined control input is responsive to determining that the identified person is permitted to control the mobile computing device.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein determining the identity of the person is based on identifying indicia of a hand that performed the occluded gesture.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein determining the identity of the person is based on indicia of the person, the indicia including biometric identifiers.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the biometric identifiers are received through interactions of the person with the radar field.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein determining the identity of the person is based on a prior credential-based authentication at a particular time and tracking of the person or a hand that performs the occluded gesture is performed from the particular time to a later time at which the sensing of the interaction of the occluded gesture within the radar field is performed.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein determining the control input associated with the recognized gesture maps the recognized gesture to one control input of multiple control inputs previously associated with multiple respective gestures.

19. An apparatus comprising:

an occluded-gesture recognition system;

one or more computer processors; and

one or more computer-readable storage media having instructions stored thereon that, responsive to execution by the one or more computer processors, perform operations comprising;

determining, based on identifying indicia for a gesture actor interacting with a radar field provided by the occluded-gesture recognition system, an identity of a person associated with the gesture actor;

determining that the identified person is permitted to control the apparatus; and

responsive to determining that the identified person is permitted to control the apparatus, passing a control input determined, based on the interaction or another interaction by the gesture actor with the radar field, to an entity associated with the apparatus, the passing of the control input effective to control the entity.

20. The apparatus as recited in claim 19, wherein the operation of determining the identity of the person associated with the gesture actor compares the identifying indicia for the gesture actor with a recorded identifying indicia for the person permitted to control the apparatus.