COMMUNICATION AND CONTROL SYSTEM AND METHOD

• US 20160246367A1
• Filed: 10/30/2014
• Published: 08/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Technology Against ALS
• Original Assignee: Technology Against ALS
• Inventors: TUNGARE, Sandeep, GUPTE, Milind, PATIL, Amitabh, REDDY, Naveen, HABERLAND, Bert
• Granted Patent: US 10,372,204 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 4/00 Methods or devices enabling patients or disabled persons to operate an apparatus or a device not forming part of the body operating or control means for prostheses A61F2/48, A61F2/68
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0141 characterised by the informative content of the display
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0178 Eyeglass type eyeglass details G02C
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2027/0187 slaved to motion of at least a part of the body of the user, e.g. head, eye
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0093 with means for monitoring data relating to the user, e.g. head-tracking, eye-tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/01 Head-up displays
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/017 Head mounted
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/013 Eye tracking input arrangements G06F3/015 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/015 Input arrangements based on nervous system activity detection, e.g. brain waves [EEG] detection, electromyograms [EMG] detection, electrodermal response detection
• 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 3/0236 using selection techniques to select from displayed items
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 21/00 Teaching, or communicating with, the blind, deaf or mute audible presentation of material to be studied G09B5/04; devices or methods for replacing direct visual or auditory perception by another kind of perception A61F9/08, A61F11/04; audible indication of meter readings or of colour G01D7/12; watches for blind persons G04B25/02; speech analysis, speech recognition G10L; sound-recording or reproducing, per se G11B

Abstract

An input system includes at least one sensor and a controller communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor. The at least one sensor is configured to identify a position of an eye. The controller is configured to receive a first signal indicative of a first position of an eye from the at least one sensor and map the eye position to a user'"'"'s selection.

Claims

1. An input system comprising:

at least one sensor configured to identify a position of an eye;

a controller communicatively coupled to the at least one sensor that is configured to receive a first signal indicative of a first position of an eye from the at least one sensor and map the eye position to a user'"'"'s selection.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to receive a second signal indicative of a second position of an eye from the at least one sensor and map the second eye position to a user'"'"'s second selection.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the second signal corresponds to user input to the system.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor is coupled to a support structure.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the support structure is one of a pair of eyeglass frames, a headband, a monocle, a hat, a structure that clips onto eyeglass frames, and a headset.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the system comprises at least one feedback mechanism configured to receive a first signal from the controller and to output a feedback signal in response to the first signal.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one feedback mechanism is one of a speaker, an earpiece, a plurality of Light Emitting Diodes lights, a mounted Heads Up Display, a television screen and a computer monitor.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the at least one feedback mechanism provides an audible feedback to a user of a selection.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the user selection comprises one of a letter, a word, a phrase, and a number.

10. The system of claim 4, wherein the support structure comprises a plurality of visual indicia for a user to gaze towards to make selections that the sensor can identify.

11. The system of claim 4, wherein the controller is mounted on the support structure.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is one of a breath sensor, accelerometer, moisture sensor and infrared muscle movement detector.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one sensor comprises a camera sensor, camera lens, infrared band pass filter, and at least one infrared light-emitting diode.

14. The system of claim 1 comprising communication system software which is built around a framework of communication boards.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the controller comprises a processor and a battery.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor is a System on Chip (SOC) board with at least one processor.

17. An input method comprising:

detecting and capturing a position of an eye through a sensor;

transmitting a signal indicative of the position of the eye from the sensor to a controller;

generating a second signal in response to the first signal corresponding to user input into the system.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

detecting and capturing a second position of an eye through the sensor;

transmitting a third signal indicative of the second position of the eye from the sensor to the controller;

generating fourth signal in response to the third signal corresponding to user input into the system.

19. The method of communicating of claim 17 wherein generating a second signal in response to the first signal corresponding to user input into the system is performed by a feedback mechanism.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

predicting user selections using word and sentence completion techniques.