Three-dimensional displacement of a body with computer interface

• US 5,214,615 A
• Filed: 09/24/1991
• Issued: 05/25/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 02/26/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Acoustic Positioning Research Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Will Bauer
• Inventors: Bauer, Will
• Primary Examiner(s): Pihulic, Daniel T.
• Application Number:
  US07/764,624
• Time in Patent Office: 609 Days
• Field of Search: 367/128, 367/907, 178/18, 84/626, 84/687, 364/516
• US Class Current: 367/128
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/30 Determining absolute distances from a plurality of spaced points of known location
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/52004 Means for monitoring or calibrating short-range imaging G01S7/5205
• 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: G10H 1/00 Details of electrophonic musical instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/435 Ultrasound, i.e. input or control device involving inaudible pressure waves, e.g. focused as a beam
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/211 Wireless transmission, e.g. of music parameters or control data by radio, infrared or ultrasound beam G10H2220/405
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 367/907 Coordinate determination

Abstract

A system is provided for tracking the three-dimensional position of an object within a three-dimensional region by triangulation techniques to generate signals corresponding to such three-dimensional positions. The signals may be used to operate a variably operable system to create a virtual reality system. The triangulation means may comprise at least three ultrasound emitters cooperating with ultrasound receivers located on a body moving in the three-dimensional region.

Claims

1. A control system for operation in real time of a variably operated system in response to movement of at least one moving object in a three-dimensional region, comprising:

at least three ultrasound emitters located respectively at inertial reference points for triangulation determination of three-dimensional positions of said at least one object;

a pulse generator to provide ultrasound pulses to the ultrasound emitters;

a plurality of spaced apart receiving stations for each object, each receiving station comprising an ultrasound receiver and a pulse detector associated therewith to detect pulses received by the ultrasound receiver, each receiving station being associated with said object to move in a three-dimensional space with the object;

an encoder associated with the receiving stations microprocessor controller to encode pulse arrival times into a form suitable for radio transmission;

a radio transmitter for encoded signals corresponding to the pulse arrival times;

a radio receiver remote from said at least one object and from the radio transmitter to receive encoded signals from the radio transmitter;

a decoder to decode signals from the radio receiver;

a receiver tracking and object tracking microprocessor controller to receive decoded signals from the decoder and, on the one hand, to measure the time of pulse arrival to control the generation and timing of signals from the pulse generator, and to calculate from the elapsed time between the emission of a signal to the pulse generator and a detected pulse corresponding thereto from a respective receiving station, radial positional data for the respective receiver for each pulse therefrom, and to generate radial position-indicating signals therefrom;

and, on the other hand, for computing a three-dimensional position of at least one object in terms of the radial positional data for said at least one object, velocity and acceleration of the object and generating commands for the pulse generator for the ultrasound emitters, and interfacing with a computer for generating commands in response to the computed three-dimensional positions of the object and from the radial positional data for each ultrasound receiving station of said at least one object to control variations of said variably operated system.

2. A control system for operation in real time of a variably operable system in response to movement of at least one moving object in three-dimensional region, comprising;

at least three ultrasound emitters located respectively at inertial reference points for triangulation determination of three-dimensional positions of said at least one object;

a pulse generator to provide ultrasound pulses to the ultrasound emitters;

a plurality of spaced apart receiving stations for each object, each receiving station comprising an ultrasound receiver and a pulse detector associated therewith to detect pulses received by the ultrasound receiver, each receiving station being associated with said object to move in a three-dimensional space with the object;

a receiver tracking microprocessor controller to receive and digitize pulses from each receiving station and to measure the time of pulse arrival to control the generation and timing of signals from the pulse generator, and to calculate from the elapsed time between the emission of a signal to the pulse generator and a detected pulse corresponding thereto from a respective receiving station, radial positional data for the respective receiver for each pulse therefrom;

an encoder associated with the receiver tracking microprocessor controller to encode pulse arrival times into a form suitable for radio transmission;

a radio transmitter for encoded signals corresponding to the pulse arrival times;

a radio receiver remote from said at least one object and from the radio transmitter to receive encoded signals from the radio transmitter;

a decoder to decode signals from the radio receiver;

an object tracking microprocessor controller for receiving said decoded radial positional data for each ultrasound receiver associated with said at least one object, for computing a three-dimensional position of at least one object in terms of the radial positional data for said at least one object, velocity, and acceleration of the object and, on the one hand, generating commands for the pulse generator for the ultrasound emitters, and, on the other hand, interfacing with a computer for generating commands in response to the computed three-dimensional positions of the object and from the radial positional data for each ultrasound receiving station of said at least one object to control variations of said variably operable system.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2, in which four ultrasound emitters are used.

4. A system as claimed in claim 2 in which the variably operable system is a virtual reality system.

5. A system as claimed in claim 2 on which the variably operable system is variably operable apparatus.

6. A system as claimed in claim 2 in which the variably operable system is a music synthesizer.

7. A system as claimed in claim 6 in which the computer is provided with means to generate a map onto which the dimensional positional data is plotted, the map including regions in which three-dimensional positional data generates different commands.

8. A system as claimed in claim 2, in which the ultrasound has a frequency in the range of from 20 KHz to 30 KHz.

9. A system as claimed in claim 4, in which at least one object is attachable to a human body part.

10. A system as claimed in claim 8, in which more than one ultrasound receiver is present, an array of said receivers being included in each object.

11. A system for tracking an object within a three dimensional region comprising;

at least three ultrasound emitters located respectively at respective inertial reference points for triangulation determination of the three-dimensional position of said object;

at least one ultrasound receiver associated with said object to move in the three-dimensional region;

a pulse detector associated with each ultrasound receiver to detect pulses received thereby;

a receiver tracking microprocessor controller to receive and digitize pulses from each receiver, and to measure the time of pulse arrival to control the generation and timing of signals from the pulse generator and to calculate from the elapsed time between the emission of a signal to the pulse generator and a detected pulse corresponding thereto from a respective receiver, radial positional data for the respective receiver for each pulse therefrom;

a pulse encoder to encode pulse arrival times from the receiver tracking microprocessor into a form suitable for radio transmission;

a radio transmitter associated with the encoder and a radio receiver remote from said object, the radio transmitter being adapted to transmit data corresponding to detected pulses to the radio receiver;

a pulse decoder associated with the radio receiver to decode transmitted pulses into a form suitable for microprocessor detection;

a microprocessor controller adapted to detect transmitted pulses from the decoder and to send signals to the ultrasound emitters to initiate emission of ultrasound pulses therefrom, to measure elapsed time between the emission of an ultrasound pulse from respective ultrasound emitters and a detected pulse corresponding thereto, to calculate radial positional data for the object from the elapsed times for pulses from each of the emitters and the object, and to generate position indicating signals; and

computer means interfaced with the microprocessor controller for receiving said position indicating signals therefrom, computing the three dimensional position, velocity, and acceleration of the object.