Method and apparatus for controlling a computing device with gestures

• US 6,573,883 B1
• Filed: 06/24/1998
• Issued: 06/03/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Bartlett, Joel F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shankar, Vijay
• Application Number:
  US09/103,905
• Time in Patent Office: 1,805 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345/157, 345/158, 345/166, 345/169, 345/173, 345/174, 345/178, 345/179, 345/863, 704/271, 361/683, 178/18.01, 178/18.03, 178/18.04, 178/18.05, 178/18.06, 178/18.07, 702/150
• US Class Current: 345/156
• 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 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• 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: 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 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

A method is provided for controlling a handheld computing device through the use of gesture commands. A gesture command corresponds to a pattern of movement of the handheld device that is measured as a function of time F(t), where t_s is a start time and t_f is a finish time such that the interval of time is t_f minus t_s. The gesture command further corresponds to angular orientations of the handheld device. The method comprises the steps of: measuring movement of the device over an interval of time with a motion sensor mounted to the device, the measuring producing a signal; analyzing the signal measured over the interval of time to determine a gesture command that corresponds to the movement of the device; and processing the gesture command to control the handheld computing device. To enable use of different gesture commands, the method includes a comparison of the signal to a catalog of gesture commands to determine a particular gesture command.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a handheld computing device, comprising the steps of:

without using buttons for command input, measuring movement of the handheld computing device over an interval of time with a motion sensor mounted to the handheld computing device, the measuring producing a signal, wherein the movement measured is movement of the entire handheld computing device;

analyzing the signal measured over the interval of time to determine a gesture command that corresponds to the movement of the handheld computing device; and

processing the gesture command to control the handheld computing device.

2. The method of claim 1 including comparing the signal to a catalog of a plurality of feature commands to determine a particular gesture command.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the gesture command corresponds to a pattern of movement of the handheld device that is measured as a function of time F(t), where t_s is a start time and t_f is a finish time such that the interval of time is t_f minus t_s.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the gesture command corresponds to angular orientations of the entire handheld device as measured over the interval of time.

14. The method of claim 3 additionally comprising:

recording the state of the handheld device at start time t_s.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the recording is carried out continuously.

5. An apparatus for controlling a handheld computing device, comprising:

a motion sensor mounted to the handheld computing device for measuring movement of the device over an interval of time, the measuring producing a signal representative of movement of the entire handheld computing device, the measuring being performed without using buttons for command input;

means for analyzing the signal measured over the interval of time to determine a gesture command that corresponds to the movement of the handheld computing device; and

means for processing the gesture command to control the handheld computing device.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the gesture command corresponds to a pattern of movement of the handheld device that is measured by the motion sensor as a function of time F(t), where t_s is a start time and t_f is a finish time such that the interval of time is t_f minus t_s.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the means for analyzing includes means for comparing the signal to a catalog of a plurality of gesture commands to determine a particular gesture command.

8. A method for controlling a wearable computing device, comprising the steps of:

without using buttons for command input, measuring movement of the wearable computing device over an interval of time with a motion sensor mounted to the wearable computing device, the measuring producing a signal, wherein the movement measured is movement of the entire wearable computing device;

analyzing the signal measured over the interval of time to determine a gesture command that corresponds to the movement of the wearable computing device; and

processing the gesture command to control the wearable computing device.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the wearable computing device is selected from the group consisting of:

cellular phone, television, radio, pager, two-way radio and multifunction wristwatch.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the wearable computing device has a display screen.

11. An apparatus for controlling a wearable computing device, comprising:

a motion sensor mounted to the wearable computing device for measuring movement of the device over an interval of time, the measuring producing a signal representative of movement of the entire wearable computing device, the measuring being performed without using buttons for command input;

means for analyzing the signal measured over the interval of time to determine a gesture command that corresponds to the movement of the wearable computing device; and

means for processing the gesture command to control the wearable computing device.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the wearable computing device is selected from the group consisting of:

cellular phone, television, radio, pager, two-way radio and multifunction wristwatch.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the wearable computing device has a display screen.