User interface method, medium, and apparatus with gesture-recognition

• US 8,250,493 B2
• Filed: 01/31/2006
• Issued: 08/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/05/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Yang, Jing, Kim, Dongyoon
• Primary Examiner(s): England, Sara
• Application Number:
  US11/342,968
• Publication Number:
  US 20060177112A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,394 Days
• Field of Search: 715/763, 715/710, 715/773, 715/863
• US Class Current: 715/863
• 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 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors

Abstract

A user interface method, medium, and apparatus with gesture-recognition. The user interface method may include measuring acceleration of a gesture-recognition based input device while a writing gesture is performed, e.g., in the air, using the gesture-recognition based input device to generate acceleration signals, and determining whether the gesture-recognition based input device is operated in a predetermined gesture range from a time period when the writing gesture is made, or the acceleration signals, to generate warnings when the gesture-recognition based input device deviates the predetermined gesture range.

Claims

1. A user interface method, comprising:

measuring acceleration of an input device while a gesture writing is performed, using the input device to generate acceleration signals, wherein the gesture writing is performed while a button of the input device is activated;

determining whether the input device is operated relative to a predetermined gesture range based on a time period when the gesture writing is made and/or based on the acceleration signals;

generating a first warning or a second warning indicating that the input device has deviated from the predetermined gesture range when the input device deviates from the predetermined gesture range and outputting a first or second warning message corresponding to the first or second warning to a user; and

generating a third warning indicating that the button has been temporarily released from activation, when the button is deactivated and re-activated within a predetermined time during the gesture writing and outputting a third warning message corresponding to the third warning to the user,

wherein the first warning, second warning, and third warning are at least one of a verbal warning message, a displayed message on a display, and a form of vibration, and

wherein the button is separate from the display.

2. The user interface method of claim 1, wherein the input device is a gesture-recognition based input device.

3. The user interface method of claim 1, wherein, the predetermined gesture range indicates that a sampling period, which represents a period when the button is activated, is no less than a first threshold value and no greater than a second threshold value.

4. The user interface method of claim 3, wherein, the generating of the first warning indicates that the writing gesture was performed too quickly to record sufficient data for gesture recognition, when the sampling period is less than the first threshold value, and the generating of the second warning indicates that the writing gesture was made too slowly or too small to be distinguished from noise signals, when the sampling period is greater than the second threshold value.

5. The user interface method of claim 1, wherein, the predetermined gesture range indicates that a gesture period, which represents a period when corresponding acceleration is measured, is no less than a first threshold value and no greater than a second threshold value.

6. The user interface method of claim 5, wherein, the generating of the first warning indicates that the gesture writing was performed too quickly to record sufficient data for gesture recognition, when the gesture period is less than the first threshold value, and the generating of the second warning indicates that the gesture writing was made too slowly or too small to be distinguished from noise signals, when the gesture period is greater than the second threshold value.

7. The user interface method of claim 5, wherein, when a maximum value of variances of the acceleration signals is less than a third threshold value during the gesture period or when a maximum value of acceleration variances detected by a moving window during the gesture period is less than a fourth threshold value, and the magnitudes of the acceleration signals are less than a magnitude of acceleration noise, the gesture writing is outside of the predetermined range.

8. The user interface method of claim 7, wherein, the input device generates the second warning indicating the slow or small input gesture was made too slowly or too small to be distinguished from noise signals, when the gesture period is greater than the second threshold value.

9. The user interface method of claim 1, wherein, the predetermined gesture range indicates that a pitch angle and/or a roll angle, which correspond to a pose of the input device with respect to a bottom plane on which the input device is positioned, are in predetermined angle ranges.

10. The user interface method of claim 9, wherein the pitch angle and/or the roll angle are measured from an average of three-axis acceleration data sampled during a period when corresponding acceleration is measured.

11. The user interface method as claimed in claim 9, wherein, when the pitch angle and/or the roll angle deviates from the angle ranges, a fourth warning signal is generated to request the pose of the gesture-recognition based input device be corrected.

12. A user interface apparatus for an input device to recognize a gesture writing, the apparatus comprising:

a sensor to measure acceleration of the gesture writing to generate an acceleration signal;

an analyzing unit to determine whether the input device is operated within a predetermined gesture range, based on a period when the writing gesture is made or the acceleration signal, and to generate a first or a second warning signal indicating that the input device has deviated from the predetermined gesture range when the input device is operated outside of the predetermined gesture range and output a first or second warning message corresponding to the first or second warning to a user; and

a button continuously activated when the gesture writing is made,

wherein the analyzing unit outputs a third warning signal indicating that the button has temporarily been released, when the button is deactivated and re-activated within a predetermined time during the gesture period and output a third warning message corresponding to the third warning to the user, and

wherein the first warning, second warning, and third warning are at least one of a verbal warning message, a displayed message on a display, and a form of vibration, and

wherein the button is separate from the display.

13. The user interface apparatus of claim 12, wherein the input device is a gesture-recognition based input device.

14. The user interface apparatus of claim 12, wherein the analyzing unit outputs the first warning signal indicating that the input gesture was performed too quickly to record sufficient data for gesture recognition when a sampling period, which represents a period when the button is activated, is less than a first threshold value, and outputs the second warning signal indicating the input gesture was made too slowly or too small to be distinguished from noise signals when the sampling period is greater than a second threshold value.

15. The user interface apparatus of claim 12, wherein the analyzing unit outputs the first warning signal indicating that the input gesture was performed too quickly to record sufficient data for gesture recognition when a gesture period, which is a period when the acceleration is measured to be less than a first threshold value, and outputs the second warning signal indicating the input gesture was made too slowly or too small to be distinguished from noise signals when the gesture period is greater than a second threshold value.

16. The user interface apparatus of claim 15, wherein the analyzing unit outputs the second warning signal against the slow or small input gesture writing when a maximum value of variances of acceleration signals during the gesture period is less than a third threshold value or a maximum value of acceleration variances, detected by a moving window in the gesture period, is less than a fourth threshold value and the magnitudes of the acceleration signals during the gesture period are less than a magnitude of a corresponding acceleration noise.

17. The user interface apparatus of claim 12, wherein the analyzing unit extracts a pitch angle and/or a roll angle, which correspond to a pose of the input device with respect to a bottom plane on which the input device is positioned, from acceleration data sampled during a period when the acceleration is measured and generates a fourth warning signal to request the pose of the input device be corrected when the pitch angle and/or the roll angle deviates from predetermined angle ranges.

18. The user interface apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a warning output unit to output a warning message to a user corresponding to the first or second warning signal from the analyzing unit.

19. At least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable code to implement a user interface method, the method comprising:

measuring acceleration of an input device while a gesture writing is performed, using the input device to generate acceleration signals, wherein the gesture writing is performed while a button of the input device is activated;

determining whether the input device is operated relative to a predetermined gesture range based on a time period when the gesture writing is made and/or based on the acceleration signals; and

generating a first warning or second warning indicating that the input device has deviated from the predetermined gesture range when the input device deviates from the predetermined gesture range and outputting a first or second warning message corresponding to the first or second warning to a user; and

generating a third warning indicating that the button has been temporarily released from activation, when the button is deactivated and re-activated within a predetermined time during the gesture writing and outputting a third warning message corresponding to the third warning to the user,

wherein the first warning, second warning, and third warning are at least one of a verbal warning message, a displayed message on a display, and a form of vibration, and

wherein the button is separate from the display.

20. The at least one non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the input device is a gesture-recognition based input device.