Touchless interfaces

• US 9,367,178 B2
• Filed: 10/25/2010
• Issued: 06/14/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elliptic Laboratories AS
• Original Assignee: Elliptic Laboratories AS
• Inventors: Dahl, Tobias
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, KIMNHUNG T
• Application Number:
  US13/503,347
• Publication Number:
  US 20120299820A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,059 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-158, 345173-179, 178 1801- 1804
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/003 Bistatic sonar systems; Multistatic sonar systems
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 15/876 Combination of several spaced transmitters or receivers of known location for determining the position of a transponder or a reflector G01S15/872 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction
• 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 3/043 using propagating acoustic waves
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0436 in which generating transducers and detecting transducers are attached to a single acoustic waves transmission substrate

Abstract

The shape or position of an object is estimated using a device comprising one or more transmitters and one or more receivers, forming a set of at least two transmitter-receiver combinations. Signals are transmitted from the transmitters, through air, to the object. They are reflected by the object and received by the receivers. A subset of the transmitter-receiver combinations which give rise to a received signal meeting a predetermined clarity criterion is determined. The positions of points on the object are estimated using substantially only signals from the subset of combinations.

Claims

1. A handheld device comprising:

a display screen and a plurality of acoustic transducers as part of a user interface, said transducers being arranged in at least two parallel rows; and

a processing system configured to process a user input to the handheld device by using acoustic signals reflected off an object to estimate a shape and/or position of the object, and/or to characterise a motion of the object, the acoustic signals being transmitted through air towards the object by said plurality of acoustic transducers and/or being received through the air from the object by said plurality of acoustic transducers.

2. The handheld device of claim 1 wherein the rows are parallel with an edge of the device.

3. The handheld device of claim 1 wherein each row comprises at least three transducers.

4. The handheld device of claim 1 wherein each row is longer than the distance between the rows.

5. The handheld device of claim 1 wherein the transducers are substantially regularly spaced along the rows.

6. The handheld device of claim 1 wherein the distance between the rows is less than half the maximum wavelength transmitted by one or more of the transducers in use.

7. The handheld device of claim 1 comprising three or more parallel rows of transducers.

8. The handheld device of claim 1 wherein both rows of transducers are on the same side of the display screen.

9. The handheld device of claim 1 wherein the display screen is rectangular with the two rows of transducers being parallel to an edge of the rectangle.

10. The handheld device of claim 1 wherein the display screen is surrounded by two concentric rings of transducer elements.

11. The handheld device of claim 10 wherein the two concentric rings conform to the shape of the display screen.

12. The handheld device of claim 1 wherein the display screen is arranged to transmit an acoustic signal.

13. The handheld device of claim 1 having a transmitting surface which comprises the display screen, or which is disposed in substantially overlapping relationship with the display screen, and which is arranged to transmit an acoustic signal.

14. The handheld device of claim 13 wherein the transmitting surface is further arranged to receive a reflection of an acoustic signal from an object of interest.

15. The handheld device of claim 1 wherein the processing system is configured to control some or all of the transducers to transmit an acoustic beam in a predetermined direction.

16. The handheld device of claim 15 wherein the processing system is configured to direct acoustic energy towards an approximate location of the object.

17. The handheld device of claim 1 wherein the processing system is configured to apply receive-side beamforming to acoustic signals received at the transducers.

18. A method of operating a handheld device comprising a display screen and a plurality of acoustic transducers arranged in at least two parallel rows, the method comprising using acoustic signals reflected off an object to estimate a shape and/or position of the object, and/or to characterise a motion of the object, the acoustic signals being transmitted through air towards the object from said plurality of acoustic transducers and/or being received through the air from the object by said plurality of acoustic transducers.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the handheld device has a transmitting surface which comprises the display screen, or which is disposed in substantially overlapping relationship with the display screen, the method further comprising transmitting an acoustic signal from the transmitting surface.

20. The method of claim 19 comprising using the transmitting surface as a receiving surface to receive a reflection of the acoustic signal from an object of interest.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium bearing computer software configured, when run on a handheld device comprising a display screen and a plurality of acoustic transducers arranged in at least two parallel rows, to use acoustic signals reflected off an object to estimate a shape and/or position of the object, and/or to characterise a motion of the object, the acoustic signals being transmitted through air towards the object by said plurality of acoustic transducers and/or being received through the air from the object by said plurality of acoustic transducers.