Touchless user interface navigation using gestures

• US 9,804,679 B2
• Filed: 07/03/2015
• Issued: 10/31/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Carceroni, Rodrigo Lima, Sanketi, Pannag R., Shah, Suril, Ozkan, Derya, Mariooryad, Soroosh, Tarzjani, Seyed Mojtaba Seyedhosseini, Lider, Brett, Ludwig, Peter Wilhelm
• Primary Examiner(s): Edouard, Patrick
• Assistant Examiner(s): JAVED, MAHEEN I
• Application Number:
  US14/791,291
• Publication Number:
  US 20170003747A1
• Time in Patent Office: 851 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G04C 3/002 Position, e.g. inclination dependent switches
• 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 1/3215 Monitoring of peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3231 Monitoring the presence, absence or movement of users
• 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 3/03 Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

An example method includes displaying, by a display (104) of a wearable device (100), a content card (114B); receiving, by the wearable device, motion data generated by a motion sensor (102) of the wearable device that represents motion of a forearm of a user of the wearable device; responsive to determining, based on the motion data, that the user has performed a movement that includes a supination of the forearm followed by a pronation of the forearm at an acceleration that is less than an acceleration of the supination, displaying, by the display, a next content card (114C); and responsive to determining, based on the motion data, that the user has performed a movement that includes a supination of the forearm followed by a pronation of the forearm at an acceleration that is greater than an acceleration of the supination, displaying, by the display, a previous content card (114A).

Claims

1. A method comprising:

displaying, by a display of a wearable computing device, a content card of a list of content cards;

receiving, by the wearable computing device, motion data generated by a motion sensor of the wearable computing device that represents motion of a forearm of a user of the wearable computing device;

in response to determining, by the wearable computing device and based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a first movement that includes a supination of the forearm of the user followed by a pronation of the forearm of the user at an acceleration that is less than an acceleration of the supination, displaying, by the display, a next content card of the list of content cards; and

in response to determining, by the wearable computing device and based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a second movement that includes a supination of the forearm of the user followed by a pronation of the forearm of the user at an acceleration that is greater than an acceleration of the supination, displaying, by the display, a previous content card of the list of content cards.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of content cards is at a current hierarchical level of a plurality of hierarchical levels, and wherein the current content card corresponds to a list of content cards at a lower hierarchical level of the plurality of hierarchical levels than the current hierarchical level, the method further comprising:

in response to determining, by the wearable computing device and based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a third movement that includes a lowering of at least a distal end of the forearm of the user away from a head of the user followed by a raising of at least the distal end of the forearm of the user toward the head of the user, displaying, by the display, a content card of the list of content cards at the lower hierarchical level.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining, by the wearable computing device and based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a fourth movement that includes a raising of at least a distal end of the forearm of the user towards the head of the user followed by a lowering of at least the distal end of the forearm of the user away from the head of the user, displaying, by the display, a content card of a list of content cards at a higher hierarchical level of the plurality of hierarchical levels than the current hierarchical level.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining, by the wearable computing device and based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a fifth movement that includes a repeated pronation and supination of the forearm of the user within a period of time, displaying, by the display, a home screen.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the home screen is a content card of the list of content cards that is not the next content card, the previous content card, or a currently displayed content card.

6. A wearable computing device configured to be worn on a forearm of a user, the wearable computing device comprising;

a display component that displays content cards;

at least one motion sensor that detects movement of the wearable computing device and generates, based on the movement, motion data that represents motion of the forearm of the user of the wearable computing device;

one or more processors;

at least one module operable by the one or more processors to;

cause the display component to display a first content card of a list of content cards;

responsive to determining that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a first gesture that includes a supination of the forearm of the user followed by a pronation of the forearm of the user at an acceleration that is less than an acceleration of the supination, output, for display by the display component, a second content card of the list of content cards; and

responsive to determining, based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a second gesture that includes a supination of the forearm of the user followed by a pronation of the forearm of the user at an acceleration that is greater than an acceleration of the supination, output, for display by the display component, the first content card.

7. The wearable computing device of claim 6, wherein the first content card corresponds to a current hierarchical level of a plurality of hierarchical levels, and wherein, responsive to determining, based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a third movement that includes a lowering of at least a distal end of the forearm of the user away from a head of the user followed by a raising of at least the distal end of the forearm of the user toward the head of the user, the at least one module is further operable to output, for display by the display component, a third content card from a lower hierarchical level than the current hierarchical level.

8. The wearable computing device of claim 6, wherein, in response to determining, based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a fourth movement that includes a raising of at least a distal end of the forearm of the user towards the head of the user followed by a lowering of at least the distal end of the forearm of the user away from the head of the user, the at least one module is further operable to output, for display at the display component, a fourth content card from a higher hierarchical level than the current hierarchical level.

9. The wearable computing device of claim 6, wherein, in response to determining, based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a fifth movement that includes a repeated pronation and supination of the forearm of the user within a period of time, the at least one module is further operable to output, for display at the display component, a home screen.

10. The wearable computing device of claim 9, wherein the home screen is a content card of the list of content cards that is not the next content card, the previous content card, or a currently displayed content card.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors of a wearable computing device to:

output for display, by a display of a wearable computing device, a content card of a list of content cards;

receive motion data generated by a motion sensor of the wearable computing device that represents motion of a forearm of a user of the wearable computing device;

responsive to determining, based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a first movement that includes a supination of the forearm of the user followed by a pronation of the forearm of the user at an acceleration that is less than an acceleration of the supination, output for display, by the display component, a next content card of the list of content cards; and

responsive to determining, based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a second movement that includes a supination of the forearm of the user followed by a pronation of the forearm of the user at an acceleration that is greater than an acceleration of the supination, output for display, by the display component, a previous content card of the list of content cards.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the list of content cards is at a current hierarchical level of a plurality of hierarchical levels, the computer-readable storage medium further comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

responsive to determining, based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a third movement that includes a lowering of at least a distal end of the forearm of the user away from a head of the user followed by a raising of at least the distal end of the forearm of the user toward the head of the user, output for display, by the display component, a content card of the list of content cards at a lower hierarchical level of the plurality of hierarchical levels than the current hierarchical level.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

responsive to determining, based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a fourth movement that includes a raising of at least the distal end of the forearm of the user towards the head of the user followed by a lowering of at least the distal end of the forearm of the user away from the head of the user, output for display, by the display component, a content card of a list of content cards at a higher hierarchical level of the plurality of hierarchical levels than the current hierarchical level.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, further comprising instructions that cause the one or more processors to:

responsive to determining, based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a fifth movement that includes a repeated pronation and supination of the forearm of the user within a period of time, output for display, by the display component, a home screen.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the home screen is a content card of the list of content cards that is not the next content card, the previous content card, or a currently displayed content card.

16. A method comprising:

displaying, by a display of a wearable computing device, a content card of a list of content cards at a current hierarchical level of a plurality of hierarchical levels;

receiving, by the wearable computing device, motion data generated by a motion sensor of the wearable computing device that represents motion of a forearm of a user of the wearable computing device;

in response to determining, by the wearable computing device and based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a first movement that includes a lowering of at least a distal end of the forearm of the user away from a head of the user followed by a raising of at least the distal end of the forearm of the user toward the head of the user, displaying, by the display, a content card of the list of content cards at a lower hierarchical level of the plurality of hierarchical levels than the current hierarchical level; and

in response to determining, by the wearable computing device and based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a second movement that includes a supination of the forearm of the user followed by a pronation of the forearm of the user at an acceleration that is greater than an acceleration of the supination, displaying, by the display, a previous content card of the list of content cards.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

in response to determining, by the wearable computing device and based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a third movement that includes a raising of at least the distal end of the forearm of the user towards the head of the user followed by a lowering of at least the distal end of the forearm of the user away from the head of the user, displaying, by the display, a content card of a list of content cards at a higher hierarchical level of the plurality of hierarchical levels than the current hierarchical level.

18. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

in response to determining, by the wearable computing device and based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a fourth movement that includes a supination of the forearm of the user followed by a pronation of the forearm of the user at an acceleration that is less than an acceleration of the supination, displaying, by the display, a next content card of the list of content cards.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

in response to determining, by the wearable computing device and based on the motion data, that the user of the wearable computing device has performed a fifth movement that includes a repeated pronation and supination of the forearm of the user within a period of time, displaying, by the display, a home screen.