Portable device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10037086-B2
Application number	US-201715639764-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 30, 2017
Priority date	Nov 4, 2011
Publication date	Jul 31, 2018
Grant date	Jul 31, 2018

Abstract

A portable computing device is disclosed which may include a base element, a lid element, a first motion sensor, a second motion sensor, a processor, and an eye tracking system. The first motion sensor may be disposed in the base element. The second motion sensor may be disposed in the lid element. The processor may be configured to control the first motion sensor to detect first motion information, control the second motion sensor to detect second motion information; and determine final motion information based at least in part on the first motion information and the second motion information. The eye tracking system may be configured to determine a gaze position of a user based at least in part on the final motion information, wherein the processor is further configured to execute one or more control processes based at least in part on the determined gaze position meeting a predetermined condition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A portable computing device, comprising:
a base element;
a lid element including a display and rotatably coupled with the base element, such that an angle between the base element and the lid element is capable of being varied;
a first motion sensor disposed in the base element;
a second motion sensor disposed in the lid element;
a processor configured to:
receive information from the first motion sensor;
receive information from the second motion sensor; and
determine the angle between the base element and the lid element, based at least in part on the information from the first motion sensor and the information from the second motion sensor; and

an eye tracking system configured to determine a gaze position of a user relative to the display based at least in part on the angle between the base element and the lid element.

2. The portable computing device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the information from the first motion sensor comprises a first angle value between the gravitational force exerted by the Earth and a plane of the base element; and
the information from the second motion sensor comprises a second angle value between the gravitational force exerted by the Earth and a plane of the lid element.

3. The portable computing device according to claim 1 , wherein the first motion sensor and the second motion sensor each comprise an accelerometer.

4. The portable computing device according to claim 3 , wherein the second motion sensor is located below the display and proximate to a hinge means rotatably coupling the base element with the lid element.

5. The portable computing device according to claim 1 , wherein:
the processor is further configured to execute one or more control processes based at least in part on the gaze position meeting a predetermined condition, wherein the one or more control processes include a selection from a group consisting of:
turning off the eye tracking system;
pausing image collection by the eye tracking system;
adjusting one or more photography parameters of the eye tracking system; and
controlling one or more system events.

6. The portable computing device according to claim 5 , wherein the predetermined condition is selected from a group consisting of:
the gaze position cannot be determined; and
the gaze position is not within a predetermined area with respect to the display.

7. The portable computing device according to claim 6 , wherein the predetermined area is smaller than an entirety of the display.

8. The portable computing device according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine 3D coordinate values of three or more positions on the display based at least in part on at least one of the information from the first motion sensor, the information from the second motion sensor, or the angle between the base element and the lid element.

9. The portable computing device according to claim 8 , wherein the three or more positions include:
at least one position proximate to a top right corner of the display;
at least one position proximate to a top left corner of the display; and
at least one position proximate to a lower left corner or a lower right corner of the display.

10. The portable computing device according to claim 1 , wherein the eye tracking system is further configured to determine head pose information of the user with respect to the display.

11. The portable computing device according to claim 10 , wherein the eye tracking system is further configured to determine the gaze position based on the head pose information.

12. A method comprising:
detecting first motion information with at least a first motion sensor disposed in a first part of a portable device;
detecting second motion information with at least a second motion sensor disposed in a second part of the portable device, wherein the second part is rotatably coupled with the first part such that an angle between the first part and the second part is capable of being varied;
determining the angle between the first part and the second part, based on the first motion information and the second motion information;
determining a gaze position of a user based at least in part on information from an eye tracking system and the angle; and
executing one or more control processes based at least in part on the gaze position meeting a predetermined condition.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the first part comprises a base element; and
the second part comprises a lid element.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein:
the first motion information comprises a first angle value between the gravitational force exerted by the Earth and a plane of the base element; and
the second motion information comprises a second angle value between the gravitational force exerted by the Earth and a plane of the lid element.

15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the second motion sensor is located below a display of the lid element and proximate to a hinge means rotatably coupling the base element with the lid element.

16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the predetermined condition is selected from a group consisting of:
the gaze position cannot be determined; and
the gaze position is not within a predetermined area with respect to a display of the lid element.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the predetermined area is smaller than an entirety of the display.

18. The method of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining 3D coordinate values of three or more positions on a display of the lid element based at least in part on at least one of the first motion information, the second motion information, or the angle between the first part and the second part.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the three or more positions includes at least one proximate to a top right corner of the display, at least one proximate to a top left corner of the display, and at least one proximate to the lower right or left corner of the display.

20. The method of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining head pose information of the user with respect to a display of the lid element.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the gaze position is further based on the head pose information.

22. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first motion sensor and the second motion sensor each comprise an accelerometer.

23. The method of claim 12 , wherein the one or more control processes include a selection from a group consisting of:
turning off the eye tracking system;
pausing image collection by the eye tracking system;
adjusting one or more photography parameters of the eye tracking system; and
controlling one or more system events.

24. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a program comprising the steps of:
detecting first motion information with at least a first motion sensor disposed in a first part of a portable device;
detecting second motion information with at least a second motion sensor disposed in a second part of the portable device, wherein the second part is rotatably coupled with the first part such that an angle between the first part and the second part is capable of being varied;
determining final motion information based on the first motion information and the second motion information, wherein the final motion information comprises an angle between the first part and the second part; and
d

Assignees

• Tobii Ab

Inventors

• Skogö Mårten
• Elvesjö John
• Lundkvist Jan-Erik
• Lundberg Per

Classifications

• G06V10/147

  Details of sensors, e.g. sensor lenses (fingerprint or palmprint sensors G06V40/13; vascular sensors G06V40/145; eye sensors G06V40/19) · CPC title

• G06F2200/1637

  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 title

• G06F1/1686

  the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera · CPC title

• G06F3/013

  Eye tracking input arrangements (G06F3/015 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F3/011

  Arrangements for interaction with the human body, e.g. for user immersion in virtual reality (blind teaching G09B21/00) · CPC title