Laser pointer emulation via a mobile device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10216289-B2
Application number	US-201615141962-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 29, 2016
Priority date	Apr 29, 2016
Publication date	Feb 26, 2019
Grant date	Feb 26, 2019

Abstract

Methods, systems and computer program products for emulating a laser pointer with a mobile device are provided. Aspects include determining a position of the mobile device in a room having a display screen, determining a location of the display screen in the room, and determining an orientation of the mobile device. Aspects also include calculating a line vector originating from the mobile device and modifying a display on the display screen to include an indicator of a point at which the line vector intersects the display screen based on a determination that the line vector intersects the display screen.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-method for emulating a laser pointer with a mobile device, the method comprising:
determining a position of the mobile device in a room having a display screen;
determining a location of the display screen in the room;
determining an orientation of the mobile device;
calculating a line vector originating from the mobile device; and
based on a determination that the line vector intersects the display screen, modifying a display on the display screen to include an indicator of a point at which the line vector intersects the display screen, wherein the mobile device is a smartphone and wherein at least one of a size and a color of the indicator are configurable by a user of the mobile device, and
wherein the mobile device includes a display screen that is configured to be used to select, drag and drop one or more items on the display screen.

2. The computer-method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting a change in at least one of the position and the orientation of the mobile device; and
updating the calculation of line vector and the point at which the line vector intersects the display screen based on the change.

3. The computer-method of claim 2 , wherein updating the calculation of line vector and the point at which the line vector intersects the display screen using a state estimation filter such as a Kalman filter.

4. The computer-method of claim 1 , further comprising updating a display of a second display screen disposed in a location outside of the room to include the indicator of the point at which the line vector intersects the display screen.

5. The computer-method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining a second position of a second mobile device in the room;
determining a second orientation of the second mobile device;
calculating a second line vector originating from the second mobile device; and
based on a determination that the second line vector intersects the display screen, modifying the display on the display screen to include a second indicator of a point at which the second line vector intersects the display screen.

6. The computer-method of claim 5 , wherein the indicator is distinguishable from the second indicator.

7. A computer program product for emulating a laser pointer with a mobile device, the computer program product comprising:
a non-transitory storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method comprising:
determining a position of the mobile device in a room having a display screen;
determining a location of the display screen in the room;
determining an orientation of the mobile device;
calculating a line vector originating from the mobile device; and
based on a determination that the line vector intersects the display screen, modifying a display on the display screen to include an indicator of a point at which the line vector intersects the display screen, wherein the mobile device is a smartphone and wherein at least one of a size and a color of the indicator are configurable by a user of the mobile device, and
wherein the mobile device includes a display screen that is configured to be used to select, drag and drop one or more items on the display screen.

8. The computer program product of claim 7 , further comprising:
detecting a change in at least one of the position and the orientation of the mobile device; and
updating the calculation of line vector and the point at which the line vector intersects the display screen based on the change.

9. The computer program product of claim 8 , wherein updating the calculation of line vector and the point at which the line vector intersects the display screen using a state estimation filter such as a Kalman filter.

10. The computer program product of claim 7 , further comprising updating a display of a second display screen disposed in a location outside of the room to include the indicator of the point at which the line vector intersects the display screen.

11. The computer program product of claim 7 , further comprising:
determining a second position of a second mobile device in the room;
determining a second orientation of the second mobile device;
calculating a second line vector originating from the second mobile device; and
based on a determination that the second line vector intersects the display screen, modifying the display on the display screen to include a second indicator of a point at which the second line vector intersects the display screen.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the indicator is distinguishable from the second indicator.

13. A processing system for emulating a laser pointer with a mobile device includes a processor configured to control a content displayed on a display screen, the processor configured to:
determine a position of the mobile device in a room having the display screen;
determine a location of the display screen in the room;
determine an orientation of the mobile device;
calculate a line vector originating from the mobile device; and
based on a determination that the line vector intersects the display screen, modify the content displayed on the display screen to include an indicator of a point at which the line vector intersects the display screen, wherein the mobile device is a smartphone and wherein at least one of a size and a color of the indicator are configurable by a user of the mobile device, and
wherein the mobile device includes a display screen that is configured to be used to select, drag and drop one or more items on the display screen.

14. The processing system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
detect a change in at least one of the position and the orientation of the mobile device; and
update the calculation of line vector and the point at which the line vector intersects the display screen based on the change.

15. The processing system of claim 14 , wherein updating the calculation of line vector and the point at which the line vector intersects the display screen using a state estimation filter such as a Kalman filter.

16. The processing system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to update a display of a second display screen disposed in a location outside of the room to include the indicator of the point at which the line vector intersects the display screen.

17. The processing system of claim 13 , wherein the line vector extends through a major axis of the mobile device and out of a top portion of the mobile device.

18. The processing system of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine a second position of a second mobile device in the room;
determine a second orientation of the second mobile device;
determine a second line vector originating from the second mobile device; and
based on a determination that the second line vector intersects the display screen, modifying the content displayed on the display screen to include a second indicator of a point at which the second line vector intersects the display screen.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Hook James K
• Hunt Hamish C
• Lincoln Nicholas K
• Stone Simon D

Classifications

• G06F3/0386

  for light pen · CPC title

• G06F3/1454

  involving copying of the display data of a local workstation or window to a remote workstation or window so that an actual copy of the data is displayed simultaneously on two or more displays, e.g. teledisplay · CPC title

• G06F3/0346 Primary

  with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a three-dimensional [3D] space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors · CPC title