Context-sensitive control of radar-based gesture-recognition

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12093463-B2
Application number	US-202217822277-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2022
Priority date	Jul 26, 2019
Publication date	Sep 17, 2024
Grant date	Sep 17, 2024

Abstract

This document describes techniques and systems for radar-based gesture-recognition with context-sensitive gating and other context-sensitive controls. Sensor data from a proximity sensor and/or a movement sensor produces a context of a user equipment. The techniques and systems enable the user equipment to recognize contexts when a radar system can be unreliable and should not be used for gesture-recognition, enabling the user equipment to automatically disable or “gate” the output from the radar system according to context. The user equipment prevents the radar system from transitioning to a high-power state to perform gesture-recognition in contexts where radar data detected by the radar system is likely due to unintentional input. By so doing, the techniques conserve power, improve accuracy, or reduce latency relative to many common techniques and systems for radar-based gesture-recognition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for context-sensitive control of radar-based gesture-recognition, the method comprising:
receiving, from one or more sensors of a user equipment, sensor data;
determining, based on the sensor data, a context of the user equipment, the context of the user equipment indicating that the user equipment is within a low-light condition;
determining whether the context satisfies requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition, the determining whether the context satisfies requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition based at least in part on whether the context indicates that the user equipment is within the low-light condition; and
responsive to determining that the context does not satisfy the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition, gating a radar system to prevent the radar system from outputting indications of radar-based gestures to application subscribers.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the context is a first context, and the sensor data is first sensor data, the method further comprising:
receiving, from the one or more sensors, second sensor data;
determining, based on the second sensor data, a second context of the user equipment, the second context of the user equipment indicative that the user equipment is not within the low-light condition;
determining whether the second context satisfies the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition, the determining whether the second context satisfies requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition based at least in part on whether the second context indicates that the user equipment is not within the low-light condition; and
responsive to determining that the second context satisfies the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition, outputting the indications of radar-based gestures.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein:
determining whether the second context satisfies the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition is further responsive to inputting radar data obtained by the radar system to a model that determines the radar-based gestures from the inputted radar data; and
outputting the indications of radar-based gestures is responsive to and based on the model determining the radar-based gestures from the inputted radar data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors exclude camera sensors.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more sensors comprise at least one of a proximity sensor, an inertial measurement unit, an ambient light sensor, a microphone, a camera sensor, a global positioning system, or a gyroscope.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein determining ether the context satisfies requirements for radar-based gesture recognition is further based on additional sensor data, the additional sensor data from the inertial measurement unit of the user equipment, the additional sensor data indicating at least one of an orientation, vibration, velocity, acceleration, or position of the user equipment.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the position comprises a pitch, roll, or yaw.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the context of the user equipment further comprises determining an orientation and acceleration of the user equipment; and
determining whether the context satisfies the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition is further based on the orientation and acceleration of the user equipment.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the context of the user equipment further comprises determining that the user equipment is experiencing a constant acceleration and that a user's intent is not to engage with the user equipment based on at least in part on one of a proximity of the user to the user equipment, a gaze direction of the user, a head orientation of the user, a direction of travel of the user relative to the user equipment, a location of the user, an access state of the user equipment, or an information status of the user equipment; and
determining whether the context satisfies the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition is further based on whether the context indicates that the user equipment is experiencing a constant acceleration and that the user's intent is not to engage with the user equipment.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the context of the user equipment further comprises determining that the user equipment has a periodic oscillating acceleration and a changing position; and
determining whether the context satisfies the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition is further based on whether the context indicates that the user equipment has the periodic oscillating acceleration and the changing position.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the context of the user equipment further comprises determining that the user equipment resides in a pocket, purse, or bag of a user; and
determining whether the context satisfies requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition is further based on whether the context indicates that the user equipment resides in the pocket, purse, or bag of the user.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the context of the user equipment further comprises determining a location of the user equipment; and
determining whether the context satisfies the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition is further based on the location of the user equipment.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
determining the context of the user equipment further comprises determining that the location of the user equipment indicates a positioning within a movie theatre; and
determining whether the context satisfies the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition is further based on whether the context indicates that the user equipment is positioned within the movie theatre.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the context of the user equipment further comprises determining whether the radar system is occluded by an object positioned between a user and the radar system; and
determining whether the context satisfies the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition is further based on whether the radar system is occluded by the object positioned between the user and the radar system.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the context of the user equipment further comprises determining whether a user is holding the user equipment; and
determining whether the context satisfies the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition is further based on whether the user is holding the user equipment.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the context of the user equipment further comprises determining whether a user is holding the user equipment in a particular orientation; and
determining whether the context satisfies the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition is further based on whether the user is holding the user equipment in the particular orientation.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the context of the user equipment further comprises determining whether a user is engaging with a particular application; and
determining whether the context satisfies the requirements for radar-based gesture-recognition is further based on whether the user is engaging with a particular application.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
determining the context of the user equipment further comprises determining whether a wired or wireless charging system is powering the user equipment; and
determining whether the context satisfies the requi

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Sachidanandam Vignesh
• Poupyrev Ivan
• Giusti Leonardo
• O'Reilley Stern Devon James
• Hong Jung Ook
• Amihood Patrick M
• Jacobs John David
• Mengistu Abel Seleshi
• Barbello Brandon
• Kugler Tyler Reed

Classifications

• G01S13/86

  Combinations of radar systems with non-radar systems, e.g. sonar, direction finder · CPC title

• G01S13/867

  Combination of radar systems with cameras · CPC title

• G01S13/865

  Combination of radar systems with lidar systems · CPC title

• G01S7/415

  Identification of targets based on measurements of movement associated with the target · CPC title

• G06F3/01

  Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer (G06F3/16 takes precedence) · CPC title