Controlling a target device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017097656-A1
Application number	US-201415125386-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 18, 2014
Priority date	Mar 18, 2014
Publication date	Apr 6, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

It is presented a method for controlling a target device comprising a display. The method performed in a control device includes obtaining a first indication of where a first user, wearing a wearable electronic device, is looking. The first indication is used to determine that the first user is looking at a predefined peripheral area in relation to the display of the target device. A user interface for the target device is responsively displayed. A corresponding control device, target device, wearable electronic device, computer program and computer program product are disclosed.

First claim

1 . A method for controlling a target device comprising a display, the method being performed in a control device and comprising the steps of:
obtaining a first indication of where a first user, wearing a wearable electronic device, is looking; determining, using the first indication, that the first user is looking at a predefined peripheral in relation to the display of the target device; and displaying a user interface for the target device.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
obtaining a second indication of where the first user is looking; and performing a control action of the target device when the second indication indicates that the first user is looking at a user interface element of the user interface.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of determining that the first user is looking at predefined peripheral area requires that the user is looking at the predefined area more than a threshold amount of time for the determining to yield a positive result.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the peripheral area is an area in the corner of the display of the target device.

5 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the control device is comprised in the target device, and wherein:
the step of obtaining the first indication comprises receiving the first indication in a signal from the wearable electronic device.

6 . The method according to claim 5 , wherein the step of displaying a user interface comprises displaying the user interface on the display of the target device.

7 . The method according to claim 5 , further comprising the step of:
obtaining at least one further indication of where at least one other user, wearing a wearable electronic device, is looking; and wherein the step of displaying the user interface is only performed when the first indication differs more than a threshold value from all of the at least one further indications.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the control device is comprised in the wearable electronic device comprising a display and a front facing camera, and wherein:
the step of obtaining the first indication comprises determining, using a signal from the front facing camera of the wearable electronic device, where the first user is looking.

9 . The method according to claim 8 , wherein the step of displaying a user interface comprises displaying the user interface on the display of the wearable electronic device.

10 . A control device for controlling a target device comprising a display, the control device comprising:
a processor; and a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the control device to: obtain a first indication of where a first user, wearing a wearable electronic device, is looking; determine, using the first indication, that the first user is looking at a predefined peripheral area in relation to the display of the target device; and display a user interface for target device.

11 . The control device according to claim 10 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the control device to: obtain a second indication of where the first user is looking; and to perform a control action of the target device when the second indication indicates that the first user is looking at a user interface element of the user interface.

12 . The control device according to claim 10 , wherein the instructions to determine that the first user is looking at predefined peripheral area comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the control device to require that the user is looking at the predefined area more than a threshold amount of time for the determining to yield a positive result.

13 . The control device according to claim 10 , wherein the peripheral area is an area in the corner of the display of the target device.

14 . A target device comprising a display and the control device according to claim 10 , wherein the instructions to obtain the first indication comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the control device to receive the first indication in a signal from the wearable electronic device.

15 . The target device according to claim 14 , wherein the instructions to display a user interface comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the control device to display the user interface on the display of the target device.

16 . The target device according to claim 14 , further comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the control device to obtain at least one further indication of where at least one other user, wearing a wearable electronic device, is looking; and wherein the instructions to display the user interface comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the control device to only display the user interface when the first indication differs more than a threshold value from all of the at least one further indications.

17 . A wearable electronic device comprising a display, a front facing camera, and the control device according to claim 10 , wherein the instructions to obtain the first indication comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the control device to determine, using a signal from the front facing camera of the wearable electronic device, where the first user is looking.

18 . The wearable electronic device according to claim 17 , wherein the instructions to display a user interface comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the control device to display the user interface on the display of the wearable electronic device.

19 . A control device comprising:
means for obtaining a first indication of where a first user, wearing a wearable electronic device, is looking; means for determining, using the first indication, that the first user is looking at a predefined peripheral area in relation to a display of a target device; and means for displaying a user interface for the target device.

20 . A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer program code for controlling a target device comprising a display, the computer program code when run on the control device causes the control device to:
obtain a first indication of where a first user, wearing a wearable electronic device, is looking; determine, using the first indication, that the first user is looking at a predefined peripheral area in relation to the display of the target device; and display a user interface for target device.

21 . (canceled)

Assignees

• ERICSSON TELEFON AB L M (publ)

Inventors

• Andersson Ola
• Ljunggren Andreas

Classifications

• G06F3/013

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

• G06F1/163 Primary

  Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt · CPC title

• G02B27/017

  Head mounted · CPC title

• G02B2027/0138

  comprising image capture systems, e.g. camera · CPC title

• G02B2027/014

  comprising information/image processing systems · CPC title