Operation control device, operation control method, and computer-readable recording medium for distinguishing an intended motion for gesture control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9128526-B2
Application number	US-79135710-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 1, 2010
Priority date	Jun 22, 2009
Publication date	Sep 8, 2015
Grant date	Sep 8, 2015

Abstract

An apparatus and method provide logic for controlling a controllable device by distinguishing between an intended motion of a user and an unintended motion of the user. In one implementation, a computer-implemented method is provided to control a controllable device by distinguishing between a control movement and a non-control movement. The method receives spatial positions of a joint of a human appendage and a reference point disposed along the appendage and distal to the joint. The method determines whether a movement of the reference point about the joint is a control movement or a non-control movement, based on a comparison of direction of movement of the reference point and a direction of displacement between the reference point and the upper joint. A control instruction is executed when the movement is a control movement.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for controlling a controllable device by distinguishing between a control movement and a non-control movement, the control movement being associated with a control instruction of the controllable device, the method comprising steps, performed by a processor, of:
receiving a spatial position of a joint of a human appendage, and a spatial position of reference point disposed along the human appendage and distal to the joint;
identifying a direction of displacement between the joint and the reference point based on the received spatial positions, wherein the direction of displacement is specified relative to the joint;
computing a direction of a movement of the reference point with respect to the joint, based on a comparison between a stored spatial position of the reference point and the received spatial position of the reference point, wherein the direction of movement is specified relative to the reference point;
computing an acceleration associated with the movement of the reference point, based on at least the received spatial position of the reference point and the stored spatial position of the reference point;
determining whether the movement of the reference point is a control movement or a non-control movement, based on at least a comparison of the identified direction of displacement and the computed direction of movement; and
executing the control instruction when the movement is determined to be a control movement,
wherein the determining step comprises determining that the movement of the reference point is a control movement when the computed direction of movement fails to correspond to the identified direction of displacement, and when the computed acceleration exceeds a threshold value.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the joint is a first joint of the human appendage and the reference point is a second joint of the human appendage.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing the received spatial position of the reference point in a storage device.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining step comprises:
determining that the movement of the reference point is a control movement when the computed direction of movement corresponds to the identified direction of displacement.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing step comprises:
generating a vector associated with the movement of the reference point;
decomposing the generated vector into a first component and a second component that is orthogonal to the first component; and
specifying the direction of movement to be one of a direction of the first component or a direction of the second component, based on a comparison of a magnitude of the first component and a magnitude of the second component.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the specifying step comprises:
specifying the direction of movement as the direction of the first component, when the magnitude of the first component exceeds the magnitude of the second component.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the specifying step comprises:
specifying the direction of movement as the direction of the second component, when the magnitude of the second component exceeds the magnitude of the first component.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the first component is a horizontal component, and the second component is a vertical component.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining step comprises:
calculating a direction of displacement between the joint and the stored spatial position of the reference point, when the computed direction of movement fails to correspond to the identified direction of displacement; and
determining that the movement of the reference point is a control movement, when the computed direction of movement corresponds to the calculated direction of displacement.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
transmitting the control instruction to the controllable device.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving step comprises:
receiving, from a detection device, at least one of the spatial position of the joint or the spatial position of the reference point.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
calculating an intermediate spatial position, disposed along the direction of movement, between the received spatial position of the reference point and the stored spatial position of the reference point,
wherein:
the identifying step comprises identifying an intermediate direction of displacement between the received spatial position of the joint and the intermediate spatial position; and
the determining step comprises determining that the movement of the reference point is a control movement when the computed direction of movement corresponds to the intermediate direction of displacement.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the spatial position of the joint of the spatial position of the reference point together identify an axis of motion of the movement.

14. An apparatus for controlling a controllable device by distinguishing between a control movement and a non-control movement, the control movement being associated with a control instruction of the controllable device, the apparatus comprising:
a storage device; and
a processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a program for controlling the processor, and wherein the processor, being operative with the program, is configured to cause the apparatus to:
receive a spatial position of a joint of a human appendage, and a spatial position of reference point disposed along the human appendage and distal to the joint;
identify a direction of displacement between the joint and the reference point based on the received spatial positions, wherein the direction of displacement is specified relative to the joint;
compute a direction of a movement of the reference point with respect to the joint, based on a comparison between a stored spatial position of the reference point and the received spatial position of the reference point, wherein the direction of movement is specified relative to the reference point;
compute an acceleration associated with the movement of the reference point, based on at least the received spatial position of the reference point and the stored spatial position of the reference point;
determine whether the movement of the reference point is a control movement or a non-control movement, based on at least a comparison of the identified direction of displacement and the computed direction of movement; and
execute the control instruction when the movement is determined to be a control movement,
wherein the movement of the reference point is determined to be a control movement when the computed direction of movement fails to correspond to the identified direction of displacement, and when the computed acceleration exceeds a threshold value.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the joint is a first joint of the human appendage and the reference point is a second joint of the human appendage.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
store the received spatial position of the reference point in the storage device.

17. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause the apparatus to:
determine that the movement of the reference point is a control movement when the computed direction of movement corresponds to the identified direction of displacement.

18. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein

Assignees

• Homma Fuminori
• Nashida Tatsushi
• Sony Corp

Inventors

• Homma Fuminori
• Nashida Tatsushi

Classifications

• G06F3/011

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

• G06K9/00335

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F3/012

  Head tracking input arrangements · CPC title

• G06F3/017 Primary

  Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883) · CPC title

• G06K9/00362

  Physics · mapped topic