Virtual shade

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9335919-B2
Application number	US-201213532127-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 25, 2012
Priority date	Jun 25, 2012
Publication date	May 10, 2016
Grant date	May 10, 2016

Abstract

Methods and systems disclosed herein relate to a shading function or device for use with a head-mountable device. An example method could include determining, from a touch-sensitive surface of the head-mountable device, a swipe interaction. The head-mountable device could include at least one optical element. The at least one optical element could be configured to transmit outside light from an environment of the head-mountable device. The method could further include causing at least one property of the at least one portion of the at least one optical element to be controlled based on the swipe interaction. The at least one property could include a transmittance of the at least one optical element. In one implementation, the optical element could be mounted a substantially distal surface of a see-through display.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
determining, from a touch-sensitive surface of a head-mountable device, a gesture comprising an initial point and a final point, wherein the head-mountable device comprises an eyepiece, wherein the eyepiece is configured to transmit outside light from a field of view of the head-mountable device, wherein the touch-sensitive surface comprises a touch pad, wherein the eyepiece comprises a plurality of operable segments, wherein the plurality of operable segments comprises at least one row and at least one column, wherein the plurality of operable segments is arranged along a surface of the eyepiece such that at least a portion of the outside light is transmitted through the plurality of operable segments;
determining a portion of the plurality of operable segments based on the initial point and the final point; and
causing at least one property of the portion of the plurality of operable segments to be controlled based on the gesture, wherein the at least one property comprises a transmittance of the portion of the plurality of operable segments.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the touch-sensitive surface comprises at least one of a touch screen, a capacitive surface, a resistive surface, and a surface-acoustic wave surface.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the eyepiece comprises at least one of an electrochromic film and a liquid crystal film.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gesture comprises at least one of a top-to-bottom swipe, a bottom-to-top swipe, a left-to-right swipe, and a right-to-left swipe.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gesture comprises information indicative of a swipe direction and a swipe length.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein causing at least one property of the portion of the plurality of operable segments to be controlled based on the gesture comprises causing the at least one property of the portion of the plurality of operable segments to be controlled based on the swipe direction and the swipe length.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein causing the at least one property of the portion of the plurality of operable segments to be controlled based on the gesture comprises causing the at least one property of the portion of the plurality of operable segments to be sequentially controlled while the gesture proceeds in the swipe direction.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing the at least one property of the portion of the plurality of operable segments comprises causing the at least one property to be controlled so as to prevent at least a portion of the outside light from being viewable at a viewing location of the head-mountable device.

9. A head-mountable device, comprising:
a touch-sensitive surface configured to receive a gesture input comprising an initial point and a final point, wherein the touch-sensitive surface comprises a touch pad;
an eyepiece configured to transmit outside light from a field of view of the head-mountable device, wherein the eyepiece comprises a plurality of operable segments, wherein the plurality of operable segments comprises at least one row and at least one column, wherein the plurality of operable segments is arranged along a surface of the eyepiece such that at least a portion of the outside light is transmitted through the plurality of operable segments; and
a controller configured to:
determine a portion of the plurality of operable segments based on the initial point and the final point; and
adjust at least one property of the portion of the plurality of operable segments based on the gesture input, wherein the at least one property comprises a transmittance of the portion of the plurality of operable segments.

10. The head-mountable device of claim 9 , wherein the touch-sensitive surface comprises at least one of a touch screen, a capacitive surface, a resistive surface, and a surface-acoustic wave surface.

11. The head-mountable device of claim 9 , wherein the eyepiece comprises at least one of an electrochromic film and a liquid crystal film.

12. The head-mountable device of claim 9 , wherein the gesture input comprises at least one of a top-to-bottom swipe, a bottom-to-top swipe, a left-to-right swipe, and a right-to-left swipe.

13. The head-mountable device of claim 9 , wherein the gesture input comprises information indicative of a swipe direction and a swipe length.

14. The head-mountable device of claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to adjust the at least one property of the portion of the plurality of operable segments based on the swipe direction and the swipe length.

15. The head-mountable device of claim 13 , wherein the controller is further configured to sequentially adjust the at least one property of the portion of the plurality of operable segments while the gesture input proceeds in the swipe direction.

16. The head-mountable device of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to adjust the transmittance of the portion of the plurality of operable segments so as to prevent at least a portion of the outside light from being viewable at a viewing location of the head-mountable device.

17. The head-mountable device of claim 9 , wherein the head-mountable device is configured to provide a view, from a viewing location, of:
a graphical representation; and
a real-world environment of the device.

18. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored therein instructions executable by a computer system to cause the computer system to perform functions comprising:
causing a head-mountable device to receive, from a touch-sensitive surface of the head-mountable device, a gesture input comprising an initial point and a final point, wherein the head-mountable device comprises an eyepiece, wherein the eyepiece is configured to transmit outside light from a field of view of the head-mountable device, wherein the eyepiece comprises a plurality of operable segments, wherein the plurality of operable segments comprises at least one row and at least one column, wherein the plurality of operable segments is arranged along a surface of the eyepiece such that at least a portion of the outside light is transmitted through the plurality of operable segments, wherein the touch-sensitive surface comprises a touch pad;
determining a portion of the plurality of operable segments based on the initial point and the final point; and
causing at least one property of the portion of the plurality of operable segments to be controlled based on the gesture input, wherein the at least one property comprises a transmittance of the portion of the plurality of operable segments.

19. A method, comprising:
acquiring sensor data from a sensor of a head-mountable device;
determining, based on the sensor data, a gesture input comprising an initial point and a final point, wherein the head-mountable device comprises an eyepiece, wherein the eyepiece is configured to transmit outside light from an environment of the head-mountable device, wherein the eyepiece comprises a plurality of operable segments, wherein the plurality of operable segments comprise at least one row and at least one column, wherein the plurality of operable segments is arranged along a surface of the eyepiece such that at least a portion of the outside light is transmitted through the plurality of operable segments;
determining a portion of the plurality of operable segments based on the initial point and the final point; and
causing at least one property of the portion of the plurality of operable segments to be controll

Assignees

• Wong Adrian
• Google Inc

Inventors

• Wong Adrian

Classifications

• G06F3/0304

  Detection arrangements using opto-electronic means (constructional details of pointing devices not related to the detection arrangement using opto-electronic means G06F3/033; optical digitisers G06F3/042) · CPC title

• G02B27/017

  Head mounted · CPC title

• G06F3/0488 Primary

  using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures · 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

• G06F3/013

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