Electronic device and controlling method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9514509-B2
Application number	US-201514688836-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 16, 2015
Priority date	Nov 6, 2014
Publication date	Dec 6, 2016
Grant date	Dec 6, 2016

Abstract

A method for controlling operating time of an electronic device includes acquiring a facial image of a user, and a distance from the user to the electronic device. A facial zone from the facial image is recognized from the facial image, and a ratio is calculated between a size of the facial zone and a preset screen size of a display of the electronic device, and the distance between the user and the electronic device is acquired. When the user is determined not to be an adult based on analyses of the facial image and the acquired distance, the electronic device is turned off after a first determined duration.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a display screen having a preset screen size;
a camera;
at least one processor;
and a storage device storing a mapping table, which comprises a plurality of distance ranges, and each of the plurality of distance ranges corresponding to a predetermined value;
wherein, the storage device further stores one or more programs executable by the at least one processor; and
wherein, one or more of the programs stored in the storage device cause the processor to:
activate the camera to acquire a facial image of a user of the electronic device when the electronic device is activated to;
designate a facial zone of the acquired facial image;
determine a size of the designated facial zone;
acquire a distance from the user to the electronic device;
determine a distance range of the acquired distance by searching the mapping table;
calculate a ratio of the determined size of the designated facial zone and the preset screen size;
determine that the user is not an adult when the calculated ratio is less than the predetermined value corresponding to the determined distance range; and
deactivate the electronic device after a first determined duration when the user is determined not to be an adult.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor further:
determines that the user is an adult when the calculated ratio is greater than or equal to a predetermined value corresponding to the determined distance range; and
keeps the electronic device being activated for a second determined duration when the user is determined to be an adult.

3. The electronic device according to claim 2 , wherein the mapping table further comprises a duration corresponding to each of the plurality of distance ranges.

4. The electronic device according to claim 3 , wherein the determined duration corresponds to the determined distance range.

5. The electronic device according to claim 1 , wherein the acquired distance is determined by a proximity sensor or the camera.

6. A computer-implemented method for controlling an electronic device being executed by at least one processor of the electronic device, the electronic device storing a mapping table, which comprises a plurality of distance ranges, and each of the plurality of distance ranges corresponding to a predetermined value, the method comprising:
activating a camera of the electronic device to acquire a facial image of a user of the electronic device when the electronic device is activated;
designating a facial zone of the acquired facial image;
determining a size of the designated facial zone;
acquiring a distance from the user to the electronic device;
determining a distance range of the acquired distance by searching the mapping table;
calculating a ratio of the determined size of the designated facial zone and a preset screen size of a display screen of the electronic device;
determining that the user is not an adult when the calculated ratio is less than the predetermined value corresponding to the determined distance range; and
deactivating the electronic device after a first determined duration when the user is determined not to be an adult.

7. The method according to claim 6 , further comprising:
determining that the user is an adult when the calculated ratio is greater than or equal to a predetermined value corresponding to the determined distance range; and
keeping the electronic device being activated for a second determined duration when the user is determined to be an adult.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the mapping table further comprises a duration corresponding to each of the plurality of distance ranges.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the determined duration corresponds to the determined distance range.

10. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the acquired distance is determined by a proximity sensor or the camera.

11. A non-transitory storage medium storing a mapping table, which comprises a plurality of distance ranges, each of the plurality of distance ranges corresponding to a predetermined value, and the non-transitory storage medium further having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a processor of an electronic device, causes the processor to perform a controlling method using the electronic device, the method comprising:
activating a camera of the electronic device to acquire a facial image of a user of the electronic device when the electronic device is activated;
designating a facial zone of the acquired facial image;
determining a size of the designated facial zone;
acquiring a distance from the user to the electronic device;
determining a distance range of the acquired distance by searching the mapping table;
calculating a ratio of the determined size of the designated facial zone and a preset screen size of a display screen of the electronic device;
determining that the user is not an adult when the calculated ratio is less than the predetermined value corresponding to the determined distance range; and
deactivating the electronic device after a first determined duration when the user is determined not to be an adult.

12. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:
determining that the user is an adult when the calculated ratio is greater than or equal to a predetermined value corresponding to the determined distance range; and
keeping the electronic device being activated for a second determined duration when the user is determined to be an adult.

13. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 12 , wherein the mapping table further comprises a duration corresponding to each of the plurality of distance ranges.

14. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 13 , wherein the determined duration corresponds to the determined distance range.

15. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 11 , wherein the acquired distance is determined by a proximity sensor or the camera.

Assignees

• Fih Hong Kong Ltd

Inventors

• Lee Yen-Hsing

Classifications

• G06V40/16 Primary

  Human faces, e.g. facial parts, sketches or expressions · 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

• G06K9/00288

  Physics · mapped topic

• G01B11/14

  for measuring distance or clearance between spaced objects or spaced apertures (G01B11/26 takes precedence; rangefinders G01C3/00) · CPC title

• G06T1/20 Primary

  Processor architectures; Processor configuration, e.g. pipelining · CPC title