US 11,121,719 B2 · Method of detecting user input in a 3D space and a 3D input system employing same

Abstract

A 3D input system and an angle encoder are disclosed. The 3D input system comprises a computing device and one or more position sensing gloves. The position sensing glove comprises a plurality of angle encoders each installed thereon at a location about a finger joint. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) is installed on the glove. A firmware uses data from the angle encoders and IMU to calculate fingertip positions in a 3D space. The firmware generates keystrokes on a virtual keyboard based on the fingertip positions. The angle encoder comprises a first and a second components rotatable with respect to each other, and an encoder pattern comprising codewords for indicating the angle between the first and second components. The encoder pattern comprises a set of base encoder channels coded with a conventional Gray code, and a set of Booster channels for improving the resolution of angle measurement.

Claims39

Dependent claims

A position-sensing system for a hand, comprising:

at least one first wireless communication component movable with the hand and for communicating with at least one second wireless communication component at a distance to the hand via one or more wireless signals, said at least one first and at least one second wireless communication components respectively comprising at least one wireless transmitter and at least one wireless receiver or respectively comprising the at least one wireless receiver and the at least one wireless transmitter;
and
a controlling circuit functionally coupled to at least one of the at least one first wireless communication component and the at least one second wireless communication component, the controlling circuit being configured for:
determining time-of-arrival (TOA) measurements of the one or more wireless signals;
and
calculating the hand positions in a three-dimensional (3D) space based on at least one of the TOA measurements of the one or more wireless signals.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Method of detecting user input in a 3D space and a 3D input system employing same

Life of this patent

Method of detecting user input in a 3D space and a 3D input system employing same

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims39