# US 2014/0196086 A1 · Hand-held pointing device and operation method thereof > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0196086 A1 - Document ID: US20140196086A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/033,354 - Filed: 2013-09-20 - Published: 2014-07-10 - Earliest claimed: 2013-01-09 - Assignees: Pixart Imaging Inc. - Applicants: Pixart Imaging Inc. - Inventors: CHIA-CHEUN LIANG; CHI-YANG HUANG; CHIH-YEN WU; WEN-YU YANG - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140196086A1 ## CPC - H04N 21/42204: {User interfaces specially adapted for controlling a client device through a remote control device; Remote control devices therefor (constructive details of casings for the remote control device H01H9/0235; user interfaces for controlling a tuning device of a television receiver through a remote control H03J9/00; remote control of peripheral devices connected to a television receiver through the remote control device of the television receiver H04B1/205)} - G06F 3/0304: {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)} - G06F 3/0346: with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a three-dimensional [3D] space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors - G06F 3/03542: {Light pens for emitting or receiving light} - H04N 21/41265: {having a remote control device for bidirectional communication between the remote control device and client device (unidirectional remote control device H04N21/42204)} - H04N 21/422: Input-only peripherals {, i.e. input devices connected to specially adapted client devices}, e.g. global positioning system [GPS] {(input devices also receiving signals from specially adapted client devices H04N21/4104)} - H04N 21/42206: {characterized by hardware details} - H04N 21/42221: {Transmission circuitry, e.g. infrared [IR] or radio frequency [RF]} - H04N 21/42222: {Additional components integrated in the remote control device, e.g. timer, speaker, sensors for detecting position, direction or movement of the remote control, microphone or battery charging device} - H04N: PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A hand-held pointing device includes a main body, a processing circuit, a light emitting device and two image sensing devices. The main body has a first surface and a second surface for lying on an operating surface. The two image sensing devices are disposed in the main body and configured to sense first and second images through first and second transparent areas thereof, respectively. The light emitting device, disposed in the main body, is configured to emit a light source through the second transparent area. The processing circuit is configured to determine and operate the hand-held pointing device in a remote controller mode or a mouse mode according to whether the first image contains an image of a reference light source and/or the second image contains an image of the operating surface reflecting the light source. An operation for a hand-held pointing device is also provided. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A hand-held pointing device, comprising: a main body comprising an axial direction, a first surface and a second surface, wherein the hand-held pointing device can be hold along the axial direction, the first surface and the second surface comprise a first transparent area and a second transparent area, respectively, the second surface is parallel to the axial direction and for lying on an operating surface; a first image sensing device disposed in the main body and configured to sense a first image through the first transparent area; a light emitting device disposed in the main body and configured to emit a light source through the second transparent area; a second image sensing device disposed in the main body and configured to sense a second image through the second transparent area; and a processing circuit configured to generate a first determination result by determining whether the first image contains an image of a reference light source or not, generate a second determination result by determining whether the second image contains an image of the operating surface reflecting the light source or not, and determine and operate the hand-held pointing device either in a remote controller mode or in a mouse mode according to the first and second determination results. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The hand-held pointing device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine and operate the hand-held pointing device in the remote controller mode if the first image contains the image of the reference light source and the second image does not contain the image of the operating surface reflecting the light source; wherein the processing circuit is configured to determine and operate the hand-held pointing device in the mouse mode if the first image does not contain the image of the reference light source and the second image contains the image of the operating surface reflecting the light source. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The hand-held pointing device according to claim 2, wherein the processing circuit is, when determining and operating the hand-held pointing device in the remote controller mode, configured to calculate a relative position of the reference light source in the first image and accordingly output a first control signal; wherein the processing circuit is, when determining and operating the hand-held pointing device in the mouse mode, configured to calculate a relative displacement of the main body according to a texture feature of the operating surface in the second image and accordingly output a second control signal. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The hand-held pointing device according to claim 3, further comprising a signal transmission device electrically connected to the processing circuit and configured to transmit the first and second control signals to a back-end circuit of the hand-held pointing device. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The hand-held pointing device according to claim 2, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to determine and operate the hand-held pointing device in a sleep mode if the first image does not contain the image of the reference light source and the second image does not contain the image of the operating surface reflecting the light source, or, the first image does not contain the image of the reference light source and the second image contains the image of the operating surface reflecting the light source but the main body has a relative displacement smaller than a predetermined value within a predetermined time. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The hand-held pointing device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuit determines whether the first image contains the image of the reference light source or not according to a first luminance threshold and determines whether the second image contains the image of the operating surface reflecting the light source or not a second luminance threshold. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The hand-held pointing device according to claim 1, further comprising a switch disposed on the main body and configured to provide a switching signal, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to directly switch the hand-held pointing device either in the remote controller mode or the mouse mode according to the switching signal. ### Claim 8 An operation method for a hand-held pointing device, the hand-held pointing device comprising a main body, a first image sensing device, a light emitting device and a second image sensing device, the main body comprising an axial direction, a first surface and a second surface, the hand-held pointing device can be hold along the axial direction, the first surface and the second surface comprising a first transparent area and a second transparent area, respectively, the second surface being parallel to the axial direction and for lying on an operating surface, the first image sensing device being disposed in the main body and configured to sense a first image through the first transparent area, the light emitting device being disposed in the main body and configured to emit a light source through the second transparent area, the second image sensing device being disposed in the main body and configured to sense a second image through the second transparent area, the operation method comprising: generating a first determination result by determining whether the first image contains an image of a reference light source or not; generating a second determination result by determining whether the second image contains an image of the operating surface reflecting the light source or not; and determining and operating the hand-held pointing device either in a remote controller mode or in a mouse mode according to the first and second determination results. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The operation method according to claim 8, wherein the hand-held pointing device the processing circuit determined and operated in the remote controller mode if the first image contains the image of the reference light source and the second image does not contain the image of the operating surface reflecting the light source; wherein the hand-held pointing device is determined and operated in the mouse mode if the first image does not contain the image of the reference light source and the second image contains the image of the operating surface reflecting the light source. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The operation method according to claim 9, further comprising: calculating, wherein the hand-held pointing device is determined and operated in the remote controller mode, a relative position of the reference light source in the first image and accordingly outputting a first control signal; or calculating, wherein the hand-held pointing device is determined and operated in the mouse mode, a relative displacement of the main body according to a texture feature of the operating surface in the second image and accordingly outputting a second control signal. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The operation method according to claim 10, further comprising: configuring a signal transmission device to transmit the first and second control signals to a back-end circuit of the hand-held pointing device. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The operation method according to claim 9, further comprising: determining and operating the hand-held pointing device in a sleep mode if the first image does not contain the image of the reference light source and the second image does not contain the image of the operating surface reflecting the light source, or, the first image does not contain the image of the reference light source and the second image contains the image of the operating surface reflecting the light source but the main body has a relative displacement smaller than a predetermined value within a predetermined time. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The operation method according to claim 8, wherein the determination of the first image whether contains the image of the reference light source or not is based on a first luminance threshold and the determination of the second image whether contains the image of the operating surface reflecting the light source or not is based on a second luminance threshold. ### Claim 14 A hand-held pointing device, comprising: a main body comprising a first surface and a second surface, wherein the first surface and the second surface comprise a first transparent area and a second transparent area, respectively; at least an image sensing device configured to sense a first image and a second image through the first transparent area and the second transparent area, respectively; a light emitting device configured to emit a light source to the second transparent area while the image sensing device is sensing the second image; and a processing circuit configured to control the image sensing device to sense the second image, determine a luminance parameter of the second image, and determine either to control the image sensing device to switch to sense the first image or keep sensing the second image according to the determined luminance parameter. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The hand-held pointing device according to claim 14, wherein the processing circuit is configured to control the image sensing device to switch to sense the first image when the luminance parameter of the second image is smaller than a threshold value. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The hand-held pointing device according to claim 14, wherein the luminance parameter comprises an average luminance of all pixels in the second image, or, an average luminance of a predetermined percentage of pixels having a relatively high luminance in the second image. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The hand-held pointing device according to claim 14, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to provide a pointing operation and a mouse operation according to the first image and the second image sensed by the image sensing device, respectively. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The hand-held pointing device according to claim 17, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to obtain a pointing coordinate and a relative displacement by adopting a first algorithm and a second algorithm for performing an image processing on the first image and the second image sensed by the image sensing device, respectively. ### Claim 19 (depends on 14) The hand-held pointing device according to claim 14, further comprising a signal transmission device, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to control, through the signal transmission device, an external light source to emit light while the image sensing device is sensing the first image.