# US 2015/0104075 A1 · Z-axis determination in a 2d gesture system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2015/0104075 A1 - Document ID: US20150104075A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 14/322,828 - Filed: 2014-07-02 - Published: 2015-04-16 - Earliest claimed: 2013-10-16 - Assignees: QUALCOMM Incorporated - Applicants: QUALCOMM Incorporated - Inventors: Francis Bernard MacDougall; Shaun William Van Dyken; Evan Robert Hildreth - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20150104075A1 ## CPC - G06V 40/28: {Recognition of hand or arm movements, e.g. recognition of deaf sign language (static hand signs G06V40/113)} - G06F 3/017: {Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883)} - G06V 10/507: {Summing image-intensity values; Histogram projection analysis} - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract Systems, apparatus and methods for determining a gesture are presented. According to some aspects, disclosed are systems, apparatus and methods for determining a gesture that compares different images and deduces a direction and/or distance based on a relative size change of a palm in the different images. After a reference palm size is registered, subsequent palm sizes are compared to the reference to determine if and/or how much the hand is moving. The hand gesture is determined based on these relative changes in hand movement. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method in a mobile device for determining a gesture, the method comprising: capturing a first image containing a hand having a first size; computing a first indication of the first size of the hand in the first image; capturing a second image containing the hand having a second size; computing a second indication of the second size of the hand in the second image; computing a relative change between the first image and the second image; and determining the gesture based on the relative change. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first image and the second image are received from an optical camera. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first image and the second image are received from an infrared camera. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the first image and the second image are received from an ultrasonic camera. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the hand in the first image and the second image comprises an open palm. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising: detecting the hand in the first image; and registering the first indication of the size as a reference hand size. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the relative change indicates a direction and distance. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein computing the relative change results in a relative distance. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising repeating acts of: re-capturing a next image containing the hand with a variable size; re-computing a variable indication of the next size of the hand in the next image; and re-computing the relative change. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising determining the relative change is less than a threshold. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising determining a time from capturing the first image is less than a threshold time. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising determining difference between the first indication of size and the second indication of size is greater than a threshold. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, further comprising interpreting the gesture. ### Claim 14 A mobile device for determining a gesture, the mobile device comprising: a camera configured to: capture a first image containing a hand having a first size; and capture a second image containing the hand having a second size; and a processor coupled to the camera and comprising code to: compute a first indication of the first size of the hand in the first image; compute a second indication of the second size of the hand in the second image; compute a relative change between the first image and the second image; and determine the gesture based on the relative change. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The mobile device of claim 14, wherein the camera comprises an optical camera. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The mobile device of claim 14, wherein the camera comprises an infrared camera. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The mobile device of claim 14, wherein the camera comprises an ultrasonic camera. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The mobile device of claim 14, wherein the code to compute the relative change results in a relative distance. ### Claim 19 A mobile device for determining a gesture, the mobile device comprising: means for capturing a first image containing a hand having a first size; means for computing a first indication of the first size of the hand in the first image; means for capturing a second image containing the hand having a second size; means for computing a second indication of the second size of the hand in the second image; means for computing a relative change between the first image and the second image; and means for determining the gesture based on computing the relative change. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The mobile device of claim 19, wherein the relative change indicates a direction and distance. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The mobile device of claim 20, wherein computing the relative change results in a relative distance. ### Claim 22 (depends on 19) The mobile device of claim 19, further comprising means for interpreting the gesture. ### Claim 23 A non-transient computer-readable storage medium including program code stored thereon, comprising program code to: capture a first image containing a hand having a first size; compute the first indication of the first size of the hand in the first image; capture a second image containing the hand having a second size; compute the second indication of the second size of the hand in the second image; compute a relative change between the first image and the second image; and determine the gesture based on computing the relative change.