Systems and methods for distinguishing gestures

#The present disclosure generally relates to a method and system for gesture control and, more particularly, to methods and systems for distinguishing gestures made by multiple occupants within a vehicle.

#Modern automobiles present a driver with a multitude of stimuli in the form of information, such as infotainment information, navigation information, driving condition information and vehicle status information. Additionally, stimuli is also presented to a driver from personal devices, such as smartphones. A driver is often required to operate a vehicle while being presented with these and other various stimuli. These stimuli can cause the driver to reduce the attention being paid to operating the vehicle. Additionally, where the driver must physically interact with various vehicle systems, a driver may be forced to divert his or her eyes from the roadway, resulting in a dangerous driving condition. Finally, stimuli related to personal devices, such as text messages received on a mobile device, can significantly affect a driver's ability to operate an automobile.

#To address the concern of a driver responding to various stimuli while driving, automobile manufacturers have developed gesture based control systems for automobiles. These control systems can use voice recognition, motion recognition (i.e. physical gesture), or various other methods or combinations of methods for detecting and interpreting the commands of a driver, thereby removing the requirement that the driver reach or visually search for a physical control device (i.e. push-button, rotary knob, touch screen interface, etc.). However, these devices are limited as they can often allow a passenger to unintentionally control the system while moving about the vehicle cabin. This can results in unwanted interaction with various systems of the vehicle. Furthermore, by allowing a passenger access to all of the automobile's subsystems, a driver's privacy can be reduced as the passenger may be able to access private information presented by various vehicle systems. For example, displaying a text message or e-mail received via a mobile device such as a smartphone.

#FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating functional components of an embodiment of a gesture control system.

#FIG. 2 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of a multi-user gesture control process.

#FIG. 3 is a flowchart depicting a gesture control transfer process.

#Before any embodiments of the disclosure are explained in detail, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. The disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items.

#Additionally, as this disclosure is directed to a gesture control system 100 and method, it should be recognized that “gesture” can designate any type of potential input, including, but not limited to, hand movements, body movements, spoken words, or various other bio-metric observations of a user or other actions or activities undertaken by a user, whether intentional or unintentional.

#FIG. 1 illustrates a possible embodiment of a gesture control system 100. The gesture control system 100 can contain a processor 102. The processor 102 can have multiple I/O ports to accept information from multiple systems in the vehicle. The processor 102 can also be configured to implement processes such as a multi-user gesture control process 200 or an occupant differentiation process 900, discussed in more detail below. The processor 102 can also be configured to implement other processes as are necessary for the operation of the herein described systems and methods. The gesture control system 100 can include a plurality of sensor devices. Non-limiting examples of possible sensing devices include visual sensors 104. Visual sensors 104 can be charge-coupled devices (“CCD”) or complimentary metal oxide semiconductor (“CMOS”)-based devices. Alternatively, the visual sensors 104 can be stereoscopic sensors. The visual sensors 104 can also be one or more infrared (IR) type sensors that may be mounted about an interior of a vehicle or other space. In one embodiment, the gesture control system 100 can contain multiple types of visual sensors 104. The visual sensors 104 can be coupled to a vehicle to view the passenger compartment of the vehicle. In one embodiment, multiple visual sensors 104 can be positioned to observe separate portions or areas of the passenger compartment of the vehicle. The visual sensors 104 can be positioned to view both the drivers area and the passenger area. The visual sensors 104 can also be positioned to view the rear passenger area of the vehicle. In one embodiment, the visual sensors 104 can be used to detect a gesture of a driver or other occupant in a vehicle.