Flexible room controls
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsAlexander Shpunt, Raviv Erlich, Ronen Akerman, Ran Halutz
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Control apparatus includes an optical subsystem, which is configured to direct first light toward a scene that includes a hand of a user in proximity to a wall of a room and to receive the first light that is reflected from the scene, and to direct second light toward the wall so as to project an image of a control device onto the wall. A processor is configured to control the optical subsystem so as to generate, responsively to the received first light, a depth map of the scene, to process the depth map so as to detect a proximity of the hand to the wall in a location of the projected image, and to control electrical equipment in the room responsively to the proximity.
Claims12
Control apparatus, comprising:
- an optical subsystem, which is configured to direct first light toward a scene that includes a hand of a user in proximity to a wall of a room and to receive the first light that is reflected from the scene, and which comprises a scanning mirror configured to scan second light over the wall so as to project an image of a control device onto the wall;
- and
- a processor, which is configured to control the optical subsystem so as to generate, responsively to the received first light, a depth map of the scene, to process the depth map so as to detect a proximity of the hand to the wall in a location of the projected image, and to control electrical equipment in the room responsively to the proximity,
- wherein the optical subsystem is configured to control the second light so that the image of the control device is not projected onto the hand while the mirror scans across the hand.
A method for controlling electrical equipment, comprising:
- scanning first light over a scene that includes a hand of a user in proximity to a wall of a room;
- receiving the first light that is reflected from the scene;
- generating, responsively to the received first light, a depth map of the scene;
- scanning second light over the wall so as to project an image of a control device onto the wall;
- processing the depth map so as to detect a proximity of the hand to the wall in a location of the projected image;
- and
- controlling electrical equipment in the room responsively to the proximity,
- wherein scanning the first light and the second light comprises reflecting the first light and the second light from a scanning mirror, which scans both the first light and the second light over the scene simultaneously, and
- wherein directing the second light comprises controlling the second light so that the image of the control device is not projected onto the hand while the mirror scans across the hand.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.