Apparatus and method pertaining to the use of a plurality of 3D gesture sensors to detect 3D gestures
A device having at least two 3-dimensional gesture sensors that employ differing gesture-sensing modalities as compared to one another further includes a control circuit that operably couples to both of these 3-dimensional gesture sensors and employs both to detect three-dimensional gestures. By one approach the control circuit employs both sensors in a temporally-overlapping manner to reliably and accurately detect the 3D gesture. As another illustrative example, the control circuit may employ different sensors during different portions of a given 3D gesture to detect those corresponding portions of the 3D gesture.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a processor and memory running an application using one or more gestures as inputs;
a touch-sensitive display for sensing two-dimensional gestures in a two-dimensional plane;
a first non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor for sensing a user's hand movement in front of and relative to the touch-sensitive display;
at least a second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor for sensing the user's hand movement in front of and relative to the touch-sensitive display, the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors employing differing gesture-sensing modalities;
a control circuit operably coupled to the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors and configured to switch between the first non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor and the at least a second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor while in the process of detecting a current three-dimensional gesture of the user's hand movement,
wherein the switch is based on each of
remaining predictable portions of the currently detected three-dimensional gesture, and
a combination of sensing accuracy, power consumption and computational intensity.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the gesture-sensing modalities include at least one gesture-sensing modality selected from a group comprising a camera-based modality, a capacitive-based modality, an infrared light-based modality, an ambient light-based modality, and an ultrasonic-based modality.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is configured to employ both the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a three-dimensional gesture by, at least in part, testing each of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors with respect to a current three-dimensional gesture to identify a best non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor to employ to detect the current three-dimensional gesture.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is configured to employ both the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a three-dimensional gesture by, at least in part, using each of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a portion of a current three-dimensional gesture.
5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the control circuit is configured to use each of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a portion of a current three-dimensional gesture by, at least in part, using at least one of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a portion, but only a portion, of the current three-dimensional gesture.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the control circuit is configured to employ both the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a three-dimensional gesture by, at least in part, determining which of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors is best suited to detect at least certain portions of a predicted three-dimensional gesture.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the control circuit is configured to determine which of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors is best suited as a function, at least in part, of both sensing accuracy and power consumption.
8. A method comprising on an electronic device by a control circuit that is operably coupled to
a processor and memory running an application using one or more gestures as inputs;
a touch-sensitive display for sensing two-dimensional gestures in a two-dimensional plane;
a first non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor for sensing a user's hand movement in front of and relative to the touch-sensitive display and at least a second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor for sensing the user's hand movement in front of and relative to the touch-sensitive display, the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors employing differing gesture-sensing modalities; and
switching between, based upon presets in the application, the first non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor to detect a first portion of a current three-dimensional gesture of the user's hand movement and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor to detect a second portion of the current three-dimensional gesture, wherein the switching is based on each of
remaining predictable portions of the currently detected three-dimensional gesture, and
a combination of sensing accuracy, power consumption and computational intensity.
9. The method of claim 8 wherein the gesture-sensing modalities include at least one gesture-sensing modality selected from a group comprising a camera-based modality, a capacitive-based modality, an infrared light-based modality, an ambient light-based modality, and an ultrasonic-based modality.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein employing both the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a three-dimensional gesture comprises, at least in part, testing each of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors with respect to a current three-dimensional gesture to identify a best non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor to employ to detect the current three-dimensional gesture.
11. The method of claim 8 wherein employing both the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a three-dimensional gesture comprises, at least in part, using each of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a portion of a current three-dimensional gesture.
12. The method of claim 11 wherein using each of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a portion of a current three-dimensional gesture comprises, at least in part, using at least one of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a portion, but only a portion, of the current three-dimensional gesture.
13. The method of claim 8 wherein employing both the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a three-dimensional gesture comprises, at least in part, determining which of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors is best suited to detect at least certain portions of a predicted three-dimensional gesture.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein determining which of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors is best suited is determined as a function, at least in part, of both sensing accuracy and power consumption.
15. A non-transitory digital memory having computer instructions stored therein, the computer instructions, when executed by a processor in an apparatus, serving to cause the processor to employ
an application executed by the processor using one or more gestures as inputs;
a touch-sensitive display for sensing two-dimensional gestures in a two-dimensional plane;
a first non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor for sensing a user's hand movement in front of and relative to the touch-sensitive display and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor for sensing the user's hand movement in front of and relative to the touch-sensitive display, and based upon presets in the application, the first non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor to detect a first portion of a three-dimensional gesture and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor to detect a second portion of the three-dimensional gesture, the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors employing differing gesture-sensing modalities; and
switch between the first non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor and the at least a second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor while in the process of detecting a current three-dimensional gesture of the user's hand movement, wherein the switch is based on each of
remaining predictable portions of the currently detected three-dimensional gesture, and
a combination of sensing accuracy, power consumption and computational intensity.
16. The non-transitory digital memory of claim 15 wherein employing both the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a three-dimensional gesture comprises, at least in part, testing each of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors with respect to a current three-dimensional gesture to identify a best non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensor to employ to detect the current three-dimensional gesture.
17. The non-transitory digital memory of claim 15 wherein employing both the first and second three-dimensional non-contact gesture sensors to detect a three-dimensional gesture comprises, at least in part, using each of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a portion of a current three-dimensional gesture.
18. The non-transitory digital memory of claim 17 wherein using each of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a portion of a current three-dimensional gesture comprises, at least in part, using at least one of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a portion, but only a portion, of the current three-dimensional gesture.
19. The non-transitory digital memory of claim 15 wherein employing both the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors to detect a three-dimensional gesture comprises, at least in part, determining which of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors is best suited to detect at least certain portions of a predicted three-dimensional gesture.
20. The non-transitory digital memory of claim 19 wherein determining which of the first and second non-contact three-dimensional gesture sensors is best suited is determined as a function, at least in part, of both sensing accuracy and power consumption.