Hybrid gesture control haptic system

1. A method for remotely controlling a slave device, comprising:

using a Hybrid Hand Controller (“HHC”) as a full haptic controller to control said slave device when said HHC is coupled to a docking station;

detecting when said HHC transitions from said coupled condition to a de-coupled condition in which it is physically de-coupled from said docking station;

in response to said detecting, automatically transitioning an operational mode of at least said HHC from (1) a full haptic control mode in which the slave device is controlled in accordance with physically-restricted movement of the HHC within a pre-defined area to (2) a gestural control mode in which the slave device is controlled in accordance with non-physically restricted movement of the HHC; and

using at least said HHC as a portable gestural controller to control said slave device when said HHC is de-coupled from said docking station.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein an amount of time required to automatically transition said operational mode is of a value which ensures that a user of said HHC does not experience any interruptions in a control of said slave device.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising generating directional tactile or haptic feedback such that said user feels a physical engagement of said slave device with an object.

4. The method according to claim 3 , where said directional tactile or haptic feedback is generated by causing only a portion of said HHC to vibrate.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising selecting said portion of said HHC based on results from translating a spatial direction associated with a force applied to said slave device to a coordinate direction associated with said HHC.

6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising determining said coordinate direction based on an orientation of a user's hand relative to an orientation of said HHC.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising automatically transitioning said operational mode of said HHC from said gestural control mode to a power-save gestural control mode, in response to a detection that a distance between said HHC and said docking station is equal to or greater than a threshold value for a pre-defined period of time.

8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising automatically transitioning said operational mode of said HHC from a power-save gestural control mode to said gestural control mode, in response to a detection that a distance between said HHC and said docking station is equal to or less than a threshold value for a pre-defined period of time.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting when said HHC is or is being physically coupled to said docking station; and

automatically transitioning said operational mode of at least said HHC from said gestural control mode to said full haptic control mode, in response to a detection that said HHC is or is being coupled to said docking station.

10. A system, comprising:

a slave device;

a docking station remotely located from said slave device; and

a Hybrid Hand Controller (“HHC”) configured to

operate as a full haptic controller to control said slave device when coupled to said docking station,

automatically transition an operational mode thereof from (1) a full haptic control mode in which the slave device is controlled in accordance with physically-restricted movement of the HHC within a pre-defined area to (2) a gestural control mode in which the slave device is controlled in accordance with non-physically restricted movement of the HHC, in response to a detection that said HHC is or is being de-coupled from said docking station, and

operate as a portable gestural controller to control said slave device when de- coupled from said docking station.

11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein an amount of time required to automatically transition said operational mode is of a value which ensures that a user of said HHC does not experience any interruptions in a control of said slave device.

12. The system according to claim 10 , wherein said HHC is further configured to generate directional tactile or haptic feedback such that said user feels a physical engagement of said slave device with an object.

13. The system according to claim 12 , where said directional tactile or haptic feedback is generated by causing only a portion of said HHC to vibrate.

14. The system according to claim 13 , wherein said portion of said HHC is selected based on results from translating a spatial direction associated with a force applied to said slave device to a coordinate direction associated with said HHC.

15. The system according to claim 14 , wherein said coordinate direction is determined based on an orientation of a user's hand relative to an orientation of said HHC.

16. The system according to claim 10 , wherein said HHC is further configured to automatically transition said operational mode from said gestural control mode to a power-save gestural control mode, in response to a detection that a distance between said HHC and said docking station is equal to or greater than a threshold value for a pre-defined period of time.

17. The system according to claim 10 , wherein said HHC is further configured to automatically transition said operational mode of said HHC from a power-save gestural control mode to said gestural control mode, in response to a detection that a distance between said HHC and said docking station is equal to or less than a threshold value for a pre-defined period of time.

18. The system according to claim 10 , wherein said HHC is further configured to automatically transition said operational mode from said gestural control mode to said full haptic control mode, in response to a detection that said HHC is or is being coupled to said docking station.