Gestural techniques with wireless mobile phone devices
View Patent ↗A user gestures with a wireless mobile phone device to control some aspect of its operation, or the operation of a remote system with which the device communicates. Application programs can solicit gestural information through a standardized set of interface protocols (e.g., API functions). One function, for example, solicits a running set of gesture data, and a complementary function discontinues the first function. Other functions solicit device movement data in particular directions. In some arrangements gesture data is sent by the wireless device to a remote system, which may issue a response that is dependent on the received gesture data. This response may also depend on other data obtained by the wireless device (e.g., obtained from an electronic or physical object, or sensed from the environment) and sent to the remote system. The wireless device may have different modes of interacting with users, to accommodate users with greater or lesser proficiency in gestural techniques. A variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed.
1. A wireless mobile phone device comprising
a processor configured to:
execute a user interface that is responsive to motion of the device, wherein the wireless mobile phone device is configured to receive user input based at least in part on a corresponding movement of the wireless mobile phone device
execute a program;
execute an application programming interface (API) comprising plural functions, wherein the API allows the program to issue queries soliciting wireless mobile phone device movement data;
sense a digital watermark in each frame of plural frames of image data; and
generate movement data by tracking movement of the digital watermark in the plural frames of image data, wherein the movement data is accessible by the API.
2. The wireless mobile phone device of claim 1 , further comprising a 2D image sensor configured to provide the plural frames of image data.
3. The wireless mobile phone device of claim 1 , wherein at least one API function queries for data indicating movement of the wireless mobile phone device to the left or right.
4. The wireless mobile phone device of claim 1 , wherein at least one API function queries for data indicating movement of the wireless mobile phone device forward or backward.
5. The wireless mobile phone device of claim 1 , wherein at least one API function queries for data indicating movement of the wireless mobile phone device in a rotational state.
6. The wireless mobile phone device of claim 1 , wherein at least one API function queries for data indicating movement of the wireless mobile phone device in plural directions including: left/right; forward/backward; and rotational state.
7. A wireless mobile phone device comprising:
a processor configured to:
execute a program;
execute an application program interface (API), wherein the API enables the program to issue queries soliciting wireless mobile phone device gestural data; and
generate gestural data by tracking movement of a feature in plural frames of image data, wherein the gestural data is accessible by the API, wherein at least one API function queries for data indicating movement of the wireless mobile phone device in a rotational state, and wherein the data indicating movement is derived from the gestural data.
8. The wireless mobile phone device of claim 7 , wherein the API allows the program to solicit current movement data.
9. The wireless mobile phone device of claim 7 wherein the API comprises a first function that solicits a running set of movement data, and a complementary function that discontinues the first function.
10. The wireless phone device of claim 7 , further comprising a 2D image sensor configured to provide plural frames of image data.
11. The wireless mobile phone device of claim 1 , wherein the user interface is adapted to receive commands signaled to the mobile phone device by a user's corresponding movement of the device.