APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE (API)FOR SENSORY EVENTS

Abstract

An Applications Programming Interface (API) provides coordinate and movement information of an object within a sensory field. The API can provide touchless APT methods for identifying a position, a displacement, a velocity, an acceleration, and a length of time an object is within a sensory field. The API can include an event listener for receiving at least one sensory event, and an event handler for processing sensory events. A GUI can implement the API to provide touchless navigation and control.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an Applications Programming Interface (API) for providing touchless interaction with a User Interface (UI) in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary diagrammatic representation of a machine in the form of a communication device within which a set of instructions, when executed, may cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An Applications Programming Interface (API), executing from computer instructions in a computer-readable storage medium, suitable for use in providing sensory information comprising: a set of touchless API methods;wherein the set of touchless API methods convey sensory information related to an object within a sensory field.

2. The API of claim 1, wherein said set of touchless API methods comprises at least one among an touchless API method for providing a position of the object, a displacement of the object, a velocity of the object, an acceleration of the object, and a time the object is in the sensory field.

4. The API of claim 1, further comprising a user interface of the computer system, wherein said object is a user's finger and the computer system controls components within said user interface using touchless API methods implemented by the communication device.

5. The API of claim 4, further comprising a graphical user interface (GUI) of the computer system, wherein said object is a user's finger and the computer system controls graphical components within said GUI using touchless API methods implemented by the communication device.

6. The API of claim 1, wherein the computer system further comprises at least one of a touchscreen, a touchpad, a tablet, a mobile device, a headset, or a laptop that implements said API for touchless sensory interfacing.

7. The API of claim 1, wherein a movement is identified as at least one among an up motion, down motion, left motion, right motion, clockwise pattern, or counter clockwise pattern.

8. The API of claim 1, wherein said set of touchless API methods comprises at least one among a touchless API method for detecting a pause action, a pressing action, a glide action, a hold action, and a release action of a finger within the sensory field.

9. The API of claim 8, wherein said touchless API method of detecting said pressing action returns at least one of: a location of said pressing action;a depth of said pressing action; anda length of time of said pressing action.

10. The API of claim 8, wherein said touchless API method of detecting said glide action returns at least one of: a length of said glide;a starting point of said glide;an ending point of said glide; anda length of time of said glide.

11. The API of claim 1, wherein said set of touchless API methods comprises at least one among an API method for determining: a boundary of the sensitivity field;a resolution of the sensitivity field; anda dimensionality of the sensitivity field.

12. The API of claim 1, further comprising: an event listener for receiving at least one sensory event; andan event handler for processing said sensory event.

13. The API of claim 1, further comprising a low-level driver that converts a signal received from a sensing unit into a coordinate object, wherein said low-level driver comprises computer instructions in a computer-readable storage medium of a communication device.

14. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions that implement a touchless applications programming interface (API) comprising a set of touchless API methods and touchless API fields.

15. The storage medium of claim 14, comprising computer instructions for providing at least one among a time, a position, a displacement, a velocity, an acceleration of a finger within a touchless sensory field of the a computer system.

16. The storage medium of claim 14, wherein the storage medium resides in at least one among a computer, a mobile device, a portable music player, a laptop, a personal digital assistant, and a cell phone.

17. A method, comprising a computing device providing sensory event handling through a touchless API comprising: registering a sensory event listener; andimplementing a sensory event handler,wherein said sensory event listener identifies a sensory event and reports said sensory event to said sensory event handler.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising providing at least one among a finger position, a finger relative displacement, a finger velocity, and a finger acceleration.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising detecting at least one among a pause action, a depression action, a glide action, a hold action, and a release action.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising communicating at least one sensory event to a GUI application.