Patent Application
20090079944
The present invention relates to an operating device for a digital equipment and a method for the same, and more particularly to a contactless operating device for a digital equipment and a method for the same.
As the digital technology develops, many varied types of digital equipments are improved and provided, which has a great assistance in information transmission. For example, the projecting device for providing digital images is widely used in commercial and academic venue. In fact, the use of projector and portable computer pairs is almost inevitable in presenting situations.
However, the speaker is not always allowed to operate the portable computer directly when presenting, and one of the possible reasons is because of the restriction from the conference facility. Therefore, the slides transition or other special function control must be implemented by assistances of other persons, which is very inconvenient for the speaker, and will make the presentation discontinuous and fractured. In order to overcome the mentioned deficiencies, how to operate the digital equipments, such as the portable computer or the projector, with a more convenient manner or a contactless manner, has become an important issue in this field.
In order to overcome the drawbacks in the prior art, a contactless operating device for a digital equipment and a method for the same are provided. The particular design in the present invention not only solves the problems described above, but also is easy to be implemented. Thus, the invention has the utility for the industry.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a contactless operating device for a digital device. The contactless operating device includes a computer, a projecting piece, a pointer, and an image-capturing piece. The computer provides a basic picture, and the projecting piece projects the basic picture onto an image zone. Further, the pointer forms a mark onto the image zone for providing a reference picture, and the image-capturing piece connected to the computer captures the reference picture from the image zone. The computer operates the digital device in accordance with a comparison between the basic picture and the reference picture.
Preferably, the computer is one selected from a group consisting of a personal computer, a notebook computer, a desktop computer, and a pocket personal computer.
Preferably, the projecting piece is one selected from a group consisting of a single beam projector, an LCD projector, a CRT projector, a digital projector, and a DLP projector.
Preferably, the pointer is one selected from a group consisting of a laser point, a finger, a stick, and a cursor of the computer.
Preferably, the image-capturing piece is one selected from a group consisting of a web camera, a dome camera, and a digital camera.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided a contactless operating method for a digital device. The contactless operating method includes steps of projecting a basic picture onto an image zone, providing a mark onto the image zone, sequentially capturing at least two reference pictures from the image zone, and operating the digital device in accordance with a first comparison between the basic picture and one of the reference picture, or a second comparison between the at least two reference pictures.
Preferably, the basic pictures and one of the reference pictures are compared to locate the mark.
Preferably, at least two reference pictures are compared to locate the mark.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a contactless operating devices provided. The contactless operating devices includes a projecting piece and an image-capturing piece. The projecting piece projects a basic picture on an image zone, and the image-capturing piece sequentially captures at least two reference pictures from the image zone, and operates the projecting piece in accordance with a first comparison between the basic picture and one of the reference pictures, or a second comparison between the at least two reference pictures.
Preferably, the contactless operating device further comprises a signal-emitting piece emitting a signal onto the image zone.
Preferably, the emitting piece is a laser point.
Preferably, the contactless operating device further comprises a pointer forming a mark onto the image zone.
Preferably, the pointer is one selected from a finger and a stick.
Preferably, the projecting piece is one selected from a group consisting of a single beam projector, an LCD projector, a CRT projector, a digital projector, and a DLP projector.
Preferably, the image-capturing piece is one selected from a group consisting of a web camera, a dome camera, and a digital camera.
The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed descriptions and accompanying drawings, in which:
a) is an illustrating diagram showing a basic picture according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;
b) is an illustrating diagram showing a reference picture having a light signal thereon according to the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;
a) is an illustrating diagram showing a basic picture according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention;
b) is an illustrating diagram showing a reference picture having a pointer thereon according to the second preferred embodiment of the present invention;
The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for the purposes of illustration and description only; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.
Please refer to
If the computer 15 is a notebook computer, the picture transmitted from the notebook computer to the projecting piece 12 are basic pictures, wherein the basic pictures could be screens of such as Microsoft Windows Operating System or Microsoft PowerPoint. The basic pictures will be projected onto the image zone 11 via the projecting piece 12, and the image-capturing piece 14 will then capture all the images falling within the image zone 11. The images captured by the image-capturing piece 14 are reference pictures, and then the reference pictures will be transmitted from the image-capturing piece 14 to the computer 15. In most cases, a speaker (who is not showed in
Please refer to
There are several modes of light signals provide in the present invention, which will be further described as follows. Although each light signals mode produces a corresponding mode of images difference, it will not be introduced in detail.
The first mode of light signals is single-click on a specific location of the image zone. The light signal is flashed once on the specific location of the image zone, such as in the “play” icon existing on screens of Windows Media Player or the “open” icon existing on screens of Microsoft Words. The computer 15 could operate the digital equipment according to the comparison between the basic picture 20 and the reference picture 21.
The second mode of light signals is single-click on any other location of the image zone. For example, when presenting by Microsoft PowerPoint, the light signal could be flashed once on any other position of the basic picture 20 formed on the image zone, besides the functional icons, and the computer will perform slides transition to next one.
The third mode of light signals is double-click on the image zone. This double-click mode of light signals will function like double-click mode of mouse on the computer. For example, when a light signal is flashed twice on a specific position of the basic picture 20, such as on a functional icon or a document icon, the computer 15 will continuously compare the basic pictures 20 and the reference pictures 21 to confirm the light signal positions and if the mode of light signals is double-click mode. If the confirmation result is positive, the computer 15 will implement the specific function that the icon shows or open the document accordingly.
As described above, upon the different modes of light signals formed onto the image zone 11, the user could operate the digital equipment with a contact-less manner. It is to be noted that the described modes of light signals are considered to be the preferred embodiments, and the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. It is believed that there should be other embodiments existing. However, no matter which kind of light signal modes is applied, the operating principle will not go beyond the above principle disclosed according to the present invention.
It also needs to be noted that there are at least two comparison and analysis methods when comparing and analyzing the differences between the basic picture 20 and the reference picture 21 by the computer 15. The first analysis method is that since the basic picture 20 is provided by the computer 15, the computer 15 could access the basic picture 20 from the intrinsic data directly, and compare them with the reference picture 21 transmitted from the image-capturing piece 14. Consequently, the computer could confirm the differences between the basic picture 20 and the reference picture 21, and operate at least one digital equipment accordingly. The second analysis method is that the computer 15 compares a plurality of reference pictures 21 that are received from the image-capturing piece 14 in sequence, and confirms the difference therebetween to operate at least one digital equipment accordingly. However, no matter which method is applied, the comparison need not be limited between the basic picture 20 and the reference picture 21, or two reference pictures received in sequence. The computer 15 could compare a plurality of basic pictures and a plurality of reference pictures, or compare a plurality of reference pictures received in different times, or compare not in sequence depend on the need in practice.
In the situation that the laser pointer 13 is a point having no light signals, the present invention still can work. Please refer to
Further, as the multimedia technology develops, the projector that can store presenting data and show slides without further devices has been provided. This is to say, the speaker no longer needs the computer 15 when presenting. Accordingly, a unit having the function of comparing the basic with the reference pictures to confirm the differences therebetween, could be incorporated within the image-capturing piece. The contactless operating method according to the present invention could be implemented only by simple combination of the projecting piece and the image-capturing piece. Please refer to
Based on the working principle mentioned above, the following preferred embodiment could be further provided, where the technical scheme provided in the present invention is applied to multimedia equipment. Please refer to
While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
