This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 104106646, filed on Mar. 3, 2015. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sensing technology of electronic devices, and in particular, an object-sensing apparatus and an object-sensing method for generating a virtual sensing space to precisely sense a location of an object.
2. Description of Related Art
The interface for human-machine interaction of consumer electronic devices is usually the mouse, the keyboard, or the joystick. As the technology develops and advances, touch devices and motion-sensing apparatuses have recently been widely used as human-machine interface in various electronic devices. Giving a stronger human touch to human-machine interaction, motion-sensing apparatuses provide a brand-new non-contact human-machine interaction system (namely, a three-dimensional interaction system). Compared to conventional interaction interfaces or two-dimensional touch devices, three-dimensional interaction systems offer kinetic operations that are closer to daily experience and behavior of the user, thus creating better operational experience in the user.
In a three-dimensional interaction system, a single depth recognition module is usually used to determine a motion or location information of an object within a sensing range thereof. Thereby, three-dimensional interaction systems execute corresponding operations according to the motion of the user within the sensing range to achieve the purpose of spatial 3D interaction.
However, since the user does not know the exact sensing range of the depth recognition module having two lenses, she/he can only determine the sensing range by experience or according to a distance between the hand of the user and the depth recognition module. Therefore, when the user's hand is overly close to the depth recognition module or is not within the sensing range, the three-dimensional interaction system cannot be operated. In other words, since the user does not know the exact sensing range of the depth recognition module, the motion of the user easily exceeds the range that can be sensed by the depth recognition module, which causes inconvenience in use.
The invention provides an object-sensing apparatus and an object-sensing method for generating a virtual sensing space having a size corresponding to bodies of the apparatus, such that a user is allowed to determine with ease the virtual sensing space based on the bodies of the apparatus and thereby precisely utilize an object-sensing function.
The invention provides an object-sensing apparatus including a first body having a first depth recognition module, a second body having a second depth recognition module, and a processing unit. A first side of the second body is connected to a first side of the first body, and the first depth recognition module is provided at a second side in the first body opposite to the first side of the first body, wherein a sensing range of the first depth recognition module covers at least a part of the second body. The second depth recognition module is provided at a second side in the second body opposite to the first side of the second body, wherein a sensing range of the second depth recognition module covers at least a part of the first body. The sensing ranges of the first depth recognition module and the second depth recognition module intersect to form a virtual sensing space, and the first depth recognition module and the second depth recognition module sense an object in the virtual sensing space to generate a plurality of pieces of location information comprising depth. The processing unit is coupled to the first depth recognition module and the second depth recognition module to receive the plurality of pieces of location information and generate spatial location information of the object in the virtual sensing space according to the plurality of pieces of location information.
From another perspective, the invention provides an object-sensing method for the above-described object-sensing apparatus. The object-sensing method includes forming a virtual sensing space according to sensing ranges of the first depth recognition module and second depth recognition module, and generating spatial location information of an object in the virtual sensing space according to a plurality of pieces of location information generated by the first and second depth recognition modules sensing the object in the virtual sensing space.
In light of the above, the object-sensing apparatus as described in the embodiments of the invention includes a plurality of depth recognition modules. By providing the depth recognition modules at specific positions of the first body and the second body in the object-sensing apparatus, the user is allowed to determine with ease the virtual sensing space based on the bodies of the apparatus. Accordingly, based on the bodies of the apparatus, the user knows whether she/he is sensed by the depth recognition modules and thereby precisely utilizes the object-sensing function in the object-sensing apparatus.
To provide a further understanding of the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the invention, exemplary embodiments, together with the reference drawings, are described in detail below.
The present embodiment of the invention provides an object-sensing apparatus and an object-sensing method. In the object-sensing apparatus, at least two depth recognition modules are provided at specific positions of two bodies. A virtual sensing space is formed by an intersection of sensing ranges of the depth recognition modules, such that a user is able to determine an exact range and size of the virtual sensing space according to the bodies of the object-sensing apparatus. In addition, the object-sensing apparatus effectively detects location information of any location of the user in the virtual sensing space.
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The first body 110 includes a first depth recognition module 101 and a display unit 103. The second body 120 includes a second depth recognition module 105 and a processing unit (not illustrated). In the present embodiment, the laptop 100 further includes a third depth recognition module 107 provided at or near the pivot joint (namely, a connection portion).
The first depth recognition module 101, the second depth recognition module 105, the third depth recognition module 107, and the display unit 103 are respectively coupled to the processing unit in the second body 120. The processing unit is configured to accomplish the object-sensing method as described in the invention and correspondingly display a result in a display image of the display unit 103. In the present embodiment, the processing unit is a Central Processing Unit (CPU). However, the invention is not limited thereto. The processing unit may be a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), for example, or other programmable devices such as a Microprocessor. Moreover, in the present embodiment, the display unit 103 is a flat panel display. However, in another embodiment, the display unit 103 is any type of display device, such as a projection display, a flexible display, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), or a Light Emitting Diode Display (LED Display). In addition, in the present embodiment, the first depth recognition module 101, the second depth recognition module 105, and the third depth recognition module 107 are depth cameras having twin lenses. However, in another embodiment, the first depth recognition module 101, the second depth recognition module 105, and the third depth recognition module 107 are stereo cameras having multiple lenses, a combination of a plurality of cameras for constructing 3D images, or other image-sensing devices for detecting 3D spatial information.
The first depth recognition module 101 is provided at a second side 14 in the first body 110 opposite to the first side 10 of the first body 110. An effective sensing range of the first depth recognition module 101 preferably covers the second body 120 (or at least covering most of the second body 120) for sensing location information including depth of an object within the effective sensing range.
The second depth recognition module 105 is provided at a second side 16 in the second body 120 opposite to the first side 12 of the second body 120. An effective sensing range of the second depth recognition module 105 preferably covers the first body 110 (or at least covering most of the first body 110) for sensing location information including depth of an object within the effective sensing range.
The third depth recognition module 107 is provided at or near the pivot joint of the laptop 100 (for example, at the first side of the second body 120 or at the first side of the first body 110). An effective sensing range of the third depth recognition module 107 may not cover the first body 110 and the second body 120 (but may cover part of the first body 110 and the second body 120 in other embodiments) for sensing location information including depth of an object within the effective sensing range.
In the object-sensing apparatus of the invention, a virtual sensing space is formed by an intersection of the sensing ranges of the first depth recognition module 101, the second depth recognition module 105, and the third depth recognition module 107. A user determines with ease a range of the virtual sensing space according to the bodies of the object-sensing apparatus. The first depth recognition module 101, the second depth recognition module 105, and the third depth recognition module 107 respectively sense an object (e.g., a finger of the user) in the virtual sensing space to generate a plurality of pieces of location information. After receiving such location information, the processing unit generates spatial location information of the object in the virtual sensing space and generates a piece of object spatial location information corresponding to a content in a displayed image of the display unit 103 for executing an operation corresponding to the content in the displayed image.
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In the present exemplary embodiment, the third depth recognition module 107 is provided to work with the first depth recognition module 101 and the second depth recognition module 105 for enhancing precision of sensing an object location in the virtual sensing space. In addition, when one of the first depth recognition module 101, the second depth recognition module 105, and the third depth recognition module 107 cannot sense an object in the virtual sensing space (namely, when the object is in the blind zone of one of the first depth recognition module 101, the second depth recognition module 105, and the third depth recognition module 107), the processing unit generates spatial location information of the object according to the pieces of location information sensed by the other two of the first depth recognition module 101, the second depth recognition module 105, and the third depth recognition module 107. Alternatively, the processing unit pre-sets depth recognition modules which correspondingly sensing the blind zone of the other depth recognition modules for each blind zones of each depth recognition module, and conduct sensing by the pre-set depth recognition modules for the blind zone. Accordingly, precision of object sensing is more effectively enhanced by providing three depth recognition modules.
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Specifically speaking, when the laptop 100 is in the open state (namely, when the first body 110 and the second body 120 form an angle), the processing unit adjusts projection angles of the first depth recognition module 101, the second depth recognition module 105, and the third depth recognition module 107 according to the opening angle of the laptop 100, so as to achieve the above-described state where the effective sensing range of the first depth recognition module 101 covers the second body 120, the effective sensing range of the second depth recognition module 105 covers the first body 110, and the sensing range of the third depth recognition module 107 does not cover the first body 110. In other words, a height of the virtual sensing space 1000 varies correspondingly along with different opening angles of the first body 110 relative to the second body 120. The opening angle of the laptop 100 is measured mechanically or by a G-sensor provided in the first body 110.
Next, a vertex 6 and a vertex 8 of the virtual sensing space 1000 are defined according to the sensing ranges of the first depth recognition module 101, the second depth recognition module 105, and the third depth recognition module 107. The vertex 6 and the vertex 8 are both within each of the sensing ranges of the first depth recognition module 101, the second depth recognition module 105, and the third depth recognition module 107. The vertex 6 and the vertex 8 are respectively two points formed by extending a vertex 2 and a vertex 4 defining the second body 120 toward a normal direction vertical to the second body 120 and intersecting the vertices 2 and 4 with the third virtual plane 403, thereby respectively forming a fifth virtual plane 405 and a sixth virtual plane 406 vertical to the second virtual plane 402 and the fourth virtual plane 404. The vertex 2 is defined as an intersecting point between a third side 18 of the second body 120 and the fourth virtual plane 404; the vertex 4 is defined as an intersecting point between a fourth side 20 of the second body 120 and the fourth virtual plane 404. Through the first to sixth virtual planes, a rectangle- or wedge-shaped three-dimensional space block is defined on the laptop 100, and the processing unit adjusts the effective sensing ranges of the first depth recognition module 101, the second depth recognition module 105, and the third depth recognition module 107, such that the three-dimensional space is formed into the virtual sensing space 1000 as illustrated in
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In summary of the above, the object-sensing apparatus as described in the embodiments of the invention includes a plurality of depth recognition modules. By providing the depth recognition modules at specific positions of the first body and the second body of the object-sensing apparatus, the user is allowed to determine with ease the virtual sensing space based on the bodies of the apparatus. Accordingly, based on the bodies of the apparatus, the user knows whether she/he is sensed by the depth recognition modules and thereby precisely utilizes the object-sensing function in the object-sensing apparatus.
Although the invention is disclosed as the embodiments above, the embodiments are not meant to limit the invention. Any person skilled in the art may make slight modifications and variations without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the invention shall be defined by the claims attached below.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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104106646 | Mar 2015 | TW | national |