Patent Publication Number: US-2015062056-A1

Title: 3d gesture recognition for operating an electronic personal display

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     An electronic reader, also known as an eReader, is a mobile electronic device that is used for reading electronic books (eBooks), electronic magazines, and other digital content. For example, the content of an eBook is displayed as words and/or images on the display of an eReader such that a user may read the content much in the same way as reading the content of a page in a paper-based book. An eReader provides a convenient format to store, transport, and view a large collection of digital content that would otherwise potentially take up a large volume of space in traditional paper format. 
     In some instances, eReaders are purpose built devices designed especially to perform especially well at displaying readable content. For example, a purpose built eReader may include a display that reduces glare, performs well in high light conditions, and/or mimics the look of text on actual paper. While such purpose built eReaders may excel at displaying content for a user to read, they may also perform other functions, such as displaying images, emitting audio, recording audio, and web surfing, among others. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments and, together with the Description of Embodiments, serve to explain principles discussed below. The drawings referred to in this brief description of the drawings should not be understood as being drawn to scale unless specifically noted. 
         FIG. 1A  shows a front perspective view of an electronic reader (eReader), in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG. 1B  shows a rear perspective view of the eReader of  FIG. 1A , in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG. 2A  shows a cross-section of the eReader of  FIG. 1A  along with a detail view of a portion of the display of the eReader, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG. 2B  shows a side perspective view of a 3D motion sensor, in accordance with various embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  shows a cutaway view of an eReader illustrating one example of a touch sensor, in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  shows an example computing system which may be included as a component of an eReader, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 5  shows a block diagram of a 3D gesture recognition system for an electronic personal display, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a flow diagram of a method for utilizing 3D gesture recognition for operating an electronic personal display, according to various embodiments. 
         FIGS. 7A-D  show top perspective views of a plurality of single-hand gestures for operating an electronic personal display, according to various embodiments. 
         FIGS. 8A-D  show top perspective views of a plurality of single-hand gestures about a point for operating an electronic personal display, according to various embodiments. 
         FIGS. 9A-D  show top perspective views of a plurality of paired-hand gestures for operating an electronic personal display, according to various embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the subject matter, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the subject matter discussed herein will be described in conjunction with various embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the subject matter to these embodiments. On the contrary, the presented embodiments are intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the various embodiments as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the Description of Embodiments, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present subject matter. However, embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the described embodiments. 
     Notation and Nomenclature 
     Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the present Description of Embodiments, discussions utilizing terms such as “coupling”, “monitoring”, “detecting”, “generating”, “outputting”, “receiving”, “monitoring”, powering-up”, “powering down” or the like, often refer to the actions and processes of an electronic computing device/system, such as an electronic reader (“eReader”), electronic personal display, and/or a mobile (i.e., handheld) multimedia device, among others. The electronic computing device/system manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the circuits, electronic registers, memories, logic, and/or components and the like of the electronic computing device/system into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the electronic computing device/system or other electronic computing devices/systems. 
     Overview of Discussion 
     In the following discussion an electronic personal display gesture operating technology is disclosed. In one embodiment, the electronic personal display includes a capacitive touch sensor. One embodiment describes gestures that are performed to cause an electronic personal device to perform an action. For example, a gesture such as touching a capacitive touch sensor with an edge of a palm and then turning the hand to the right will cause the electronic personal device to open an e-book to start digital reading. Similarly, if the hand was turned to the left the electronic personal device may close an open e-book being read. In addition to a touch-sensitive display screen, a 3D motion sensor may be integrated into the electronic personal device, tablet or eReader. In general, the 3D gesture recognition technology will allow a user to make some type of finger, hand or body gesture to cause the reader/notebook to perform some type of operation. For example, the 3D motion sensor may indicate page turning to the left operation when a hand is moved to the left or a page turning to the right operation when a hand is moved to the right. 
     For purposes of the following discussion, the 3D motion sensor refers to a device that monitors a portion of airspace. When motion is detected within the portion of monitored airspace, the motion is mapped and compared with a number of predefined gestures. Each of the predefined gestures is also associated with an operation. In general, when the recognized motion correlates with a pre-defined gesture, the 3D motion sensor provides a signal to the eReader that the associated operation should be performed. 
     Discussion will begin with description of an example eReader and various components that may be included in some embodiments of an eReader. Various display and touch sensing technologies that may be utilized with some embodiments of an eReader will then be described. An example computing system, which may be included as a component of an eReader, will then be described. Operation of an example eReader and several of its components will then be described in more detail in conjunction with a description of an example method of utilizing a non-screen capacitive touch surface for operating an electronic personal display. 
     Example Electronic Reader (eReader) 
       FIG. 1A  shows a front perspective view of an eReader  100 , in accordance with various embodiments. In general, eReader  100  is one example of an electronic personal display. Although an eReader is discussed specifically herein for purposes of example, concepts discussed are equally applicable to other types of electronic personal displays such as, but not limited to, mobile digital devices/tablet computers and/or multimedia smart phones. As depicted, eReader  100  includes a display  120 , a housing  110 , and some form of on/off switch  130 . In some embodiments, eReader  100  may further include one or more of: speakers  150  ( 150 - 1  and  150 - 2  depicted), microphone  160 , digital camera  170 , 3D motion sensor  175  and removable storage media slot  180 . Section lines depict a region and direction of a section A-A which is shown in greater detail in  FIG. 2A . 
     Housing  110  forms an external shell in which display  120  is situated and which houses electronics and other components that are included in an embodiment of eReader  100 . In  FIG. 1A , a front surface  111 , a bottom surface  112 , and a right side surface  113  are visible. Although depicted as a single piece, housing  110  may be formed of a plurality of joined or inter-coupled portions. Housing  110  may be formed of a variety materials such as plastics, metals, or combinations of different materials. 
     Display  120  has an outer surface  121  (sometimes referred to as a bezel) through which a user may view digital contents such as alphanumeric characters and/or graphic images that are displayed on display  120 . Display  120  may be any one of a number of types of displays including, but not limited to: a liquid crystal display, a light emitting diode display, a plasma display, a bistable display or other display suitable for creating graphic images and alphanumeric characters recognizable to a user. 
     On/off switch  130  is utilized to power on/power off eReader  100 . On/off switch  130  may be a slide switch (as depicted), button switch, toggle switch, touch sensitive switch, or other switch suitable for receiving user input to power on/power off eReader  100 . 
     Speaker(s)  150 , when included, operates to emit audible sounds from eReader  100 . A speaker  150  may reproduce sounds from a digital file stored on or being processed by eReader  100  and/or may emit other sounds as directed by a processor of eReader  100 . 
     Microphone  160 , when included, operates to receive audible sounds from the environment proximate eReader  100 . Some examples of sounds that may be received by microphone  160  include voice, music, and/or ambient noise in the area proximate eReader  100 . Sounds received by microphone  160  may be recorded to a digital memory of eReader  100  and/or processed by a processor of eReader  100 . 
     Digital camera  170 , when included, operates to receive images from the environment proximate eReader  100 . Some examples of images that may be received by digital camera  170  include an image of the face of a user operating eReader  100  and/or an image of the environment in the field of view of digital camera  170 . Images received by digital camera  170  may be still or moving and may be recorded to a digital memory of eReader  100  and/or processed by a processor of eReader  100 . 
     3D motion sensor  175 , when included, monitors for motion within a portion of airspace in the environment proximate eReader  100 . Some examples of motion that may be detected include sideways motions, up and down motions, depth motions and a combination of the afore mentioned motions. Granularity with respect to the level of motion detected by 3D motion sensor  175  may be preset or user adjustable. Motions detected by 3D motion sensor  175  may be recorded to a digital memory of eReader  100  and/or processed by a processor of eReader  100 . In one embodiment, 3D motion sensor  175  is fixedly coupled with housing  110  of eReader  100 . However, in another embodiment, 3D motion sensor  175  may be removably coupled with eReader  100  such as a wired or wireless connection. 
     Removable storage media slot  180 , when included, operates to removably couple with and interface to an inserted item of removable storage media, such as a non-volatile memory card (e.g., MultiMediaCard (“MMC”), a secure digital (“SD”) card, or the like). Digital content for play by eReader  100  and/or instructions for eReader  100  may be stored on removable storage media inserted into removable storage media slot  180 . Additionally or alternatively, eReader  100  may record or store information on removable storage media inserted into removable storage media slot  180 . 
       FIG. 1B  shows a rear perspective view of eReader  100  of  FIG. 1A , in accordance with various embodiments. In  FIG. 1B , a rear surface  115  of the non-display side of the housing  110  of eReader  100  is visible. Also visible in  FIG. 1B  is a left side surface  114  of housing  110 . It is appreciated that housing  110  also includes a top surface which is not visible in either  FIG. 1A  or  FIG. 1B . 
       FIG. 2A  shows a cross-section A-A of eReader  100  along with a detail view  220  of a portion of display  120 , in accordance with various embodiments. In addition to display  120  and housing  110 , a plurality of touch sensors  230  are visible and illustrated in block diagram form. It should be appreciated that a variety of well-known touch sensing technologies may be utilized to form touch sensors  230  that are included in embodiments of eReader  100 ; these include, but are not limited to: resistive touch sensors; capacitive touch sensors (using self and/or mutual capacitance); inductive touch sensors; and infrared touch sensors. In general, resistive touch sensing responds to pressure applied to a touched surface and is implemented using a patterned sensor design on, within, or beneath display  120 , rear surface  115 , and/or other surface of housing  110 . In general, inductive touch sensing requires the use of a stylus and are implemented with a patterned electrode array disposed on, within, or beneath display  120 , rear surface  115 , and/or other surface of housing  110  In general, capacitive touch sensing utilizes a patterned electrode array disposed on, within, or beneath display  120 , rear surface  115 , and/or other surface of housing  110 ; and the patterned electrodes sense changes in capacitance caused by the proximity or contact by an input object. In general, infrared touch sensing operates to sense an input object breaking one or more infrared beams that are projected over a surface such as outer surface  121 , rear surface  115 , and/or other surface of housing  110 . 
     Once an input object interaction is detected by a touch sensor  230 , it is interpreted either by a special purpose processor (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) that is coupled with the touch sensor  230  and the interpretation is passed to a processor of eReader  100 , or a processor of eReader is used to directly operate and/or interpret input object interactions received from a touch sensor  230 . It should be appreciated that in some embodiments, patterned sensors and/or electrodes may be formed of optically transparent material such as very thin wires or a material such as indium tin oxide (ITO). 
     In various embodiments one or more touch sensors  230  ( 230 - 1  front;  230 - 2  rear;  230 - 3  right side; and/or  230 - 4  left side) may be included in eReader  100  in order to receive user input from input object  201  such as styli or human digits. For example, in response to proximity or touch contact with outer surface  121  or coversheet (not illustrated) disposed above outer surface  121 , user input from one or more fingers such as finger  201 - 1  may be detected by touch sensor  230 - 1  and interpreted. Such user input may be used to interact with graphical content displayed on display  120  and/or to provide other input through various gestures (e.g., tapping, swiping, pinching digits together on outer surface  121 , spreading digits apart on outer surface  121 , or other gestures). 
     In a similar manner, in some embodiments, a touch sensor  230 - 2  may be disposed proximate rear surface  115  of housing  110  in order to receive user input from one or more input objects  201 , such as human digit  201 - 2 . In this manner, user input may be received across all or a portion of the rear surface  115  in response to proximity or touch contact with rear surface  115  by one or more user input objects  201 . In some embodiments, where both front ( 230 - 1 ) and rear ( 230 - 2 ) touch sensors are included, a user input may be received and interpreted from a combination of input object interactions with both the front and rear touch sensors. 
     In a similar manner, in some embodiments, a left side touch sensor  230 - 3  and/or a right side touch sensor  230 - 4 , when included, may be disposed proximate the respective left and/or right side surfaces ( 113 ,  114 ) of housing  110  in order to receive user input from one or more input objects  201 . In this manner, user input may be received across all or a portion of the left side surface  113  and/or all or a portion of the right side surface  114  of housing  110  in response to proximity or touch contact with the respective surfaces by or more user input objects  201 . In some embodiments, instead of utilizing a separate touch sensor, a left side touch sensor  230 - 3  and/or a right side touch sensor  230 - 4  may be a continuation of a front touch sensor  230 - 1  or a rear touch sensor  230 - 2  which is extended so as to facilitate receipt proximity/touch user input from one or more sides of housing  110 . 
     Although not depicted, in some embodiments, one or more touch sensors  230  may be similarly included and situated in order to facilitate receipt of user input from proximity or touch contact by one or more user input objects  201  with one or more portions of the bottom  112  and/or top surfaces of housing  110 . 
     Referring still to  FIG. 2A , a detail view  220  is show of display  120 , according to some embodiments. Detail  220  depicts a portion of a bistable electronic ink that is used, in some embodiments, when display  120  is a bistable display. In some embodiments, a bistable display is utilized in eReader  100  as it presents a paper and ink like image and/or because it is a reflective display rather than an emissive display and thus can present a persistent image on display  120  even when power is not supplied to display  120 . In one embodiment, a bistable display comprises electronic ink the form of millions of tiny optically clear capsules  223  that are filled with an optically clear fluid  224  in which positively charged white pigment particles  225  and negatively charged black pigment particles  226  are suspended. The capsules  223  are disposed between bottom electrode  222  and a transparent top electrode  221 . A transparent/optically clear protective surface is often disposed over the top of top electrode  221  and, when included, this additional transparent surface forms outer surface  121  of display  120  and forms a touch surface for receiving touch inputs. It should be appreciated that one or more intervening transparent/optically clear layers may be disposed between top electrode  221  and top electrode  221 . In some embodiments, one or more of these intervening layers may include a patterned sensor and/or electrodes for touch sensor  230 - 1 . When a positive or negative electric field is applied proximate to each of bottom electrode  222  and top electrode  221  in regions proximate capsule  223 , pigment particles of opposite polarity to a field are attracted to the field, while pigment particles of similar polarity to the applied field are repelled from the field. Thus, when a positive charge is applied to top electrode  221  and a negative charge is applied to bottom electrode  221 , black pigment particles  226  rise to the top of capsule  223  and white pigment particles  225  go to the bottom of capsule  223 . This makes outer surface  121  appear black at the point above capsule  223  on outer surface  121 . Conversely, when a negative charge is applied to top electrode  221  and a positive charge is applied to bottom electrode  221 , white pigment particles  225  rise to the top of capsule  223  and black pigment particles  226  go to the bottom of capsule  223 . This makes outer surface  121  appear white at the point above capsule  223  on outer surface  121 . It should be appreciated that variations of this technique can be employed with more than two colors of pigment particles. 
       FIG. 2B  shows a 3D motion sensor  175  with a range  275  within which motion may be sensed to receive user input. In various embodiments one or more 3D motion sensor  175  may be included in eReader  100  in order to receive user input from input object  201  such as styli or human digits. For example, in response to a motion  285  within the airspace  275 , user input from one or more fingers such as fingers  201  may be detected by 3D motion sensor  175  and interpreted. Such user input may be used to interact with graphical content displayed on display  120  and/or to provide other input through various gestures. In general, 3D motion sensor  175  may recognize motions performed in one or more of the x-, y- and z-axis. For example, a side-to-side motion would be differentiated from an up and down motion. Moreover, depending on the desired granularity of the 3D motion sensor  175  additional differentiations may be made between a horizontal side-to-side motion and a sloping side-to-side motion. In one embodiment, the 3D motion sensor  175  may be incorporated with digital camera  170  into a single device. 
       FIG. 3  shows a cutaway view of an eReader illustrating one example of a touch sensor  230 , in accordance with an embodiment. In  FIG. 3 , a portion of display  120  has been removed such that a portion of underlying top sensor  230 - 1  is visible. As depicted, in one embodiment, top touch sensor  230 - 1  is illustrated as an x-y grid of sensor electrodes which may be used to perform various techniques of capacitive sensing. For example, sensor electrodes  331  ( 331 - 0 ,  331 - 1 ,  331 - 2 , and  331 - 3  visible) are arrayed along a first axis, while sensor electrodes  332  ( 332 - 0 ,  332 - 1 ,  332 - 2 , and  332 - 3  visible) are arrayed along a second axis that is approximately perpendicular to the first axis. It should be appreciated that a dielectric layer (not illustrated) is disposed between all or portions of sensor electrodes  331  and  332  to prevent shorting. It should also be appreciated that the pattern of sensor electrodes ( 331 ,  332 ) illustrated in  FIG. 3  has been provided an example only, that a variety of other patterns may be similarly utilized, and some of these patterns may only utilize sensor electrodes disposed in a single layer. Additionally, while the example of  FIG. 3  illustrates top sensor  230 - 1  as being disposed beneath display  120 , in other embodiments, portions of touch sensor  230 - 1  may be transparent and disposed either above display  120  or integrated with display  120 . 
     In one embodiment, by performing absolute/self-capacitive sensing with sensor electrodes  331  on the first axis a first profile of any input object contacting outer surface  121  can be formed, and then a second profile of any input object contacting outer surface  121  can be formed on an orthogonal axis by performing absolute/self-capacitive sensing on sensor electrodes  332 . These capacitive profiles can be processed to determine an occurrence and/or location of a user input with made by means of an input object  201  contacting or proximate outer surface  121 . 
     In another embodiment, by performing transcapacitive/mutual capacitive sensing between sensor electrodes  331  on the first axis and sensor electrodes  332  on the second axis a capacitive image can be formed of any input object contacting outer surface  121 . This capacitive image can be processed to determine occurrence and/or location of user input made by means of an input object contacting or proximate outer surface  121 . 
     It should be appreciated that mutual capacitive sensing is regarded as a better technique for detecting multiple simultaneous input objects in contact with a surface such as outer surface  121 , while absolute capacitive sensing is regarded as a better technique for proximity sensing of objects which are near but not necessarily in contact with a surface such as outer surface  121 . 
     In some embodiments, capacitive sensing and/or another touch sensing technique may be used to sense touch input across all or a portion of the rear surface  115  of eReader  100 , and/or any other surface(s) of housing  110 . 
       FIG. 4  shows an example computing system  400  which may be included as a component of an eReader, according to various embodiments and with which or upon which various embodiments described herein may operate. 
     Example Computer System Environment 
     With reference now to  FIG. 4 , all or portions of some embodiments described herein are composed of computer-readable and computer-executable instructions that reside, for example, in computer-usable/computer-readable storage media of a computer system. That is,  FIG. 4  illustrates one example of a type of computer (computer system  400 ) that can be used in accordance with or to implement various embodiments of an eReader, such as eReader  100 , which are discussed herein. It is appreciated that computer system  400  of  FIG. 4  is only an example and that embodiments as described herein can operate on or within a number of different computer systems. 
     System  400  of  FIG. 4  includes an address/data bus  404  for communicating information, and a processor  406 A coupled to bus  404  for processing information and instructions. As depicted in  FIG. 4 , system  400  is also well suited to a multi-processor environment in which a plurality of processors  406 A,  406 B, and  406 C are present. Processors  406 A.  406 B, and  406 C may be any of various types of microprocessors. For example, in some multi-processor embodiments, one of the multiple processors may be a touch sensing processor and/or one of the processors may be a display processor. Conversely, system  400  is also well suited to having a single processor such as, for example, processor  406 A. System  400  also includes data storage features such as a computer usable volatile memory  408 , e.g., random access memory (RAM), coupled to bus  404  for storing information and instructions for processors  406 A,  406 B, and  406 C. System  400  also includes computer usable non-volatile memory  410 , e.g., read only memory (ROM), coupled to bus  404  for storing static information and instructions for processors  406 A,  406 B, and  406 C. Also present in system  400  is a data storage unit  412  (e.g., a magnetic or optical disk and disk drive) coupled to bus  404  for storing information and instructions. 
     Computer system  400  of  FIG. 4  is well adapted to having peripheral computer-readable storage media  402  such as, for example, a floppy disk, a compact disc, digital versatile disc, universal serial bus “flash” drive, removable memory card, and the like coupled thereto. In some embodiments, computer-readable storage media  402  may be coupled with computer system  400  (e.g., to bus  404 ) by insertion into removable a storage media slot, such as removable storage media slot  180  depicted in  FIGS. 1A and 1B . 
     System  400  also includes or couples with display  120  for visibly displaying information such as alphanumeric text and graphic images. In some embodiments, system  400  also includes or couples with one or more optional touch sensors  230  for communicating information, cursor control, gesture input, command selection, and/or other user input to processor  406 A or one or more of the processors in a multi-processor embodiment. In some embodiments, system  400  also includes or couples with one or more optional speakers  150  for emitting audio output. In some embodiments, system  400  also includes or couples with an optional microphone  160  for receiving/capturing audio inputs. In some embodiments, system  400  also includes or couples with an optional digital camera  170  for receiving/capturing digital images as an input. 
     Optional touch sensor(s)  230  allows a user of computer system  400  (e.g., a user of an eReader of which computer system  400  is a part) to dynamically signal the movement of a visible symbol (cursor) on display  120  and indicate user selections of selectable items displayed on display  120 . In some embodiment other implementations of a cursor control device and/or user input device may also be included to provide input to computer system  400 , a variety of these are well known and include: trackballs, keypads, directional keys, and the like. System  400  is also well suited to having a cursor directed or user input received by other means such as, for example, voice commands received via microphone  160 . System  400  also includes an input/output (I/O) device  420  for coupling system  400  with external entities. For example, in one embodiment, I/O device  420  is a modem for enabling wired communications or modem and radio for enabling wireless communications between system  400  and an external device and/or external network such as, but not limited to, the Internet. I/O device  120  may include a short-range wireless radio such as a Bluetooth® radio, Wi-Fi radio (e.g., a radio compliant with Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers&#39; (IEEE) 802.11 standards), or the like. 
     Referring still to  FIG. 4 , various other components are depicted for system  400 . Specifically, when present, an operating system  422 , applications  424 , modules  426 , and/or data  428  are shown as typically residing in one or some combination of computer usable volatile memory  408  (e.g., RAM), computer usable non-volatile memory  410  (e.g., ROM), and data storage unit  412 . In some embodiments, all or portions of various embodiments described herein are stored, for example, as an application  424  and/or module  426  in memory locations within RAM  408 , ROM  410 , computer-readable storage media within data storage unit  412 , peripheral computer-readable storage media  402 , and/or other tangible computer readable storage media. 
     With reference now to  FIG. 5 , a block diagram of 3D gesture recognition system  500  for an electronic personal display is shown in accordance with an embodiment. One example of an electronic personal display is an electronic reader (eReader). 
     In one embodiment, 3D gesture recognition system  500  includes a capacitive touch sensor  230  on at least a portion of a housing  110  of the electronic personal display, a 3D motion sensor  175  coupled with the electronic personal display, a monitoring module  510 , a gesture definer  520  and an operation module  530  that provides an action  555 . Although the components are shown as distinct objects in the present discussion, it is appreciated that the operations of one or more of the components may be combined into a single module. Moreover, it is also appreciated that the actions performed by a single module described herein could also be broken up into actions performed by a number of different modules or performed by a different module altogether. The present breakdown of assigned actions and distinct modules are merely provided herein for purposes of clarity. 
     In one embodiment, capacitive touch sensor  230  is located on an edge of the housing. In another embodiment, capacitive touch sensor  230  is located on a rear surface  115  of housing  110 . In yet another embodiment, capacitive touch sensor  230  covers the entire housing  110 . In general, the capabilities and characteristics of capacitive touch sensor  230  on at least a portion of a housing  110  of the electronic personal display are described in detail herein in the discussion of  FIGS. 1-3 . As such, for purposes of clarity, instead of repeating the discussion provided in respect to  FIGS. 1-3 , the discussion of  FIGS. 1-3  is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. 
     In one embodiment, monitoring module  510  monitors output from capacitive touch sensor  230 . For example, when a contact  503 , such as by finger  201 - 1  occurs, a signal is output from the capacitive touch sensor  230  in the area that was touched. In addition to receiving information from capacitive touch sensor  230 , monitoring module  510  also receives motion information from 3D motion sensor  175 . For example, when a motion  285 , such as by fingers  201  occurs, a signal is output from 3D motion sensor  175  regarding the motion that was performed. In one embodiment, monitoring module  510  combines the contact  503  and the motion  285  into a single gesture based output. 
     Gesture definer  520  receives the gesture based output from monitoring module  510  and correlates the gesture with an action to be performed by the electronic personal display. In general, the gesture-action correlation may be factory set, user adjustable, user selectable, or the like. Additionally, the gesture-action performed correlation with the gesture-action for an operation correlation may be adjustable. In one embodiment, if the user&#39;s gesture-action is not an exact match to a pre-defined gesture, but is a proximate match for the operation, the correlation settings could be widened such that a gesture with a medium correlation is recognized, or the settings could be narrowed such that only a gesture with a high correlation to the pre-defined gesture will be recognized. For example, in reader mode the correlation settings may be widened such that an open handed gesture from right to left may be indicative of the page turning operation. However, during other operations with higher correlation requirements, the same gesture may be too broad and not be recognized as correlating with any pre-defined gesture-action operations. 
     Once a gesture-action correlation is determined, gesture definer  520  provides an input to operation module  530  to initiate the requested action. Operation module  530  then initiates the action  555 . In one embodiment, the contact may be a factory defined gesture, a user adjustable gesture, a combination of touches, or may be defined by a user definable metric. In other words, the user may correlate a defined contact type with a defined operation to be performed by the electronic personal display. In one embodiment, the operation to be performed may include, but is not limited to, opening a book, closing an eBook, turning a page, adding a bookmark, removing a bookmark, opening a menu, a change in brightness, a reading mode change and the like. 
     Example Method of Utilizing Gesture Recognition for Operating an Electronic Personal Display 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a flow diagram  600  of a method of utilizing 3D gesture recognition for operating an electronic personal display according to various embodiments. In one embodiment, the electronic personal display is an electronic reader (eReader). Elements of flow diagram  600  are described below, with reference to elements of one or more of  FIGS. 1-5 . 
     With reference now to  605  of  FIG. 6  and to  FIGS. 2A-2B  and  5 , one embodiment receives a contact at a capacitive touch sensing surface on at least a portion of the electronic personal display  100 . In general, the capacitive touch surface may be, but is not limited to, a grid of conductive lines, a coat of metal, a flexible printed circuit grid and the like. In addition, the capacitive touch sensing surface may utilize directional sensitivity to provide touch-based gesture capabilities. 
     In one embodiment, the capacitive touch sensing surface may be on only portions of the screen  120 , housing  110 , sides of housing  110 , edges of housing  110 , corners of housing  110 , rear surface  115  of housing  110 , on the entire housing  110 , or a combination thereof. For example, the capacitive touch sensing surface may be on one or more of the front surface  111 , bottom surface  112 , right side surface  113 , left side surface  114 , rear surface  115 , and the top surface (not shown) of housing  110  of eReader  100 . 
     In another embodiment, since housing  110  of the electronic personal display includes one or more capacitive touch sensing surface(s), screen  120  may not necessarily be a capacitive touch sensing surface. Instead, each touch or gesture that would normally be performed on the screen would instead be performed on the housing. In so doing, screen manufacturing costs may be reduced. Additionally, by moving the capacitive touch sensing surface away from the screen, the screen would not be subject to as much touching, swiping, tapping and the like and would provide a cleaner reading surface. However, in another embodiment, the screen of the electronic personal display may have a capacitive touch sensing surface. 
     In one embodiment, no hard buttons are required for the electronic personal display. That is, there is no need for a hard button on eReader  100  since the capacitive touch sensing surface of the housing  110  is monitored for gestures. In so doing, a greater robustness with regard to dust, fluid contaminants, sand and the like can be achieved. In other words, by removing the hard buttons there are fewer openings through which sand, debris or water can enter the device. Moreover, robustness of the electronic personal display is enhanced since there is no hard button to get gummed up, stuck, spilled on, broken, dropped, dirty, dusty and the like. In an embodiment where no power-up hard button is included, on off switch  130  of  FIGS. 1A ,  1 B, and  3  is replaced by a smooth surface of housing  110  and a touch sensing surface is used to perform the functions of on/off switch  130 . 
     Referring now to  610  of  FIG. 6  and to  FIGS. 2A-2B  and  5 , one embodiment monitors airspace in range of a 3D motion sensor  175  coupled with the electronic personal display  100  for a motion associated with the contact. For example, when a contact  503  occurs, a signal is output from the capacitive touch sensor  230  in the area that was touched. In addition 3D motion sensor  175  will provide a signal describing motion information that was performed in the monitored airspace  275  within a predefined time period of the contact  503 . The contact  503  and the motion  285  that occurred around the time of contact  503  will then be combined into a single gesture based output. 
     In one embodiment the predefined time period may be a time window around the time of contact  503 . For example, 3D motion sensor  175  may be continuously monitoring airspace  275  for user motions and storing any motions in a looping storage database. When a contact  503  occurs, the monitoring module  510  may refer to the storage database for any motion information that occurred within a predefined time period prior to the contact. For example, monitoring module  510  may refer to a two second time period prior to the contact  503  for any motion information. 
     In another embodiment, the predefined time period may be a time window that occurs after the time of contact  503 . For example, 3D motion sensor  175  may be in a low power state and not monitor airspace  275  for user motions until a contact  503  has occurred. When a contact  503  occurs, the signal would cause 3D motion sensor  175  to begin monitoring the airspace  275  for a certain period of time. For example, 3D motion sensor  175  may commence a two-to-five second time period after contact  503  for any motion information. Although a number of predefined time periods are discussed for purposes of clarification, the actual monitored time period may be greater or less than the stated times. 
     In one embodiment, 3D motion sensor  175  is fixedly coupled with housing  110  of eReader  100 . However, in another embodiment, 3D motion sensor  175  may be removably coupled with eReader  100  such as a wired or wireless connection. 
     Referring now to  615  of  FIG. 6  and to  FIGS. 2A-2B  and  5 , one embodiment correlates the contact  503  and motion  285  with a predefined gesture denoting a digital reading operation to be performed on a digital content item rendered on the electronic personal display. In general, the types of contact  503  and motions  285  that may be correlated to become a predefined gesture may be wide ranging and could be additionally expanded by a user&#39;s individual preferences. For example, a factory pre-defined gesture may include a contact followed by a right-left motion related to a page turn operation, a contact followed by a hands closing motion related to a book closing operation, a contact followed by a hands opening motion related to a book opening operation and the like. A number of pre-defined gestures are shown in  FIGS. 7A-9C  and are discussed in further detail herein. 
     Moreover, the user may expand the predefined gestures by developing and storing individualized gestures. For example, one user may define a bookmarking operation as a contact followed by a checkmark type of motion while another user may define a bookmarking operation as a contact followed by an “ok” motion. 
     With reference now to  620  of  FIG. 6  and to  FIGS. 2A-2B  and  5 , one embodiment performs the digital reading operation on the electronic personal display, where the operation being performed is dependent upon the type of contact detected. For example, in the following discussion of  FIGS. 7A-9C , a number of predefined gestures for performing operations such as, but not limited to, book opening, book closing, forward page turn, backward page turn and bookmarking are shown. In the following discussion a number of terms such as back of the hand, palm of the hand and knife edge of a hand are utilized. In general, back of the hand refers to the knuckled side of a hand while palm of the hand refers to the side of a hand that includes the fingerprints. A knife edge of a hand refers to a side portion of the hand that includes the pinkie finger and the side portion of the palm, similar to a karate chop type of hand orientation. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 7A-7D  top perspective views of a plurality of single-hand motions for operating an electronic personal display are shown according to various embodiments.  FIGS. 7A-7B  illustrate one embodiment of a single-hand open book pre-defined motion while  FIGS. 7C-7D  illustrate one embodiment of a single-hand close book pre-defined motion. 
     In  FIG. 7A , diagram  700  shows a surface  121  with a knife edge  705  contact thereon and a directional arrow  707  showing a clockwise direction of rotation for the hand. In diagram  725  of  FIG. 7B  the hand is now rotated to a palm up position  711 . Thus, in one embodiment, the combined contact and motion for opening a book involves a user initially contacting the knife edge of a user&#39;s right hand with surface  121  and then rotating the hand clockwise from the knife edge  705  to a palm up position  711  in a clockwise rotating motion. Although a user&#39;s right hand is shown and described, the user&#39;s left hand may also be used. 
     In operation, when monitoring module  510  receives the corresponding signals from capacitive touch sensor  230  and 3D motion sensor  175 , monitoring module  510  will determine that the display screen has been touched with a knife edge of a palm and then the hand was rotated clockwise to a palm up orientation. In one embodiment, monitoring module  510  will provide the unified gesture to gesture definer  520  which will correlate the contact and following motion with the action “open an e-book to start digital reading”. Gesture definer  520  will then signal operation module  530  to perform the above stated action  555 . 
     Referring now to the close book pre-defined gestures of  FIGS. 7C-7D , in  FIG. 7C , diagram  750  shows a surface  121  with a knife edge  705  contact thereon and a directional arrow  757  showing a counter-clockwise direction of rotation for the hand. In diagram  775  of  FIG. 7D  the hand is now rotated to a palm down position  710 . Thus, in one embodiment, the combined contact and motion for closing a book involves a user initially contacting the knife edge  705  of a user&#39;s right hand with surface  121  and then rotating the hand counter-clockwise from the knife edge  705  to a palm down position  710 . 
     In operation, when monitoring module  510  receives the corresponding signals from capacitive touch sensor  230  and 3D motion sensor  175 , monitoring module  510  will determine that the display screen has been touched with a knife edge of a palm and then the hand was rotated counter-clockwise to a palm down orientation. In one embodiment, monitoring module  510  will provide the unified gesture to gesture definer  520  which will correlate the contact and following motion with the action “close an e-book”. Gesture definer  520  will then signal operation module  530  to perform the above stated action  555 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 8A-8D  a top perspective views of a plurality of single-hand motions about a point for operating an electronic personal display are shown according to various embodiments. In general, the contacts and motions of  FIGS. 8A-8D  may be used to signal page turning operations, bookmarking operations and the like. 
     In  FIG. 8A , diagram  800  shows a surface  121  with a knife edge  805  contact thereon and a rotational axis  806  through a thumb joint of a user&#39;s hand. In diagram  825  of  FIG. 8B  the hand  805  is now rotated in direction  807  again about a rotational axis  806 . Although direction  807  is clockwise, it should be appreciated that the direction of rotation about axis  806  may be in either direction. Moreover, although a user&#39;s right hand is shown and described, the user&#39;s left hand may also be used. In one embodiment, the rotation is done, whether for opening or closing, while the little finger/edge-of-palm maintains contact with the device surface  121 . 
     For example, in one embodiment, the combined contact and motion for paging backward involves a user initially contacting the knife edge  805  of a user&#39;s right hand and then rotating the knife edge  805  about rotational axis  806  in a clockwise rotating motion. In another embodiment, the combined contact and motion for paging forward involves a user initially contacting the knife edge  805  of a user&#39;s right hand and then rotating the knife edge  805  about rotational axis  806  in a counter-clockwise rotating motion. In yet another embodiment, the combined contact and motion described above may be used for bookmarking a page. 
     In operation, when monitoring module  510  receives the corresponding signals from capacitive touch sensor  230  and 3D motion sensor  175 , monitoring module  510  will determine that the display screen has been contacted with the knife edge  805  of a user&#39;s right hand and then the knife edge  805  was rotated about rotational axis  806  in a clockwise rotating motion. In one embodiment, monitoring module  510  will provide the unified gesture to gesture definer  520  which will correlate the contact and following motion with the action “page backward”. Gesture definer  520  will then signal operation module  530  to perform the above stated action  555 . 
     Referring now to the page forward pre-defined gestures of  FIGS. 8C-8D , in  FIG. 8C , diagram  850  shows a surface  121  with a knife edge  805  contact thereon and a rotational axis  856  through a user&#39;s wrist area. In diagram  875  of  FIG. 8D , hand  805  is now rotated in direction  855  again about a rotational axis  856 . Although direction  855  is counter-clockwise, it should be appreciated that the direction of rotation about axis  855  may be in either direction. Moreover, although a user&#39;s right hand is shown and described, the user&#39;s left hand may also be used. 
     For example, in one embodiment, the combined contact and motion for paging forward involves a user initially contacting the knife edge  805  of a user&#39;s right hand and then rotating the knife edge  805  about rotational axis  855  in a counter-clockwise rotating motion. In another embodiment, the combined contact and motion for paging backward involves a user initially contacting the knife edge  805  of a user&#39;s right hand and then rotating the knife edge  805  about rotational axis  856  in a clockwise rotating motion. In yet another embodiment, the combined contact and motion described above may be used for bookmarking a page. 
     In operation, when monitoring module  510  receives the corresponding signals from capacitive touch sensor  230  and 3D motion sensor  175 , monitoring module  510  will determine that the display screen has been contacted with the knife edge  805  of a user&#39;s right hand and then the knife edge  805  was rotated about rotational axis  856  in a counter-clockwise rotating motion. In one embodiment, monitoring module  510  will provide the unified gesture to gesture definer  520  which will correlate the contact and following motion with the action “page forward”. Gesture definer  520  will then signal operation module  530  to perform the above stated action  555 . 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 9A-9D , top perspective views of a plurality of paired-hand motions for operating an electronic personal display are shown according to various embodiments.  FIGS. 9A-9B  illustrate one embodiment of a two handed close book pre-defined gesture while  FIGS. 9C-9D  illustrate one embodiment of a two handed open book pre-defined gesture. 
     In  FIG. 9A , diagram  900  shows a surface  121  with a left hand palm up  901 L contact and a right hand palm up  901 R contact thereon. In diagram  925  of  FIG. 9B  the hands are now rotated into a closed position such that the contact with surface  121  consists of a left hand knife edge  905 L contact and a right hand knife edge  905 R contact. The direction of rotation for left hand  901 L is shown by directional arrow  907  while the direction of rotation for right hand  901 R is shown by directional arrow  908 . In other words, the user initially places the backs of both hands on the surface  121  and then rotates each hand about its knife edge until the palms of each hand are touching one another. In one embodiment, the knife edge of each hand is in contact with surface  121  at the completion of the rotating motion. 
     In operation, when monitoring module  510  receives the corresponding signals from capacitive touch sensor  230  and 3D motion sensor  195 , monitoring module  510  will determine that the display screen has been touched and then the user&#39;s hands performed a close together motion. In one embodiment, monitoring module  510  will provide the unified gesture to gesture definer  520  which will correlate the contact and following motion with the action “close an e-book”. Gesture definer  520  will then signal operation module  530  to perform the above stated action  555 . 
     Referring now to the open book pre-defined gestures of  FIGS. 9C-9D , in  FIG. 9C , diagram  950  shows a surface  121  having a left hand knife edge  905 L contact and a right hand knife edge  905 R contact thereon and directional arrow  957  and  958 . In diagram  975  of  FIG. 9D  the hands is now rotated into an open position such that the contact with surface  121  consists of left hand palm up  901 L contact and a right hand palm up  901 R contact. In other words, the user initially places both hands together and then places the knife edges of both hands on the surface  121 . The user then rotates each hand about its knife edge until the backs of each hand is touching surface  121 . 
     In operation, when monitoring module  510  receives the corresponding signals from capacitive touch sensor  230  and 3D motion sensor  195 , monitoring module  510  will determine that the display screen has been touched and then the user&#39;s hands performed an opening up type motion. In one embodiment, monitoring module  510  will provide the unified gesture to gesture definer  520  which will correlate the contact and following motion with the action “open an e-book to start digital reading”. Gesture definer  520  will then signal operation module  530  to perform the above stated action  555 . 
     In another example, assume the touching a display screen with an edge of a palm and then turning the hand to the right motion is not defined. When monitoring module  510  receives the signals from capacitive touch sensor  230  and 3D motion sensor  175 , monitoring module  510  will combine the inputs into a unified gesture and provide the unified gesture to gesture definer  520  which will determine that the touching a display screen with an edge of a palm and then turning the hand to the right-gesture is associated with no action. As such, gesture definer  520  will not signal operation module  530  and no action will be performed. 
     In one embodiment, if a gesture with no associated action is performed a number of times within a certain time period, a help menu may pop up in an attempt to ascertain the user&#39;s intention. In one embodiment, the menu may provide insight to allow the user to find the proper gesture for the desired action. In another embodiment, the menu may include an “ignore this gesture” option. For example, if a user were a habitual tapper, after repeated tapping the help menu may pop-up to provide assistance. The user could simply select the “ignore this gesture” option and the gesture would then be ignored or the habitual tapping gesture may be assigned as “take no additional action”. 
     The foregoing Description of Embodiments is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the embodiments to the precise form described. Instead, example embodiments in this Description of Embodiments have been presented in order to enable persons of skill in the art to make and use embodiments of the described subject matter. Moreover, various embodiments have been described in various combinations. However, any two or more embodiments may be combined. Although some embodiments have been described in a language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed by way of illustration and as example forms of implementing the claims and their equivalents.