Patent Publication Number: US-2015082186-A1

Title: Customized interface system and operating method thereof

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
     This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2013-0110668 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Sep. 13, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND  
     (a) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a customized interface system and an operating method thereof. 
     (b) Description of the Related Art 
     With the development of electronic technology, a touch screen has been used as a user interface for various information technology (IT) devices. In particular, for a touch screen, since the user interface preset by a manufacturing company of the IT devices is provided to a user as it is and is unable to be customized, it may be difficult to provide an optimal interface to the user. 
     The above information disclosed in this section is merely for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art. 
     SUMMARY  
     The present invention provides a customized interface system and an operating method thereof having advantages of enabling interfacing with an information technology device using an input interface created (e.g. customized) by a user. 
     An operating method of a customized interface system may include: setting a plurality of manipulation regions in an input interface created by a user (e.g., in a customized input interface); mapping a first manipulation region among the plurality of manipulation regions to a first function among a plurality of functions provided from an information technology (IT) device; recognizing a user&#39;s finger or an object based on an image that is photographed by an imaging device (e.g., a camera, a video camera, etc.); and executing the first function when a position of the user&#39;s finger or the object corresponds to the first manipulation region. 
     The operating method may further include: mapping a second manipulation region among the plurality of manipulation regions to a second function among the plurality of functions provided by the IT device; and executing the second function when a user&#39;s hand gesture or the gesture of the object corresponding to the second manipulation regions is recognized. The input interface may be any one of an image, a picture, a hand drawing, and a three-dimensional shape of specific hardware. 
     A customized interface system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include: an imaging device configured to capture an input interface created by a user; and a controller configured to set a plurality of manipulation regions in the input interface, and map a first manipulation region among the plurality of manipulation regions to a first function among a plurality of functions provided from an information technology (IT) device, wherein the controller may be configured to recognize a user&#39;s finger or an object (e.g., a pen or the like) based on an image captured by the imaging device, and execute the first function when a position of the user&#39;s finger or object corresponds to the first manipulation region. 
     The controller may be configured to map a second manipulation region among the plurality of manipulation regions to a second function among the plurality of functions provided by the IT device, and execute the second function when a user&#39;s hand gesture or the gesture of the object corresponding to the second manipulation regions is recognized. The input interface may be any one of an image, a picture, a hand drawing, and a three-dimensional shape of specific hardware. 
     According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the customized interface system may be installed within a vehicle. The function corresponding to the manipulation region or the hand gesture may be executed by recognizing the finger or the hand gesture when the user such as a driver points at the input interface with the finger (e.g., an object, or any other pointing device) or performs the hand gesture. Since the optimal input interface may be created and customized by the user, the user may intuitively interface with the IT device. In addition, the input interface applied within the vehicle may be tested before the input interface is mounted within the vehicle. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         FIG. 1  is an exemplary diagram illustrating a customized interface system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is an exemplary flowchart of a method for realizing a customized interface system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 3  is an exemplary flowchart of an operating method of a customized interface system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     It is understood that the term “vehicle” or“vehicular” or other similar term as used herein is inclusive of motor vehicles in general such as passenger automobiles including sports utility vehicles (SUV), buses, trucks, various commercial vehicles, watercraft including a variety of boats and ships, aircraft, and the like, and includes hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, combustion, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, hydrogen-powered vehicles and other alternative fuel vehicles (e.g. fuels derived from resources other than petroleum). 
     Although exemplary embodiment is described as using a plurality of units to perform the exemplary process, it is understood that the exemplary processes may also be performed by one or plurality of modules. Additionally, it is understood that the term controller/control unit refers to a hardware device that includes a memory and a processor. The memory is configured to store the modules and the processor is specifically configured to execute said modules to perform one or more processes which are described further below. 
     Furthermore, control logic of the present invention may be embodied as non-transitory computer readable media on a computer readable medium containing executable program instructions executed by a processor, controller/control unit or the like. Examples of the computer readable mediums include, but are not limited to, ROM, RAM, compact disc (CD)-ROMs, magnetic tapes, floppy disks, flash drives, smart cards and optical data storage devices. The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed in network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable media is stored and executed in a distributed fashion, e.g., by a telematics server or a Controller Area Network (CAN). 
     The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. 
     In the following detailed description, only certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, simply by way of illustration. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive. Like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the specification. 
     Throughout the specification, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word “comprise” and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising” will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements. In addition, the terms “-er”, “-or”, “module”, and “block” described in the specification mean units for processing at least one function and operation, and can be implemented by hardware components or software components and combinations thereof. 
       FIG. 1  is an exemplary diagram of a customized interface system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a customized interface system  100  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include an input interface  110 , an imaging device  120 , and a controller  130 . 
     The input interface  110  may be an interface created (e.g., customized) by a user. The input interface  110  may be an image or a picture  111 , or a hand drawing  112  drawn by a pen or the like. Further, the input interface  110  may be a three-dimensional shape  113  of specific hardware for the user to obtain operation feeling. The imaging device  120  may be configured to photograph the input interface  110  and output a photographed image to the controller  130 . The controller  130  may be connected to the imaging device  120 , and may be implemented with one or more microprocessors executed by a predetermined program. The predetermined program may include a series of commands for performing each step included in an operating method of the customized interface system  100  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     The controller  130  may be configured to recognize the input interface  110  based on the photographed image. The controller  130  may be configured to divide regions of the input interface  110  and set a plurality of manipulation regions. Various functions (e.g., volume control or channel selection of an audio video navigation device) provided from an information technology (IT) device  140  may be mapped to the plurality of manipulation regions. The controller  130  may also be configured to recognize a position of a user&#39;s finger or a user&#39;s hand gesture or an object position. The controller  130  may be configured to execute a function mapped to a manipulation region corresponding to the position of the user&#39;s finger or the object, or execute a function that corresponds to the user&#39;s hand gesture. 
       FIG. 2  is an exemplary flowchart of a method for realizing a customized interface system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 2 , the input interface  110  created by the user may be disposed at a predetermined position in a vehicle at step S 201 . The controller  130  may be configured to set the plurality of manipulation regions in the input interface  110  at step S 202 . In other words, the controller  130  may be configured to recognize the input interface  110  using the imaging device  120 , and set the plurality of manipulation regions in the input interface  110 . 
     Furthermore, the controller  130  may be configured to map specific functions of the IT device  140  to the plurality of set manipulation regions at step S 203 . For example, when the three-dimensional shape  113  of the specific hardware is created as the input interface  110 , the specific functions of the IT device  140  may be mapped to the plurality of manipulation regions of the three-dimensional shape  113 , for one of the specific functions to be executed when the position of the user&#39;s finger or the object position corresponds to one of the plurality of manipulation regions. 
       FIG. 3  is an exemplary flowchart of an operating method of a customized interface system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 3 , when the user&#39;s finger approaches the input interface  110 , the controller  130  may be configured to recognize the user&#39;s finger based on the image photographed by the imaging device  120  at step S 301 . In particular, the controller  130  may be configured to recognize the user&#39;s hand gesture. 
     Further, the controller  130  may be configured to execute a function mapped to the manipulation region that corresponds to the position of the user&#39;s finger or the object position, and provide feedback on the manipulation to the user at step S 302 . The customized interface system  100  according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be installed within the vehicle. The function corresponding to the manipulation region or the hand gesture may be executed by recognizing the finger or the hand gesture when the user such as a driver points at the input interface  110  with the finger (e.g., an object) or performs the hand gesture. According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, since the optimal input interface  110  may be created (e.g., a customized input interface  110 ) by the user, the user may intuitively interface with the IT device  140 . In addition, the input interface  110  to be applied within the vehicle may be tested before the input interface  110  is mounted within the vehicle. 
     While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the accompanying claims.