Patent Publication Number: US-2021191525-A1

Title: Interactive system and device with gesture recognition function

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/780,079 filed on, Feb. 3, 2020, which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/196,898 filed on, Nov. 20, 2018, which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/854,498 filed on, Dec. 26, 2017, which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/929,061 filed on, Jun. 27, 2013, which claims the priority benefit of Taiwan Patent Application Serial Number 101124573, filed on Jul. 6, 2012, the full disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Disclosure 
     This disclosure generally relates to eyeglasses and, more particularly, to glasses with gesture recognition function. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     With the vigorous development of the smartphone technology, the sensitivity and smoothness of the touch panel are also improved for being operated and used on the users&#39; cell phones. More and more control gestures have been provided such as moving the thumb closer to or farther away the index finger to perform zoom-in and zoom-out functions, or moving the finger rightward to perform a page-turning command. However, the gesture recognition methods mentioned above are all performed through a touch panel. 
     In the present day, the optical gesture recognition has been developed quickly due to the vigorous development of the multimedia technology. For example, a user can control a smart TV to switch channel or adjust volume by using hand gestures. However, current gesture recognition devices are integrated with the electronic device and the gesture recognition is performed by means of optical sensing such that the operating distance is limited, e.g. the technology disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,594,469. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure provides a gesture recognition system that has a wireless transmission unit configured to transmit the control command to an electronic device at a distance therefrom. 
     The present disclosure further provides a device that includes the above gesture recognition system so as to control the electronic device at a distance therefrom. 
     Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the technical features of the present disclosure. 
     The present disclosure provides a device including a frame and a gesture recognition system. The frame includes a left frame, a right frame and a connecting part connecting between the left frame and the right frame, wherein the left frame, the right frame and the connecting part are integrally formed. The gesture recognition system includes an illumination device and an image sensor. The image sensor is configured to capture image data, wherein the connecting part connects the right and left frames along a transverse direction and has an upper edge and a lower edge, and the illumination device and the image sensor are both disposed inside the connecting part between the upper edge and the lower edge, and the illumination device and the image sensor are adjacent to each other along a direction parallel to the transverse direction. 
     The present disclosure further provides an interactive system including a monitor and a device. The device includes a frame and a gesture recognition system. The frame includes a left frame, a right frame and a connecting part connecting between the left frame and the right frame, wherein the left frame, the right frame and the connecting part are integrally formed. The gesture recognition system includes an illumination device, an image sensor, a processor and a transmission unit. The image sensor is configured to capture images, wherein the connecting part connects the right and left frames along a transverse direction and has an upper edge and a lower edge, and the illumination device and the image sensor are both disposed inside the connecting part between the upper edge and the lower edge, and the illumination device and the image sensor are adjacent to each other along a direction parallel to the transverse direction. The processor is configured to recognize motion track of an object according to the captured images to generate a control command. The transmission unit is configured to transmit the control command to the monitor to correspondingly control information shown thereon. 
     The present disclosure further provides an interactive system including a portable device and an electronic device. The portable device includes a frame and a gesture recognition system. The frame includes a left frame, a right frame and a connecting part connecting between the left frame and the right frame, wherein the left frame, the right frame and the connecting part are integrally formed. The gesture recognition system includes an illumination device, an image sensor and a transmission unit. The image sensor is configured to capture images, wherein the connecting part connects the right and left frames along a transverse direction and has an upper edge and a lower edge, and the illumination device and the image sensor are both disposed inside the connecting part between the upper edge and the lower edge, and the illumination device and the image sensor are adjacent to each other along a direction parallel to the transverse direction. The transmission unit is configured to transmit the image data captured by the image sensor. The electronic device includes a processor configured to process the image data to generate a control command. 
     As mentioned above, the gesture recognition system of the present disclosure includes a wireless transmission unit so that the gesture recognition system has an operating distance. As the gesture recognition system may be disposed on the glasses or other portable devices, e.g. a Bluetooth earphone, a cell phone or a tablet computer, it may be placed close to the user all the time. The control command may be transmitted to the electronic device to be controlled through the wireless communication unit of the gesture recognition system to significantly extend the operating distance compared to traditional systems. In addition, the gesture recognition system may be disposed at different positions of the glasses so as to improve the gesture operation. For example, the gesture recognition system may be disposed at the connecting part or the periphery of edges so that the gesture operation may have a lower chance to block the line of sight. Furthermore, if the pair of glasses itself includes the display unit for displaying images, the gesture recognition system may not include the wireless transmission unit; i.e. the control command generated by the processor may be directly transmitted to the display unit to correspondingly control the content shown on the glasses. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
         FIG. 1  shows a schematic diagram of the glasses with gesture recognition function according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  shows a schematic block diagram of the gesture recognition system shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  shows a schematic diagram of the glasses with partially integrated structure. 
         FIG. 4  shows a schematic diagram of the gesture recognition system in which the processor is integrated with an electronic device. 
         FIGS. 5 and 6  show schematic diagrams of the glasses and gesture recognition system thereof according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIGS. 7 and 8  show schematic diagrams of the glasses and gesture recognition system thereof according to an alternative embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT 
     The above or other technical contents, characteristics and effects according to the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that terms of direction used herein, such as upward, downward, leftward, rightward, forward and backward, are only used for reference but not used to limit the present disclosure. 
       FIG. 1  shows a schematic diagram of the glasses with gesture recognition function according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to  FIG. 1 , the glasses with gesture recognition function  100  of this embodiment includes a glasses frame  110 , wherein a left lens  122  and a right lens  124  may be embedded in the glasses frame  110 . Specifically speaking, the glasses frame  110  includes a left lens frame  112 , a right lens frame  114 , a connecting part  116 , a left temple arm  118   a  and a right temple arm  118   b . The connecting part  116  is configured to connect the left lens frame  112  and the right lens frame  114 . The left temple arm  118   a  is connected to the left lens frame  112  and the right temple arm  118   b  is connected to the right lens frame  114 , wherein the left and right temple arms  118   a ,  118   b  are used to support and fix the glasses  100  on two sides of a user&#39;s head. 
     In one embodiment, the glasses frame  110  may have an integrated structure; i.e. the left lens frame  112 , the right lens frame  114 , the connecting part  116  and the left and right temple arms  118   a ,  118   b  are formed integrally. The glasses frame  110  of this embodiment is described with an example having a partially integrated structure; i.e. only the left lens frame  112 , the right lens frame  114  and the connecting part  116  are formed integrally as shown by the glasses  100  in  FIG. 3 , but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the glasses  110  of this embodiment further include a gesture recognition system  130 , wherein the gesture recognition system  130  may be disposed on or in the glasses frame  110 . For example, the gesture recognition system  130  may be disposed on the connecting part  116  of the glasses frame  110 , wherein an example of the gesture recognition system  130  in this embodiment may be embedded in the connecting part  116 . In another embodiment, a part of the gesture recognition system  130  may be embedded in the lens frames  112 ,  114  or the temple arms  118   a ,  118   b  and the rest part thereof is exposed outside the lens frames  112 ,  114  or the temple arms  118   a ,  118   b . In this manner, the hand waving of a user may not be performed in front of the user and the hand waving may be performed at the left-front or right-front of the user in order not to block the line of sight. In another embodiment, the gesture recognition system  130  may also be hung on the glasses  100  such that users with myopia may directly hang the gesture recognition system  130  on their glasses without using an additional pair of glasses. 
     In this embodiment, the gesture recognition system  130  may include an image sensor  132  and a processor  134 , wherein the image sensor  132  is configured to successively capture images that contain a motion track of the user&#39;s hand, and the processor  134  is configured to receive the images and generate a control command C 1  according to the motion track of the user&#39;s hand as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , wherein  FIG. 2  is a schematic block diagram of the gesture recognition system  130  of  FIG. 1 . 
     In one embodiment, the gesture recognition system  130  may include a transmission unit  136  configured to transmit the control command C 1  to an electronic device  200  to correspondingly control the electronic device  200 , e.g. controlling the ON/OFF of the electronic device  200 , zoom-in or zoom-out of the screen information shown on the electronic device  200 , the cursor shown on the screen of the electronic device  200 , or the page-turning command of the screen information shown on the electronic device  200 . In other words, the control command C 1  may be an ON/OFF command, a zoom-in or zoom-out command, a command turning to a previous page or a next page, a volume command or a channel-selection command. 
     In this embodiment, the electronic device  200  may be a display device (e.g. a TV or a monitor), a portable electronic device (e.g. a cell phone or a tablet computer), home appliance or a vehicle electronic device. More particularly, the electronic device  200  preferably includes a receiving unit  210  configured to receive the control command C 1 . In other words, the glasses  100  of this embodiment may wirelessly transmit the control command C 1  to the electronic device  200  to accordingly control the electronic device  200 . In this manner, it is able to provide control on the electronic device  200  at a distance therefrom without being limited by a far distance between the user and the electronic device to avoid the condition that the gesture recognition system is unable to detect gestures of the user&#39;s hand. It should be mentioned that, in some cases, the user may not want to use the wireless communication due to the electromagnetic radiation and the gesture recognition unit  130  of the glasses  100  may be connected to the electronic device  200  via a cable in another embodiment. 
     In addition, in order to improve the performance of recognizing the hand motion, the gesture recognition system  130  may further include an illumination device  138 , wherein the illumination device  138  is configured to provide a light beam L 1  and the image sensor  132  is configured to receive reflection of the light beam L 1  reflected from the hand motion of the user and to generate a plurality of images. Similarly, the processor  134  is configured to receive the images and generate the control command C 1  mentioned above according to the motion track of the user&#39;s hand. In this embodiment, the illumination device  138  may be one capable of providing infrared light, whereas the image sensor  132  may be one capable of sensing infrared light, wherein as there is generally no object between the hand motion of the user and the glasses  100 , the gesture recognition system  130  on the glasses  100  is able to recognize the motion track of the user&#39;s hand correctly. 
     In one embodiment, the glasses  100  may further include a switch device  140 , wherein the switch device  140  may be disposed on the glasses frame  110  as shown in  FIG. 1 . Specifically speaking, the switch device  140  may be configured to turn on or turn off the gesture recognition system  130  so as to effectively reduce the power consumption as well as prevent recognition error. 
     In addition, the glasses  100  of this embodiment may or may not be embedded with the lens  122 ,  124  according to the preference of the user. In one embodiment, the left and right lens  122 ,  124  in the glasses frame  110  of the glasses  100  may be corrective lenses, plain glass lenses or lens capable of displaying images, wherein the lens capable of displaying images may include OLED display panel having high transparency as shown by the glasses  100   a  and gesture recognition system  130   a  thereof in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . Specifically speaking, as the lens  122   a ,  124   b  of the glasses  110   a  may directly display images, the wireless transmission unit  136  mentioned above may not be implemented in the gesture recognition system  130   a  and the processor  134  may directly transmit the control command C 1  to the lens  122   a ,  124   a  to directly control the content shown on the lens  122   a ,  124   a.    
     In another embodiment, the content shown on the lens may also be formed by projection; i.e. the glasses  100   b  may further include a projection device  150 , wherein the projection device  150  may directly project images onto the lens  122 ,  124  as shown by the glasses  100   a  and gesture recognition system  130   b  thereof in  FIGS. 7 and 8 . Similarly, as the lens  122 ,  124  of the glasses  100   b  may directly show images through projection, the wireless transmission unit  136  may not be implemented in the gesture recognition system  130   a  and the processor  134  may directly transmit the control command C 1  to the projection device  150  to directly control the content projected on the lens  122 ,  124 . 
     It should be mentioned that the gesture recognition systems  130 ,  130   a  and  130   b  generate the aforementioned control command by using their own processor  134  to process the gesture images received. In one embodiment, the processor  134  may be integrated with the electronic device  200 ; i.e. the gesture recognition system  130   c  may utilize a control unit  131  to transmit the captured image data Il to the electronic device  200  through the transmission unit  136  and the processor  134  of the electronic device  200  processes the image data to generate the control command C 1  mentioned above as shown in  FIG. 4 , wherein  FIG. 4  shows a schematic diagram of the gesture recognition system in which the processor is integrated with the electronic device  200 . 
     As mentioned above, the gesture recognition system and the glasses with gesture recognition function according to the embodiment of the present disclosure have at least following advantages. First, the gesture recognition system has a wireless transmission unit so that the gesture recognition system has an operating distance from the devices to be controlled. As the gesture recognition system may be disposed on the glasses or other portable devices, e.g. a Bluetooth earphone, a cell phone or a tablet computer, it may be placed close to the user all the time. The control command may be transmitted to the electronic device to be controlled through the wireless communication unit of the gesture recognition system to significantly extend the operating distance compared to traditional systems. 
     In addition, the gesture recognition system may be located at different positions of the glasses so as to improve the gesture operation. For example, the gesture recognition system may be disposed at the connecting part or the periphery of edges so that the gesture operation may have a lower chance to block the line of sight. Furthermore, if the glasses have the display unit for displaying images, the gesture recognition system may not include the wireless transmission unit; i.e. the control command generated by the processor may be directly transmitted to the display unit to accordingly control the content shown on the glasses. 
     Although the disclosure has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is not used to limit the disclosure. It is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as hereinafter claimed. Furthermore, any embodiment or claim of the present invention is not necessary to achieve all objects, advantages, and novel features disclosed herein. Meanwhile, the summary and title are only for searching of patent documents but not to limit the disclosure.