Abstract:
This disclosure provides a sensor ring and an interactive system having the sensor ring. The interactive system includes the sensor ring, a RF receiver, an image-capture device and a signal processor. The sensor ring is adopted for wear on fingers or toes, has a sensor module to produce a sensing signal, and a RF transmitter for transmission of sensing signals. The image-capture device has a camera module used to produce a detection signal. The RF receiver receives the sensing signals of the ring. The signal processor processes the sensing signals of the rings and the detection signals of the image-capture device to produces interactive operation.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present disclosure relates to interactive systems, and particularly, to a sensor ring having a gyroscope sensor and a related interactive system. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    Human-machine interfaces can be found in many popular consumer products such as laptop computers, media players, game station, and mobile phones. The human-machine interfaces include input devices for receiving user input. Until now, input devices typically can only measure simple motions of an object, such as a linear motion in certain directions or angles that limit the amount of fine detail of motion that can be captured and understood as user commands. 
         [0005]    Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a human-machine interface which can overcome the described limitations. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    Many aspects of the disclosure can be better understood with reference to the drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the views. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of one embodiment of an interactive system having a sensor ring, according to the present disclosure. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one embodiment of the sensor ring of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of one embodiment of the interactive system of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0010]    Embodiments of the present sensor ring and interactive system having the sensor ring will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 
         [0011]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , one embodiment of an interactive system  10  including a sensor ring  12  and a display  14  is shown. The sensor ring  12  is a small electronic device that may be adapted to be worn on a finger or even on a toe of the user  20  to cooperate with the display  14 . The numbers of the sensor ring  12  and the display  14  are not limited to this embodiment. For example, the interactive system  10  may include more than one sensor ring  12  to cooperate with one display  14 , and more than one user  20  can operate the interactive system  10  at the same time. 
         [0012]    In one example, the sensor ring  12  is a transducer or a combination of transducers configured to convert movements of the user  20  into sensing signals. The sensor ring  12  includes a sensor module  122  and a radio frequency (RF) signal transmitter  124  electrically connected to the sensor module  122 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . The sensor module  122  includes a gyroscope sensor  1222  and an accelerometer  1224 . The gyroscope sensor  1222  can measure the angular velocity and angular acceleration of the corresponding finger or toe, and the accelerometer  1224  can measure the linear acceleration of the movement. Thus, the sensor ring  12  can measure the angular velocities and angular accelerations in the XY, YZ, ZX planes, and the accelerations along X, Y, Z coordinate axis directions. Accordingly, actions of the user  20 , such as pitch, yaw and roll of the finger, the toe and even the arm and leg are detected and converted into analog sensing signals by the sensor module  122 . In other embodiments, the sensor ring  12  may include more than one gyroscope sensor  1222  and more than one accelerometer  1224 . Foe example, the sensor ring may includes three gyroscope sensors  1222  respectively located along X, Y, Z coordinate axis directions, and respectively measure the angular acceleration in the X, Y, Z axis directions. 
         [0013]    The sensor ring  12  may further include an amplifier  126  and an analog-to-digital converter (ADC)  128  electrically connected to the amplifier  126 . The amplifier  126  increases the amplitude of the analog sensing signals from the sensor module  122 . Thus, differences in fine movements of the finger or toe can be sensed. The ADC  128  is an electronic device that converts the analog sensing signals enlarged by the amplifier  126  into a digital sensing signal. The RF signal transmitter  124  receives the digital sensing signal from the ADC  128  and transmits the digital sensing signal. 
         [0014]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the display  14  includes a monitor  140 , and the interactive system  10  further includes an RF signal receiver  142 , an image-capture device  144 , a storage system  147  and a signal processor  146  electrically connected to the monitor  140 . 
         [0015]    The RF signal receiver  142  receives the digital sensing signal transmitted from the sensor ring  12 . The RF signal receiver  142  may be located in front of the sensor ring  12 , for example on a surface of the monitor  140  of the display  14 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . The monitor  140  can be any kind of monitor, such as a light emitting diode (LED) television, a liquid crystal display (LCD) television, a monitor of a network computer, a notebook computer, a monitor of a mobile phone, a monitor of a personal digital assistant (PDA), a digital photo frame or a monitor of play station. 
         [0016]    The image-capture device  144  captures images in front. When the user  20  stands or moves in front of the image-capture device  144 , an image of the user  20  can be recognized from the taken image. Accordingly, a position and a profile of the user  20  can be detected. The image-capture device  144  includes a camera module  1442  and a light source  1444 . The camera module  1442  includes an infrared (IR) camera  14422  and a red, green, and blue (RGB) camera  14424  located in front of the sensor ring  12 , for example on a surface of the monitor  140  of the display  14 . The IR camera  14422  may include a narrow band filter (NBF, not labeled). The NBF enables the IR camera  14422  to determine distance to the user  20  along the direction perpendicular to the monitor  140 . The NBF may be a multi-layer optical filter with a bandwidth from about 2 μm to about 20 μm. In this embodiment, the bandwidth of the NBF is in a range from about 5 μm to about 12 μm. 
         [0017]    The light source  1444  can also be located in front of the sensor ring  12 , for example on the surface of the monitor  140 . The light source  1444  includes an IR LED unit and a diffraction optical element (DOE, not labeled) in front of the IR LED unit. The DOE enlarges the area illuminated by IR light, so the detecting area is also enlarged. Since the camera module  1442  can receive the IR light reflected from the user  20 , the image-capture device  144  can capture images of the user  20  even in limited light conditions, and provides a detection signal to an ADC  1446 . The detection signal provided by the camera module  1442  is an analog detection signal about image data. 
         [0018]    The ADC  1446  converts the detection signal provided from the camera module  1442  to a digital detection signal, and transmits the digital detection signal to a signal processor  146 . 
         [0019]    The signal processor  146  receives the sensing signals from the sensor ring  12  and the detection signal from the camera module  1442 , processes the received sensing and detection signals, and provides a control signals to the monitor  140 . The storage system  147  supports and cooperates with the signal processor  146 . The monitor  140  display images according to the control signals, for example, an avatar of the user  20  may move in way the mimics the user  20 . Accordingly, the interactive system  10  can interact with the user  20 . 
         [0020]    The configurations and arrangements of the RF signal receiver  142 , the image-capture device  144 , the storage system  147  and the signal processor  146  are not limited by this embodiment. In other embodiments, the RF signal receiver  142 , the image-capture device  144 , the storage system  147  and the signal processor  146  may be assembled in one apparatus; or the RF signal receiver  142  and the image-capture device  144  are assembled in one apparatus, and the storage system  147  and the signal processor  146  are assembled in another apparatus. 
         [0021]    The sensor ring  12  of the present disclosure can accurately sense gross and fine movements of the user  20 , which makes interactive operations more realistic and sensitive. The camera module  1442 , the light source  1444 , the DOE and the NBF also enhance the sensitivity and accuracy of the interactive system  10 . 
         [0022]    Due to its great sensitivity and accuracy, the interactive system  10  can allow the playing of three-dimensional (3D) interactive games by more than one user  20  and provide a highly realistic telepresence. Such games may include, for example, basketball, baseball, handball, tennis, soccer, rugby and so on. In addition to the interactive games, the interactive system  10  can also be applied to global positioning systems (GPS), automotive navigation systems and other input apparatus, and requires no keyboard or complicated buttons. Thus, various applications of the present disclosure are practicable. 
         [0023]    It will be understood that the above particular embodiments and methods are shown and described by way of illustration only. The principles and the features of the present disclosure may be employed in various and numerous embodiments thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure as claimed. The above-described embodiments illustrate the scope of the disclosure but do not restrict the scope of the disclosure.