Patent ID: 8279168

Claim:
A three-dimensional virtual-touch human-machine interface system comprising: a three-dimensional time-of-flight object sensor configured to detect a position of a user object within a first three-dimensional space, the first three-dimensional space bounded by a sensor field of view; a three-dimensional autostereoscopic display configured to display one or more images within a second three-dimensional space, the second three-dimensional space bounded by display limits, so that a user interacting with the three-dimensional display is able to view and interact with each of the one or more images as if it were in three-dimensional space, with each of the one or more images having a breadth corresponding to a size in an x-dimension, a height corresponding to a size in a y-dimension, and a depth corresponding to a size in a z-dimension, and each of said one or more images having at least one corresponding active region being defined by x, y and z coordinates, each active region of a corresponding image being a portion of the corresponding image that is programmed to be interactive with a user object; and a computer coupled to said sensor and said display, configured to map said position of said user object within a third three-dimensional space including x, y and z axis coordinates wherein the third three-dimensional space is common to both the first three-dimensional space and the second three-dimensional space, configured to map a position of each of said one or more active regions within said third three-dimensional space, and configured to determine when said positions of said user object and one or more of said active regions of said one or more images are substantially coincident within said third three-dimensional space, so that the computer can differentiate between two or more of said active regions differing only in z axis coordinates in said third three-dimensional space, the computer executing a function programmed for an active region upon determining that the positions of said user object and one or more of said active regions of said one or more images are substantially coincident.