Patent ID: 8316324

Claim:
A touchless user interface integrated with a portable device, comprising: a touchless sensing unit arranged external to a display of the device and integrated thereon for generating an ultrasonic touchless sensory space projected one inch or more above and wider than a dimension of the display, and tracking a three-dimensional finger movement that projects forward and retracts backward one inch or more above the display in the touchless sensory space by pulse-echo detection of reflected ultrasonic signals; and a control unit for calibrating a tracking of the finger or object movement from forward projecting and backward retracting movement along a principal axis of the ultrasonic touchless sensory space; mapping a virtual coordinate system of the touchless sensory space in three-dimensions to a two-dimensional display coordinate system of the device according to the calibrating along the principal axis; associating at least one forward projecting and backward retracting finger or object movement in the virtual coordinate system with a control action of a user interface component in the display coordinate system, and adjusting at least one control of the device in response to the finger movement according to the mapping, wherein said control action is an acquire, a select, or a release, and the calibrating compensates for a three-dimensional sweeping range of the finger movement in the touchless sensory space to an absolute range of locations in the device coordinate system.