PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-12044391-B1
Application Number: US-202318331562-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B1

Title: Systems with adjustable lights

Abstract:
A system may have an interior region. The system may have lighting that provides illumination for the interior region. The lighting may include light-emitting elements such as light-emitting diodes arranged in strips or two-dimensional patterns. A gesture sensor such as a touch gesture sensor or proximity gesture sensor may overlap the light-emitting diodes. As gesture input is received over the light-emitting elements, the lighting may toggle the states of the light-emitting elements, turning on elements that are off and turning off elements that are on. The lighting may toggle the states of the elements based on gesture input such as gesture input made along a strip of elements or gesture input involving gestures that pass over a selected set of elements in a two-dimensional array.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A vehicle, comprising:
 a vehicle body having an interior region; 
 light sources configured to supply illumination to the interior region; and 
 a gesture sensor configured to gather gesture input to control the light sources, wherein the gesture sensor is configured to gather first and second gestures to turn on respective first and second disjoint segments of the light sources and configured to gather a gesture that starts at the first disjoint segment and bridges the first and second disjoint segments to join the first and second disjoint segments to form a single illuminated segment of the light sources. 
 
     
     
       2. The vehicle defined in  claim 1  wherein the gesture sensor is configured to gather a drag gesture to control the light sources. 
     
     
       3. The vehicle defined in  claim 1  wherein the gesture sensor is configured to gather a flic gesture to control the light sources. 
     
     
       4. The vehicle defined in  claim 1  wherein the gesture sensor is configured to gather a double tap gesture to control the light sources. 
     
     
       5. The vehicle defined in  claim 1  wherein the gesture sensor is configured to gather a touch and hold gesture to control the light sources. 
     
     
       6. The vehicle defined in  claim 1  wherein the light sources are arranged in a line in the interior region. 
     
     
       7. The vehicle defined in  claim 1  wherein the light sources are arranged in a two-dimensional pattern in the interior region. 
     
     
       8. The vehicle defined in  claim 1  wherein the gesture sensor comprises a touch sensor that overlaps the light sources and that is configured to gather touch gestures to control the light sources. 
     
     
       9. The vehicle defined in  claim 1  wherein the gesture sensor comprises a proximity sensor configured to gather proximity gestures to control the light sources. 
     
     
       10. The vehicle defined in  claim 1  wherein the light sources include a plurality of fixed-location segments of the light sources and wherein the gesture sensor is configured to gather gestures to toggle the light sources within each of the fixed-location segments in concert and is configured to gather gestures to toggle the fixed-location segments separately from each other. 
     
     
       11. The vehicle defined in  claim 1  wherein the light sources comprise light-emitting diodes. 
     
     
       12. The vehicle defined in  claim 1  further comprising a diffuser that overlaps the light sources. 
     
     
       13. The vehicle defined in  claim 1  wherein the gesture sensor comprises a capacitive touch sensor that runs along the light sources, the vehicle further comprising a proximity sensor adjacent to the light sources that has infrared light sources and an infrared photodetector. 
     
     
       14. The vehicle defined in  claim 1 , wherein the gesture that starts at the first disjoint segment, that bridges the first and second disjoint segments, and that is gathered by the gesture sensor stops at the second disjoint segment. 
     
     
       15. Lighting, comprising:
 light-emitting diodes; and 
 a capacitive touch sensor that is configured to gather a touch gesture to control the light-emitting diodes, wherein the light-emitting diodes form a strip of light-emitting diodes and wherein the capacitive touch sensor runs along the strip of light-emitting diodes and is configured to gather touch gestures made along the strip of light-emitting diodes. 
 
     
     
       16. The lighting defined in  claim 15  wherein the capacitive touch sensor is configured to gather a touch gesture made along the strip of light-emitting diodes to turn on a subset of the light-emitting diodes. 
     
     
       17. The lighting defined in  claim 15 , wherein the strip of light-emitting diodes form at least first and second coordinated sets of light-emitting diodes, wherein the capacitive touch sensor is configured to gather a touch gesture to turn on the first coordinated set of light-emitting diodes, and wherein the capacitive touch sensor is configured to gather a touch gesture that starts at the first coordinated set of light-emitting diodes to turn on the second coordinated set of light-emitting diodes while leaving the first coordinated set of light-emitting diodes turned on. 
     
     
       18. A vehicle, comprising:
 a vehicle body having an interior region; and 
 lighting in the interior region, wherein the lighting comprises:
 light-emitting diodes that extend in a line in the interior region and are configured to provide illumination for the interior region; and 
 a touch sensor configured to gather a touch gesture to turn on selected light-emitting diodes in the line of light-emitting diodes and configured to gather a touch gesture that starts at a point along the line of light-emitting diodes and extends along the line of light-emitting diodes to turn off a portion of the turned-on light-emitting diodes while leaving the remaining portion of the turned-on light-emitting diodes turned on. 
 
 
     
     
       19. The vehicle defined in  claim 18  wherein the touch gesture that starts at the point along the line of light-emitting diodes and extends along the line of light-emitting diodes comprises a drag gesture having a length indicative of the portion of the turned-on light-emitting diodes to be turned off. 
     
     
       20. The vehicle defined in  claim 18 , wherein the touch gesture that extends along the line of light-emitting diodes extends along a segment of the selected and turned-on light-emitting diodes and extends along one or more additional light-emitting diodes in the line of light-emitting diodes other than the selected and turned-on light-emitting didoes.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 63/392,357, filed Jul. 26, 2022, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     This relates generally to systems with lights, and, more particularly, systems with adjustable lights. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Buildings, mobile systems, and other systems may be provided with lights. For example, lights may be used to illuminate interior spaces. Buttons and other controls may be used to turn lights on and off. 
     SUMMARY 
     A system may have an interior region. The system may have lighting that provides illumination for the interior region. The lighting may include light-emitting elements such as light-emitting diodes arranged in strips or two-dimensional patterns. 
     A gesture sensor such as a touch gesture sensor or proximity gesture sensor may overlap the light-emitting diodes. As gesture input is received, the lighting may toggle the states of the light-emitting element, turning on elements that are off and turning off elements that are on. The lighting may toggle the states of the elements based on gesture input such as gesture input along a strip of element or gesture input involving gestures that pass over a selected set of elements in a two-dimensional array. 
     In response to gesture input, fixed-location sets of elements and/or user-selected sets of light-emitted elements may be turned on and off, disjoint segments of light-emitting diodes may be joined, and the output of the light-emitting elements may otherwise be customized to satisfy users of the system. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a cross-sectional top view of an illustrative system in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  2    is a side view of illustrative lighting in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  3    is a side view of an illustrative proximity sensor for monitoring nearby objects in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIGS.  4 A,  4 B,  4 C,  5 A,  5 B,  5 C,  5 D,  6 A,  6 B,  7 ,  8 A, and  8 B  are diagrams of illustrative lighting adjustments that may be made to lighting in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  9    is a top view of an illustrative two-dimensional array of adjustable lighting elements in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A system may include lighting. During operation of the lighting, a user may provide user input such as gesture input to adjust the lighting. 
       FIG.  1    is a top view of an illustrative system with lighting. As shown in  FIG.  1   , system  10  may include structures  12  that separate exterior region  36  from interior region  34  within structures  12 . Lighting  40  may be used to supply illumination for the interior and/or exterior of system  10 . Illustrative configurations in which lighting  40  provides illumination for interior region  34  may sometimes be described herein as an example. 
     System  10  may be a building (e.g., interior region  34  may be a room or other space within a building) or may be a mobile system such as a vehicle (e.g., interior region  34  may be the interior of a passenger vehicle). In vehicles, structures  12  may form a vehicle body. Windows  16  may be formed at front F, rear R, and sides W, and/or on the roof of system  10 . The vehicle body and windows  16  may enclose interior region  34 . Seating  24  may be formed in interior region  34  to accommodate passengers. 
     Seating  24  may include forward-facing and/or rearward-facing seats (e.g., bench seats, buckets seats, etc.). These seats may be moved forwards and backwards (and, if desired, side to side) and/or may be rotated (e.g., to turn a forward-facing seat into a rearward-facing seat) for different usage scenarios (e.g., different numbers of passengers, passengers of different ages, etc.). To accommodate these different scenarios, lighting  40  may be adjustable. For example, one or more vehicle occupants (users) in system  10  may selectively adjust the light output from different portions of lighting  40 . In this way, users may be provided with adequate lighting, even when the seating positions and orientations of the users change. 
     Lighting  40  may include multiple lighting elements  42 . Lighting elements  42 , which may sometimes be referred to as light sources, may be light-emitting diodes, lamps, lasers, or other light sources (sometimes referred to as light-emitting devices). Lighting elements  42  may be arranged in a strip (sometimes referred to as a band or line) that extends in a continuous or segmented ring around the interior of system  10  as shown in  FIG.  2   , may be arranged in strips of other shapes, may be arranged in a two-dimensional array (e.g., an array having rows and columns of elements  42  that cover the roof of a vehicle), may be arranged to form solid shapes (e.g., concentric rings, parallel lines, random patterns, patterns forming text, icons, logos, solid shapes such as rectangles, circles, ovals and/or other shapes with curved and/or straight edges that are partly or completely filled with a two-dimensional array of elements  42 , etc.), may be arranged in vertical strips (e.g., strips running up the edges of doors), may be arranged in rings surrounding windows  16 , may run in a band around the roofline of the interior of a vehicle, and/or may be mounted in interior region  34  using other arrangements. Strip-shaped (band-shaped) arrays of lighting elements  42  may be straight (e.g., elements  42  may be mounted in a straight line) and/or may have one or more bends to accommodate bends in the interior surfaces of a vehicle body (e.g., elements  42  may be mounted in a line with straight and curved portions). Strip-shaped arrays of lighting elements  42  may, if desired, having wavy patterns. For example, a line of elements  42  may have a zig-zag pattern (e.g., a line with a series of regular angled bends), may have a curved shape that meanders smoothly back and forth along its length, or may have other shapes with one or more portions that are curved along its length. Elements  42  may be mounted on interior vehicle body surfaces (e.g., door panel surfaces, roof surfaces, floor surfaces, body panel surfaces, armrest surfaces, dashboard surfaces, table surfaces, seat surfaces, floor surfaces, and/or any other available areas on the body of a vehicle. Illustrative arrangements in which elements  42  are arranged in a straight line or a line with one or more bends are sometimes described herein as an example. 
     To make adjustments to lighting  40 , users of system  10  (e.g., vehicle occupants in a vehicle) may supply user input to input-output components in system  10 . As shown in  FIG.  1   , system  10  may include components  26 . Components  26  may include displays, speakers, buttons, sensors, actuators, and other components. Input-output components in components  26  may be used for gathering user input to adjust lighting  40  and other devices in system  10 . 
     Components  26  may include control circuitry. The control circuitry may include processing circuitry and storage and may be configured to perform operations in system  10  using hardware (e.g., dedicated hardware or circuitry), firmware and/or software. Software code for performing operations in system  10  and other data is stored on non-transitory computer readable storage media (e.g., tangible computer readable storage media) in the control circuitry. The control circuitry may be located in system  10  and may, if desired, operate in conjunction with remote control circuitry (e.g., control circuitry associated with remote computing equipment that communicates with system  10  over wired and/or wireless communications paths). The software code may sometimes be referred to as software, data, program instructions, computer instructions, instructions, or code. The non-transitory computer readable storage media may include non-volatile memory such as non-volatile random-access memory, one or more hard drives (e.g., magnetic drives or solid state drives), one or more removable flash drives or other removable media, or other storage. Software stored on the non-transitory computer readable storage media may be executed on the processing circuitry of components  26 . The processing circuitry may include application-specific integrated circuits with processing circuitry, one or more microprocessors, a central processing unit (CPU) or other processing circuitry. 
     Components  26  may include sensors and other input-output circuitry. The input-output circuitry may include, for example, displays, sensors, buttons, light-emitting diodes and other light-emitting devices, haptic devices, speakers, and/or other devices for gathering environmental measurements, information on vehicle operations, and/or user input. The sensors may include ambient light sensors, touch sensors, force sensors, proximity sensors, optical sensors such as cameras operating at visible, infrared, and/or ultraviolet wavelengths (e.g., fisheye cameras and/or other cameras), capacitive sensors (e.g., capacitive touch sensors, capacitive proximity sensors, capacitive force sensors, etc.), resistive sensors, ultrasonic sensors (e.g., ultrasonic distance sensors), microphones, three-dimensional and/or two-dimensional images sensors, radio-frequency sensors such as radar sensors, lidar (light detection and ranging) sensors, door open/close sensors, seat pressure sensors and other vehicle occupant sensors, window sensors, position sensors for monitoring location, orientation, and movement, speedometers, satellite positioning system sensors, gesture sensors, and/or other sensors. Output devices in components  26  may be used to provide users in a vehicle or other system with haptic output (e.g., force feedback, vibrations, etc.), audio output, visual output (e.g., displayed content, light, etc.), and/or other suitable output. 
       FIG.  2    is a side view of lighting  40  in an illustrative configuration in which a touch sensor is being used to gather user touch gesture input for user lighting adjustments. Other types of sensors (e.g., proximity sensors that gather proximity gesture input, force sensors, cameras, microphones, etc.) may be used to gather user input to make lighting adjustments, if desired. Gesture-based lighting adjustments are sometimes described herein as an example. 
     Lighting adjustments may include adjustments to increase and/or decrease light output, to change lighting color, to turn particular lighting elements in the lighting on and off, to set the output level from one or more lighting elements to intermediate levels (e.g., dimmed levels between fully on and off), to adjust the mode of operation of lighting elements (e.g., from steady continuous output to flashing output, etc.), and/or to make other changes to the color, intensity, timing, and/or other lighting element operating parameters. Illustrative configurations in which gesture input is used in controlling lighting elements by turning on and off selected lighting elements may sometimes be described herein as an example. 
     As shown in  FIG.  2   , lighting  40  may include multiple lighting elements  42  mounted on one or more substrates such as flexible printed circuit  50 . Elements  42  may emit light such as white light, non-white colored light (e.g., red, green, or blue light), may include white light of one or more different color temperatures (e.g., cool white light and/or warm white light), visible, infrared, and/or ultraviolet light, and/or other light. Elements  42  may be light-emitting diodes (e.g., organic light-emitting diodes or light-emitting diodes formed from crystalline semiconductor dies). Cover  66  may overlap elements  42  and may help protect elements  42 . If desired, cover  66  and/or one or more separate structures between cover  66  and elements  42  may include light-scattering structures such as light-scattering structures  67  of  FIG.  2    that form a light diffuser overlapping elements  42 . Light-scattering structures  67  may include embedded light-scattering particles in a polymer matrix, surface texture, and/or other features configured to diffuse light emitted from elements  42 . If desired, a light diffuser film may be attached to the inner surface of cover  66 . 
     To gather user input, lighting  40  may include gesture sensor  52 . Sensor  52  may overlap elements  42 , so that user gesture input associated with particular elements  42  or sets of elements  42  can be gathered or, if desired, sensor  52  may be formed on one or more separate substrates so that sensor  52  does not overlap elements  42 . In arrangements in which sensor  52  does not overlap elements  42 , sensor  52  may be located adjacent to elements  42  and may be oriented to run parallel or nearly parallel to elements  52  or may be located at other locations in vehicle  10  that are accessible to a user. As an example, sensor  52  may be arranged to run vertically up the side of a door panel, whereas elements  42  are arranged to run horizontally in a ring around the outer edge of the inner roof surface of the vehicle. In an arrangement in which elements  42  are arranged in a zig-zag line, sensor  52  may run in a straight line that is parallel to the overall direction of the zig-zag line but which does not itself zig zag back and forth or elements  42  may overlap the zig-zag line of elements  42  so that both sensor  52  and elements  42  are in a zig-zag pattern. As yet another example, sensor  52  may be located on an armrest, table, seat back, dashboard, and/or other location which may or may not be adjacent to elements  42  or which may not overlap elements  42 . In arrangements in which sensor  52  overlaps or nearly overlaps elements  42  and in which sensor  52  runs along elements  42  parallel to elements  42 , sensor  52  may be used to intuitively directly to control which elements  42  are turned on and off, so this type of overlapping lighting element and sensor arrangement may sometimes be described herein as an example. This arrangement is, however, merely illustrative. Sensor  52  and elements  42  may also be used in configurations in which sensor  52  and elements  42  have different shapes and/or shapes and/or locations that only sometime overlap or that never overlap. 
     Sensor  52  may be a touch sensor that gathers touch sensor gestures (sometimes referred to as touch gestures), may be a proximity sensor that gathers proximity sensor gestures (sometimes referred to as proximity gestures, air gestures, non-contact gestures, etc.), or may be any other suitable sensor (e.g., a button sensor, a force sensor, etc.). Examples of sensor components that may be included in sensor  52  include capacitive sensing components, optical sensing components, and/or other sensor components (force sensors, cameras, switches, etc.). 
     In an illustrative configuration, sensor  52  may be a capacitive touch sensor having a plurality of capacitive electrodes (e.g., electrodes such as illustrative electrodes  54  and  56 ). The capacitive electrodes may be configured to sense touch input over most or all of the exposed surface area of lighting  40  (e.g., most or all of the outer surface of cover  66  overlapping elements  42  may be sensitive to touch by virtue of capacitive sensor electrodes in sensor  52  that are overlapped by cover  66 ). Capacitive sensor electrodes may be formed from transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide so that light from elements  42  may pass through the electrodes or capacitive sensor electrodes may be formed from opaque metal traces with openings aligned with elements  42  that permit light to be emitted outwardly from diodes  42 . Sensor electrodes may be formed from conductive material on printed circuit  50 , may be formed from conductive material on cover  66  (e.g., on the inner surface of cover  66 ), and/or may be formed from conductive material on a separate substrate (e.g., a clear polymer film between substrate  50  and cover  66 ). 
     Light-emitting elements  42  may be arranged in a straight line (e.g., elements  42  may form an elongated strip extending from left to right in the page of  FIG.  2   ), may be arranged in a line (strip) with one or more bends, or may be arranged in other patterns (e.g., two-dimensional arrays, rings, etc.). Illustrative configurations in which lighting  40  is formed from a strip of light-emitting elements may sometimes be described herein as an example. Such strips of elements may have lengths of at least 0.1 m, at least 0.5 m, at least 1 m, at least 2 m, at least 4 m, less than 10 m, and/or other suitable lengths. 
     As shown in  FIG.  2   , a user may use a body part such as a finger, thumb, hand, etc. in region  60  to supply lighting  40  with touch gesture input. This input may be used in adjusting the light output levels of element  42  (e.g., by dimming selected elements  42 , by turning on selected elements  42 , and/or by turning off selected elements  42 ). The user may, in general, provide gesture input in the form of taps (e.g., single taps and/or double taps), drag gestures (e.g., slow swipes over particular portions of lighting  40 , sometimes referred to as tap and drag gestures), flic gestures (e.g., rapid swipes that typically occur in fractions of a second), holds (e.g., a touch event where contact with lighting  40  is maintained for a predetermined amount of time such at least two seconds or other suitable hold time), other gestures, and/or combinations of these gestures. In the example of  FIG.  2   , a user body part in region  60  is touching location  68  of lighting  40  (e.g., a location on the surface of cover  66  that overlaps a light-emitting element  42  at corresponding location  70 ). If desired, the user body part in region  60  may be moved to the right in direction  62  along the surface of cover  66  and/or may be moved to the left in direction  64  along the surface of cover  66 . Gesture input may be used to make changes to the operation of only those elements  42  that are overlapped by the body part in region  60  during the touch input and/or may be used to make changes to the operation of additional elements  42 . As an example, a tap at location  68  may be used to toggle the state of only that element  42  at location  70  (e.g., to turn that element on if it was off or vice versa) or a tap at location  68  may be used to turn on or off a larger set of elements  42 . 
     If desired, a proximity sensor such as infrared proximity sensor  70  of  FIG.  3    may be incorporated into system  10 . Infrared proximity sensor  70  may have components such as light sources  74  and  76  and photodetector (light sensor)  78  mounted on printed circuit  72 . Light sources  74  and  76  may be infrared light-emitting diodes or other light-emitting devices. During operation, light sources  74  and  76  may emit infrared light in alternation. Light reflection measurements from external objects may be detected by photodetector  78  and the intensities of such measurements can be used in ascertaining the location and movement of external objects (e.g., the hands or other body parts of users). As an example, light source  74  may emit light  82  which reflects from object  80  and is detected by photodetector  78 . Then light source  76  may emit light  84  which also reflects from object  80  and is detected by photodetector  78 . Because reflected light  82  is stronger than reflected light  84 , sensor  70  can determine that object  80  is located nearer to light source  74  than light source  76 . Time-based measurements may also be made to determine the direction and speed of motion of object  80 . If, as an example, object  80  is in position  86 , the reflected light signal will be weaker than when object  80  is closer to sensor  70 . When the object is moving towards sensor  70  (e.g., in direction  88 ), the reflected signal will therefore increase in intensity over time. 
     In system  10 , sensor  70  may be positioned between first and second users (e.g., the components of sensor  70  may be incorporated into lighting  40  and/or may be mounted adjacent to lighting  40 ). If the first user reaches for lighting  40  or other component in system  10 , the first user&#39;s hand will travel towards sensor  90  from the seating position of the first user (and not from the seating position of the second user). In this way, sensor  70  can determine the identity of the user that is providing input to lighting  40  and can adjust lighting  40  (or other component being adjusted by the user) in a way that is satisfactory for that user. For example, if the first user provides a gesture to lighting  40  to turn elements  42  on, information on the identity of the gesturing user that is gathered with sensor  70  may be used by lighting  40  so that only those elements  42  that are adjacent to the seating position of the first user may be turned on and not those elements  42  that are adjacent to the seating position of the second user. 
       FIGS.  4 A,  4 B,  4 C,  5 A,  5 B,  5 C,  5 D,  6 A,  6 B,  7 ,  8 A,  8 B, and  9    are diagrams showing illustrative lighting adjustments that may be made to lighting  40 . There are 10 elements  42  in lighting  40  in examples of  FIGS.  4 A,  4 B,  4 C,  5 A,  5 B,  5 C,  5 D,  6 A,  6 B,  7 ,  8 A, and  8 B . More elements (e.g., tens, hundreds, or thousands), or fewer elements may be used, if desired. 
     In the example of  FIGS.  4 A,  4 B, and  4 C , elements  40  are initially all off, as shown in  FIG.  4 A . A user may supply gesture input in the form of a drag gesture such as drag gesture  94  of  FIG.  4 B . Initially, the user may touch location  92  then may drag to the right (e.g., the user may move the user&#39;s finger or other body part providing user gesture input to the right without lifting that finger or other body part off of lighting  40 ). In the example of  FIG.  4 B , the drag gesture ends at location  96 , at which point the finger or other body part is removed from lighting  40 . As a result of the drag gesture, some of elements  42  (elements  90  of  FIG.  4 B ) may be turned on while other elements  42  remain off. 
     When the user desires to turn off some or all of elements  42 , the user may supply additional input. As an example, the user may supply lighting  40  with another drag gesture as shown by gesture  108  in  FIG.  4 C . In this example, the user touches lighting  40  at location  106  and drags to the right to location  110 . Those elements  42  that were on in  FIG.  4 B  (e.g., elements  90  of  FIG.  4 B ) and that are now encompassed within the length of drag gesture  108  of  FIG.  4 C  (e.g., elements  102  of  FIG.  4 C ) may be toggled by turning them from on to off. Those elements  42  that were off in  FIG.  4 B  and that are now encompassed within drag gesture  108  of  FIG.  4 C  may remain off (e.g., element  104  of  FIG.  4 C  may stay off rather than having its state toggled). 
     Another illustrative arrangement for controlling elements  42  using gestures is shown in  FIGS.  5 A,  5 B,  5 C, and  5 D . As shown in  FIG.  5 A , elements  42  of lighting  40  may initially all be off. A user may turn on a first set of one or more elements  42  such as elements  120  of  FIG.  5 B  using first drag gesture  124  and may turn on a second set of one or more elements  42  such as elements  122  using second drag gesture  126 . The first and second sets of elements may, as shown in  FIG.  5 B , be separated by one or more elements  42  that are turned off, thereby creating two disjoint segments of illuminated elements  42 . If desired, a user may turn off a segment of elements that is illuminated with a tap. For example, the user may supply touch input  128  to lighting  40  at a location within elements  120  to direct lighting  40  to turn off elements  120 . 
     If it is desired to join separate illuminated lighting segments, the user may supply a drag gesture that bridges the separate segments. The user may, for example, start a drag gesture on one of the elements in a first illuminated segment and may stop the drag gesture on one of the elements in the second illuminated segment. This turns on any intervening unilluminated elements  42 . As shown in  FIG.  5 C , for example, drag gesture  130  originates in a first illuminated lighting segment formed from elements  120  and terminates in a second illuminating lighting segment formed from elements  122 . Gesture  130  passes over element  132 , turning this element from off to on so that element  132  effectively joins the first and second disjoint lighting segments to form a single illuminated segment of elements  42  (see, e.g., illuminated segment  134  of  FIG.  5 C ). 
     As shown in  FIG.  5 D , once segment  134  has been formed, a user may turn off all of the elements in segment  134  by tapping on lighting  40  at a position within segment  134 . For example, the user may supply a tap gesture (e.g., touch input  136  of  FIG.  5 D ) to turn off the illuminated elements in segment  134 . 
     In the example of  FIGS.  6 A and  6 B , a user has initially turned on some of elements  42  using drag gesture  150 . The elements  42  that are turned on in this way form illuminated lighting segment  152 . Elements  42  that are present in lighting  40  to the right and left of segment  152  are off. When the user desires to turn the illuminated elements  42  of segment  152  off, the user may supply lighting  40  with a touch and hold gesture at a location within segment  52 . In  FIG.  6 B , touch and hold gesture  154  may be used to turn off the illuminated elements  42  of segment  152 . The touch and hold gestures of system  10  may use any suitable hold time threshold. As one example, a hold time of two seconds may be used, so that touch and hold operations that persist for less than two seconds are not effective, whereas touch and hold gestures that involve persistent touch input for longer than two seconds are effective. Other hold time thresholds may be used, if desired. 
     An illustrative arrangement for controlling lighting  40  that has fixed segments of elements  42  (sometimes referred to as fixed-location segments) is shown in  FIG.  7   . In the example of  FIG.  7   , lighting  40  is divided along its length into predetermined segments of elements  42 . These segments of elements  42  may be hardwired or otherwise established at known locations (e.g., known fixed locations) and may not be customizable in length or location using gesture input. Gesture input such as double-tap input may be used in turning on or off each fixed-length segment. For example, in a scenario in which all elements  42  in a given segment are on, a double tap at a location within that segment will turn all of those elements  42  off and when all of the elements  42  in a given segment are off, a double tap within the segment will turn all of those elements  42  on. In the example of  FIG.  7   , lighting  40  contains segments  160  and  162  each of which contains five elements  42 . When, as an example, segment  160  is illuminated, a user may supply gesture input such as double tap gesture  164  (double tap input formed from two touches at a location within segment  160  in rapid succession such as within 0.5 seconds of each other). In response to double tap gesture  164 , lighting  40  may turn off each of the elements  42  in segment  160  without affecting the lighting state of elements  42  in segment  162 . 
     In the example of  FIGS.  8 A and  8 B , lighting  40  contains elements  42  that operate as a coordinated set. All of elements  42  of lighting  40  of  FIG.  8 A  may operate in concert (e.g., there may be no subsets of elements  42  that can be turned on or off independent of each other) or elements  42  of  FIG.  8 A  may correspond to a fixed-length subsegment of elements that operate in concert within a larger lighting element. As shown in  FIGS.  8 A and  8 B , flic (rapid swipe) gestures made at any location within lighting  40  (or within a segment of lighting  40 ) may be used to turn on or off all of the elements  42  within lighting  40  (or within that segment of lighting  40 ). A flic gesture may be formed from a rapid touch motion along the surface of lighting  40  (e.g., along the length of lighting  40 ). Flic gesture  170  of  FIG.  8 A  is a right flic and flic gesture  172  of  FIG.  8 B  is a left flic. These gestures may be used to toggle the states of elements  42 . As shown in  FIG.  8 A , for example, in response to flic  170  across a portion of lighting  42 , all of elements  42  (including those not overlapped by the swipe gesture) may be turned on. As shown in  FIG.  8 B , all of elements  42  that were turned on in  FIG.  8 A  may be turned off in concert in response to left flic  172  of  FIG.  8 B . 
       FIG.  9    shows how user gesture input may be used in turning on and off elements  42  in an arrangement in which lighting  40  has a two-dimensional array of elements  42  overlapped by a gesture sensor. As shown in  FIG.  9   , lighting  40  may contain an array of elements  42  containing rows and columns of elements  42 . Other two-dimensional patterns of elements  42  may be used, if desired. Elements  42  may be located on an interior roof surface of system  10 , on the sides of system  10 , and/or on other suitable structures in system  10  (e.g., interior surfaces of a vehicle body, etc.). 
     Sensor  52  may overlap the two-dimensional array of elements  42 . For example, sensor  52  may have one or more capacitive touch sensor electrodes overlapping each of elements  42  to detect when a gesture passes over those elements  42 . As shown in  FIG.  9   , the state of each of elements  42  may be toggled in response to user input. As an example, a user may supply lighting  40  of  FIG.  9    with a drag gesture such as gesture  188  that passes over a set of elements  42  (e.g., elements  180 ,  182 , and  184 , but not element  186  in the  FIG.  9    example), thereby selecting those elements for adjustment. In response to this element selection operation, the states of selected elements may be toggled. For example, in a scenario in which elements  180 ,  182   186 , and  184  are all initially off, selection of elements  180 ,  182 , and  184  with a gesture that passes over each of these elements causes the states of elements  180 ,  182 , and  184  to toggle from off to on. In a scenario in which elements  42  are initially on, selection of particular elements  42  using a gesture may cause those elements to turn off. In this way, a user may use gesture input to turn on and off any selected groups of one or more elements  42  within lighting  40 . As this example demonstrates, the gestures gathered by touch sensor  52  need not be linear (straight-line) gestures, but rather may include gestures that follow non-straight (curved) paths. These curved paths may include paths such as the illustrative swooping curved path of  FIG.  9   , or may include gesture paths that have the shape of shallow arcs, circles, zig-zag shapes or other meandering path shapes, shapes that include straight and/or curved portions, etc. Curved gestures may be used to control elements  42  that are arranged in a two-dimensional pattern and/or elements  42  that extend along a straight line or a line with one or more curved portions. The gestures may follow the same path as the path defined by elements  42  or elements  42  and the gestures may follow different paths. For example, when elements  42  are arranged in a straight line, gestures may follow a corresponding straight line. When, as another example, elements  42  are arranged in a zig-zag line that travels along a particular zig-zag path, gestures may follow a path associated with the general direction in which the zig-zag path extends (e.g., a horizontal path that does not zig zag). This horizontal gesture path may be straight and therefore may not directly overlap the zig-zag path of elements  42 , although both the zig-zag line of elements  42  and the gesture path extend along a horizontal dimension in this example). 
     If desired, sensor  52  may be a proximity sensor that overlaps elements  42  and the gestures used in controlling lighting  40  may include proximity gestures (sometimes referred to as air gestures) in addition to or instead of touch gestures. These proximity gestures may include proximity-based taps, holds, drags, flics, etc. In this type of configuration, elements  42  of lighting  40  may be overlapped by a capacitive proximity sensor or optical proximity sensor that is configured to gather proximity gesture input in addition to or instead of being overlapped by a touch sensor that is configured to gather touch gesture input. Proximity gestures may be measured using proximity sensors devices in or adjacent to lighting  40  (e.g., a capacitive proximity sensor in lighting  40  that is formed from capacitive sensor electrodes such as electrodes  54  and  56  of  FIG.  2    that overlap elements  42 , an optical proximity sensor that overlaps elements  42  such as an optical proximity sensor formed from infrared light-emitting diodes and infrared photodetectors mounted on substrate  50  of  FIG.  2    between elements  42  so that infrared light reflections from user hands, fingers, or other body parts can be detected to gather body part proximity gesture input, a proximity sensor such as a camera with coverage overlapping elements  42  so that proximity gesture input over elements  42  can be gathered, etc.). 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20230608
Publication Date: 20240723
Grant Date: 20240723
Priority Date: 20220726
Inventors: SEWELL, JEFFREY A
BEHZADI, ARIAN
MAZUIR, Clarisse
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G06F3/04883", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B60Q3/74", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B60Q3/80", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B60Q3/82", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21V23/0485", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B60Q3/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/044", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/044", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B60Q3/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21Y2115/10", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/04883", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21V23/0485", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21Y2115/10", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/04883", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/044", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "B60Q3/00", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "F21V23/0485", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 91953626