Pinch and Pull Gesture Detection in Artificial Reality Systems
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current artificial reality systems lack intuitive and reliable methods for users to interact with graphical user interface elements within virtual environments, often failing to provide tactile feedback and requiring complex hand movements that are difficult to track accurately.
Innovation Solution
The system generates and renders graphical user interface elements in response to pre-defined gestures, such as a pinch and pull motion with the fingers or stylus, providing tactile feedback and allowing single-handed interactions that are easy to recognize and track, even in the presence of occlusions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If complex hand movements are used for interaction, then more functions can be accessed, but tracking accuracy decreases and operation becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the interaction paradigm by changing the physical parameters of gestures from complex multi-finger movements to simple single-finger or stylus movements. This parameter change maintains versatility through software-based interaction modes while improving tracking accuracy by reducing the complexity of physical gesture recognition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical hand gesture tracking with a simplified system that uses stylus input or basic finger movements combined with haptic feedback. This substitution maintains functional versatility through software while significantly improving measurement precision by reducing reliance on complex mechanical gesture recognition.
2Ease of operation
If tactile feedback is added to virtual interactions, then user experience improves, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The haptic feedback system provides tactile information that serves multiple functions simultaneously: it confirms gesture recognition, provides directional guidance, and delivers interaction feedback. This self-service approach improves ease of operation while minimizing additional system complexity by making the feedback system multi-functional.
Solution Approach 2:
The haptic feedback mechanism serves multiple purposes: providing tactile confirmation of gestures, guiding user movements, indicating system state, and enhancing overall interaction quality. This multi-functionality approach improves user experience without proportionally increasing system complexity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If single-handed gestures are used, then accessibility improves, but gesture recognition reliability decreases due to occlusions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary tracking approach that uses multiple sensing modalities (optical tracking, inertial sensors, and haptic feedback) to reliably detect single-handed gestures even when visually occluded. This intermediary system maintains accessibility while improving recognition reliability through redundant sensing channels.
Data Source
AI summary
An artificial reality system is described that renders, presents, and controls user interface elements within an artificial reality environment, and performs actions in response to one or more detected gestures of the user. In one example, an artificial reality system comprises an image capture device configured to capture image data representative of a physical environment; a head-mounted display (HMD) configured to output artificial reality content; a gesture detector configured to identify, from the image data, a gesture comprising a motion of two fingers from a hand to form a pinching configuration and a subsequent pulling motion while in the pinching configuration; a user interface (UI) engine configured to generate a UI input element in response to identifying the gesture; and a rendering engine configured to render the UI input element as an overlay to at least some of the artificial reality content.