Gesture Detection

Abstract

Methods, systems, and products sense contactless gestures. A capacitive sensor measures capacitance during performance of a gesture. The capacitive sensor generates an output signal that is compared to a database. The database stores different output signals that are associated to different commands. The corresponding command is executed in response to the performance of the gesture.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 receiving, by a gesture detector, first volumetric data comprising a first plurality of output signals generated by a three-dimensional curvilinear capacitive sensor during a first performance of a contactless gesture;   sampling, by a processing system comprising a processor, the first plurality of output signals according to a sampling rate, resulting in a first plurality of discrete data points;   storing, by the processing system, the first plurality of discrete data points in a database;   displaying, by the processing system, a menu, the menu listing a plurality of different commands;   receiving, by the processing system, via the menu, a selection of a first command of the plurality of different commands;   based on the receiving of the selection, associating, by the processing system, the first command to the contactless gesture;   receiving, by the gesture detector, second volumetric data comprising a second plurality of output signals generated by the three-dimensional curvilinear capacitive sensor during a second performance of the contactless gesture;   sampling, by the processing system, the second plurality of output signals according to the sampling rate, resulting in a second plurality of discrete data points;   comparing, by the processing system, the second plurality of discrete data points to the first plurality of discrete data points stored in the database to identify the first command of the plurality of different commands in connection with the second performance; and   based on the comparing, executing, by the processing system, the first command of the plurality of different commands.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the gesture detector is integrated with the processing system. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the first performance of the contactless gesture is with a user's hand; and   the second performance of the contactless gesture is with the user's hand.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the three-dimensional curvilinear capacitive sensor comprises a plurality of curvilinearly arranged plates; and   the plurality of curvilinearly arranged plates are disposed upon a surface of a substrate and are located between the substrate and the user's hand.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the three-dimensional curvilinear capacitive sensor comprises a plurality of curvilinearly arranged plates for generating an electric field by the curvilinearly arranged plates. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein adjacent ones of the plurality of the curvilinearly arranged plates have a different orientation as to each other. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the different orientation between the adjacent ones of the plurality of the curvilinearly arranged plates includes at least a height difference. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein each curvilinearly arranged plate produces one particular output signal of the first plurality of output signals. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein each output signal of the first plurality of output signals is different from one another. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the processing system is in a vehicle. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the processing system is one of an appliance, an audio-video component, an electronic device, an on-board diagnostic system, and an HVAC system. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising sending the first command over a communications connection shared by the gesture detector and the processing system. 
     
     
         13 . A device comprising:
 a processor; and   memory storing instructions that when executed cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
 receiving first volumetric data comprising a first plurality of output signals generated by a three-dimensional curvilinear capacitive sensor during a first performance of a contactless gesture; 
 sampling the first plurality of output signals, resulting in a first plurality of discrete data points; 
 storing the first plurality of discrete data points in a database; 
 processing a menu for display, the menu listing a plurality of different commands; 
 receiving, via the menu, a selection of a first command of the plurality of different commands; 
 associating, based on the receiving of the selection, the first command to the contactless gesture; 
 receiving second volumetric data comprising a second plurality of output signals generated by the three-dimensional curvilinear capacitive sensor during a second performance of the contactless gesture; 
 sampling the second plurality of output signals, resulting in a second plurality of discrete data points; 
 comparing the second plurality of discrete data points to the first plurality of discrete data points stored in the database to identify the first command of the plurality of different commands in connection with the second performance; and 
 facilitating execution, based on the comparing, of the first command. 
   
     
     
         14 . The device of  claim 13 , wherein the device comprises a gesture detector. 
     
     
         15 . The device of  claim 14 , wherein the facilitating the execution of the first command comprises facilitating execution of the first command on a processing system. 
     
     
         16 . The device of  claim 15 , wherein the gesture detector is integrated with the processing system. 
     
     
         17 . The device of  claim 15 , further comprising a shared communications connection between the gesture detector and the processing system for sending the first command for execution by the processing system. 
     
     
         18 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer program instructions for gesture detection, the computer program instructions, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 receiving first volumetric data comprising a first plurality of output signals generated by a three-dimensional curvilinear capacitive sensor during a first performance of a contactless gesture;   sampling the first plurality of output signals according to a sampling rate, resulting in a first plurality of data points;   processing a menu for display, the menu listing a plurality of different commands;   receiving, via the menu, a selection of a first command of the plurality of different commands;   associating, based on the receiving of the selection, the first command to the contactless gesture;   receiving, second volumetric data comprising a second plurality of output signals generated by the three-dimensional curvilinear capacitive sensor during a second performance of the contactless gesture;   sampling the second plurality of output signals according to the sampling rate, resulting in a second plurality of data points;   comparing the second plurality of data points to the first plurality of data points to identify the first command of the plurality of different commands in connection with the second performance; and   facilitating execution, based on the comparing, of the first command of the plurality of different commands.   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the first command is executed by a processing system. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the processor is part of a gesture detector;   the first command is executed by a processing system;   the operations further comprise sending the first command over a communications connection shared by the processor and the processing system, for execution by the processing system;   the second performance is approximately one second in duration; and   the sampling rate is approximately two-tenths of a second.