FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

Not Applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING

Not Applicable

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A hand tracker, and display, are used for a user, to use hand gesture, to input, and operate a computer.

BACKGROUND OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Avoiding Bacteria on Touch Input Buttons

Many people don't like to touch input buttons, that may have harmful bacteria on them, such as, public input control panels for devices. Control panel input buttons, which are touched by multiple users, have the problem of accumulating bacteria, or viruses on their surfaces. The bacteria are transferred from the user's fingers to the buttons. The bacteria on the buttons, may be transferred to the user's fingers, when they touch the buttons.

Fast food self-serve order kiosks, self-serve displayed food menu, use touch by users on a touch screen display to order food. The display may accumulate bacteria. It may be a bad time to touch bacteria on the display, due to the users handling food, and eating the handled, after touching the display.

Avoiding finger contact with a touch input button, reduces the contact, and transmission, of possibly harmful pathogens on the button. Reducing or eliminating bacterial transmission, from the buttons to the user, reduces the possibility of the user becoming ill, from bacteria transmitted to the user.

Avoiding Bacteria by Using a Smart Phone

A smart phone can be used to operate devices such as, a smart toilet, or vending machine. The phone frees a user, from needing to touch input buttons, used by multiple users. A drawback is the user needs to carry the phone, hold the phone, and if the battery is low it may not function.

Augmented Reality Glasses Used to Operate a Device

Smart glasses use visual information, displayed on the glass's lenses, and viewable by the user. The glasses can use voice recognition, or eye gaze to operate a video camera that's part of the glasses. The voice recognition allows the user to operate the camera, without needing to touch input buttons. The glasses aren't used to operate devices remotely. The glasses need to be worn by the user.

A Proximity Sensor Used to Detect a User's Hand in Mid-Air

Infrared hand sensors are used to operate devices in bathrooms, without touching a surface, such as, water faucets of sinks, toilet flushers, and hand dryers. In Hospitals motion sensing is used to open doors, without a user needing to touch a surface. The sensors have limited input commands, such as, on or off, which restricts the number of different inputs that can be used.

Midair Holographic Input Buttons Used to Operate Devices

Midair holographic input buttons, can be touched in mid-air, and used as input buttons for a device. The buttons can be made by devices, that project on to mid-air water droplets, optical illusion devices, and lasers beam projecting plasma in mid-air. A camera detects when the user touches the button, with their finger. Since there aren't bacteria in mid-air, the finger avoids contacting bacteria when touching the buttons. The display may need a water supply,

Ineffective Ways to Avoid Bacteria

Some people try to wrap paper around their hand, before touching control panel buttons, to try to put an antibacterial barrier between their hand and the buttons. The paper barrier is ineffective, since bacteria can easily travel through paper.

People may try to use a piece of clothing, such as, a part of a shirt sleeve as a barrier between the buttons, and the hand. The shirt sleeve may act as a barrier; thought bacteria can attach to the shirt sleeve.

Disposable rubber gloves may be effective, in sanitarily using the physical buttons, though it may be inconvenient to carry, and use gloves. Antibacterial swipes can be used to eliminate bacteria on buttons, though the discarded wipes produce waste.

Disadvantages

Many of the devices used to avoid touching input buttons, used to operate a device, heretofore known suffer from several disadvantages:

a) Bacteria and viruses can be transmitted to users, who touch control panel buttons on multiuser touch screens.

b) A user may inadvertently touch a device, having bacteria on it, while mid-air inputting near the device. It may be the difficult to judge a finger's distance, from an input device while mid-air touch inputting, which may lead to the finger inadvertently touching the device.

c) A static electric discharge may be created as a user touches, an input screen, or input button, which maybe be hazardous in flammable environments.

d) Augmented reality headsets aren't configured to operate, many devices wirelessly, at a distance. The headset needs to be worn by the user.

An improved input device, such as, a hand tracker, which allows a user to operate a device, with hand gesture, touch freely, is needed.

SUMMARY

Cursor Following Finger

A is cursor is displayed with input icons on a display. The cursor follows one of the user's fingers as they move in midair. The finger moves the cursor to contact an icon that the user wants to activate. A putting of thumb and index finger together is a gesture that is used to left click, and activate, the icon, contacted by the cursor. A finger radar in the display detects the finger gesture in front of the display.

The cursor is perpendicular on the display, or at angle to the finger position in midair. The camera is part of the display. The camera is positioned to view the user's fingers when they're in front of the display. The display is connected to the computer. The camera is connected to a computer. The computer has hand gesture recognition software. The computer is connected to a device to be operated. The display is connected to the computer. The devices control panel is displayed on the display, such as, a smart toilet control panel is shown on the display.

The user gestures, in mid-air at a graphic interface, input icons, on the display. The graphic interface displays the device's input functions, with input icons. The gesture is directed at an icon, that is desired to be activated, such as, an on or off button.

Activating the on button, activates an on function of a device. Devices may include a self-driving car, or an elevator. The computer has a software that operates the hand tracker and can operate, the device.

Touch input devices, that are used by many users, may accumulate harmful bacteria, from users touching the physical input buttons. The bacteria may spread, to the users touching the buttons. Examples of multi-user devices include, a smart toilet, an elevator, and automatic teller machine.

Users avoid contact with bacteria, while operating a device, by using hand gestures in midair, to input into the device. The input operates the device.

Advantages of Operating a Device with Touch Free Hand Gesture

The user can operate a public multiuser machine, without contacting bacteria which may be on touch input buttons.

Advantages

There are benefits to a user by using, a hand tracking display, with a user interface, to operate a device.

a) A user can avoid, contact with bacteria, and viruses on physical input buttons, by replacing the input buttons with, bacteria free, gesture input buttons.

b) The hand tracking display can be configured to operate many devices; different devices operating control panels can be displayed.

c) The user may enjoy the visually attractive input icons, visual colors, shapes, movement, and images of the input buttons. The input buttons visual colors, and shapes can be changed by the user.

d) A hand tracking operation of devices, can be used in bacterial environments. This may reduce the spread of anti-biotic resistant super bacteria, when used to operate hospital devices, such as, hospital elevators, or restaurant user self-serve kiosks that's users use, to order menu food items from.

e) A hand tracking display operation may be used in flammable environments to avoid static electric discharges, which may ignite flammable material.

f) Hand tracking may reduce dust produced by typing on keyboards, which may be useful in dust free environments, such as, in semiconductor production areas.

g) Users may be less stressed knowing, using hand gestures in midair to order food at food order displays, that they're not touching other people's bacteria on physical restaurant display order kiosk's.

There is a desire, to provide an improved hand tracking display, having a user interface. The improvement to the hand tracking display, is the connection of the display, to operate different devices. The improvement allows a user to operate different devices, with the hand tracking display advantageously. The hand tracking display is improved, by the addition, of the ability to operate a device, with cursor finger following and hand gestures in midair.

Using a hand tracking display to operate different devices, brings the future, of sanitary, fun, device input diversity, and safe user hand input, to the present now.

Still further benefits of hand gesture, used to operate different devices, will become apparent from a study of the following description, accompanying drawings, and claims.

