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| 20090027334 | METHOD FOR CONTROLLING A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR TOUCHSCREEN-ENABLED COMPUTER SYSTEMS - A method for controlling a graphical user interface (GUI) for a touchscreen-enabled computer systems provides a variety of software methods (tools) provide for high-fidelity control of the user interface. The TrackScreen tool provides finger-friendly mouse functions such as scrolling, dragging and clicking. The Magnifier application continuously captures the current screen image, and displays a magnified subset of it. Selecting within this magnified area with a pointing device (mouse, touchscreen, digitizer, etc) causes the application to simulate the action on the portion of the screen corresponding to the point in the magnified image that was selected. A KeyBoard application, a keyboard is rendered on screen, with sufficient size that the individual keys are easily selectable with an unaided finger. The Common Tasks Tool or CTT) allows common keyboard shortcuts, mouse events, and other user interface events to be specified in a configuration file and represented on screen as a large, easy-to-click button. The Touchscreen Task Switcher is invoked using any interface (software or hardware) element, and visually takes up the entire screen. The Touchscreen Snapshot utility ties in with an external camera with a physical button on it. The Window Template Manager (WTM), is used to specify, and then instantiate, the position and sizes of multiple windows for use with a touchscreen display. The Touch Portal is a full-screen application with a set of customizable buttons representing applications and other tools. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20090074248 | GESTURE-CONTROLLED INTERFACES FOR SELF-SERVICE MACHINES AND OTHER APPLICATIONS - A gesture recognition interface for use in controlling self-service machines and other devices is disclosed. A gesture is defined as motions and kinematic poses generated by humans, animals, or machines. Specific body features are tracked, and static and motion gestures are interpreted. Motion gestures are defined as a family of parametrically delimited oscillatory motions, modeled as a linear-in-parameters dynamic system with added geometric constraints to allow for real-time recognition using a small amount of memory and processing time. A linear least squares method is preferably used to determine the parameters which represent each gesture. Feature position measure is used in conjunction with a bank of predictor bins seeded with the gesture parameters, and the system determines which bin best fits the observed motion. Recognizing static pose gestures is preferably performed by localizing the body/object from the rest of the image, describing that object, and identifying that description. The disclosure details methods for gesture recognition, as well as the overall architecture for using gesture recognition to control of devices, including self-service machines. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20090116692 | REALTIME OBJECT TRACKING SYSTEM - A real-time computer vision system tracks one or more objects moving in a scene using a target location technique which does not involve searching. The imaging hardware includes a color camera, frame grabber and processor. The software consists of the low-level image grabbing software and a tracking algorithm. The system tracks objects based on the color, motion and/or shape of the object in the image. A color matching function is used to compute three measures of the target's probable location based on the target color, shape and motion. The method then computes the most probable location of the target using a weighting technique. Once the system is running, a graphical user interface displays the live image from the color camera on the computer screen. The operator can then use the mouse to select a target for tracking. The system will then keep track of the moving target in the scene in real-time. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20090274339 | Behavior recognition system - A system for recognizing various human and creature motion gaits and behaviors is presented. These behaviors are defined as combinations of “gestures” identified on various parts of a body in motion. For example, the leg gestures generated when a person runs are different than when a person walks. The system described here can identify such differences and categorize these behaviors. Gestures, as previously defined, are motions generated by humans, animals, or machines. Multiple gestures on a body (or bodies) are recognized simultaneously and used in determining behaviors. If multiple bodies are tracked by the system, then overall formations and behaviors (such as military goals) can be determined. | 11-05-2009 |
| 20110102419 | ORIENTATION INVARIANT OBJECT IDENTIFICATION USING MODEL-BASED IMAGE PROCESSING - A system for performing object identification combines pose determination, EO/IR sensor data, and novel computer graphics rendering techniques. A first module extracts the orientation and distance of a target in a truth chip given that the target type is known. A second is a module identifies the vehicle within a truth chip given the known distance and elevation angle from camera to target. Image matching is based on synthetic image and truth chip image comparison, where the synthetic image is rotated and moved through a 3-Dimensional space. To limit the search space, it is assumed that the object is positioned on relatively flat ground and that the camera roll angle stays near zero. This leaves three dimensions of motion (distance, heading, and pitch angle) to define the space in which the synthetic target is moved. A graphical user interface (GUI) front end allows the user to manually adjust the orientation of the target within the synthetic images. The system also includes the generation of shadows and allows the user to manipulate the sun angle to approximate the lighting conditions of the test range in the provided video. | 05-05-2011 |
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| 20080266293 | METHOD FOR CONVERTING POLYGONAL SURFACES TO LEVELSETS - A method for use in computer graphics includes receiving data defining an explicit surface representation of three-dimensional (3D) geometry and casting a ray into the explicit surface representation. For each point where the ray intersects the explicit surface, a direction of the ray is compared to a direction of a surface normal of the explicit surface at that point, and then a count is incremented or decremented based on a first rule that uses a result of the comparison at that point. Then, for one or more voxels corresponding to the ray, data is generated for each voxel that indicates the voxel is either inside or outside of the explicit surface based on a second rule that uses a value of the count at that voxel. Another method includes defining a narrow band of voxels near the explicit surface, and then for each voxel in the narrow band, approximating a distance between the voxel and a closest point on the explicit surface by assuming a set of two-dimensional (2D) distances associated with the voxel and a portion of the explicit surface form a triangle. For each voxel outside of the narrow band, a distance to a closest point on the explicit surface is approximated by interpolating the approximated distances in the narrow band. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080266299 | METHOD FOR PREDICTIVELY SPLITTING PROCEDURALLY GENERATED PARTICLE DATA INTO SCREEN-SPACE BOXES - A method for use in rendering includes receiving an input particle system, an instancing program, and a number indicating a maximum number of particles to be stored in memory, providing an input particle count representative of at least a portion of the input particle system to at least one operator for the instancing program, running the at least one operator in a prediction mode to generate an output particle count, comparing the output particle count to the number indicating a maximum number of particles to be stored in memory, and spatially splitting a bounding box representative of the input particle count in response to the output particle count being greater than the number indicating a maximum number of particles to be stored in memory. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20080270092 | METHOD FOR SIMULATING LARGE NUMBERS OF SPHERICAL BODIES INTERACTING - A method for use in computer graphics includes receiving data representative of a plurality of particles. For each particle, the method further includes calculating a time at which a collision will occur based on a current trajectory of the particle. For pairs of particles that will collide with each other, another operation includes changing a direction of the particles to avoid a collision, wherein the changed directions approximate directions that would result from the collision. For particles in static contact, another operation includes allowing particles to push each other without bouncing. For particles in static contact that were previously moved by being pushed, the method also does not allow the particles to move during future collisions occurring during a time step. | 10-30-2008 |
| 20090251469 | METHOD FOR DETECTING COLLISIONS AMONG LARGE NUMBERS OF PARTICLES - A method for detecting object collisions in a simulation, which includes identifying a plurality of objects moving along a path within a simulation area, and defining a grid comprising defined regions which individually define a region within which any of the plurality of objects could potentially occupy. For each of the objects, the method further includes identifying which of the defined regions that each of the plurality of object occupies for at least a portion of a time step, and for each of the objects, determining an associated potential collision set by identifying objects of the plurality of objects which occupy common regions of the defined regions during any portion of the time step. In addition, for each of the objects, the method further includes determining an actual collision set comprising objects with which a given object will collide during the time step based upon location parameters of objects included in the potential collision set. | 10-08-2009 |
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| 20100277900 | GAZING GLOBES AND OTHER DECORATIVE OBJECTS INCLUDING LIGHT SOURCES AND LIGHT-ACTIVATED MATERIALS - A self-contained, glow-in-the-dark decorative article according to the invention comprises a transparent or translucent air-filled, hollow object having a lower rim defining an opening into the interior of the object, with light-activated material deposited on, or embedded in, the object. A base unit on a stake includes a receptacle to receive the rim of the object. The base unit includes a light emitter supported to illuminate the object from the inside out. The base unit further includes one or more solar panels facing into the interior of the object and one or more batteries charged by the solar panels to power the light emitter. The transparent or translucent object may be made of glass, and may be a sphere, a flattened sphere, or a teardrop shape. The source of light may be a light-emitting diode (LED), preferably a violet or ultraviolet LED. | 11-04-2010 |
| 20110292644 | APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONVERTING GAZING GLOBES AND OTHER DECORATIVE OBJECTS INTO GLOW-IN-THE-DARK PRODUCTS - A light source causes hollow objects to glow in the dark (GID), thereby extending the operating period of light-activated materials in gazing globes and other decorative or ornamental objects. The light source may be provided as part of a conversion kit, enabling objects from different manufacturers to be converted to GID objects following purchase. A base unit includes the light emitter supported to illuminate the object from the inside out. The base unit further includes at least one solar panel facing into the interior of the object, and one or more batteries charged by the solar panel to power the light emitter. A device is used to couple the base unit to the rim of the object. In the preferred embodiment, the device for coupling the base unit to the rim of the object is an elastomeric ring that stretches over the rim of the object, thereby forming a seal. | 12-01-2011 |
