BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for controlling an electronic device comprising a control unit with a memory, a processor and input and output terminals as well as a sensor to scan areas of a human skin, in particular of a human hand. The present invention also relates to methods for configuring said systems.

Background

Electronic devices play a steadily increasing role in our everyday life. In a common household, quite often a notable number of electronic devices can be found such as televisions, DVD-players, stereo equipments and heaters. In many cases, the vast majority of the electronic devices can be controlled by remote controls.

In addition, electronic devices play important roles in vehicles and in offices. In general, the users of the devices also like to be able to control the electronic devices in these fields.

As a consequence, many times a large number of remote controls is necessary in order to control every single electronic device. Thus, it is desirable to have a single system for controlling the electronic devices. Such system should be able to provide a large number of selectable commands to consider all functions of every single electronic device to be controlled. In addition, the user should be able to intuitively interact with the controlling system . Furthermore, the control system should be compact and preferably not comprise a large number of buttons. Some systems for controlling electronic devices are known from WO-A- 2009/085338 and US-B-8 581 842.

In WO-A-2009/085338, systems and methods for controlling an electronic device by detecting a person's fingerprint are disclosed . According to this disclosure, the disclosed device can store user input signatures including fingerprint signatures. The user input signatures can be associated with user- selectable commands. When a user provides user input to the electronic device that matches one of the stored user input signatures, the device can initiate the associated user-selectable command.

In US-B-8 581 842, a method for controlling mobile communication devices using an optical scanner to scan a portion of a print of a body part such as a finger is presented . The optical scanner detects a motion of the body part e.g. detecting a sliding motion of the body part. Depending on the user input, a specific event is generated.

Furthermore, in Sugiura, A. - A user interface using fingerprint recognition : holding commands and data objects on fingers, Proceedings of the 11th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology, pp. 71-79, ACM, November 1998, a fingerprint user interface configured to control an electronic device is presented . The presented system uses the principles of fingerprint recognition and performs a task in dependence of the detected finger.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a system for controlling one or several electronic devices that is capable to encompass a large amount of functions and commands while showing an improved interaction with the user. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The purpose of the present invention is accomplished by a system for controlling an electronic device comprising

- a control unit with at least a memory, a processor, and input and output terminals,

wherein the memory comprises data stored therein and representing a plurality of pre-scanned areas of a human skin, in particular of a human hand,

- wherein each of the scanned areas of the human skin is associated with at least one function of an electronic device to be controlled by the control unit,

a sensor, in particular a finger print sensor, having a sensing area as well as a housing and being operatively connected to the input terminal of the control unit,

wherein the housing comprises an outer side having outer surfaces defined by boundaries between adjacent outer surfaces,

wherein one of the outer surfaces is a sensor surface comprising the sensing area of the sensor,

- wherein the sensing area of the sensor is located in proximity to at least two boundaries of the sensor surface, and

wherein the housing of the sensor is configured for placement on one of the pre-scanned areas of the human skin, so as to scan said pre-scanned areas for generating, by means of the processor, a control signal for controlling the function of the electronic device which is associated with said pre-scanned area.

The electronic devices to be controlled and their related commands might be televisions (switch-on/off, change channel, change volume etc.), stereo equipments (play music, stop music, play next song etc.), refrigerators (set temperature etc.), lamps (switch-on/off, dim light etc.), heaters (set temperature etc.), air conditioners (set temperature etc.), smartphones and tablet computers (answer call, mute call, play music, play movie, change song, change volume, serve the web, open application, send email, make photo etc.), personal computers (play music, play movie, play next track, surf the web, open a specific website, shut down or reboot etc.), shutters (open shutters, close shutters), vehicle devices such as air conditioners and music devices (set temperature, play music, switch on radio, request traffic information, mute music etc.), emergency notification devices (send status/location to family and friends, call police/fire department, call ambulance etc.), entrance doors (open/close/lock door etc.), garage doors (open/close/lock door) or alarm clocks (set alarm, switch-off alarm, activate snooze function).

According to the present invention, the electronic device to be controlled might also be a non-physical device such as a software or an application. In this regard, an electronic device and the relating commands might also be social networks such as facebook (like, dislike, send messages, invite friends to an event, set new event, share photos/videos, share current position etc.), twitter or instagram, server- systems (generate a set of data, copy data, delete data, time tracking, backup data, performing further functions on the server etc.) or games (play, control, navigate, choose between games etc.).

The memory might be an SD-card, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid-state-drive (SSD) or any other type of memory device. The memory might also be a remote memory serving as a cloud storage system.

The processor might be any standard single core or multi core processor.

In the context of the present invention, the sensor surface refers to the surface comprising the sensor and consequently the sensing area of the sensor. The sensing area might be regarded as the active sensing area configured to scan the area of the human skin. The input and output terminals might comprise an electric wire. The input and output terminals also might comprise a wireless communication means such as a wireless communications transmitter and/or receiver. The data stored on the memory device might comprise images of pre-scanned areas of a human skin, in particular of a human hand. Preferably the data might comprise images of the structure of the inner hand surface. The data might be generated by pre-scanning the areas of the human skin . The data might also comprise data derived from images of pre-scanned areas of the human skin . These data might comprise characteristic features describing the pre-scanned areas.

Each of the pre-scanned areas might be associated with one or several functions of the electronic device to be controlled . As an example, an area of the distal phalange of the left thumb of a user might be associated with "play music". If several functions of the electronic device are to be associated with one area, e.g. the duration of a contact between the area and the sensor might be considered . As an example, detecting a region on the distal phalange of the left thumb for less than one second might be associated with "play music", wherein the detection of the same area of the distal phalange of the left thumb for a duration longer than one second might be associated with "stop music".

The sensor might have a rectangular, a square or a circular sensing area . The housing of the sensor might comprise polymer or metal . The connection between the sensor and the input terminal of the control unit might be via a wire or via a wireless communication means. As an example, the sensor might be a finger print sensor of the type FPC1011 F3 (Fingerprint Cards AB, Sweden) . As an example, the housing of the sensor might be formed as a cuboid with six rectangular outer surfaces defined by twelve boundaries (edges between adjacent outer surfaces) . In the example of a cuboid housing with rectangular outer surfaces, locating the sensing area in proximity to two boundaries of the sensor surface might mean that the sensing area is located essentially in a corner of the sensor surface, e.g. the sensing area might be located in the upper left corner of the sensor surface, i .e. in proximity to the upper and the left boundary of the sensor surface. In other words, the sensing area might be located in proximity to two adjacent boundaries of the sensor surface. Locating the sensing area in proximity to two adjacent boundaries of the sensor surface might also be advantageous if the sensor surface is not rectangular. In the case of a strip-type sensor surface, locating the sensing area in proximity to two boundaries might also mean that the sensing area is located in proximity to the upper boundary and the bottom boundary of the sensor surface. Locating the sensing area of the sensor in proximity to three boundaries means (under assumption of a rectangular sensor surface and a rectangular sensing area) that the distance between three edges of the sensing area and the boundaries of the sensor surface being the closest to those sensing area edges are rather small, e.g. might be smaller than 10 mm, smaller than 7 mm, smaller than 5 mm, smaller than 3 mm or smaller than 1 mm .

Once the housing of the sensor is moved towards one of the pre-scanned areas of the human skin, the system according to the invention is configured to generate a control signal for controlling the corresponding function of the electronic device to be controlled . In an equivalent manner, the area of the human skin, in particular a surface of a human hand can be moved to the housing of the sensor, in particular to the sensor surface. According to one embodiment of the inventive system, the sensor surface might be surrounded by several adjacent boundaries each having ends with one end of a boundary facing towards an end of the adjacent boundary. The sensing area of the sensor might be located at an edge of a region of the sensor surface defined by two opposed ends of two adjacent boundaries. In other words, the sensing area of the sensor might be located in a corner region of a sensor surface. Each boundary might be straight, curved or partially straight and curved . Each of the boundaries might continuously pass into its adjacent boundary at the adjacent end point.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the sensing area might be free of a display element. According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the entire control system might be free of a display element. Providing no display element might decrease the costs for the production of the inventive system drastically.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the sensor surface might be a protruding surface or might comprise a protruding surface having the sensing area of the sensor. By using a protruding surface, the accessibility of the sensor surface can be improved .

In another embodiment of the invention, the exterior angles between the sensor surface and any of the outer surfaces adjacent to the sensor surface are larger than or equal to 180° . As an example, if the housing of the sensor is a cuboid, each of the exterior angles between the sensor surface and the surfaces adjacent to the sensor surface is 270° .

In another embodiment of the present invention, the sensing area might show a distance to each of the boundaries of the sensor surface and at least two of said distances are less than 10 mm, less than 7 mm, less than 5 mm, less than 3 mm or less than 1 mm . Assuming a cuboidal sensor housing and a rectangular sensing area, the distance between the sensing area and the boundaries of the sensor surface is defined as the distance of each side of the sensing area and each adjacent boundary. To mention another example, assuming a rectangular sensor surface and a circular sensing area, the distance between the sensing area and the boundaries of the sensor surface is defined as the closest distance between a boundary of the sensor surface and that point of the circular sensing area being closest to said boundary. By arranging the sensing area close to at least two boundaries of the sensor surface, the accessibility of the sensing area might be further improved .

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, at least three of the distances between the sensing area of the sensor and the boundaries of the sensor surface might be less than 10 mm, less than 7 mm, less than 5 mm, less than 3 mm or less than 1 mm . By arranging the sensing area close to three boundaries of the sensor surface, the accessibility of the sensing area might be further improved .

In one embodiment of the present invention, the memory and the processor might be arranged inside the housing of the sensor. Thereby, an integrated system is provided . This allows a compact implementation of the system according to the present invention . Also, the input and output terminals and/or a battery supplying the system with power might be arranged inside the housing of the sensor. In such an implementation, the system might be regarded as a fully integrated sensor system which might be able to directly communicate with the electronic devices to be controlled. In addition, the integrated system might communicate with an intermediate system which controls the electronic devices.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the memory and the processor might be arranged inside a second housing separate from the housing of the sensor. As an example, the processor and the memory of the system might be arranged inside a separate smartphone configured to control the electronic devices. By arranging the memory and the processor in a separate housing, the control unit might be designed in a very com pact form . Also, CPU-intensive calculations might be outsourced to another more powerful com puter device, such as a laptop or a personal computer.

In one em bodiment of the present invention, the sensing area of the sensor might be smaller than 25 cm ² , smaller than 15 cm ² , smaller than 10 cm ² , smaller than 4 cm ² , smaller than 2 cm ² or smaller than 1 cm ² . By using a rather small sensing area, in particular a sensing area smaller than 4 cm ² , smaller than 2 cm ² or smaller than 1 cm ² , a large num ber of areas on a relatively small surface, in particular a large number of areas inside an inner hand surface might be associated with different com mands. In addition, by using a small sensing area, the scanning of those surfaces of the hand m ight be im proved which are not easily accessible with larger sensors. Particularly, the scanning of areas in between the fingers and inside the curved palm m ight be facilitated by using a sensor with a rather small sensing area .

According to another em bodiment of the present invention, the sensing area of the sensor m ight com prise at least 5% of the sensor surface, at least 10% of the sensor surface, at least 20% of the sensor surface, at least 50% of the sensor surface, at least 75% of the sensor surface or at least 90% of the sensor surface. If a larger amou nt of the sensor surface constitutes the sensing area and hence the sensor surface com prises a rather small and negligible margin around the sensing area, the accessibility of the sensing area might further be im proved .

In a further embodiment of the present invention, the sensor might comprise a capacitive sensor, an optical sensor or an acoustical sensor. As an example, the use of an acoustical sensor might be advantageous in order to reduce the undesired effects caused by moisture. In general, capacitive sensors create a depth map of the skin structure. Typical capacitive sensors are based on a two-dimensional array of micro-cells, covered with an insulating layer. The cells contain two coplanar conductor plates, which form a basic capacitor. If the sensor is touched, the surface of the skin acts as a third capacitor plate. The capacitance is inversely related to the distance of the capacitor plates. Therefore ridges of the skin cause a greater capacitance in those cells than valleys. This contrast in capacitance can be measured and converted into depth maps of the skin structure. In contrast, optical sensors are based on frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) . A common FTIR-based sensor consists of a 90°-prism, a light source, and a CCD or CMOS sensor. The light source sends a uniform beam into the prism which is totally reflected at the 45°-face. If the three dimensional structure of the skin is pressed against the 45°-face, only the ridges of the skin structure make contact with the prism . In these areas the light no more experiences total reflection and is scattered in various directions. The imaging sensor therefore perceives these areas as darker than the areas where total reflection takes place. Finally, also acoustical sensors are able to create depth maps of the skin structure. In an acoustical sensor, transducers are usually placed behind a touch surface. These transducers send directional sound impulses towards the touch surface and receive the reflected part of the signal . If the skin of a user is pressed against the touch surface, ridges and valleys cause different intensities in the reflected signal . The contrast in intensity allows to create an image of the skin surface. Touch sensors based on ultrasound are resilient to dirt and grease on the skin surface. They even allow to sense through thin rubber gloves. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the output terminal might comprise a wireless communication port in order to communicate with the electronic devices to be controlled . In particular, the communication might be performed via a Bluetooth connection (using a Bluetooth transm itter and/or receiver) or via Wi Fi (using a Wi Fi transmitter and/or receiver) . .

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the controlling system according to the invention m ight com prise a feedback signal generating means, i .e. a feedback signal generator, configured to confirm the detection of an area of the human skin . Such feedback signal generating means might improve the interaction between the user and the system according to the invention .

In one em bodiment of the present invention, the feedback signal generating means for confirming the detection of an area of the human skin m ight comprise a buzzer or a vibrating element. By using such a buzzer or a vibrating element, the user does not need to look at the system according to the invention while operating said system . As an exam ple, when the user is driving a veh icle, he can operate the system according to the invention in order to control electronic devices inside the vehicle without being distracted from the traffic. In one em bodiment of the present invention, the housing of the sensor might comprise a mou nting device for mounting the sensor housing on the body of a user or on a garment of a user. More precisely, the mounting device might comprise a necklace, a bracelet, a bangle, a sticker, a button or a clip. By providing a suitable mounting device, the user m ight wear the system according to the present invention in a comfortable manner. This might be advantageous if the controlling system according to the invention is to be carried during a longer time, e.g . during the whole day.

According to a fu rther embodiment of the present invention, the mounting device of the sensor housing might comprise a ring-shaped or a c-shaped mounting element for mounting the housing on a finger of a user or around a wrist of a user. Designing the mounting device as a ring-shaped or a c-shaped element enables a comfortable wearing of the controlling system according to the invention . In particular, in the case where the system according to the invention is designed in a rather compact format, it might be rather advantageous to mount the system on a finger. In this way, the user is able to carry the system according to the invention in an unobtrusive manner and might also control the electronic devices in an unobtrusive way. In addition, the mounting element might be designed as a simple elastic band . The elastic band might be easily mounted around a wrist of a user and also be unmounted in a sim ple way.

According to another em bodiment of the present invention, the housing for retaining the sensor m ight be designed as a stylus. Thereby, the housing might be grasped by the user rather comfortably. In addition, when the housing is designed as a stylus, the sensor m ight be designed in a very compact form .

Also according to the present invention, a method for configuring the mentioned systems for enabling the control of at least one electronic device by means of said system is proposed com prising the following steps :

- pre-scanning an area of a human skin using a sensor and generating data representing the pre-scanned area ;

storing the data representing the pre-scanned area of a human skin in a memory device;

associating to the pre-scanned area of the skin at least one function of an electronic device to be controlled ; and

storing data representing the association between pre-scanned area and function in the memory device.

The pre-scanning of an area of human skin m ight be performed using the same sensor applied for operating the controlling system according to the invention . The generated data representing the pre-scanned area might sim ply be image data . Also, the data might com prise features derived from the image data . In a preferred em bodiment, said features should be suitable to characterize the surface structure of the human skin . A huge variety of image features are known from the technical field of image processing . As an example, BRIS K features, KAZE features or SI FT features might be used as image features for the purpose of characterizing the surface structure of the hand . For associating to the pre-scanned area of the skin at least one function of an electron ic device, several options might be available to the user. As an example, after pre-scanning one or several areas of the skin, those pre- scanned areas might be displayed on a screen . Following, the user m ight choose one of the pre-scanned areas and select out of a list of given commands the desired command to be associated with the specific pre- scanned area . In another embodiment, the different pre-scanned areas m ight be shown to the user successively and the user might choose or redefine a specific com mand to control an electronic device, i .e . one or more different operational parameters of the device, such as turn ing the device on or off, changing a vol ume, etc. Both the data representing the pre-scanned areas and the data representing the association between the pre-scanned areas and the functions are stored in the memory device. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the step of pre- scanning an area of the hand m ight com prise :

pre-scanning sub-areas of the human skin to be pre-scanned ; and assembling the sub-areas to generate the data of the area to be pre- scanned .

As a consequence, very small sensor areas are already sufficient in order to scan the entire human skin, in particular to scan the entire human hand . As a result, the entire system according to the invention might be designed in a very compact form . I n addition, by using rather small sensors, also regions of a hand might be scanned which otherwise might not be accessible easily using a rather large sensor, respectively a rather large sensing area . According to one embodiment of the present invention, the pre-scanning of sub-areas of the human skin comprises the pre-scanning of overlapping sub- areas. If the sub-areas are overlapping, the assembling of the sub-areas might be performed automatically by recognizing the overlapping regions. Hence, the user only needs to pre-scan the sub-areas of interest and a respective software might perform the assembling of the overlapping sub-areas. Routines for recognizing overlapping areas are widely known from standard camera software applied for enabling panoramic photos. As an example, the method described in Brown, M . - Automatic Panoramic Image Stitching using Invariant Features, International Journal of Computer Vision, Vol . 74 (1), pp. 59-73, 2007 might be used for assembling overlapping sub-areas.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the step of associating to the pre-scanned area of the skin at least one function of an electronic device comprises an additional scanning of the said pre-scanned area of the human skin . According to this embodiment, in a first step the areas of the human skin are pre-scanned. Subsequently, the user might scan the area to be associated with a command again and define the command to be associated with said area. By scanning the area of the human skin to which a function is to be associated a second time, possible errors during the scanning process might be detected . As an example, if the second scanning of the area of the human skin is not equal to the pre-scanning, the user might want to repeat the configuring process. This approach might be beneficial as problems during the scanning might be noted at a rather early stage of the configuration process. As an example, if the user's skin showed high moisture during the pre-scanning process or was rather fatty, the user might notice this while he rescans the same region of the human skin for the configuration process, as the system might not recognize the area scanned for the second time. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the step of pre- scanning an area of a human skin using a sensor might comprise scanning at least one area of the palm of a hand . In most of the methods and systems known from the state of the art, only the fingertips of the user are associated with com mands. By using one or several areas of the palm, a larger num ber of commands can be associated with one hand of the user. In addition, as the palm of a hand shows a rather large surface, a considerable number of commands might be associated with the palm of a hand .

According to a fu rther embodiment of the present invention, the step of re ^¬ scanning an area of a human skin using a sensor m ight com prise scanning a region of a surface of a finger in a segment of a proximal phalange, an intermediate phalange or a distal phalange. Also the area of a human skin to be pre-scanned might comprise regions belonging to at least two of the proximal phalange, the intermediate phalange and the distal phalange . In contrast to associating commands only to regions of a human finger belonging to the distal phalange, incorporating also surfaces of the human hand belonging to the proximal phalange and the intermediate phalange allows an essentially larger number of possible commands.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the step of associating to the pre-scanned area of the skin at least one fu nction of an electronic device m ight comprise assigning at least two different control commands, wherein the assignment is made as a function of a relative orientation of the sensor and the area of the skin . Assuming a fixed orientation of the sensor, different com mands m ight be associated with a fingerprint depending whether the finger is orientated in a vertical direction or a horizontal direction .

In addition, different com mands might be associated with one fingertip depending whether the fingertip indicates upwards, downwards, to the right or the left. As an example, the vol ume of a device m ight be increased when the tip of a certain finger is detected in an u pward direction, wherein the volume of the same device is decreased when the tip of the same finger is detected in a downward orientation . Furthermore, detecting the tip of the same finger indicating to the right m ight provoke a play/pause com mand . At the same time, the orientation of the same fingertip indicating to the left m ight cause a stop com mand . In a sim ilar way, the exact inclination angle of a finger might be used in order to associate a larger n um ber of com mands with one or several fingers or more generally speaking to an area of the skin . I n an equivalent manner, the orientation of a finger m ight be fixed while the user changes the orientation of the sensor.

According to still a further em bodiment of the present invention, the assignment of different control com mands to one area of the skin might be made as a fu nction of the inclination angle between the sensor and the area of the skin . As an exam ple, a first control com mand m ight be assigned to the tip of a left index finger inclined to the right side, wherein a second control command is assigned to the tip of the left index finger inclined to the left side . In this way, by way of example, a user might touch the sensor with the tip of his left index finger and incline his fingertip to the right side in order to fast- forward a song . In addition, the user might incline his fingertip to the left side in order to rewind the song . Finally, the user m ight incline his fingertip to the initial position in order to play the song in an ordinary velocity. I n addition to exploiting the static inclination angle between the sensor and the area of the skin, the dynamic inclination angle might be exploited . In other words, the change of the inclination angle between the sensor and the area of the skin might be used in order to assign several control com mands to an area of the skin . More precisely, a rolling motion of an area of the skin might be associated with a control com mand . To mention an exam ple, a rolling motion of the left tip of an index finger to the right side m ight be associated with a control com mand while a rolling motion of the same fingertip to the left side might be associated with another control command . According to a further em bodiment of the present invention, the step of associating to the pre-scanned area of the skin at least one fu nction of an electronic device m ight comprise assigning at least two different control commands, wherein the assignment is made irrespective of a relative orientation of the sensor and the area of the skin . As an example, while a user puts his fingertip on the sensor, the system might detect the duration of the contact between the sensing area and the fingertip. If that duration of contact is inside a certain range, a corresponding command might be generated . By way of example, if a user holds his fingertip on the sensor for less than one second, a song might be played . If the user holds his fingertip for longer than one second but not longer than two seconds, the song might be stopped . If the user holds his fingertip on the sensor for more than two seconds, the stereo equipment might be completely switched-off. According to the mentioned example, three commands could be associated with only one fingertip. It is therefore also possible to associate three or more commands with each finger of the left and the right hand. It is also possible to combine the different methods mentioned before in order to enable a enormous number of commands.

According to a further embodiment of the present invention, a certain tapping pattern of the user might be exploited in order to associate an even larger number of commands with only one area of the skin . As an example, tapping with the tip of the index finger twice for a short time (e.g . less than 100 ms) and once for a longer period (e.g. 0.5 s to 1 s) might cause a certain command while tapping with the tip of the index finger at first once for a longer period and then twice for a shorter period might cause a different command . In a similar way, a certain command might be associated with the tapping pattern of a combination of fingers. By way of an example, a tapping with the tip of the index finger for a short time followed by a tapping with the tip of the middle finger as well for a short time might trigger a certain command . In similar ways, tapping patterns of different fingers in combination with different duration of a tap also combined with the different orientation of a finger etc. might enable a user to configure the controlling system according to the invention with an almost infinite number of commands. This enormously large number of com mands can be used in order to control an enormous number of electronic devices with complex fu nctions.

BRI EF DESCRI PTIO N OF TH E D RAWI N GS

A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, enabling one of ordinary skill in the art to carry out the invention, is set forth in greater detail in the following description, including reference to the accom panying drawings in which

Fig . 1 shows a schematic diagram of an em bodiment of the controlling system according to the invention able to control five electronic devices, Fig . 2 shows a schematic diagram of a further controlling system according to the invention,

Fig . 3 shows a schematic diagram of a h uman hand with different areas associated with different com mands,

Fig . 4 shows a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention while operated with a human hand,

Fig . 5 shows a schematic side view of a further embodiment of the inventive controlling system with a ring-shaped mounting device,

Fig . 6 shows a schematic top view of the embodiment of the inventive system according to Fig . 5, Fig . 7 shows a schematic side view of a further embodiment of the inventive controlling system with a c-shaped bangle, Fig . 8 shows a schematic top view of the embodiment of the present invention according to Fig . 7,

Fig . 9 shows a schematic side view of a further embodiment of the inventive system comprising a cylindrical sensor housing,

Fig . 10 shows a schematic top view of the embodiment of the present invention as shown in Fig . 9, Figs. 11 and 12

show schematic side views of two further embodiments of the inventive controlling system,

Figs. 13 to 15

show further schematic top views of three additional embodiments of the inventive controlling system with different configurations of the sensing area,

Fig . 16 shows a further embodiment of the inventive controlling system wherein the sensor is mounted to a necklace,

Fig . 17 shows a schematic side view of a further embodiment of the present invention wherein the sensor housing is designed as a stylus, Fig . 18 shows another schematic view of the inventive controlling system, wherein the mounting device comprises an elastic band attached around a wrist of a user,

Fig . 19 shows a schematic side view of a further embodiment of the present invention, and Fig . 20 shows a flowchart illustrating the single steps of the configuration procedure.

D ETAI LED D ESCRI PTION O F PRE FERRED EM BODI M ENTS OF TH E I NVENTIO N

In Fig . 1, the concept of a first em bodiment of the present invention is illustrated . Here, the controlling system 10 is configured to com municate directly with five electronic devices 12. The controlling system 10 com prises a processor 13a and a memory 13b. The processor 13a m ight be configu red to compare data derived from scanning an area of the hand with data stored on the memory 13b. Also, the processor 13a might be configured to generate a control signal for controlling the electronic devices 12. According to the illustrated em bodiment, the com munication is performed via a wireless comm unication standard such as Bluetooth or Wi Fi . I n the illustrated em bodiment of the present invention, the controlling system 10 is implemented as an independent, i .e. autarkic system . Hence, all necessary components of controlling system 10 e .g . the memory, the processor, the input and output term inals and the sensor may be integrated in a single housing . Thus, the controlling system 10 m ight com municate independently with the electronic devices 12. The electronic devices 12 comprise in this illustration a lam p 12a, a smartphone 12b, a stereo equipment 12c, a fridge 12d and a heating device 12e. Once the sensor of the controlling system 10 is approached to a human hand 14, a desi red control com mand for controlling one or several of the electronic devices 12 is triggered . More specifically, when the sensor of the controlling system 10 is approached to the human hand 14, the sensor scans an area of the hand 14, being in close proximity of the sensor. Subsequently, data corresponding to the scanned area is generated and compared with a database com prising data corresponding to areas pre- scanned during the configuration process. By com paring the data corresponding of the recently scanned area and the data corresponding to the pre-scanned areas, the controlling system 10 might choose the control signal, which is most likely desired by the user (e .g . "play a song") . As an exam ple, the selection might be made after a m inimum distance estimation, i .e. the distance of the data corresponding to the recently scanned area and the data corresponding to the pre-scanned areas is calculated and the signal belonging to the data of the pre-scanned area obtaining the smallest distance might be generated .

In an equivalent man ner, also the human hand 14 might be approached to the sensor of the control ling system 10 in order to trigger the desired control command . In either case the controlling system is interfaced with the human hand to trigger a desired control fu nction . The human hand 14 comprises different areas of the human hand 14, wherein each of these areas of the human hand 14 might be associated with a certain control command . This association or assignment m ight be carried out in a step performed before the actual control ling procedure. As an exam ple, the user of the control system 10 might first configure the control ling system 10 before using it for the controlling purpose . During the configuration process, the user might be prompted via a graphical user interface to pre-scan those areas of his hand, which he intends to use for controlling the electronic devices 12. Subsequently, the user might be prompted to choose which control com mand shall be assigned to the pre-scanned area . I n other words, during the configuration process, the controlling system 10 is trained to assign controlling com mands to certain areas of a human hand 14. These control commands m ight be switching-on/off the lam p 12a, placing a call with smartphone 12b, playing/stopping a song with stereo equipment 12c, adjusting the temperature of fridge 12d or increasing the tem perature of heating device 12e. The present invention as illustrated in Fig . 1 enables controlling a large number of electronic devices 12 with a single control device 10, which is com pact and intuitively usable . Apart from the illustrated electronic devices 12, the controlling system 10 might be applied to control televisions, heaters, air conditioners, tablet computers, personal computers, laptops, smartwatches, shutters, vehicle devices such as air conditioners and music devices, emergency notification devices, entrance doors, garage doors or alarm clocks. When entrance doors or garage doors are controlled by the controlling system 10 according to the invention, also safety aspects have to be considered . As an exam ple, the surface structure of the human hand might be utilized for authorization of the user. As the fingerprint of each person is individual, only the user m ight have access to an entrance door, who is intended to enter a building .

In Fig . 2, a second em bodiment of the present invention is illustrated . In contrast to the embodiment illustrated in Fig . 1, the control system 10 according to the em bodiment illustrated in Fig . 2 does not com mu nicate directly with the electronic devices 12. I nstead, the illustrated control system 10 com m unicates only with an intermediate control u nit which is im plemented here as a smartphone 12b. As an alternative, the intermediate control unit might be a laptop or a personal com puter. According to the em bodiment illustrated in Fig . 2, the smartphone 12b comm unicates with the further electronic devices 12. The comm unication between the control ling system 10 and the smartphone 12b and also the com munication between smartphone 12b and the further electronics devices 12 is performed via a wireless comm unication standard such as Bluetooth or Wi Fi . As exem plarily illustrated in Fig . 2, the control system 10 might comprise an output terminal 13c and the smartphone 12b m ight comprise an input term inal 13d . In the illustrated em bodiment, both the output term inal 13c and the input terminal 13d m ight be Bluetooth or Wi Fi antennas. According to the illustrated em bodiment, the processor and the memory might be located outside the control system 10 and more precisely inside the smartphone 12b (or other intermediate control units) . In com parison to the em bodiment illustrated in Fig . 1, the em bodiment illustrated in Fig . 2 shows two benefits. First, the control system 10 does not require a processor or a memory and might be designed in a more com pact format. Secondly, the entire control system m ight have a higher performance, as usually the processors of smartphones, laptops or personal com puters show a considerably higher performance than those com pact processors that m ight be able to be im plemented in the control system 10.

In Fig . 3, an enlarged view of the human hand 14 is illustrated . As shown in Fig . 3, two of the five fingers 18 com prise areas of the h uman hand 14 associated with control commands. In the illustrated embodiment, it is the index finger 18a and the m iddle finger 18b that show areas of the human hand 14 associated with certain com mands. Each of the fingers 18 shows three phalanges 20, namely the proximal phalange 20a, the intermediate phalange 20b and the distal phalange 20c. I n the illustrated exam ple, each of the three phalanges 20 of the index finger 18a and the m iddle finger 18b shows areas of the human hand 14 associated with different commands. I n this exam ple, the index finger 18a shows areas 16 associated with com mands for controlling a stereo equipment 12c. Namely, an area 16 on the distal phalange 20c is associated with "Play M usic", wherein an area 16 on the intermediate phalange 20b is associated with "Stop M usic" and an area 16 on the proximal phalange 20a is associated with "Next Track" . I n a sim ilar manner, different areas 16 on the m iddle finger 18b are associated with commands for controlling a heating device 12e. More precisely, an area 16 on the distal phalange 20c of the middle finger 18b is associated with switching-on/off the heating device. An area 16 of an intermediate phalange 20b of the m iddle finger 18b is associated with the com mand "increased tem perature" . Finally, an area 16 on the proximal phalange 20a of the m iddle finger 18b is associated with the command "decrease tem perature" . I n the illustrated example, not only the fingers 18 of the human hand 14 comprise areas 16 associated with control commands. Instead, also the palm 21 comprises areas 16 associated with control commands. I n the illustrated example, the palm 21 com prises two areas 16 associated with control com mands. More precisely, one area 16 of the palm 21 is associated with a control command for switching on/off a lam p 12a . A second area 16 of the palm 21 is associated with a command for switching the entire control system 10 on or off. As illustrated in Fig . 3, the areas 16 might show different sizes. As an example, a control command that is used quite frequently might be associated with a larger area 16 (e.g. switching on/off a lamp), wherein another control command that is not intended to be used very frequently and which is intended to be not too easily accessible (e.g . switching on/off the control system 10) might be associated with a smaller area 16.

In Fig. 4, the operation of one embodiment of the present invention is illustrated . Once the controlling system 10 is configured, a user might approach the controlling system 10 to a human hand 14 with areas 16 associated with pre-defined control commands. By approaching the proximal phalange 20a of the middle finger 18b to the system 10, the temperature of the heating device 12e might be reduced . In an equivalent manner, also the controlling system 10 might be approached to the human hand 14. Once the controlling system 10 detects an area 16 associated with a control command, a corresponding control signal is generated and transmitted to one or several of the electronic devices 12. The generation of the control signal might be depending on the scanned area (16) and also depending the orientation of the scanned area (16) . The transmission of the control signal is preferably performed via a wireless communication standard such as Bluetooth or WiFi .

In Figs. 5 and 6, a schematic side view and a schematic top view of a further embodiment of the controlling system 10 according to the invention are shown . As illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, the controlling system 10 shows a fingerprint sensor 22 with a sensing area 24. The finger print sensor 22 shows a housing 26. The housing 26 of the fingerprint sensor 22 of the illustrated embodiment is substantially cuboidal and shows an outer side 28 with six outer surfaces 30. One of said outer surfaces 30 comprises the sensing area 24 and is referred to as the sensor surface 32. The outer surfaces 30 are defined by boundaries between adjacent outer surfaces 30. The sensor surface 32 is defined by four boundaries 34 of the sensor surface 32. In the illustrated embodiment, the exterior angle between the sensor surface 32 and each adjacent surface has substantially the value of 270° . Also the exterior angle between any further outer surfaces 30 to adjacent outer surfaces 30 is substantially 270° .

The embodiment of the controlling system 10 as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 comprises a mount such as mounting device 35. The mounting device in the illustrated embodiment is designed as a ring 35a. Thus, the controlling system 10 according to the illustrated embodiment might be mounted on a finger of a user. In Figs. 7 and 8, a schematic side view and a schematic top view of a further embodiment of the controlling system 10 according to the invention are illustrated . In this embodiment, the mounting device 35 is designed as a c- shaped bangle 35b. Thus, the controlling system 10 according to the illustrated embodiment can be mounted around a wrist of a user.

In Figs. 9 and 10, a schematic side view and a schematic top view of a further embodiment of the present invention are illustrated. As shown in these Figs., in this embodiment the housing 26 of the fingerprint sensor 22 is shaped cylindrically.

In Figs. 11 and 12, further side views of additional embodiments of the present invention are illustrated . According to the embodiment shown in Fig. 11, the housing 26 of the fingerprint sensor 22 shows a cross-section that is substantially defined by an arc, i .e. by a segment of a circle. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 12, the housing 26 of the fingerprint sensor 22 shows a hexagonal cross-section . The specific designs of the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12 enable an improved accessibility of the sensing areas 24. In Fig . 13, a schematic top view of a further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated . In this embodiment, the sensing area 24 of the fingerprint sensor 22 is arranged in a horizontally centered position of the sensor surface 32. According to this embodiment, the sensing area 24 of the fingerprint sensor 22 is located in proximity to two boundaries 34 of the sensor surface 32, namely the sensing area 24 is located in proximity to the upper boundary 34 and the lower boundary 34. In contrast, the sensing area 24 of the fingerprint sensor 22 is not located in proximity to the left boundary 34 and the right boundary 34. By locating the sensing area 24 of the fingerprint sensor 22 in proximity to (at least) two boundaries 34 of the sensor surface 32, an improved accessibility of the sensing area 24 is achieved . In Fig . 14, a schematic top view of a further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated . According to this embodiment, the sensing area 24 of the fingerprint sensor 22 is located in proximity to two boundaries 34 of the sensor surface 32, namely the sensing area 24 is located in proximity to the lower boundary 34 of the sensor surface 32 and the right boundary 34 of the sensor surface 32. In other words, the distances between the sensing area 24 and the lower/right boundary 34 are smaller than the distances between the sensing area 24 and the upper/left boundary 34. Preferably, the distances between the sensing area 24 and the lower/right boundary 34 might be smaller than 10 mm, 7 mm, 5 mm, 3 mm or 1 mm . As mentioned above, by locating the sensing area 24 in proximity to at least two boundaries 34 of the sensor surface 32, an improved accessibility of the sensing area 24 is achieved . This improved accessibility of the sensing area 24 of the fingerprint sensor 22 would not be achieved if, as an example, the sensing area 24 was located in the center of the sensor surface 32. If the sensing area 24 was located in the center of the sensor surface 32, the area of the sensor surface 32 surrounding the sensing area 24 (i .e. the margins around the sensing area 24) would hinder the approaching of the sensing area 24 and the human hand 14. This is, as the human hand 14 does not have a perfectly flat surface, but is characterized by many coves.

In Fig . 15, a schematic top view of a further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated . According to this embodiment, the fingerprint sensor 22 shows a housing 26 with an elliptical sensor surface 32 and a quadratic sensing area 24. The quadratic sensing area 24 is defined by its four boundaries of the sensing area 24. In this embodiment, the distance between the sensing area 24 and the boundary 34 of the sensor surface 32 are defined as the minimum distance of the center of each side, respectively each boundary 34 of the sensing area 24 to the boundary 34 of the sensor surface 32. As illustrated in Fig. 15, the sensing area 24 of the sensor is located in proximity to three sides of the boundary 34 of the sensor surface 32, namely the left side, the right side and the lower side of the sensor surface 32.

In Fig . 16, a schematic view of a further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, wherein the controlling system 10 shows a mounting device 35 in the form of a necklace 35c. Therefore, the controlling system 10 can be comfortably mounted around the neck of a user.

In Fig. 17, a schematic side view of a further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, wherein the housing of the sensor is designed as a stylus 38. By designing the housing 26 of the fingerprint sensor 22 as a stylus 38, the controlling system 10 might be grasped by the user in a particularly comfortable manner. According to the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, according to Fig. 16, the fingerprint sensor 22 is located at the front end 40 of the stylus 38.

In Fig . 18, a schematic view of a further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated . Fig. 18 shows a controlling system 10 with a mounting device 35 that comprises an elastic band 42. The controlling system 10 is mounted around a wrist via the elastic band 42.

In Fig. 19, a schematic side view of a further embodiment of the present invention is shown. In this embodiment, the housing of the sensor shows a protruding surface 44 comprising the sensing area 24. By using a protruding surface 44, an increased accessibility of the sensing area 24 might be achieved . According to the illustrated embodiment, the control system 10 comprises a feedback signal generator 46 inside the sensor housing 26. In particular, the feedback signal generator 46 might be a buzzer or a vibrating element and might be configured to generate a feedback signal, once the sensing area 24 detects an area 16 of a hand 14.

In Fig . 20, a flowchart illustrating the single steps of the configuration procedure is shown . As shown in Fig . 20, a relevant area 16 of the human hand 14, e.g . an area inside the palm 21 is scanned . After the scanning step, data corresponding to the scanned area 16 is generated, which is subsequently stored on a memory device 13b. In the following step, a function of an electronic device 12, such as "playing a song", is associated or assigned to the scanned area 16. The fu nction might be assigned to a specific electronic device 12, e.g . "turn on the television", or m ight be assigned to several electronic devices, e.g . "turn off all electron ic devices in the living room" . During the assignment step, the user m ight be asked by way of a graphic user interface, which function he would like to associate to the area 16 recently scanned . Also, the user might be asked via a com puter generated voice, which function is to be assigned to the recently scanned area ( 16) . Subsequently, the user might input the function he likes to assign to the respective area ( 16) . Th is input might be performed as well via a graphical user interface or via a speech input. The data corresponding the assignment m ight finally be saved on the same memory device 13b containing the data corresponding to the scanned areas ( 16) or on an additional memory device 13b.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with reference to specific illustrative embodiments thereof, it is not intended that the invention be limited to those illustrative em bodiments. Those skilled in the art will recognize that variations and modifications can be made without departing from the true scope of the invention as defined by the claims that follow. It is therefore intended to include within the invention all such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof. In particular, the invention also includes the use of the described control system for controlling one or several electronic devices. Also, the control system might be applied to a security system employing a fingerprint scanner where fingerprints are stored in the system and used to match a fingerprint for opening a door to a building.

LIST OF REFERENCES CITED

10 control system

12 electronic device

12a lamp

12b smartphone

12c stereo equipment

12d fridge

12e heating device

13a processor

13b memory

13c output terminal

13d input terminal

14 hand

16 area of a hand

18 finger

18a index finger

18b middle finger

20 phalange

20a proximal phalange

20b intermediate phalange

20c distal phalange

21 palm

22 sensor

24 sensing area

26 housing

28 outer side

30 outer surface

32 sensor surface

34 boundary of the sensor surface

35 mounting device

35a ring

35b bangle c necklace stylus

front end

elastic band

protruding surface feedback signal generator