A 4D Gesture Sensing Technique based on Spatiotemporal Detection with a 60 GHz FMCW MIMO Radar

A novel 4D gesture sensing technique based on spatiotemporal detection with a 60 GHz frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) radar is presented. By leveraging the multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technique, a virtual array could be synthesized, which carries a larger aperture to provide improved spatial resolution to track the hand gestures in the spatial domain. The static position of the hand in 3D space can be tracked by digital beamforming (DBF) based on the virtual array. The motion trajectory of the action gestures can be obtained by tracking the temporal phase variation using radar interferometry. Combining spatial positioning and temporal motion tracking leads to the proposed 4D gesture sensing technique, which carries the merits of noncontact, high precision and good robustness. A series of experiments are carried out in both microwave anechoic chamber and office environments to validate the proposed technique. The experimental results show that the proposed technique performs well in sensing a variety of both macro gestures and millimeter-level micro gestures.