Disambiguation of indirect input

• US 10,345,932 B2
• Filed: 06/14/2013
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/14/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Abzarian, David, Sanghai, Nidhi, Brown, Eric C., Slemon, Matthew K., Teed, Jennifer A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisen, Alexander
• Assistant Examiner(s): Said, Mansour
• Application Number:
  US13/918,746
• Publication Number:
  US 20140368444A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,216 Days
• Field of Search: 345173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

The techniques described herein are directed to a computing device that receives data from an indirect input device. The data received may indicate or signal that one or more objects are on or within a detection area of the indirect input device. For example, the data may indicate that one or more objects are in contact with a surface of an indirect touch device. The techniques include determining parameters for the one or more objects and analyzing the parameters to determine whether the data is directed to a touch operation or to a mouse operation. To perform the touch operation or the mouse operation, the techniques further describe converting the data received from a first coordinate space of the indirect input device to a second coordinate space of a display screen.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a computing device from an indirect touch input device and in association with execution of an application configured to receive direct touch input, data indicating detection of a plurality of objects, wherein the data represents at least a movement of an object of the plurality of objects detected by the indirect touch input device;

determining, based on the data, at least one parameter for the object of the plurality of objects;

analyzing, by the computing device, the at least one parameter to disambiguate between a mouse operation associated with a cursor on a display screen, a touch operation associated with a display of content on the display screen, and a system gesture input associated with an operating function of the computing device; and

converting the movement of the object of the plurality of objects for use in the application based at least in part on the analysis indicating the mouse operation, the touch operation, or the system gesture input.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter comprises an inter-arrival time of at least two objects of the plurality of objects, the method further comprising calculating the inter-arrival time based on timing information in the data that indicates an input detection time of a first object and an input detection time of a second object.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

defining an inter-arrival time threshold; and

comparing the inter-arrival time to the inter-arrival time threshold, wherein the computing device determines that the data is directed to the mouse operation if the inter-arrival time is more than the inter-arrival time threshold and that the data is directed to the touch operation if the inter-arrival time is less than or equal to the inter-arrival time threshold.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter comprises an inter-arrival distance of at least two objects of the plurality of objects, the method further comprising calculating the inter-arrival distance based on location information in the data that indicates a first position where the indirect touch input device detects input of a first object and a second position where the indirect touch input device detects input of a second object.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

defining an inter-arrival distance threshold; and

comparing the inter-arrival distance to the inter-arrival distance threshold, wherein the computing device determines that the data is directed to the mouse operation if the inter-arrival distance is more than the inter-arrival distance threshold and that the data is directed to the touch operation if the inter-arrival distance is less than or equal to the inter-arrival distance threshold.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a region of a detection area of the indirect touch input device where a first object of the plurality of objects initiates input.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the converting the movement of the object of the plurality of objects further comprises converting the movement to a corresponding representation of movement on the display screen based on at least one of a size of a detection area of the indirect touch input device, a size of the display screen, or a resolution of the display screen.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating an absolute distance that separates inputs of at least two objects of the plurality of objects relative to the indirect touch input device based at least in part on a size of a detection area of the indirect touch input device and mapping the absolute distance to a corresponding pixel distance on a display screen based on at least one of a size of the display screen or a resolution of the display screen.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating an absolute distance of movement of input of the object of the plurality of objects relative to the indirect touch input device based at least in part on a size of a detection area of the indirect touch input device and mapping the absolute distance of movement to a corresponding distance of pixel movement on the display screen based on at least one of a size of the display screen or a resolution of the display screen.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing the at least one parameter to disambiguate between the mouse operation, the touch operation and the system gesture input comprises determining whether the at least one parameter includes a gesture criterion.

11. One or more computer storage media storing computer executable instructions that, when executed, configure a computer to perform operations comprising:

executing an application configured to receive direct touch input;

receiving data indicating detection of a plurality of objects in a detection area of an indirect touch input device, the data including location information and timing information for at least one object of the plurality of objects;

determining, based on at least one of the location information or the timing information, at least one parameter for the at least one object;

disambiguating between touch input associated with a display of content on a display screen, mouse input associated with a cursor on the display screen, and system gesture input associated with a system operation of the computer based on the at least one parameter; and

converting the data for presentation in association with the application based at least in part on whether the movement is directed to the touch input, the mouse input, or the system gesture input.

12. The one or more computer storage media of claim 11, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a movement distance of at the least one object, and the operations further comprise calculating the movement distance of the at least one object based on the location information in the data that indicates a first position where the indirect touch input device detects the at least one object and a second position where the indirect touch input device detects the at least one object.

13. The one or more computer storage media of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise:

defining a movement distance threshold based at least in part on an application being executed on the computing device; and

comparing the movement distance to the movement distance threshold to determine whether the data received from the indirect touch input device is directed to the mouse operation, the touch operation, or the system gesture input.

14. The one or more computer storage media of claim 11, wherein the at least one parameter comprises an input duration of the at least one object, and the operations further comprise calculating the input duration of the at least one object based on the timing information in the data that indicates a first detection time associated with initiation of input of the at least one object a second detection time associated with termination of the input of the at least one object.

15. The one or more computer storage media of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

defining an input duration threshold based at least in part on an application being executed on the computing device; and

comparing the input duration to the input duration threshold to determine whether the data received from the indirect touch input device is directed to the mouse operation, the touch operation, or the system gesture input.

16. The one or more computer storage media of claim 11, wherein the at least one parameter is associated with at least one of:

an inter-arrival time of at least two objects;

an inter-arrival distance of the at least two objects;

a region of the detection area of the indirect touch input device where detection of the at least one object is initiated;

an active button state of the indirect touch input device;

an application or a display window that currently has focus;

or

whether the indirect touch input device is associated with a state of inertia.

17. The one or more computer storage media of claim 11, wherein the data indicates the mouse input and the location information indicates that at least one object has moved from a first coordinate to a second coordinate, the operations further comprising:

calculating a distance between the first coordinate and the second coordinate based on a size of the detection area of the indirect touch input device;

mapping the distance to a corresponding pixel distance based on at least one of a resolution of a display screen or a size of the display screen; and

generating a message that includes the pixel distance so that a mouse operation can be performed based on the mouse input.

18. The one or more computer storage media of claim 11, wherein the data indicates the touch input and the location information indicates detection coordinates for each of a first object and a second object, the operations further comprising:

calculating a distance of separation between the first object and the second object based on the detection coordinates and a size of the detection area of the indirect touch input device;

mapping the distance to a corresponding pixel distance based on at least one of a resolution of a display screen or a size of the display screen; and

generating a message that includes the pixel distance so that a touch operation can be performed based on the touch input.

19. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more computer memories;

a disambiguation module configured to;

receive data indicating movement of at least one object from a plurality of objects in a detection area of an indirect touch input device; and

determine whether the movement is directed to a mouse operation or to a touch operation, wherein the mouse operation is initiated in a first portion of the detection area and is associated with a cursor on a display screen and the touch operation is initiated in a second portion of the detection area and is associated with a display of content on the display screen; and

a conversion module configured to convert the data indicating the movement from a first coordinate space associated with the indirect touch input device to a second coordinate space associated with an application configured to receive direct touch input that implements the mouse operation or the touch operation, wherein;

the disambiguation module and the conversion module are stored on the one or more memories and operable on the one or more processors, and

the conversion module operable to convert the data based at least in part on whether the movement is directed to the mouse operation or the touch operation.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the first coordinate space associated with the indirect touch input device corresponds to the detection area of the indirect input device, and wherein the second coordinate space corresponds to a display location associated with the application.