Device and method for generating a virtual keyboard/display

• US 20040125147A1
• Filed: 04/23/2003
• Published: 07/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Inventors: Chen, Chun-Jung, Liu, Chen-Hao
• Granted Patent: US 7,215,327 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/773
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0423 using sweeping light beams, e.g. using rotating or vibrating mirror
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0426 tracking fingers with respect to a virtual keyboard projected or printed on the surface virtual keyboards on touch screens G06F3/04886

Abstract

The specification discloses a device and method for generating a virtual keyboard/display. By means of optical scanning, a virtual display/keyboard is generated on a physical plane through a scan laser switch. Using the code reading technology, the key position entered by the user can be read and transmitted to a computer. The disclosed device includes a first laser emitter, a second laser emitter, and a laser receiver. The disclosed method has the following steps. First, the first laser emitter performs a surface scan to generate the patterns of the keyboard/display. The second laser emitter simultaneously generates a first reflective beam and a second reflective beam when the user enters input using the virtual keyboard. Finally, the laser receiver receives the first and second reflective beams, thereby obtaining the signals entered by the user.

Claims

1. A device for generating virtual keyboard/display on a physical plane that displays colors for producing a keyboard/display pattern and for entering input data, the device comprising:

a first laser emitter, which emits a visible laser beam, produces during a surface scanning process the patterns of the keyboard/display through the on and off of a switch, and results in a first reflective beam when a user uses the keyboard for input;

a second laser emitter, which emits an invisible laser beam, performs a line scan at a distance in parallel with the physical plane, and the line scan angular speed is the same as that of the first laser emitter, resulting in a second reflective beam when the user uses the keyboard for input; and

a laser receiver, which receives the first reflective beam and the second reflective beam to obtain the user'"'"'s input signals.

2. The device of claim 1 further comprising:

two laser diodes, which simultaneously emit two beams traveling in the same direction but having different wavelengths;

a first rotational multi-face mirror, which reflects the beam to produce a scanning beam;

a beam splitter, which produce an upper beam and a lower beam from the scanning beam, the lower beam performing a horizontal scan; and

a second rotational multi-face mirror, which reflects the upper beam to perform a surface scan.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the distance ranges from 0.3 cm to 0.8 cm.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the first laser emitter also emits an invisible laser beam for producing the keyboard/display patterns through a surface scan, a user uses a filter to observe the produced image, and a first reflective beam of the invisible laser beam is produced when the user uses the keyboard for input.

5. A method for generating virtual keyboard/display for producing the patterns of the keyboard/display on a physical plane and for entering input data, the method comprising the steps of:

using a first laser emitter to perform a surface scan, wherein the keyboard/display patterns are produced through the on and off of a switch in the first laser emitter and a first reflective beam is produced when a user uses the keyboard for input;

using a second laser emitter to perform a line scan, wherein the line scan is at a distance in parallel with the physical plane, has an angular speed the same as that of the first laser emitter, and a second reflective beam is produced when the user uses the keyboard for input; and

using a laser receiver to receive the first reflective beam and the second reflective beam when the user uses the keyboard for input from which the corresponding input signals are obtained through an analysis procedure.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the analysis procedure includes the steps of:

separating the first reflective beam from the second reflective beam;

determining a set of coordinates of the key pressed by the user from the first reflective beam and the second reflective beam;

determining the input signal from the set of coordinates; and

transmitting the signal to a computer.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first reflective beam and the second reflective beam are seperated by the beam frequency.