Input Through Sensing of User-Applied Forces

• US 20090184921A1
• Filed: 01/18/2008
• Published: 07/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Molloy, Michael G., Izadi, Shahram, Hodges, Stephen E., Scott, James W., Rosenfeld, Daniel A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,803,797 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1684 Constructional details or arrangements related to integrated I/O peripherals not covered by groups G06F1/1635 - G06F1/1675
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1636 Sensing arrangement for detection of a tap gesture on the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0202 Constructional details or processes of manufacture of the input device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04142 the force sensing means being located peripherally, e.g. disposed at the corners or at the side of a touch sensing plate

Abstract

Methods and devices for providing a user input to a device through sensing of user-applied forces are described. A user applies forces to a rigid body as if to deform it and these applied forces are detected by force sensors in or on the rigid body. The resultant force on the rigid body is determined from the sensor data and this resultant force is used to identify a user input. In an embodiment, the user input may be a user input to a software program running on the device. In an embodiment the rigid body is the rigid case of a computing device which includes a display and which is running the software program.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting a resultant force occurring in a rigid body of a device due to user applied forces;

mapping the resultant force to a user input to the device.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining an derived resultant force from the detected resultant force,

wherein the derived resultant force is mapped to a user input to the device.

3. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining if the resultant force exceeds a threshold; and

performing the mapping only if the threshold is exceeded.

4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining if any component of the resultant force exceeds a second threshold; and

providing feedback to a user if the second threshold is exceeded.

5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

providing feedback to a user following mapping of the resultant force to a user input.

6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

performing an action in a software program in response to the user input,

wherein the action has an associated visualization that is representative of the resultant force.

7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

defining the resultant force in terms of a set of input force actions, and

wherein mapping the resultant force to a user input to the device comprises;

mapping the resultant force to a user input based on a definition of the resultant force in terms of the set of input force actions and based on a magnitude of the resultant force.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the mapping is dependent on at least one of a direction and a magnitude of the resultant force.

9. A system comprising:

a rigid body;

at least one force sensor;

an analyzer arranged to determine a resultant force on the rigid body from outputs from the at least one force sensor; and

a mapping module arranged to map the resultant force to a user input to the system.

10. A system according to claim 9, wherein the system is a computing device, the rigid body comprises a rigid case of the computing device and the user input is a user input to a software program running on the device.

11. A system according to claim 9, further comprising:

a proxy device comprising the rigid body and the at least one force sensor; and

a computing device having a display and arranged to run a software program, and wherein the user input is a user input to the software program.

12. A system according to claim 11, wherein the proxy device comprises a cover for the computing device.

13. A system according to claim 9, further comprising:

a display;

a processor; and

memory,

wherein the analyzer comprises executable instructions stored in the memory arranged, when executed, to cause the processor to determine the resultant force on the rigid body from outputs from the at least one force sensor, and

wherein the mapping module comprises executable instructions stored in the memory arranged, when executed, to cause the processor to map the resultant force to a user input to a software program.

14. A system according to claim 9, further comprising:

feedback means for providing feedback to a user when a force detected using the at least one force sensor exceeds a threshold.

15. A system according to claim 9, further comprising:

feedback means for providing a feedback signal to a user following mapping of a resultant force to a user input, and

wherein the mapping module is further arranged to trigger the feedback signal.

16. One or more tangible device-readable media with device-executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

detecting forces applied to a rigid body using at least one force sensor;

determining a resultant force on the rigid body; and

identifying a user input based on the resultant force.

17. One or more tangible device-readable media according to claim 16, wherein the user input has a magnitude dependent upon a magnitude of the resultant force.

18. One or more tangible device-readable media according to claim 16, further comprising:

controlling a software program using the user input.

19. One or more tangible device-readable media according to claim 16, wherein the rigid body comprises a body of a computing device and the user input comprises a user input to a software program running on the device.

20. One or more tangible device-readable media according to claim 19, wherein the software program comprises one of an operating system and application software.