HYBRID POINTING DEVICE

• US 20110102319A1
• Filed: 04/30/2010
• Published: 05/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PixArt Imaging Incorporated
• Original Assignee: PixArt Imaging Incorporated
• Inventors: CHANG, Yen Min, KO, Yi Hsien, HSU, Yao Ching, LIN, Cho Yi
• Granted Patent: US 8,730,169 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/158
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03543 Mice or pucks G06F3/03541 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0425 using a single imaging device like a video camera for tracking the absolute position of a single or a plurality of objects with respect to an imaged reference surface, e.g. video camera imaging a display or a projection screen, a table or a wall surface, on which a computer generated image is displayed or projected tracking a projected light spot to determine a position on a display surface G06F3/0386
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0428 by sensing at the edges of the touch surface the interruption of optical paths, e.g. an illumination plane, parallel to the touch surface which may be virtual sensing beam interruptions in a planar beam grid of an optical touch-screen G06F3/0421

Abstract

The present invention discloses a hybrid pointing device including an optical navigation module and a pointing module. The optical navigation module is configured to replace the conventional buttons of a convention pointing device, such as an optical mouse or a trackball mouse. The optical navigation module is configured to sense gestures of at least one object operated by a user to activate commands associated with particular programs running on the host. Since the optical navigation module is only configured to sense gestures of the object but not the movement of the hybrid pointing device relative to a surface, the resolution thereof is aimed to be sufficiently high enough for sensing gestures and no need to be relatively high.

Claims

1. A hybrid pointing device, for being operated by a user on a surface, the hybrid pointing device comprising:

a first module, configured to sense a movement of the hybrid pointing device relative to the surface;

a second module, comprising;

at least one light source, configured to emit light; and

at least one image sensor, configured to capture an image containing at least one interruption of at least one object operated by the user from blocking the light emitted by the light source; and

a processor, configured to identify gestures of the object according to a variation of the interruption on the image.

2. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first module is an optical mouse module or a trackball mouse module.

3. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 2, wherein when the first module is an optical mouse, the first module shares the light source with the second module or comprises an individual light source.

4. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second module comprises two image sensors each capturing a line image containing at least one interruption of at least one object operated by the user from blocking the light source;

wherein the processor identifies gestures of the object according to a position variation of the interruption on each line image.

5. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second module comprises one image sensor and a reflector disposing inside a field of view of the image sensor to reflect the light emitted by the light source;

wherein the image sensor captures a line image containing at least one interruption of at least one object operated by the user from blocking the light reflected by the reflector and at least one virtual interruption in the reflector mapped from the object operated by the user.

6. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the light source is a linear light source and the reflector is a mirror.

7. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 6, wherein the light source comprises at least one passive light source and at least one active light source.

8. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor also calculates the movement sensed by the first module.

9. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a touch plate for the user to operate the object thereon and a transmission interface unit for transmitting the movement sensed by the first module to a display for moving a pointer on the display and for transmitting commands corresponding to gestures of the object identified by the processor for activating particular programs running on a host.

10. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 9, wherein when the processor identifies a particular gesture, the second module activates a command for limiting the moving direction of the pointer on the display, for directly moving the pointer, for increasing the moving speed of the pointer, or for directly moving the pointer in a limited range with the assistance of at least one key on a keyboard.

11. A hybrid pointing device, for being operated by a user on a surface, the hybrid pointing device comprising:

a first module, configured to sense a movement of the hybrid pointing device relative to the surface;

a second module, comprising;

a light source, configured to emit light; and

an image sensor, configured to capture an image containing at least one light spot of at least one object operated by the user from reflecting the light emitted by the light source; and

a processor, configured to identify gestures according to a position information of the light spot on the image.

12. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the first module is an optical mouse module or a trackball mouse module.

13. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the processor also calculates the movement sensed by the first module.

14. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 11, further comprising a touch plate for the user to operate the object thereon and the touch plate is transparent to the light emitted by the light source.

15. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the position information of the light spot on the image is retrieved from a look-up table formed by dividing a field of view of the image sensor into a matrix of many sub-areas.

16. A hybrid pointing device, for being operated by a user on a surface, the hybrid pointing device comprising:

a first module, configured to sense a movement of the hybrid pointing device relative to the surface; and

a second module, comprising;

an image sensor, configured to capture an image containing at least one shadow of at least one object operated by the user from blocking the ambient light; and

a processor, configured to identify gestures of the object according to a position variation of the shadow on the image.

17. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 16, wherein the first module is an optical mouse module or a trackball mouse module.

18. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 16, wherein the processor also calculates the movement sensed by the first module.

19. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 16, further comprising a touch plate for the user to operate the object thereon and the touch plate is transparent to visible light or is formed with a plurality of through holes thereon for light transmission.

20. The hybrid pointing device as claimed in claim 16, wherein the position of the shadow on the image is formed as a look-up table such that the processor identifies gestures of the object according to the position information of the shadow on the image retrieved from the look-up table.