Touch-Based User Interface User Operation Accuracy Enhancement

• US 20110109572A1
• Filed: 09/21/2010
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bose Corporation
• Original Assignee: Bose Corporation
• Inventors: Sakalowsky, John Michael, Carvajal, Santiago, Deslippe, Mark H.
• Granted Patent: US 8,350,820 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

A user interface for an audio/visual device incorporates a touch sensor having multiple adjacently positioned control surfaces defined thereon by a processing device in which adjacent ones of the control surfaces share boundaries by which a user may move a tip of a digit from one of the control surfaces directly to an adjacent one of the control surfaces by moving that tip across a boundary shared between them, and in which the surface area of whichever one of the control surfaces a user'"'"'s finger overlies at a given moment is expanded in size to increase the distance by which the user must move that tip to reposition that tip from overlying that one of the control surfaces to overlying an adjacent one, and is reduced in size to a size corresponding to an absolute mapping when a person does so move that tip.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a touch sensor having a touch-sensitive surface that is manually operable with a digit of a hand of a user;

a processing device; and

a storage accessible to the processing device and storing a sequence of instructions that when executed by the processing device, causes the processing device to;

define a plurality of control surfaces on the touch-sensitive surface at adjacent positions that form a geometric shape, that enable a user to move a tip of the digit across the touch-sensitive surface in a manner that moves from one of the control surfaces of the plurality of control surfaces to another of the control surfaces of the plurality of control surfaces, and that enables the user to so move the tip to cross a boundary shared by the one of the control surfaces and the other of the control surfaces;

receive an indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor at a position overlying a surface area of a first control surface of the plurality of control surfaces;

in response to the indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at the position;

cause a marker to be visually displayed at a first location on a menu in the vicinity of a first menu item, wherein the menu is visually displayed on a display element; and

shift a first boundary shared by the first control surface with a second control surface of the plurality of control surfaces into a surface area of the second control surface to expand the surface area of the first control surface to increase a distance by which the user must move the tip to cause the tip to cease to overlie the first control surface and cause the tip to overlie the second control surface;

receive an indication of the position at which the digit touches the touch-sensitive surface being moved from overlying the surface area of the first control surface to overlying the surface area of the second control surface; and

in response to the indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at the position;

cause the marker to be visually displayed at a second location on the menu in the vicinity of a second menu item; and

shift the first boundary shared by the first control surface with the second control surface into the surface area of the first control surface to expand the surface area of the second control surface to increase a distance by which the user must move the tip to cause the tip to cease to overlie the second control surface and cause the tip to overlie the first control surface.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:

the geometric shape formed by the plurality of control surfaces is a ring shape such that the plurality of control surfaces form a racetrack surface; and

the menu has a geometric shape that mirrors the ring shape formed by the plurality of control surfaces such that the menu is a racetrack menu.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sequence of instructions further causes the processing device to, in response to the indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at the position, shift a second boundary shared by the second control surface with a third control surface of the plurality of control surfaces into a surface area of the third control surface to at least partially maintain the surface area of the second control surface as the first boundary is shifted into the surface area of the second control surface to increase a distance by which the user must move the tip to cause the tip to cease to overlie the first control surface, cause the tip to pass over the second control surface and cause the tip to overlie the third control surface.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising in response to the indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at the position, shifting a second boundary shared by the second control surface with a third control surface of the plurality of control surfaces into a surface area of the third control surface to at least partially maintain the surface area of the second control surface as the first boundary is shifted into the surface area of the second control surface to increase a distance by which the user must move the tip to cause the tip to cease to overlie the first control surface, cause the tip to pass over the second control surface and cause the tip to overlie the third control surface.

4. An method comprising:

defining a plurality of control surfaces on a touch-sensitive surface of a manually-operable touch sensor at adjacent positions that form a geometric shape, that enable a user to move a tip of the digit across the touch-sensitive surface in a manner that moves from one of the control surfaces of the plurality of control surfaces to another of the control surfaces of the plurality of control surfaces, and that enables the user to so move the tip to cross a boundary shared by the one of the control surfaces and the other of the control surfaces;

receiving an indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface of the touch sensor at a position overlying a surface area of a first control surface of the plurality of control surfaces;

in response to the indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at the position;

visually displaying a marker at a first location on a menu in the vicinity of a first menu item, wherein the menu is visually displayed on a display element; and

shifting a first boundary shared by the first control surface with a second control surface of the plurality of control surfaces into a surface area of the second control surface to expand the surface area of the first control surface to increase a distance by which the user must move the tip to cause the tip to cease to overlie the first control surface and cause the tip to overlie the second control surface;

receiving an indication of the position at which the digit touches the touch-sensitive surface being moved from overlying the surface area of the first control surface to overlying the surface area of the second control surface; and

in response to the indication of the digit touching the touch-sensitive surface at the position;

visually displaying the marker at a second location on the menu in the vicinity of a second menu item; and

shifting the first boundary shared by the first control surface with the second control surface into the surface area of the first control surface to expand the surface area of the second control surface to increase a distance by which the user must move the tip to cause the tip to cease to overlie the second control surface and cause the tip to overlie the first control surface.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein:

the geometric shape formed by the plurality of control surfaces is a ring shape such that the plurality of control surfaces form a racetrack surface; and

the menu has a geometric shape that mirrors the ring shape formed by the plurality of control surfaces such that the menu is a racetrack menu.