HIGH PARAMETER-COUNT TOUCH-PAD CONTROLLER

• US 20120223903A1
• Filed: 05/14/2012
• Published: 09/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/1998
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Advance Touchscreen And Gesture Technologies, LLC
• Original Assignee: Advance Touchscreen And Gesture Technologies, LLC
• Inventors: Ludwig, Lester F.
• Application Number:
  US13/470,725
• Publication Number:
  US 20120223903A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/005 Input arrangements through a video camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/00 Details of electrophonic musical instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0058 Transmission between separate instruments or between individual components of a musical system G10H1/0083 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0066 using a MIDI interface
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/348 Switches actuated by parts of the body other than fingers
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/46 Volume control
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/521 Hall effect transducers or similar magnetic field sensing semiconductor devices, e.g. for string vibration sensing or key movement sensing
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2220/525 Piezoelectric transducers for vibration sensing or vibration excitation in the audio range; Piezoelectric strain sensing, e.g. as key velocity sensor; Piezoelectric actuators, e.g. key actuation in response to a control voltage
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2230/095 Spint zither, i.e. mimicking any neckless stringed instrument in which the strings do not extend beyond the sounding board
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2230/101 Spint koto, i.e. mimicking any traditional asian-style plucked zither with movable bridges
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2230/115 Spint sitar, i.e. mimicking any long-necked plucked string instrument with a large number of additional non-playable sympathetic resonating strings or an additional gourd-like resonating chamber
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2230/145 Spint guitar keyboard, i.e. mimicking a combination of a guitar-like instrument, with or without strings, and a piano-like keyboard, e.g. with white and black keys arranged like on a piano
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2230/271 Spint gong, i.e. mimicking circular flat, nippled or bowl-shaped metallic percussion instruments G10H2230/321 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 3/18 using a string, e.g. electric guitar mechanical features G10D1/085
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 3/26 : using electric feedback
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 84/10 : Feedback

Abstract

An apparatus including a touch user interface device including a sensor array configured to sense spatial information associated with one or more contiguous regions of contact and a processing device in communication with the touch user interface device configured to discern a first contiguous region of contact corresponding to a first finger from the one or more contiguous regions of contact, determine a first spatial distribution profile of the first contiguous region at a first time, determine a second spatial distribution profile of the first contiguous region at a second time, analyze a shape variation of the second spatial distribution profile in comparison to the first spatial distribution profile to determine a rotational movement of the first finger, generate a control signal in response to the detected rotational movement.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a touch user interface device including a sensor array configured to sense spatial information associated with one or more contiguous regions of contact with parts of the human hand;

a processing device in communication with the touch user interface device configured to;

discern a first contiguous region of contact corresponding to a first finger from the one or more contiguous regions of contact;

determine a first spatial distribution profile of the first contiguous region at a first time;

determine a second spatial distribution profile of the first contiguous region at a second time;

analyze a shape variation of the second spatial distribution profile in comparison to the first spatial distribution profile to determine a rotational movement of the first finger;

generate a control signal in response to the detected rotational movement.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rotational movement includes a rocking backwards or forwards of the first finger component, a pivoting left or right of the first finger component, and a rotational twisting about the length of the first finger component.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the step of analyzing the shape variation of the second spatial distribution profile in comparison to the first spatial distribution profile to determine the rotational movement of the first finger further comprises:

determining a first contact pattern of the first spatial distribution profile;

using pattern recognition to recognize the first contact pattern as corresponding to a first orientation of the first finger;

determining a second contact pattern of the second spatial distribution profile;

using pattern recognition to recognize the second contact pattern as corresponding to a second orientation of the first finger; and

comparing the second orientation of the first finger to the first orientation of the first finger to determine the rotational movement of the first finger.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing device is further configured to:

analyze a translational variation on the surface of the sensor array of the position of the second spatial distribution profile in comparison to the position of the first spatial distribution profile to determine a translational movement of the first finger,

wherein the translational movement includes a left-right component and a forward-backward component; and

generate a second control signal in response to the detected translational movement.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing device is further configured to:

analyze a pressure variance of the second spatial distribution profile in comparison to the first spatial distribution profile to determine a variance of overall pressure of the first finger; and

generate a second control signal in response to the detected variance of overall pressure.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processing device is further configured to:

train the apparatus to recognize a set of spatial distribution profiles corresponding to a set of finger orientations of a specific user; and

store the set of spatial distribution profiles corresponding to the specific user,

wherein the analysis step further comprises;

recalling the set of spatial distribution profiles corresponding to the specific user;

comparing the first spatial distribution profile with the set of spatial distribution profiles to determine a first orientation of the first finger;

comparing the second spatial distribution profile with the set of spatial distribution profiles to determine a second orientation of the first finger; and

comparing the second orientation of the first finger to the first orientation of the first finger to determine the rotational movement of the first finger.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a display, wherein the touch user interface device is transparent and positioned over the display.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein if the sensor array senses more than one contiguous regions of contact, the processing device is configured to determine the rotational movement of the first contiguous region independent of considering any other contiguous regions.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the finger is not a thumb.

10. A computer-implemented method for generating a control signal based spatial information associated with one or more contiguous regions of contact with parts of the human hand as sensed by a sensor array of a touch user interface device, the method comprising:

discerning a first contiguous region of contact corresponding to a first finger from the one or more contiguous regions of contact;

determining a first spatial distribution profile of the first contiguous region at a first time;

determining a second spatial distribution profile of the first contiguous region at a second time;

analyzing a shape variation of the second spatial distribution profile in comparison to the first spatial distribution profile to determine a rotational movement of the first finger;

generating a control signal in response to the detected rotational movement.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the rotational movement includes a rocking backwards or forwards of the first finger component, a pivoting left or right of the first finger component, and a rotational twisting about the length of the first finger component.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of analyzing the shape variation of the second spatial distribution profile in comparison to the first spatial distribution profile to determine the rotational movement of the first finger further comprises:

determining a first contact pattern of the first spatial distribution profile;

using pattern recognition to recognize the first contact pattern as corresponding to a first orientation of the first finger;

determining a second contact pattern of the second spatial distribution profile;

using pattern recognition to recognize the second contact pattern as corresponding to a second orientation of the first finger; and

comparing the second orientation of the first finger to the first orientation of the first finger to determine the rotational movement of the first finger.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

analyzing a translational variation on the surface of the sensor array of the position of the second spatial distribution profile in comparison to the position of the first spatial distribution profile to determine a translational movement of the first finger,

wherein the translational movement includes a left-right component and a forward-backward component; and

generating a second control signal in response to the detected translational movement.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

analyzing a pressure variance of the second spatial distribution profile in comparison to the first spatial distribution profile to determine a variance of overall pressure of the first finger; and

generating a second control signal in response to the detected variance of overall pressure.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

training the apparatus to recognize a set of spatial distribution profiles corresponding to a set of finger orientations of a specific user; and

storing the set of spatial distribution profiles corresponding to the specific user,

wherein the analyzing step further comprises;

recalling the set of spatial distribution profiles corresponding to the specific user;

comparing the first spatial distribution profile with the set of spatial distribution profiles to determine a first orientation of the first finger;

comparing the second spatial distribution profile with the set of spatial distribution profiles to determine a second orientation of the first finger; and

comparing the second orientation of the first finger to the first orientation of the first finger to determine the rotational movement of the first finger.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the touch user interface device further comprising a display, and wherein the touch user interface device is transparent and positioned over the display.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein if the sensor array senses more than one contiguous regions of contact, the method further comprises determining the rotational movement of the first contiguous region independent of considering any other contiguous regions.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the finger is not a thumb.