REMOTE MULTI-TOUCH

• US 20120293449A1
• Filed: 05/19/2011
• Published: 11/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Dietz, Paul
• Granted Patent: US 9,152,288 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/045 using resistive elements, e.g. a single continuous surface or two parallel surfaces put in contact

Abstract

A remote multi-touch system includes a pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device, a display separate from the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device, and a controller communicatively coupled to the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device and the display. The pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device measures a position at which one or more touches are executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device and, for each of the one or more touches, a force with which that touch is executed. The controller receives a touch report for each of the one or more touches from the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device. Each touch report indicates the position at which that touch is executed and the force with which that touch is executed. The controller outputs to the display a pre-touch visualization command for displaying a pre-touch visualization. The pre-touch visualization is displayed at a location of the display mapped from the position at which that touch is executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device.

Claims

1. A data-holding subsystem holding instructions executable by a logic subsystem to:

receive a touch report for each of one or more touches executed on a pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device, each touch report indicating a position at which that touch is executed and a force with which that touch is executed; and

if a force with which a touch is executed is below an activation threshold, outputting a pre-touch visualization command for displaying a pre-touch visualization at a location of a display mapped from the position at which that touch is executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device.

2. The data-holding subsystem of claim 1, wherein the pre-touch visualization commands for each of the one or more touches are collectively configured to display pre-touch visualizations for all touches concurrently executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device.

3. The data-holding subsystem of claim 1, wherein the pre-touch visualizations are virtual fingertips.

4. The data-holding subsystem of claim 1, wherein the activation threshold is selectively variable.

5. The data-holding subsystem of claim 4, wherein the activation threshold is selectively variable between at least a higher relative threshold and a lower relative threshold, the higher relative threshold used before a force with which a touch is executed initially exceeds the higher relative threshold, and the lower relative threshold used after the force exceeds the higher relative threshold.

6. The data-holding subsystem of claim 1, wherein the touch report for each of the one or more touches is an aspect of a common data structure received from the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device.

7. The data-holding subsystem of claim 1, wherein the touch report for each of the one or more touches is embodied as an aspect of a signal received from the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device.

8. The data-holding subsystem of claim 1, wherein the touch report for each of the one or more touches includes a value indicating a variable resistance of the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device at a position of the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device where that touch is executed.

9. The data-holding subsystem of claim 1, further holding instructions executable by the logic subsystem to output a touch input command indicating the position at which a touch is executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device if a force with which that touch is executed is above the activation threshold.

10. The data-holding subsystem of claim 1, further holding instructions executable by the logic subsystem to output a haptic feedback signal to the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device for providing haptic feedback to a user when a force with which a touch is executed exceeds the activation threshold.

11. A remote multi-touch system, comprising:

a pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device to measure a position at which one or more touches are executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device and, for each of the one or more touches, a force with which that touch is executed;

a display separate from the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device; and

a controller communicatively coupled to the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device and the display, the controller configured to receive from the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device a touch report for each of the one or more touches, each touch report indicating the position at which that touch is executed and the force with which that touch is executed, the controller further configured to output to the display a pre-touch visualization command for displaying a pre-touch visualization at a location of the display mapped from the position at which that touch is executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device.

12. The remote multi-touch system of claim 11, wherein the controller is further configured to output a touch input command indicating the position at which a touch is executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device if a force with which that touch is executed is above an activation threshold.

13. A data-holding subsystem holding instructions executable by a logic subsystem to:

receive a first touch report for a first touch executed on a pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device, the first touch report indicating a position at which the first touch is executed and a force with which the first touch is executed;

if a force with which the first touch is executed is below a first activation threshold, outputting a first pre-touch visualization command for displaying a first pre-touch visualization at a first location of the display mapped from the position at which the first touch is executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device;

if the force with which the first touch is executed is above the first activation threshold, outputting a first touch input command indicating the position at which the first touch is executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device;

receive a second touch report for a second touch executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device, the second touch report indicating a position at which the second touch is executed and a force with which the second touch is executed;

if a force with which the second touch is executed is below a second activation threshold, outputting a second pre-touch visualization command for displaying a second pre-touch visualization at a second location of the display mapped from the position at which the second touch is executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device; and

if the force with which the second touch is executed is above the second activation threshold, outputting a second touch input command indicating the position at which the second touch is executed on the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device.

14. The data-holding subsystem of claim 13, wherein the first touch and the second touch are concurrently executed and the first pre-touch visualization and the second pre-touch visualization are concurrently displayed while the first touch and the second touch are executed.

15. The data-holding subsystem of claim 13, wherein the first pre-touch visualization and the second pre-touch visualization are virtual fingertips.

16. The data-holding subsystem of claim 13, wherein the first activation threshold is equal to the second activation threshold.

17. The data-holding subsystem of claim 13, wherein the first activation threshold and the second activation threshold are selectively variable.

18. The data-holding subsystem of claim 13, wherein the first activation threshold and the second activation threshold are selectively variable independent of one another.

19. The data-holding subsystem of claim 13, wherein each of the first activation threshold and the second activation threshold is selectively variable between at least a higher relative threshold and a lower relative threshold, the higher relative threshold used before a force with which a touch is executed initially exceeds the higher relative threshold, and the lower relative threshold used after the force exceeds the higher relative threshold.

20. The data-holding subsystem of claim 13, further holding instructions executable by the logic subsystem to output a haptic feedback signal to the pressure-sensitive, multi-touch device for providing haptic feedback to a user when a force with which a touch is executed exceeds an activation threshold.