ADAPTABLE ACTUATED INPUT DEVICE WITH INTEGRATED PROXIMITY DETECTION
First Claim
1. A hardware input device for facilitating an interaction between an electronic system and a user, the hardware input device comprising:
- a plurality of input elements, each of the input elements being capable of actuation by the user and having an associated sensor for transmitting a first input signal to the electronic system in response to said actuation; and
a set of proximity sensors, for transmitting at least a second input signal to the computing system in response to an object whose presence is detected by at least one of the proximity sensors,wherein one or more of the proximity sensors are co-located with one or more of the input elements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A hardware input device is disclosed in which at least two modes of manual user input can be provided within the same surface area of the device, including actuating or pressing multiple keys or buttons etc. as well as touch and/or gesturing by the user. A disclosed embodiment has actuated keys/buttons with associated sensors for detecting actuation; a second set of sensors for detecting proximity e.g. of a user'"'"'s extremities is co-located on the input device. In one embodiment, infrared sensors for proximity detection are integrated with the traditional plastic keys/buttons of a computer keyboard or other personal electronics device. In some embodiments, the elevation of actuated input elements can be controlled by a processor, so that the physical configuration of keys/buttons available to the user can be dynamically reconfigured under program control. Methods are disclosed for using the input device to facilitate a heads-up style of interaction.
39 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A hardware input device for facilitating an interaction between an electronic system and a user, the hardware input device comprising:
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a plurality of input elements, each of the input elements being capable of actuation by the user and having an associated sensor for transmitting a first input signal to the electronic system in response to said actuation; and a set of proximity sensors, for transmitting at least a second input signal to the computing system in response to an object whose presence is detected by at least one of the proximity sensors, wherein one or more of the proximity sensors are co-located with one or more of the input elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An interactive electronic system, comprising:
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a processor; and a hardware input device communicatively coupled to the processor and comprising;
(a) a plurality of input elements, each of the input elements being capable of actuation by the user and having an associated sensor for transmitting a first signal to the processor in response to said actuation, and (b) a set of one or more proximity sensors, for transmitting a second signal to the processor in response to an object whose presence is detected by at least one of the proximity sensors,wherein one or more of the proximity sensors are co-located in the hardware input device with one or more of the input elements. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for facilitating an interaction between an electronic system and a user, said electronic system including a display, an input device having one or more user-manipulated input controls, and one or more sensors for detecting presence of an object, the method comprising:
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detecting, by the sensors, at least one extremity of the user located proximate to the user-manipulated input controls; displaying, on the display, a visual depiction of a position of the user'"'"'s extremity relative to one or more of the user-manipulated input controls. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification