Dynamic touchscreen button adjustment mechanism

• US 5,565,894 A
• Filed: 11/25/1994
• Issued: 10/15/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bates, Cary L., Watts, Byron T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Kuntz, Curtis
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHIN, VIVIAN C
• Application Number:
  US08/345,266
• Time in Patent Office: 690 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173, 345/174-178, 178/18, 178/19
• US Class Current: 345/178
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0418 for error correction or compensation, e.g. based on parallax, calibration or alignment

Abstract

A computer based touchscreen includes a mechanism for displaying buttons on the touchscreen indicating the location where an user has touched the touchscreen. Because different operators will view the buttons from different angles, they will touch the touchscreen in different positions. An initial button or series of buttons of the application that the user is using is configured to sense the location where the user is touching. These initial button(s) are called adjusting buttons. The button sensing regions for the remaining buttons (non-adjusting buttons) are calibrated from these initial touched locations. For example, if the user tends to press high and to the right of the adjusting button(s), the orientation of the button sensing regions for the remaining buttons is calibrated high and to the right. Any screen that displays buttons can be used to calibrate or recalibrate the button sensing region for subsequent non-adjusting buttons. This allows for greater accuracy should the users change their view or angle of the touchscreen as they use the application. Thus, the computer dynamically adjusts the orientation of a touchscreen button'"'"'s sensing region based on the location that the user has pressed for previous buttons. This dynamic adjustment allows a high density of buttons to be displayed on the touchscreen.

Claims

1. A touchscreen apparatus for receiving instructions from a user, comprising:

means for displaying a first button on the touchscreen, the first button having a first sensing region, wherein the first button is pressed when the user touches within the first sensing region;

means for receiving an indication that the user touched the touchscreen at a first location;

means for determining that the first location is within the first sensing region of the first button;

means for calculating a first factor based on the distance of the first location from the center of the first sensing region;

means for displaying a second button on the touchscreen, the second button having a second sensing region, wherein the second button is pressed when the user touches within the second sensing region;

means for receiving an indication that the user touched the touchscreen at a second location;

means for determining that the second location is within the sensing region of the second button;

means for calculating a second factor based on the distance of the second location from the center of the second sensing region, wherein the second factor is different from the first factor;

means for computing an adjustment factor by taking the average of the first factor and the second factor; and

means for displaying a third button on the touchscreen, the third button having a third sensing region at a location modified by the adjustment factor, wherein the third button is pressed when the user touches within the third sensing region.

2. The touchscreen apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

means for receiving an indication that the user touched the touchscreen at a third location; and

means for determining that the third location is within the sensing region of the third button; and

means for performing processing in response to the user pressing the third button.

3. A touchscreen apparatus for receiving instructions from a user, comprising:

means for displaying a first button on the touchscreen, the first button having a first sensing region, wherein the first button is pressed when the user touches within the first sensing region;

means for receiving an indication that the user touched the touchscreen at a first location;

means for determining that the first location is within the sensing region of the first button;

means for calculating a first factor based on the distance of the first location from the center of the first sensing region;

means for displaying a second button on the touchscreen, the second button having a second sensing region, wherein the second button is pressed when the user touches within the second sensing region;

means for receiving an indication that the user touched the touchscreen at a second location;

means for determining that the second location is within the sensing region of the second button;

means for calculating a second factor based on the distance of the second location from the center of the second sensing region, wherein the second factor is different from the first factor;

means for computing an adjustment factor by taking the average of the first factor and the second factor;

means for displaying a third button having a third sensing region, wherein the third button is pressed when the user touches within the third sensing region;

means for receiving an indication that the user touched the touchscreen at a third location;

means for remapping the third location into a remapped location based on the average of the first factor and the second factor;

means for determining that the remapped location is within the third sensing region; and

means for performing processing in response to the user pressing the third button.

4. A method of dynamically adjusting a sensing region on a touchscreen, comprising the machine executed steps of:

displaying a first button on a touchscreen, the first button having a first sensing region, wherein the first button is pressed when the user touches within the first sensing region;

receiving an indication that a user touched the touchscreen at a first location;

determining that the first location is within the first sensing region of the first button;

calculating a first factor based on the distance of the first location from the center of the first sensing region;

displaying a second button on the touchscreen, the second button having a second sensing region, wherein the second button is pressed when the user touches within the second sensing region;

receiving an indication that the user touched the touchscreen at a second location;

determining that the second location is within the sensing region of the second button;

calculating a second factor based on the distance of the second location from the center of the second sensing region, wherein the second factor is different from the first factor;

computing an adjustment factor by taking the average of the first factor and the second factor; and

displaying a third button on the touchscreen, the third button having a third sensing region at a location modified by from the adjustment factor, wherein the third button is pressed when the user touches within the third sensing region.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving an indication that the user touched the touchscreen at a third location;

determining that the third location is within the sensing region of the third button; and

performing processing in response to the user pressing the third button.

6. A method of dynamically adjusting a sensing region on a touchscreen,

comprising the machine executed steps of:

displaying a first button on the touchscreen, the first button having a first sensing region, wherein the first button is pressed when the user touches within the first sensing region;

receiving an indication that an user touched the touchscreen at a first location;

determining that the first location is within the sensing region of the first button;

calculating a first factor based on the distance of the first location from the center of the first sensing region;

displaying a second button on the touchscreen, the second button having a second sensing region, wherein the second button is pressed when the user touches within the second sensing region;

receiving an indication that the user touched the touchscreen at a second location;

determining that the second location is within the sensing region of the second button;

calculating a second factor based on the distance of the second location from the center of the second sensing region, wherein the second factor is different from the first factor;

computing an adjustment factor by taking the average of the first factor and the second factor;

displaying a third button on the touchscreen, the third button having a third sensing region, wherein the third button is pressed when the user touches within the third sensing region;

receiving an indication that the user touched the touchscreen at a third location;

remapping the third location into a remapped location based on the adjustment factor;

determining that the remapped location is within the third sensing region; and

performing processing in response to the user pressing the third button.