Interactive apparatuses with tactiley enhanced visual imaging capability and related methods

• US 7,253,807 B2
• Filed: 09/25/2002
• Issued: 08/07/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Xevo, Inc. (Lear Corporation)
• Original Assignee: UIEvolution, Inc.
• Inventors: Nakajima, Satoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Hjerpe; Richard
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shapiro; Leonid
• Application Number:
  US10/255,876
• Publication Number:
  US 20040056877A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,777 Days
• Field of Search: 345173-174, 345/702, 200/521, 200/571, 340/825.19, 340/825, 715/702
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

An interactive apparatus is provided with a display, on which tactilely enhanced (TE) visual images may be rendered, to temporally realize a wide range of user input keys and/or user selectable menu/list items. In one embodiment, the display includes a flexible visual display layer and a tactile display layer, and the apparatus includes corresponding device drivers for controlling rendering on the respective layers. In one embodiment, the apparatus is further provided with graphics functions, which generate in response to a request to render a TE visual image, pixel and piston data of the TE visual image, in accordance with an image specification of the TE visual image, having tactile attributes of the tactile enhancements.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a touch sensitive visual display including a flexible visual display layer, a touch sensitive layer, and a tactile display layer, the flexible visual display layer configured to render visual images using a matrix of pixels, the touch sensitive layer, having a hollowed effective area, configured to provide touch sensing for non-tactilely enhanced visual images, and the tactile display layer, having an effective core area substantially aligned with the ineffective area of the touch sensitive layer, configured to tactilely enhance at least a portion of the rendered visual images using pistons and to detect contact with the rendered tactilely enhanced visual images;

a first display driver to control selective activation/deactivation of the pixels of the flexible visual display layer to facilitate rendering of visual images on the flexible visual display layer; and

a second display driver to control the pistons of the tactile display layer to facilitate complementary selective tactile indenting of different portions of a part of the flexible visual display layer that is complimentary to the effective core area of the tactile display layer, said selective tactile indenting to tactilely enhance at least a part of at least one of the rendered visual images.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tactilely enhanced visual images comprise dynamically formed non-persistent (DFNP) input keys.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the DFNP input keys comprise a DFNP input key group selection key to facilitate selection of one of a plurality of DFNP input key groups, each having one or more DFNP input keys.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the DFNP input key groups comprise at least two of a DFNP alphabet input key group, a DFNP numeric key group, a DFNP punctuation input key group, a DFNP special character input key group, and a DFNP function key group.

5. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the DFNP input keys comprise a selected one of DFNP alphabet input keys and DFNP numeric input keys.

6. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the DFNP input keys comprise a selected one of DFNP punctuation input keys and DFNP special character keys.

7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the DFNP input keys comprise a DFNP function key.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the DFNP function key is a selected one of a DFNP go up key, a DFNP go down key, a DFNP go left key and a DFNP go right key.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the DFNP function key is a selected one of a DFNP page up key and a DFNP page down key.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the DFNP function key is a selected one of a DFNP start key, a DFNP stop key, a DFNP forward key and a DFNP reverse key.

11. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the DFNP function key is a selected one of a DFNP select key, a DFNP channel up/down key, a DFNP volume up/down key, and a DFNP volume mute key.

12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the DFNP function key is a device selection key to facilitate selection of one of a plurality of devices controlled by the apparatus.

13. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the DFNP function key is a selected one of a DFNP call key and a DFNP end call key.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tactilely enhanced visual images comprise selected ones of user selectable menu items and user selectable list items.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a collection of graphics functions, communicatively coupled to the first and second device drivers, to facilitate an application in rendering the tactilely enhanced visual images, the graphics functions further adapted to determine if one or more of the rendered visual images are to be tactilely enhanced.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein at least one of the graphics functions is equipped to generate a plurality of pixel and piston data of the tactilely enhanced visual image to be rendered, based at least in part on an image specification specifying the tactilely enhanced visual image to be rendered.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the image specification comprises

an identification of the visual image to be rendered;

and

one or more tactile attribute specifications specifying one or more tactile attributes for tactile enhancements of the rendered visual image.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the tactile attributes comprise at least a selected one of a tactile pin height attribute, a tactile pin pattern attribute, and a tactile pin hardness attribute.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the tactile attributes comprise at least two of a tactile pin height attribute, a tactile pin pattern attribute, and a tactile pin hardness attribute.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the tactile attributes comprise at least a tactile pin height attribute, a tactile pin pattern attribute, and a tactile pin hardness attribute.

21. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises a third device driver to detect a user selection of a tactilely enhanced visual image.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the second and third device drivers are functions of the same device driver.

23. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a selected one of a multi-device remote control, a personal digital assistant, and a wireless mobile phone.

24. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a selected one of a palm sized computer, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a set-top box, and a media player.

25. A method comprising:

receiving a request for a graphics operation to render a visual image;

determining if the visual image is to be tactilely enhanced; and

if the visual image is to be tactilely enhanced, generating in response, a plurality of pixel and piston data for said tactilely enhanced visual image to be rendered, the pixel data for use by a flexible visual display layer of a display and piston data for use by a tactile display layer of the display, the tactile display layer having a effective core area corresponding to an ineffective area of a touch sensitive layer of the display.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein said generating comprises generating a plurality of pixel and piston data for said tactilely enhanced visual image to be rendered, based at least in part on an image specification specifying said tactilely enhanced visual image to be rendered.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the image specification comprises

an identification of the visual image to be rendered;

and

one or more tactile attribute specifications specifying one or more tactile attributes for tactile enhancements of the rendered visual image.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the tactile attributes comprise at least a selected one of a tactile pin height attribute, a tactile pin pattern attribute, and a tactile pin hardness attribute.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the tactile attributes comprise at least two of a tactile pin height attribute, a tactile pin pattern attribute, and a tactile pin hardness attribute.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein the tactile attributes comprise a tactile pin height attribute, a tactile pin pattern attribute, and a tactile pin hardness attribute.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises:

rendering the visual image on the flexible visual display layer using the generated pixel data; and

if the visual image rendered is to be tactilely enhanced, tactilely enhancing at least a portion of the rendered visual image on the effective core area of the tactile display layer using the generated piston data.

32. An apparatus comprising:

display means for displaying tactilely enhanced visual images and for detecting contact with the displayed tactilely enhanced visual images;

first control means for controlling selective activation/deactivation of pixels to facilitate rendering of visual images, the first control means controlling selective activation/deactivation of pixels to be made on a flexible visual display layer of the display; and

second control means for controlling complementary selective tactile enhancements of selected ones of the rendered visual images, the second control means controlling selective tactile enhancements to be made on an effective core area of a tactile display layer of the display, the effective core area corresponding to an ineffective area of a touch sensitive layer of the display.

33. An article of manufacture comprising:

a storage medium having a plurality of programming instructions stored therein, the plurality of programming instructions adapted to program an apparatus to

receive a request for a graphics operation to render a tactilely enhanced visual image;

determine if the visual image is to be tactilely enhanced; and

if the visual image is to be tactilely enhanced, generate in response, a plurality of pixel and piston data for said tactilely enhanced visual image to be rendered, the pixel data for use by a flexible visual display layer of a display and the piston data for use by a tactile display layer of the display, the tactile display layer having a effective core area corresponding to an ineffective area of a touch sensitive layer of the display.

34. The article of claim 33, wherein the programming instructions are further adapted to program an apparatus to generate a plurality of pixel and piston data, and the generating comprises generating a plurality of pixel and piston data for said tactilely enhanced visual image to be rendered, based at least in part on an image specification specifying said tactilely enhanced visual image to be rendered.

35. The article of claim 34, wherein the image specification comprises:

an identification of the visual image to be rendered; and

one or more tactile attribute specifications specifying one or more tactile attributes for tactile enhancements of the rendered visual image.

36. The article of claim 35, wherein the tactile attributes comprise at least a selected one of a tactile pin height attribute, a tactile pin pattern attribute, and a tactile pin hardness attribute.

37. The article of claim 35, wherein the tactile attributes comprise at least two of a tactile pin height attribute, a tactile pin pattern attribute, and a tactile pin hardness attribute.

38. The article of claim 35, wherein the tactile attributes comprise a tactile pin height attribute, a tactile pin pattern attribute, and a tactile pin hardness attribute.

39. The article of claim 33, wherein the programming instructions are further adapted to program an apparatus to

render the visual image on the flexible visual display layer using the generated pixel data;

and

if the visual image rendered is to be tactilely enhanced, tactilely enhance at least a portion of the rendered visual image on the effective core area of the tactile display layer using the generated piston data.