Liquid multi-touch sensor and display device
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A liquid multi-touch sensor system, comprising:
- a tank comprising side walls and a bottom wall, the tank being configured to contain a liquid therein and having an open front that exposes the liquid contained in the tank to a user of the liquid multi-touch sensor system;
an optical system configured to introduce light through a side wall of the tank laterally into the liquid contained in the tank, wherein the tank is configured to cause introduced light to undergo total internal reflection through the liquid contained in the tank, allow the total internal reflection to be frustrated upon an object contacting the liquid contained in the tank through the open front of the tank, and allow at least some of the light undergoing total internal reflection to escape from the tank when the total internal reflection is frustrated; and
an image sensor adapted to detect light escaping the tank.
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Abstract
High-resolution multi-touch sensor and display device where the interaction medium is liquid, enabling more realistic tactile experience for simulations of synthetic wet environments. Based on frustrated total internal reflection, the device employs liquid within a tank as the optical waveguide that receives light, such as infrared light, that undergoes total internal reflection and an imaging camera that detects light that escapes from the tank caused by frustration of the total internal reflection due to contact of the water by a user.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A liquid multi-touch sensor system, comprising:
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a tank comprising side walls and a bottom wall, the tank being configured to contain a liquid therein and having an open front that exposes the liquid contained in the tank to a user of the liquid multi-touch sensor system; an optical system configured to introduce light through a side wall of the tank laterally into the liquid contained in the tank, wherein the tank is configured to cause introduced light to undergo total internal reflection through the liquid contained in the tank, allow the total internal reflection to be frustrated upon an object contacting the liquid contained in the tank through the open front of the tank, and allow at least some of the light undergoing total internal reflection to escape from the tank when the total internal reflection is frustrated; and an image sensor adapted to detect light escaping the tank. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of multi-touch sensing, comprising the steps of:
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introducing, by an optical system, light through a side wall of a tank laterally into liquid contained in the tank, the tank comprising side walls and a bottom wall and having an open front that exposes the liquid contained in the tank to a user; internally reflecting light through the liquid within the tank, the tank being configured to cause introduced light to undergo total internal reflection through the liquid contained in the tank; frustrating, upon an object contacting the liquid contained in the tank through the open front of the tank, the internally reflected light within the tank to cause some of the reflected light to escape the tank, the tank being configured to allow the total internal reflection to be frustrated upon the object contacting the liquid contained in the tank through the open front of the tank and allow at least some of the light undergoing total internal reflection to escape from the tank when the total internal reflection is frustrated; and imaging the escaped light. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification