Tactile input interaction
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An apparatus adapted to dynamically interact with a user in response to a physical contact, the apparatus comprising:
- a first sensor effective to sense a first magnitude of a first force, and to sense a first location of a physical contact with at least a portion of the apparatus and to produce a first signal in response;
a second sensor effective to be in operating relationship with the first sensor, the second sensor effective to sense a second magnitude of a second force, and to sense a second location of the physical contact with at least a portion of the apparatus and to produce a second signal in response;
a logic device configured to;
periodically scan at a sampling rate the first and second sensors to collect the first and second sensor signals,produce a first characterization of the physical contact from the first signal and the sampling rate,produce a second characterization of the physical contact from the second signal and the sampling rate, andproduce a third characterization of the physical contact, different from the first and second characterizations of the physical contact, the third characterization based on the combination of the first and the second signals and the sampling rate; and
an output device configured to produce an output based at least in part upon the third characterization of the physical contact.
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Abstract
Interactive devices for detecting, characterizing, and acting upon tactile inputs are disclosed. An example embodiment may include a doll configured to produce audible outputs, visible outputs, and/or movement based at least in part upon its characterization of a tactile input. For example, the doll may characterize a tactile input as a slap, a tickle, a rub, a pinch, etc., and the doll may cry, smile, giggle, or move based upon its characterization of the tactile input.
34 Citations
32 Claims
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1. An apparatus adapted to dynamically interact with a user in response to a physical contact, the apparatus comprising:
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a first sensor effective to sense a first magnitude of a first force, and to sense a first location of a physical contact with at least a portion of the apparatus and to produce a first signal in response; a second sensor effective to be in operating relationship with the first sensor, the second sensor effective to sense a second magnitude of a second force, and to sense a second location of the physical contact with at least a portion of the apparatus and to produce a second signal in response; a logic device configured to; periodically scan at a sampling rate the first and second sensors to collect the first and second sensor signals, produce a first characterization of the physical contact from the first signal and the sampling rate, produce a second characterization of the physical contact from the second signal and the sampling rate, and produce a third characterization of the physical contact, different from the first and second characterizations of the physical contact, the third characterization based on the combination of the first and the second signals and the sampling rate; and an output device configured to produce an output based at least in part upon the third characterization of the physical contact. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for an interactive device to dynamically interact with a user in response to a physical contact, the method for the interactive device comprising:
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detecting a physical contact using a first sensor; detecting the physical contact using a second sensor in operational relationship with the first sensor; producing a first signal based at least in part upon a first magnitude of a first force and a first location of the physical contact; producing a second signal based at least in part upon a second magnitude of a second force and a second location of the physical contact; scanning at a sampling rate the first and second sensors to collect the first and second signals, characterizing the physical contact, wherein; a first characterization of the physical contact is based at least in part on the first signal and the sampling rate, a second characterization of the physical contact is based at least in part on the second signal and the sampling rate, a third characterization of the physical contact, different from the first and second characterizations of the physical contact, is based at least in part on the combination of the first and second signals and the sampling rate and is one or more of a plurality of predetermined characterizations; and producing an output chosen from a plurality of potential outputs based at least in part upon the third characterization of the physical contact. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An interactive toy configured to dynamically interact with a user in response to a physical contact, the interactive toy comprising:
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a first tactile input sensor configured to generate a first signal based at least in part on a first magnitude of a first force and a first location of a physical contact with the interactive toy; a second tactile input sensor configured to be in operational relationship with the first tactile input sensor, the second tactile input sensor configured to generate a second signal based at least in part on a second magnitude of a second force and a second location of the physical contact with the interactive toy; a logic device configured to periodically scan at a sampling rate the first and second sensors to collect the first and second sensor signals, produce a first characterization of the physical contact from the first signal and the sampling rate, produce a second characterization of the physical contact from the second signal and the sampling rate, produce a third characterization of the physical contact, different from the first and second characterization of the physical contact, from the combination of the first and the second signal and from the sampling rate, wherein the logic device selects the one or more characterizations of the physical contact from among a plurality of predetermined characterizations; and an output device configured to produce one or more outputs based at least in part upon the one or more third characterizations of the physical contact, the output device being operative to produce a plurality of outputs associated with the plurality of predetermined characterizations. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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30. A non-transitory storage medium comprising machine-readable instructions stored thereon which, when executed by one or more processing units in a device, operatively enable the device to:
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periodically scan at a sampling rate a first sensor to receive a first signal associated with a first magnitude of a first force and a first location of a physical contact detected using the first sensor; periodically scan at the sampling rate a second sensor in operating relationship with the first sensor, the second sensor scanned to receive a second signal associated with a second magnitude of a second force and a second location of the physical contact detected by the second sensor; produce a first characterization of the physical contact from the first signal and the sampling rate; produce a second characterization of the physical contact from the second signal and the sampling rate; produce a third characterization of the physical contact, different from the first and second characterizations, from the combination of the first signal and the second signal and based on the sampling rate, the third characterization of the physical contact being one or more of a plurality of predetermined characterizations; select an output chosen from a plurality of potential outputs based at least in part upon the third characterization of the physical contact; and transmit, to an output device, a third signal associated with the output. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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Specification