Using pressure differences with a touch-sensitive display screen

• US 8,508,494 B2
• Filed: 06/01/2011
• Issued: 08/13/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola Mobility LLC (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Moore, Stephen C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Kevin M
• Application Number:
  US13/150,696
• Publication Number:
  US 20120306765A1
• Time in Patent Office: 804 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Disclosed is a user interface that responds to differences in pressure detected by a touch-sensitive screen. The user selects one type of user-interface action by “lightly” touching the screen and selects another type of action by exerting more pressure. Embodiments can respond to single touches, to gestural touches that extend across the face of the touch-sensitive screen, and to touches in which the user-exerted pressure varies during the course of the touch. Some embodiments respond to how quickly the user changes the amount of pressure applied. In some embodiments, the location and pressure of the user'"'"'s input are compared against a stored gesture profile. Action is taken only if the input matches “closely enough” to the stored gesture profile. In some embodiments, a notification is sent to the user when the pressure exceeds a threshold between a light and a heavy press.

Claims

1. On a personal electronic device with a touch-sensitive screen, a method for responding to user input, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of datapoints from the touch-sensitive screen, each datapoint comprising position information;

for each of a plurality of the received datapoints, associating a pressure with the datapoint;

associating at least one rate of change of pressure with at least a subset of the datapoints; and

based, at least in part, on the associated rate-of-change-of-pressure information, performing a user-interface action.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein associating a pressure comprises receiving a pressure value from the touch-sensitive screen.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein associating a pressure comprises receiving a pressure value from a component of the personal electronic device distinct from the touch-sensitive screen, the distinct component selected from the group consisting of:

a pressure sensor and an active stylus.

4. The method of claim 1:

further comprising, for each of a plurality of the datapoints, associating a time with the datapoint;

wherein associating at least one rate of change of pressure comprises comparing pressures and times associated with a plurality of datapoints.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein associating at least one rate of change of pressure comprises receiving a rate-of-change value from the touch-sensitive screen.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the user-interface action is selected from the group consisting of:

selecting an icon displayed on the screen, opening a file associated with an icon displayed on the screen, executing a program associated with an icon displayed on the screen, modifying a value of a control parameter, opening a context menu, and picking up an icon displayed on the screen.

7. The method of claim 1:

further comprising sending a notification to a user of the personal electronic device;

wherein the notification comprises an element selected from the group consisting of;

a visual notification, an audio notification, and a haptic notification.

8. A personal electronic device comprising:

a touch-sensitive screen; and

a processor operatively connected to the touch-sensitive screen and configured for;

receiving a plurality of datapoints from the touch-sensitive screen, each datapoint comprising position information;

for each of a plurality of the received datapoints, associating a pressure with the datapoint;

associating at least one rate of change of pressure with at least a subset of the datapoints; and

based, at least in part, on the associated rate-of-change-of-pressure information, performing a user-interface action.

9. The personal electronic device of claim 8 wherein the personal electronic device is selected from the group consisting of:

mobile telephone, personal communications device, personal computer, tablet computer, kiosk, digital sign, and gaming console.

10. The personal electronic device of claim 8:

further comprising a component distinct from the touch-sensitive screen, the distinct component selected from the group consisting of;

a pressure sensor and an active stylus;

wherein associating a pressure comprises receiving a pressure value from the distinct component.

11. On a personal electronic device with a touch-sensitive screen, a method for responding to user input, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of datapoints from the touch-sensitive screen, each datapoint comprising position information;

for each of a plurality of the received datapoints, associating a pressure with the datapoint;

for a plurality of the datapoints with associated pressure, comparing the position information and the associated pressure against a stored gesture profile; and

if the compared datapoints are within a threshold of the stored gesture profile, then performing a user-interface action based, at least in part, on the compared datapoints.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein associating a pressure comprises receiving a pressure value from the touch-sensitive screen.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein associating a pressure comprises receiving a pressure value from a component of the personal electronic device distinct from the touch-sensitive screen, the distinct component selected from the group consisting of:

a pressure sensor and an active stylus.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the threshold comprises a position threshold and a pressure threshold.

15. The method of claim 11 wherein the user-interface action is selected from the group consisting of:

selecting an icon displayed on the screen, opening a file associated with an icon displayed on the screen, executing a program associated with an icon displayed on the screen, modifying a value of a control parameter, opening a context menu, and picking up an icon displayed on the screen.

16. A personal electronic device comprising:

a touch-sensitive screen; and

a processor operatively connected to the touch-sensitive screen and configured for;

receiving a plurality of datapoints from the touch-sensitive screen, each datapoint comprising position information;

for each of a plurality of the received datapoints, associating a pressure with the datapoint;

for a plurality of the datapoints with associated pressure, comparing the position information and the associated pressure against a stored gesture profile; and

if the compared datapoints are within a threshold of the stored gesture profile, then performing a user-interface action based, at least in part, on the compared datapoints.

17. The personal electronic device of claim 16 wherein the personal electronic device is selected from the group consisting of:

mobile telephone, personal communications device, personal computer, tablet computer, kiosk, digital sign, and gaming console.

18. The personal electronic device of claim 16:

further comprising a component distinct from the touch-sensitive screen, the distinct component selected from the group consisting of;

a pressure sensor and an active stylus;

wherein associating a pressure comprises receiving a pressure value from the distinct component.

19. The personal electronic device of claim 16 wherein the threshold comprises a position threshold and a pressure threshold.

20. The personal electronic device of claim 16 wherein the user-interface action is selected from the group consisting of:

selecting an icon displayed on the screen, opening a file associated with an icon displayed on the screen, executing a program associated with an icon displayed on the screen, modifying a value of a control parameter, opening a context menu, and picking up an icon displayed on the screen.