Multi-touch input device with orientation sensing

• US 8,988,398 B2
• Filed: 02/11/2011
• Issued: 03/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cao, Xiang, Sun, Minghui, Izadi, Shahram, Benko, Hrvoje, Hinckley, Kenneth P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhou, Hong
• Application Number:
  US13/026,058
• Publication Number:
  US 20120206330A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,502 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-179, 178 1901- 1905, 715/863
• US Class Current: 345/179
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0383 Signal control means within the pointing device

Abstract

A multi-touch orientation sensing input device may enhance task performance efficiency. The multi-touch orientation sensing input device may include a device body that is partially enclosed or completely enclosed by a multi-touch sensor. The multi-touch orientation sensing input device may further include an inertia measurement unit that is disposed on the device body, The inertia measurement unit may measures a tilt angle of the device body with respect to a horizontal surface, as well as a roll angle of the device body along a length-wise axis of the device body with respect to an initial point on the device body.

Claims

1. An input device, comprising:

a multi-touch sensor that at least partially encloses a body of the input device and that senses one or more contacts with the body;

an inertia measurement unit that is attached to the body and that at least measures a tilt angle of the body with respect to a horizontal surface and a roll angle of the body along a length-wise axis of the body with respect to an initial point on the body;

determining a difference angle between the roll angle of the body and a standardized roll angle of a plurality of grip templates, each grip template having a corresponding grip pattern that represents a corresponding grip on the input device and a corresponding tilt angle of the input device; and

comparing the tilt angle and the difference angle to each of the plurality of grip templates to determine a grip pattern that corresponds to a predefined function.

2. The input device of claim 1, further comprising a pressure switch that is activated by a retractable tip or a clickable button that is housed in the body.

3. The input device of claim 2, wherein the input device is a pen-shaped stylus that includes the retractable tip at a first end and the clickable button at a second end.

4. The input device of claim 1, further comprising a transceiver to transmit data related to the one or more contacts, the tilt angle, and the roll angle to another electronic device.

5. The input device of claim 1, wherein the inertia measurement unit includes at least one of an accelerometer, a compass, or a gyroscope.

6. The input device of claim 1, wherein the multi-touch sensor includes a plurality of capacitive sensing elements.

7. A computer-readable storage device storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

receiving multi-touch sensor data that indicates an instance of contact with a body of an input device, and an associated roll angle and an associated tilt angle of the body for the instance of contact;

generating a multi-touch input image based at least on the multi-touch sensor data;

determining a difference angle between the associated roll angle and a standardized roll angle of a plurality of grip templates, each grip template having a corresponding grip pattern that represents a corresponding grip on the input device and a corresponding tilt angle of the input device;

normalizing the multi-touch input image based at least on the difference angle to generate a normalized multi-touch input image; and

comparing the normalized multi-touch input image and the associated tilt angle to each of the plurality of grip templates to determine a grip pattern that corresponds to the normalized multi-touch input image.

8. The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform an act of indicating a lack of grip pattern detection when the normalized multi-touch input image and the associated tilt angle does not match corresponding grips and corresponding tilt angles included in the grip templates.

9. The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform an act of assigning a grip pattern of a particular grip template to the normalized multi-touch input image when the normalized multi-touch input image and the associated tilt angle matches a grip and a tilt angle included in the particular grip template.

10. The computer-readable storage device of claim 9, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:

determining a function based at least on the grip pattern assigned to the multi-touch input image; and

performing the function determined at least from the grip pattern.

11. The computer-readable storage device of claim 10, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform an act of receiving one or more additional inputs that includes at least one of a change in the roll angle of the input device, an activation of at least one pressure switch on the input device, a tilt angle of an electronic device that is connected to the input device, a rotation of the electronic device, movement sensed by a proximity sensor of the electronic device, an additional grip pattern from an additional input device that is connected to the electronic device, a tilt angle of the additional input device, or a change in the roll angle of the additional input device.

12. The computer-readable storage device of claim 11, wherein the determining includes determining the function based on the grip pattern assigned to the multi-touch image and the one or more additional inputs.

13. The computer-readable storage device of claim 10, wherein the function is to change a functionality of the input device with respect to a graphics illustration application, a game application, or a word processing application.

14. The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, further comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to perform an act of creating a grip template by correlating an additional multi-touch input image and an additional tilt angle with a grip pattern.

15. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

receiving multi-touch sensor data that indicates one or more contact instances with a body of an input device;

generating multi-touch input image for each of the one or more contact instances based at least on the multi-touch sensor data, each multi-touch input image being correlated with a respective tilt angle and a roll angle of the body of the input device;

determining a corresponding difference angle between the roll angle for a multi-touch input image of the contact instance and a standardized roll angle of a plurality of grip templates;

determining a corresponding grip pattern that represents a corresponding way that a user holds the input device at a corresponding tilt angle and with a corresponding difference angle for each multi-touch input image; and

identifying a function to be performed using the input device based on at least one grip pattern.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein determining the corresponding grip pattern further includes:

normalizing the multi-touch input image based at least on the corresponding difference angle;

matching the multi-touch input image and a particular tilt angle of the input device correlated with the multi-touch input image to a grip template of a plurality of grip templates, each of the grip templates including data on an associated grip on the input device and an associated tilt angle of the input device; and

assigning an associated grip pattern of a matching grip template from the plurality of templates to the multi-touch input image and the particular tilt angle.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising performing the function that is identified based on the at least one grip pattern.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the identifying includes identifying the function based on a specific sequence of grip patterns.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the function is to change a functionality of the input device with respect to a graphics illustration application, a game application, or a word processing application.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising receiving one or more additional inputs that includes at least one of a change in the roll angle of the input device, an activation of at least one pressure switch on the input device, a tilt angle of an electronic device that is connected to the input device, a rotation of the electronic device, movement sensed by a proximity sensor of the electronic device, an additional grip pattern from an additional input device that is connected to the electronic device, a tilt angle of the additional input device, or a change in the roll angle of the additional input device, and wherein the identifying includes identifying a function based on at least one grip pattern and the one or more additional inputs.