Using measurement of lateral force for a tracking input device

• US 9,041,650 B2
• Filed: 09/18/2008
• Issued: 05/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Amm, David T., Leung, Omar S.
• Primary Examiner(s): GIESY, ADAM
• Application Number:
  US12/233,478
• Publication Number:
  US 20100066669A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,441 Days
• Field of Search: 345/157, 345/163, 345/164, 345/165
• US Class Current: 345/163
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03543 Mice or pucks G06F3/03541 takes precedence

Abstract

Systems and methods for using measurements of a lateral force applied to a motion-based input device are disclosed. The input device has a force detection module operable to detect lateral forces applied to the input device and generate force data representative of the applied lateral forces. The system also includes a processor coupled to the force detection module. The processor is operable to initiate an event based upon the force data.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

an input device comprising;

i) a motion detection module operable to generate motion data representative of a motion of the input device; and

ii) a force detection module including at least one force sensor operable to measure a force applied to an exterior surface of the input device by a user, and generate force data representative of the measured force;

a processor coupled to the motion detection module and the force detection module and operable to;

receive the motion data and force data,

determine a direction of the force applied to the input device based at least in part on the force data,

if the input device is moving, initiate a first event based upon concurrent use of both the motion data and the determined direction; and

if the input device is not moving, initiate a second event based upon the force data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is incorporated in the input device.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising a receiving device coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is operable to generate an event initiation signal indicative of the initiated first event or initiated second event and transmit the event initiation signal to the receiving device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is operable to determine a speed of the input device based on the motion data, and wherein the initiated first event comprises moving a cursor displayed on a graphical user interface based on the determined speed and the determined direction.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further operable to determine a speed of the input device based upon the motion data, wherein initiating the first event is further based upon the determined speed and determined direction.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is incorporated in the receiving device.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the motion detection module comprises a sensor selected from the group consisting of an optical sensor, an inertial sensor and an electro-mechanical sensor.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising selecting the initiated first event or the initiated second event from a plurality of events.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the motion detection module comprises an accelerometer operable to measure an acceleration of the input device.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the force detection module comprises one or more force detection sensors configured to detect forces applied to the input device in an x-dimension and a y-dimension in a plane of motion.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the motion detection module comprises a sensor that detects at least one of sliding noise and vibration signals, the at least one of sliding noise and vibration signals resulting from the input device kinetically contacting a surface upon which the input device is moving.

12. A method for tracking movement of a motion-based input device, comprising:

measuring a force, utilizing at least one force sensor, applied to an exterior surface of the motion-based input device by a user;

determining a direction of the measured force;

measuring a motion of the input device relative to a surface;

if the motion-based input device is moving, initiating a first event based at least in part upon concurrent use of both the measured motion and the determined direction of the measured force; and

if the motion-based input device is not moving, initiating a second event based upon the measured force.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising determining whether the input device is moving relative to a surface, wherein if it is determined that the input device is moving, the initiated first event comprises changing the position of a cursor displayed on a graphical user interface in accordance with a speed of the input device determined based on the measured motion.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the measured motion of the input device is measured relative to a surface.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

selecting the first event to be initiated from a plurality of events based upon concurrent use of both the measured motion and the determined direction of the measured force.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

determining a magnitude of the force; and

comparing the magnitude of the force to a threshold value,

wherein, the step of initiating the first event or the step of initiating the second event is performed only if the magnitude of the force exceeds the threshold value.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the measuring a motion of the input device relative to the surface is based at least in part on a detection of at least one of sliding noise and vibration signals, the at least one of sliding noise and vibration signals resulting from the input device kinetically contacting the surface.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer executable instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

measuring a force, utilizing at least one force sensor, applied to an exterior surface of a motion-based input device by a user;

determining a direction of the measured force;

detecting a motion of the input device using an accelerometer;

if the motion-based input device is moving, initiating a first event based upon concurrent use of both the detected motion and the determined direction of the measured force; and

if the motion-based input device is not moving, initiating a second event based upon the measured force.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, the operations further comprising:

determining if the input device is moving relative to a surface; and

wherein the initiating the second event step is performed if it is determined that the input device is not moving relative to the surface.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, the operations further comprising:

detecting a motion of the input device using an accelerometer; and

positioning a display object on a display based on the detected motion.

21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, the operations further comprising selecting the first event to be initiated from a plurality of events based on concurrent use of both the detected motion and the measured force.

22. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18, the operations further comprising:

determining if the input device is moving relative to a surface; and

wherein the determining if input device is moving relative to the surface is based at least in part on a detection of at least one of sliding noise and vibration signals, the at least one of sliding noise and vibration signals resulting from the input device kinetically contacting the surface.

23. An input device comprising:

a force detection module including at least one force sensor adapted to measure a force applied to an exterior surface of the input device by a user;

a motion detection module adapted to measure a motion of the input device relative to a surface; and

an interface module adapted to provide one or more signals to a receiving device, the one or more signals comprising information indicative of concurrent use of both the measured force and the measured motion if the input device is moving or indicative of use of the measured force but not the measured motion if the input device is not moving.

24. The input device of claim 23, wherein the force detection module comprises one or more force sensors capable of measuring the force along at least two axes in a plane of motion.

25. The input device of claim 23, wherein the motion detection module comprises a sensor selected from the group consisting of an optical sensor, an inertial sensor and an electro-mechanical sensor.

26. The input device of claim 23, wherein the receiving device comprises a display adapted to display a graphical object that moves on the display in accordance with the measured motion.

27. The input device of claim 23, wherein the motion detection module comprises a sensor that detects at least one of sliding noise and vibration signals, the at least one of sliding noise and vibration signals resulting from the input device kinetically contacting a surface upon which the input device is moving.

28. A system comprising:

a motion-based input device having a force detection module including at least one force sensor operable to measure a force applied to an exterior surface of the input device by a user and generate force data indicative of the measured force;

a motion detection module operable to generate motion data representative of a motion of the motion-based input device; and

a processor coupled to the force detection module and the motion detection module operable to;

receive the force data;

determine a direction based on the force data; and

to

if the motion-based input device is moving, calculate a change in position of a navigational object on a display device, wherein calculating the change in position is based on concurrent use of both the motion data and the determined direction; and

if the motion-based input device is not moving, initiate an event based on the force data.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the processor is incorporated in the input device.

30. The system of claim 28, further comprising a receiving device, the receiving device incorporating the processor.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein the force detection module is operable to measure forces applied to the input device along an x-axis and a y-axis in a plane of motion, the x-axis being substantially perpendicular to the y-axis.

32. The system of claim 28, wherein the motion detection module comprises a sensor selected from the group consisting of an optical sensor, an inertial sensor and an electro-mechanical sensor.

33. The system of claim 28, wherein the motion detection module is operable to measure a motion of the input device relative to a surface, the motion detection module comprising a sensor that detects at least one of sliding noise and vibration signals, the at least one of sliding noise and vibration signals resulting from the input device kinetically contacting the surface.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the processor is operable to calculate a change in position of a navigational object on a display device, wherein calculating the change in position is based at least in part on the determined direction and the measured motion.