Pressure and position sensing pointing devices and methods
First Claim
1. A pointing device for providing an output direction and an output velocity to a computer system to control a user interface of the computer system, comprising:
- a contact surface mounted to a support;
a camera positioned beneath the contact surface and configured to capture an image of a lower side of the contact surface and an object that is in contact with an upper side of the contact surface;
a velocity calculation unit configured to calculate the output velocity based on a size of the object within the image; and
a direction calculation unit configured to calculate the output direction based on a position of the object within the image;
wherein the direction calculation unit calculates the output direction by comparing a position of a center point of the contact surface within the image to a position of a center point of the object within the image.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Pointing devices and related methods are disclosed that generally involve manipulation of a cursor or other user interface component based on inputs from a user. In one embodiment, an image sensor captures an image of the underside of a transparent contact surface and determines whether an object (e.g., a user'"'"'s finger) is present in the image. Cursor movement information comprising direction and velocity components can be calculated from a single image by equating the size of a detected object with a desired velocity and by equating the position of the detected object relative to a fixed reference point with a desired direction. Thus, detection of user motion is not required, nor is comparison of successive image frames relative to a time reference. As a result, a device having few or no moving parts can be provided while at the same time permitting continuous cursor motion without repetitive swiping by a user.
14 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A pointing device for providing an output direction and an output velocity to a computer system to control a user interface of the computer system, comprising:
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a contact surface mounted to a support; a camera positioned beneath the contact surface and configured to capture an image of a lower side of the contact surface and an object that is in contact with an upper side of the contact surface; a velocity calculation unit configured to calculate the output velocity based on a size of the object within the image; and a direction calculation unit configured to calculate the output direction based on a position of the object within the image; wherein the direction calculation unit calculates the output direction by comparing a position of a center point of the contact surface within the image to a position of a center point of the object within the image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of calculating movement information for manipulating a graphical user interface, comprising:
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obtaining a captured image of a bottom side of a contact surface; determining whether the captured image includes an image of an object in contact with a top side of the contact surface; and if the captured image includes an image of an object in contact with the top side of the contact surface, calculating an output velocity based on a size of the object within the captured image; and calculating an output direction based on a position of the object within the captured image; wherein calculating the output direction comprises determining a center point of the object within the captured image, determining a center point of the captured image, and calculating a direction vector that extends between the two center points. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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Specification