Interactive input system and method
First Claim
1. An interactive input system comprising:
- an optical waveguide;
a radiation source directing radiation into the optical waveguide, the radiation undergoing total internal reflection within the optical waveguide in response to at least one touch input on a touch surface of the optical waveguide;
at least one imaging device positioned adjacent to the optical waveguide and having a field of view looking inside the optical waveguide and capturing image frames thereof;
non-reflective radiation absorbing material positioned about a periphery of the optical waveguide so as not to occlude the field of view of the at least one imaging device, the non-reflective radiation absorbing material configured to absorb the radiation propagating within the optical waveguide that reaches the periphery of the optical waveguide at which the non-reflective radiation absorbing material is positioned; and
processing structure for processing the image frames to determine a location of the at least one touch input based on a frequency of reflections of the radiation in the image frame.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An interactive input system comprises an optical waveguide, a radiation source directing radiation into the optical waveguide, the radiation undergoing total internal reflection within the optical waveguide in response to at least one touch input on a surface of the optical waveguide. At least one imaging device is positioned adjacent to the waveguide, the at least one imaging device having a field of view looking inside the optical waveguide and capturing image frames thereof. Processing structure processes the image frames captured by the at least one imaging device to determine a location of the at least one touch input based on a frequency of reflections of the radiation appearing in the image frame.
25 Citations
34 Claims
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1. An interactive input system comprising:
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an optical waveguide; a radiation source directing radiation into the optical waveguide, the radiation undergoing total internal reflection within the optical waveguide in response to at least one touch input on a touch surface of the optical waveguide; at least one imaging device positioned adjacent to the optical waveguide and having a field of view looking inside the optical waveguide and capturing image frames thereof; non-reflective radiation absorbing material positioned about a periphery of the optical waveguide so as not to occlude the field of view of the at least one imaging device, the non-reflective radiation absorbing material configured to absorb the radiation propagating within the optical waveguide that reaches the periphery of the optical waveguide at which the non-reflective radiation absorbing material is positioned; and processing structure for processing the image frames to determine a location of the at least one touch input based on a frequency of reflections of the radiation in the image frame. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An interactive input system comprising:
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an optical waveguide within which radiation can be totally internally reflected, the optical waveguide having two parallel surfaces and an image extraction surface extending between the parallel surfaces to permit the radiation reaching the image extraction surface to escape; at least one imaging device having a field of view aimed at the image extraction surface to capture image frames thereof; non-reflective radiation absorbing material positioned about a periphery of the optical waveguide so as not to occlude the field of view of the at least one imaging device, the non-reflective radiation absorbing material configured to absorb the radiation propagating within the optical waveguide that reaches the periphery of the optical waveguide at which the non-reflective radiation absorbing material is positioned; and processing structure for processing the image frames captured by the at least one imaging device to determine a location of at least one touch input on one or more of the parallel surfaces based on a frequency of reflections of the radiation in the image frames. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for determining the location of a pointer in touch contact with an optical waveguide causing radiation within the waveguide to undergo total internal reflection, the method comprising:
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capturing images of the inside of the optical waveguide using at least one imaging device; absorbing the radiation propagating within the optical waveguide that reaches a periphery of the optical waveguide using a non-reflective radiation absorbing material positioned about the periphery so as not to occlude the field of view of the at least one imaging device; and processing the images to determine the location of the pointer based on a frequency of reflections of the radiation and an angular position of the reflections with respect to the position of the imaging device. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An interactive input system comprising:
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an optical waveguide within which radiation can be totally internally reflected, the optical waveguide having two parallel surfaces; an extraction block having an input face against a portion of one of the parallel surfaces, wherein the extraction block permits radiation in the optical waveguide that reaches the portion to escape into the extraction block via the input face and to exit the extraction block via an output face; an imaging device having a field of view looking at the output face and capturing image frames thereof; and non-reflective radiation absorbing material positioned about a periphery of the optical waveguide so as not to occlude the field of view of the imaging device, the non-reflective radiation absorbing material configured to absorb the radiation propagating within the optical waveguide that reaches the periphery of the optical waveguide at which the non-reflective radiation absorbing material is positioned. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification