Keyboard including movement activated optical keys and related methods
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A keyboard comprising:
- a plurality of optical keys, each optical key comprising an optical module, and an interaction surface;
each of said plurality of optical keys being configured to be activated based upon movement of a user'"'"'s finger on or in a vicinity of the interaction surface;
said optical module being configured togenerate two images of the user'"'"'s finger based upon the user'"'"'s finger being on or in the vicinity of the interaction surface, the two images defining different finger ridge deformation patterns,track movement of the user'"'"'s finger based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns by at leastdetermining when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to a swipe movement based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns caused by application of pressure by the user'"'"'s finger, anddetermining when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to a key press movement based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns caused by application of pressure by the user'"'"'s finger, andproduce a first output when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to the swipe movement and produce a second output different than the first output when the tracked movement corresponds to the key press movement.
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Abstract
A keyboard may include a plurality of optical keys. Each optical key may include an optical module and an interaction surface. The optical key may be configured to be activated based on movement of an object on or adjacent the interaction surface. Each movement may produce a different output from the optical module to thereby generate a predetermined input for a device.
21 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A keyboard comprising:
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a plurality of optical keys, each optical key comprising an optical module, and an interaction surface; each of said plurality of optical keys being configured to be activated based upon movement of a user'"'"'s finger on or in a vicinity of the interaction surface; said optical module being configured to generate two images of the user'"'"'s finger based upon the user'"'"'s finger being on or in the vicinity of the interaction surface, the two images defining different finger ridge deformation patterns, track movement of the user'"'"'s finger based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns by at least determining when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to a swipe movement based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns caused by application of pressure by the user'"'"'s finger, and determining when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to a key press movement based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns caused by application of pressure by the user'"'"'s finger, and produce a first output when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to the swipe movement and produce a second output different than the first output when the tracked movement corresponds to the key press movement. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An electronic device comprising:
a keyboard comprising a plurality of optical keys, each comprising an optical module, and an interaction surface, each of said plurality of optical keys being configured to be activated based upon movement of a user'"'"'s finger on or in vicinity of the interaction surface, said optical module being configured to generate two images of the user'"'"'s finger based upon the user'"'"'s finger being on or in the vicinity of the interaction surface, the two images defining different finger ridge deformation patterns, track movement of the user'"'"'s finger based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns by at least determining when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to a swipe movement based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns caused by application of pressure by the user'"'"'s finger, and determining when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to key press movement based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns caused by application of pressure by the user'"'"'s finger, and produce a first output when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to the swipe movement and produce a second output different than the first output when the tracked movement corresponds to the key press movement and generate an input for a device. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of generating an output from a keyboard, the keyboard comprising a plurality of optical keys each comprising an optical module and an interaction surface, each of the plurality of optical keys being configured to be activated based upon movement of a user'"'"'s finger adjacent the interaction surface, the method comprising:
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generating, when at least one of the plurality of optical modules has been activated by movement of the user'"'"'s finger on or in the vicinity of the interaction surface, two images of the user'"'"'s finger, the two images defining different finger ridge deformation patterns; tracking movement of the user'"'"'s finger based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns by at least determining when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to a swipe movement based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns caused by application of pressure by the user'"'"'s finger, and determining when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to a key press movement based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns caused by application of pressure by the user'"'"'s finger; and from each optical module, generating a first output when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to the swipe movement and generating a second output different than the first output when the tracked movement corresponds to the key press movement. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for generating an output from a keyboard, the keyboard comprising a plurality of optical keys each comprising an optical module and an interaction surface, each of the plurality of optical keys being configured to be activated based upon movement of a user'"'"'s finger adjacent the interaction surface, the non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for causing the keyboard to perform steps comprising:
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generating, when at least one of the plurality of optical modules has been activated by movement of the user'"'"'s finger on or in the vicinity of the interaction surface, two images of the user'"'"'s finger, the two images defining different finger ridge deformation patterns; tracking movement of the user'"'"'s finger based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns by at least determining when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to a swipe movement based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns caused by application of pressure by the user'"'"'s finger, and determining when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to a key press movement based upon the different finger ridge deformation patterns caused by application of pressure by the user'"'"'s finger; and generating a first output when the tracked movement of the user'"'"'s finger corresponds to the swipe movement and generating a second output different than the first output when the tracked movement corresponds to the key press movement. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification