Communication via pressure input

• US 9,304,621 B1
• Filed: 05/25/2012
• Issued: 04/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wakim, Peter A., Keller, Kevin E., Garg, Parag K., Cassidy, Ryan H., Kidder, Adam S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zele, Krista
• Assistant Examiner(s): Forman, James
• Application Number:
  US13/481,249
• Time in Patent Office: 1,411 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1692 the I/O peripheral being a secondary touch screen used as control interface, e.g. virtual buttons or sliders
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0414 using force sensing means to determine a position

Abstract

A computing device can enable and/or provide communication functionality based at least in part upon a type of pressure applied to the device by a user. In some embodiments, a device can attempt to determine a mood or disposition of the user based upon the way in which the user is gripping and/or squeezing the device, and can provide the user or another person with information about that user'"'"'s current mood. Similarly, a user might be able to use certain motions or pressure applications at one or more locations on a device to cause certain communications to be sent, such as to send a specific message or convey a certain mood of the user. At least a portion of the computing device can have pressure-sensitive material or capability, in order to allow for input on the sides, back, or other appropriate locations on the device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

detecting, using at least one sensor, a first signal indicative of first pressure being applied to a computing device;

determining, at a first time, a first mood associated with the first pressure based at least in part upon the first signal corresponding to a first reference pressure value;

deactivating one or more communication components of the computing device;

detecting, using the at least one sensor, a second signal indicative of second pressure being applied to the computing device;

determining, at a second time, a second mood associated with the second pressure based at least in part upon the second signal corresponding to a second reference pressure value; and

activating the one or more communication components after a period of time from the second time.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor includes at least one multi-touch force-sensitive resistive sensor positioned on at least one of a side, a top, a bottom, a corner, a back, or a periphery of the computing device.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring amounts of pressure applied to the computing device by a user at different points in time;

capturing contextual information during each of the different points in time;

determining the first mood based at least in part upon the contextual information;

determining the first reference pressure value based at least in part upon a first amount of pressure being applied to the computing device at a first period of time corresponding to the first mood;

determining the second mood based at least in part upon the contextual information; and

determining the second reference pressure value based at least in part upon a second amount of pressure being applied to the computing device at a second period of time corresponding to the second mood.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the contextual information includes at least one of voice tone information, voice inflection information, pattern of speech information, recognized speech information, visual cue information, biometric information, text information, device orientation, an executing application, a current task, time or date information, user profile information, a blood oxygen level, a neurological activity, an amount of hand moisture, a blood pressure, or a pulse rate of the user.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a location on the computing device corresponding to the first signal,

wherein the first mood is further determined based at least in part upon the location on the computing device.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending a notification to a determined person before deactivating the one or more communication components, a type of the notification depending at least in part upon a current activity of a user with respect to the computing device.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the notification includes information about the first mood.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the first mood includes at least one of a state of anger, affection, depression, euphoria, contentment, sadness, stress, frustration, upset, or happiness.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a notification to a user before deactivating the one or more communication components.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the notification includes at least one of a tone, an audio message, an image display, haptic feedback, an instant message, a text message, an email message, a short message service (SMS) message, or an illumination of an element on the computing device.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, based at least in part upon the first signal, at least one of a duration of the first pressure being applied, a finger or a thumb applying the first pressure, or a number of locations where the first pressure is concurrently being applied,

wherein the first mood is further determined based reference at least in part upon at least one of the duration of the first pressure being applied, the finger or the thumb applying the first pressure, or the number of locations where the first pressure is concurrently being applied.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first mood is further determined based at least in part upon a current context of the computing device.

13. A computing device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory element including instructions that, upon being executed by the processor, cause the computing device to;

detect, using at least one sensor, a first signal indicative of first pressure being applied to the computing device;

determine, at a first time, a first mood associated with the first pressure based at least in part upon the first signal corresponding to a first reference pressure value;

deactivate one or more communication components of the computing device;

detect, using the at least one sensor, a second signal indicative of second pressure being applied to the computing device;

determine, at a second time, a second mood associated with the second pressure, based at least in part upon the second signal corresponding to a second reference pressure value; and

activate the one or more communication components after a period of time from the second time.

14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the instructions upon being executed further cause the computing device to:

send a notification of the second mood to an application; and

cause the application to adjust at least one interface of the application based on the second mood.

15. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the instructions, upon being executed, further cause the computing device to:

generate a user profile for a user, the user profile including a first association of the first reference pressure value to the first mood and a second association of the second reference pressure value to the second mood.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, the instructions, upon being executed by a processor, causing the processor to:

detect, using at least one sensor, a first signal indicative of first pressure being applied to a computing device;

determine, at a first time, a first mood associated with the first pressure based at least in part upon the first signal corresponding to a first pressure value;

deactivate one or more communication components of the computing device;

detect, using the at least one sensor, a second signal indicative of second pressure being applied to the computing device;

determine, at a second time, a second mood associated with the second pressure based at least in part upon the second signal corresponding to a second reference pressure value; and

activate the one or more communication components after a period of time from the second time.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions, upon being executed, further cause the processor to:

select a message to be sent based at least in part upon one of the first mood or the second mood.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions, upon being executed, further cause the processor to:

prompt a user before sending the message based at least in part upon the at least one of the first mood or the second mood.