Input classification for multi-touch systems

• US 9,632,605 B2
• Filed: 10/17/2012
• Issued: 04/25/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Perceptive Pixel Incorporated (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Davidson, Philip L., Han, Jefferson Y.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehmood, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): Azongha, Sardis F
• Application Number:
  US13/654,374
• Publication Number:
  US 20140104192A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,651 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04106 Multi-sensing digitiser, i.e. digitiser using at least two different sensing technologies simultaneously or alternatively, e.g. for detecting pen and finger, for saving power or for improving position detection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04109 FTIR in optical digitiser, i.e. touch detection by frustrating the total internal reflection within an optical waveguide due to changes of optical properties or deformation at the touch location
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04186 Touch location disambiguation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/042 by opto-electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0447 Position sensing using the local deformation of sensor cells
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for input classification for multi-touch systems. In one aspect, a method includes maintaining a history of prior state information related to a touch sensitive display. The method further includes detecting that a previous contact with the touch sensitive display was incorrectly classified. The method further includes updating a classification of the previous contact based on the detection that the previous contact was incorrectly classified. The method further includes rewinding a state of the touch sensitive display to reflect a state that would have resulted had the previous contact been correctly classified based on the history of prior state information and the updated classification of the previous contact.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

maintaining a history of prior state information related to a touch sensitive display, the history comprising a plurality of previous contacts in a plurality of frames, each contact being associated with an action on a display state and an input classification selected from a group consisting of incidental touch input and intended touch input;

identifying one or more current contacts in one or more current frames that have been classified as incidental touch input, the one or more current contacts occurring after a plurality of previous contacts in a plurality of previous frames that were classified as intended touch inputs;

analyzing a relationship between the one or more current contacts in the one or more current frames that have been classified as incidental touch input and the plurality of previous contacts in the plurality of previous frames that were classified as intended touch inputs, wherein analyzing the relationship comprises examining perimeters created by the previous contacts in the plurality of previous frames that were classified as intended touch inputs;

based on the analysis, determining that the one or more current contacts in the one or more current frames are related to the previous contacts by determining that perimeters of the one or more current contacts evolved from perimeters of the previous contacts in the plurality of previous frames;

detecting that the previous contacts were incorrectly classified;

updating a classification of the previous contacts to incidental touch inputs based on the detection that the previous contacts were incorrectly classified; and

rewinding a current state of the touch sensitive display to reverse the actions performed responsive to the previous contacts on the current state, and displaying the rewinded current state on the display.

2. The method of claim 1:

wherein detecting that the previous contacts with the touch sensitive display were incorrectly classified comprises receiving, at a current frame, a cancellation notice indicating that a particular classification made in a prior frame included in a series of past frames was incorrect;

wherein updating the classification of the previous contacts based on the detection that the previous contacts were incorrectly classified comprises updating the particular classification made in the prior frame; and

wherein rewinding the current state of the touch sensitive display comprises;

returning to the prior frame in which the particular classification has been updated; and

replaying the series of past frames from the prior frame to the current frame in view of the update to the particular classification.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein reversing the actions performed responsive to the previous contacts comprises reversing at least one of a movement of an object performed responsive to the previous contacts, zooming of the object performed responsive to the previous contacts, writing on the object performed responsive to the previous contacts, and resizing of the object performed responsive to the previous contacts.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

analyzing a relationship between the one or more current contacts in the one or more current frames that have been classified as intended touch input and the plurality of previous contacts in the plurality of previous frames that were classified as incidental touch inputs, wherein analyzing the relationship comprises examining perimeters created by the previous contacts in the plurality of previous frames that were classified as incidental touch inputs;

based on the analysis, determining that the one or more current contacts in the one or more current frames are related to the previous contacts by determining that perimeters of the one or more current contacts evolved from perimeters of the previous contacts in the plurality of previous frames;

detecting that the previous contacts with the touch sensitive display were incorrectly classified;

updating the classification of the previous contacts from incidental touch inputs to intended touch inputs based on the detection that the previous contacts were incorrectly classified; and

rewinding the current state of the touch sensitive display to apply actions associated with the previous contacts on the current state, and displaying the rewinded current state on the display.