Integrating sensation functionalities into a mobile device using a haptic sleeve

• US 9,746,945 B2
• Filed: 08/24/2012
• Issued: 08/29/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Sheynblat, Leonid, Sridhara, Vinay, Das, Saumitra Mohan
• Primary Examiner(s): Sasinowski, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US13/594,305
• Publication Number:
  US 20130222280A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,831 Days
• Field of Search: 345173-177
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04809 Textured surface identifying touch areas, e.g. overlay structure for a virtual keyboard
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, systems, and computer-readable media for integrating sensation functionalities into a mobile device using a haptic sleeve are presented. According to one or more aspects of the disclosure, a computing device may receive, via a haptic sleeve, sensation input captured by one or more haptic components of the haptic sleeve. Subsequently, the computing device may store haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input. For example, in storing such haptic data, the computing device may store information describing one or more electrical signals received via the one or more haptic components of the haptic sleeve during a period of time corresponding to a particular event, and this stored information may reflect various characteristics of the sensation input received by the computing device in connection with the particular event, such as the magnitude(s), position(s), duration, and/or type(s) of sensation(s) captured during the period of time.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, via a haptic device, a sensation input captured by one or more haptic components of the haptic device, the sensation input including at least one non-vibratory sensation input;

capturing image data;

storing haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input, wherein storing the haptic data includes storing a position value, an intensity value, and a duration value proportional to the received sensation input;

aligning the captured image data with respect to the received sensation input, wherein the aligning the image data comprises associating specific points of the captured image data with the received sensation input; and

storing the aligned image data.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input to be sent to at least one recipient device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the haptic data is configured to cause the at least one recipient device to provide haptic feedback based on the received sensation input.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input to be sent to a recipient device,

wherein the haptic data is configured to cause the recipient device to provide haptic feedback based on the received sensation input via a second haptic device communicatively coupled to the recipient device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensation input is received by a computing device, and wherein the haptic device further comprises:

a contoured housing that includes the one or more haptic components and is configured to engage with the computing device; and

an input/output interface that is configured to communicatively couple the haptic device to the computing device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the haptic device is selectively powered by the computing device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input includes storing haptic data describing at least one non-vibratory sensation.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing a connection with at least one recipient device;

causing the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input to be sent to the at least one recipient device;

receiving, via the haptic device, additional sensation input captured by the one or more haptic components of the haptic device; and

streaming, via the established connection, additional haptic data corresponding to the additional sensation input to the at least one recipient device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating a vector representing the received sensation input based on the position value, the intensity value, and the duration value associated with the received sensation input.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

transmitting the calculated vector to a recipient device associated with a second haptic device, wherein the calculated vector enables the second haptic device to reproduce particular haptic effects corresponding to the received sensation input.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the aligning comprises determining a correlation of one or more pixels of the captured image data to the position value associated with the position value of the received sensation input.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a user interface that is configured to allow a user to manually align the captured image data with the position value of the received sensation input.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the user interface is further configured to allow the user to manually align the captured image data with the position value of the received sensation input by one or more of moving and scaling the captured image data.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the capturing image data comprises capturing image data with a camera.

15. An apparatus comprising:

a haptic device comprising one or more haptic components, each of the one or more haptic components configured to capture a sensation input;

at least one processor; and

memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to;

receive, from the haptic device, the sensation input, the sensation input including at least one non-vibratory sensation input;

receive image data;

store haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input, wherein the haptic data includes a position value, an intensity value, and a duration value proportional to the received sensation input;

align the captured image data with respect to the received sensation input by associating specific points of the captured image data with the received sensation input; and

store the aligned image data.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the memory stores additional computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to:

cause the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input to be sent to at least one recipient device.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the haptic data is configured to cause the at least one recipient device to provide haptic feedback based on the received sensation input.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the memory stores additional computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to:

cause the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input to be sent to a recipient device,

wherein the haptic data is configured to cause the recipient device to provide haptic feedback based on the received sensation input via a second haptic device communicatively coupled to the recipient device.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the haptic device further comprises:

a contoured housing that includes the one or more haptic components and is configured to engage with the apparatus; and

an input/output interface that is configured to communicatively couple the haptic device to the at least one processor.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the haptic device is selectively powered by the apparatus.

21. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein storing the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input includes storing haptic data describing at least one non-vibratory sensation.

22. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the memory stores additional computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to:

establish a connection with at least one recipient device;

cause the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input to be sent to the at least one recipient device;

receive, via the haptic device, additional sensation input captured by the one or more haptic components of the haptic device; and

stream, via the established connection, additional haptic data corresponding to the additional sensation input to the at least one recipient device.

23. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the memory stores additional computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to:

calculate a vector representing the received sensation input based on the position value, the intensity value, and the duration value associated with the received sensation input.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the memory stores additional computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to:

transmit the calculated vector to a recipient device associated with a second haptic device, wherein the calculated vector enables the second haptic device to reproduce particular haptic effects corresponding to the received sensation input.

25. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a camera configured to capture the image data.

26. At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause at least one computing device to:

receive, via a haptic device, a sensation input captured by one or more haptic components of the haptic device, the sensation input including at least one non-vibratory sensation input;

receive image data;

store haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input, wherein the haptic data includes a position value, an intensity value, and a duration value proportional to the received sensation input;

align the captured image data with respect to the received sensation input by associating specific points of the captured image data with the received sensation input; and

store the aligned image data.

27. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, having additional computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, further cause the at least one computing device to:

cause the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input to be sent to at least one recipient device.

28. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 27, wherein the haptic data is configured to cause the at least one recipient device to provide haptic feedback based on the received sensation input.

29. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, having additional computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, further cause the at least one computing device to:

cause the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input to be sent to a recipient device,

wherein the haptic data is configured to cause the recipient device to provide haptic feedback based on the received sensation input via a second haptic device communicatively coupled to the recipient device.

30. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein the haptic device further comprises:

a contoured housing that includes the one or more haptic components and is configured to engage with the at least one computing device; and

an input/output interface that is configured to communicatively couple the haptic device to the at least one computing device.

31. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the haptic device is selectively powered by the at least one computing device.

32. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein storing the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input includes storing haptic data describing at least one non-vibratory sensation.

33. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, having additional computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, further cause the at least one computing device to:

establish a connection with at least one recipient device;

cause the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input to be sent to the at least one recipient device;

receive, via a haptic device, additional sensation input captured by the one or more haptic components of the haptic device; and

stream, via the established connection, additional haptic data corresponding to the additional sensation input to the at least one recipient device.

34. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, having additional computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, further cause the at least one computing device to:

calculate a vector representing the received sensation input based on the position value, the intensity value, and the duration value associated with the received sensation input.

35. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 34, having additional computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, further cause the at least one computing device to:

transmit the calculated vector to a recipient device associated with a second haptic device, wherein the calculated vector enables the second haptic device to reproduce particular haptic effects corresponding to the received sensation input.

36. The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein, the computer-executable instructions stored thereon, when executed, cause the at least one computing device to receive the image data by capturing the image data with a camera.

37. A system comprising:

means for receiving a sensation input captured by one or more haptic components of the haptic device, the sensation input including at least one non-vibratory sensation input; and

means for receiving image data;

means for storing haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input, wherein the haptic data includes a position value, an intensity value, and a duration value proportional to the received sensation input;

means for aligning the captured image data with respect to the received sensation input, wherein the aligning the image data comprises associating specific points of the captured image data with the received sensation input; and

means for storing the aligned image data.

38. The system of claim 37, further comprising:

means for causing the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input to be sent to at least one recipient device.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the haptic data is configured to cause the at least one recipient device to provide haptic feedback based on the received sensation input.

40. The system of claim 37, further comprising:

means for causing the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input to be sent to a recipient device,

wherein the haptic data is configured to cause the recipient device to provide haptic feedback based on the received sensation input via a second haptic device communicatively coupled to the recipient device.

41. The system of claim 37, wherein the sensation input is received by a computing device, and wherein the haptic device further comprises:

a contoured housing that includes the one or more haptic components and is configured to engage with the computing device; and

an input/output interface that is configured to communicatively couple the haptic device to the computing device.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the haptic device is selectively powered by the computing device.

43. The system of claim 37, wherein means for storing haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input includes means for storing haptic data describing at least one non-vibratory sensation.

44. The system of claim 37, further comprising:

means for establishing a connection with at least one recipient device;

means for causing the haptic data corresponding to the received sensation input to be sent to the at least one recipient device;

means for receiving, via the haptic device, additional sensation input captured by the one or more haptic components of the haptic device; and

means for streaming, via the established connection, additional haptic data corresponding to the additional sensation input to the at least one recipient device.

45. The system of claim 37, further comprising:

means for calculating a vector representing the received sensation input based on the position value, the intensity value, and the duration value associated with the received sensation input.

46. The system of claim 45, further comprising:

means for transmitting the calculated vector to a recipient device associated with a second haptic device, wherein the calculated vector enables the second haptic device to reproduce particular haptic effects corresponding to the received sensation input.

47. The system of claim 37, wherein means for receiving image data comprises means for capturing the image data with a camera.