Annular user interface

• US 9,952,704 B2
• Filed: 10/04/2013
• Issued: 04/24/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vibrant Licensing LLC (IP Edge LLC)
• Original Assignee: Empire Technology Development LLC (Allied Inventors Management, LLC)
• Inventors: Kurabayashi, Shuichi
• Primary Examiner(s): SIMPSON, LIXI CHOW
• Application Number:
  US15/026,611
• Publication Number:
  US 20160246421A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,663 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1656 Details related to functional adaptations of the enclosure, e.g. to provide protection against EMI, shock, water, or to host detachable peripherals like a mouse or removable expansions units like PCMCIA cards, or to provide access to internal components for maintenance or to removable storage supports like CDs or DVDs, or to mechanically mount accessories mounting of accessories to a computer display G06F1/1607; display hoods G06F1/1603; cooling arrangements for portable computers G06F1/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0339 Touch strips, e.g. orthogonal touch strips to control cursor movement or scrolling; single touch strip to adjust parameter or to implement a row of soft keys
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0445 using two or more layers of sensing electrodes, e.g. using two layers of electrodes separated by a dielectric layer

Abstract

Technologies are generally described for a user interface system configured to detect a user'"'"'s action. In various examples, an electronic device operable by a user may include an annular sensor and a processor. The annular sensor may be configured to detect a touch input. The processor may be operatively coupled to the annular sensor, and configured to determine an action by the user that corresponds to the touch input.

Claims

1. An electronic device operable by a user, the electronic device comprising:

an annular sensor configured to detect a touch input;

a ring-shaped member that includes an inside surface, wherein the annular sensor is mounted on the inside surface of the ring-shaped member; and

a processor operatively coupled to the annular sensor, wherein the processor is configured to;

compare a first matrix associated with the touch input detected by the annular sensor with a second matrix associated with a candidate action; and

determine, based on the comparison, a user action that corresponds to the touch input detected by the annular sensor mounted on the inside surface of the ring-shaped member,

wherein the determination of the user action, via the annular sensor mounted on the inside surface of the ring-shaped member, facilitates intended selection of items displayed on the electronic device, which leads to enhancement in user experience while the user provides one or more touch inputs, and

wherein the annular sensor and the ring-shaped member enable the user to securely hold the electronic device to thereby reduce damage that would otherwise be due to slippage of the electronic device from a hand of the user.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory operatively coupled to the annular sensor and configured to store information that represents the touch input detected by the annular sensor.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to determine the user action based, at least in part, on one or more of touch positions and touch times associated with the touch input detected by the annular sensor.

4. The electronic device of claim 3, wherein the annular sensor is configured to provide one or more of the touch positions as an angular position associated with the detected touch input.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the annular sensor includes a pressure sensor that is configured to detect a pressure associated with operation of the annular sensor by the user.

6. The electronic device of claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the user action based, at least in part, on one or more of touch positions, touch times, and pressures associated with the touch input detected by the annular sensor.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the annular sensor includes a capacitive sensor.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to compare the touch input detected by the annular sensor with candidate actions to determine the user action from amongst the candidate actions.

9. The electronic device of claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to select the user action from amongst the candidate actions based on an executable application on the electronic device, and wherein different applications correspond to different candidate actions.

10. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the ring-shaped member is provided as a through-hole that is penetrated through a surface of the electronic device.

11. An electronic device configured to detect user action with an annular sensor mounted on an inside surface of a ring-shaped member, the electronic device comprising:

a touch input receiver unit coupled to the annular sensor and configured to receive a touch input from the annular sensor, wherein the annular sensor comprises at least two sensors; and

an action determination unit coupled to the touch input receiver unit and configured to determine the user action that corresponds to the touch input received by the touch input receiver unit, based, at least in part, on a comparison between a matrix associated with the touch input and any of a plurality of matrices associated with a list of candidate actions, wherein each element of the matrix, associated with the touch input, corresponds to a weighted sum of values of the at least two sensors, and

wherein the determination of the user action, via the annular sensor mounted on the inside surface of the ring-shaped member, facilitates intended selection of items displayed on the electronic device, which leads to enhancement in user experience while a user of the electronic device provides one or more touch inputs.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the annular sensor is configured to detect the touch input from the user.

13. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the touch input receiver unit is configured to receive touch positions and touch times associated with the touch input from the annular sensor, and

wherein the action determination unit is configured to determine the user action based, at least in part, on one or more of the touch positions and the touch times.

14. The electronic device of claim 13, wherein the annular sensor is configured to provide one or more of the touch positions as an angular position associated with the touch input.

15. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the at least two sensors include a pressure sensor that is configured to detect a pressure associated with the touch input.

16. The electronic device of claim 15, wherein the touch input receiver unit is configured to receive touch positions, touch times, and pressures associated with the touch input from the annular sensor, and

wherein the action determination unit is configured to determine the user action based, at least in part, on one or more of the touch positions, the touch times, and the pressures.

17. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the at least two sensors include a capacitive sensor.

18. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the action determination unit is configured to compute similarity between the touch input and each of the candidate actions, and select one of the candidate actions that has a highest computed similarity.

19. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the action determination unit is configured to select the user action from amongst the candidate actions based on an executable application on the electronic device, and wherein different applications correspond to different candidate actions.

20. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the touch input receiver unit is configured to receive the touch input from the annular sensor wirelessly.

21. The electronic device of claim 11, further comprising:

a touch input storage unit coupled to the touch input receiver unit and configured to store the received touch input.

22. The electronic device of claim 11, further comprising:

a candidate action list storage unit coupled to the action determination unit and configured to store the list of candidate actions.

23. A method for an electronic device operatively coupled to an annular sensor mounted on an inside surface of a ring-shaped member and configured to detect a user action with the annular sensor, the method comprising:

receiving, from the annular sensor which comprises a first sensor and a second sensor, a touch input;

comparing the received touch input with candidate actions, wherein comparing the received touch input with the candidate actions comprises;

generating a matrix associated with the received touch input; and

calculating a similarity between the received touch input and each of the candidate actions by comparing a first value of each element of the generated matrix, associated with the received touch input, with a second value of any of a plurality of matrices associated with the candidate actions,

wherein the first value of each element of the generated matrix corresponds to a weighted sum of a third value of the first sensor and a fourth value of the second sensor; and

selecting the user action, which corresponds to the touch input, from amongst the candidate actions based, at least in part, on the comparison, wherein selecting the user action with the annular sensor mounted on the inside surface of the ring-shaped member facilitates intended selection of items displayed on the electronic device, which leads to enhancement in user experience while a user of the electronic device provides one or more touch inputs.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein

selecting comprises selecting one of the candidate actions that has a highest computed similarity.

25. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

storing the received touch input and the candidate actions in a memory of the electronic device.

26. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

varying the candidate actions based on an application executed on the electronic device.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the receiving, from the annular sensor which comprises the first sensor and the second sensor, the touch input comprises receiving the touch input from an annular sensor that comprises a pressure sensor and a capacitive sensor, wherein the third value corresponds to a pressure value detected by the pressure sensor, wherein the fourth value corresponds to a value detected by the capacitive sensor, and wherein the value detected by the capacitive sensor indicates whether the capacitive sensor detects a contact of the annular sensor with the user of the electronic device.