Inverted direct touch sensitive input devices

• US 20070291008A1
• Filed: 06/16/2006
• Published: 12/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Wigdor, Daniel, Forlines, Clifton, Leigh, Darren, Shen, Chia, Barnwell, John C., Shipman, Samuel E.
• Application Number:
  US11/455,150
• Publication Number:
  US 20070291008A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1613 for portable computers cooling arrangements therefor G06F1/203; constructional details or arrangements for pocket calculators, electronic agendas or books G06F15/0216; constructional details of portable telephone sets: with several bodies H04M1/0202
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• 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 2203/04808 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 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A direct touch-sensitive input device includes a display surface configured to display images on a front of the display surface, and a direct touch-sensitive surface mounted on a back of the display surface. The display surface and the direct touch-sensitive surface are geometrically coincident. The device can also include a touch-sensitive surface mounted on the front of the device.

Claims

1. A direct touch-sensitive input device, comprising:

a display surface configured to display images on a front of the display surface; and

a first direct touch-sensitive surface mounted on a back of the display surface, in which the display surface and the direct touch surface are geometrically coincident.

2. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

means for displaying the images on the front of the display surface; and

means, coupled to the first direct touch-sensitive surface, for controlling the images display according to touches on the direct touch-sensitive surface.

3. The device of claim 2, in which the means for displaying is a projector.

4. The device of claim 2, in which the means for displaying is a plasma display unit.

5. The device of claim 2, in which the means for displaying is a liquid crystal display.

6. The device of claim 1, in which the display surface and the first direct touch-sensitive surfaces are mounted horizontally.

7. The device of claim 1, in which the display surface and the first direct touch-sensitive surface are mounted vertically.

8. The device of claim 1, in which the display surface is a tabletop, and the first direct touch-sensitive surface is mounted on a back of the tabletop.

9. The device of claim 1, in which the display surface and the first direct touch-sensitive surface are parallel to each other and there is a one-to-one correspondence between locations on the first direct touch-sensitive surface and positions on the display surface.

10. The device of claim 1, in which multiple concurrent touches by multiple users are uniquely identified with the multiple users.

11. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

a second direct touch-sensitive surface mounted on the front of the display surface.

12. The device of claim 1, in which the first direct touch-sensitive surface is mounted on a back of a lid of a laptop computer.

13. The device of claim 1, in which the first direct touch-sensitive surface is mounted on a back of a handheld computer.

14. The device of claim 1, in which the first direct touch-sensitive surface is mounted on a back of a mobile telephone.

15. The device of claim 11, in which the first direct touch-sensitive surface, the second direct touch-sensitive surface and the display surface are calibrated with each other.

16. The device of claim 1, in which a distance between the front and the back of the direct touch-sensitive input device is about one centimeter.

17. The device of claim 1, in which orientations of hands touching the direct touch-sensitive surface are semantically distinguished.

18. The device of claim 11, in which a dominance of hands touching the first direct touch sensitive surface and the second direct touch-sensitive surface is distinguished.

19. The device of claim 11, in which oppositional translational symmetry, and rotational symmetry of hands touching the first direct touch-sensitive surface and the second direct touch-sensitive surface are distinguished.

20. The device of claim 11, in which the second direct touch-sensitive surface is geometrically coincident with the first direct touch-sensitive surface and the display surface.

21. The device of claim 11, in which the second touch-surface is an indirect touch surface.

22. A method for data input and data output, comprising the steps of:

displaying images on a front of a display surface; and

touching a direct-touch sensitive surface mounted on a back of the display surface to control the displaying of the images, in which the direct touch surface and the display surface are geometrically coincident.

23. The method of claim 22, in which the displaying comprises front projection.

24. The method of claim 22, in which the display surface and the direct touch-sensitive surface are parallel to each other and there is a one-to-one correspondence between locations on the direct touch-sensitive surface and positions on the display surface.

25. The method of claim 22, in which multiple concurrent touches by multiple users are uniquely identified with the multiple users.

26. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

providing an other touch-sensitive surface mounted on the front of the display surface; and

touching the other touch-sensitive surface.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

calibrating the direct touch-sensitive surfaces and the display surface with each other.

28. The method of claim 22, in which orientations of hands touching the direct touch-sensitive surface are semantically distinguished.