Generating Gestures Tailored to a Hand Resting on a Surface

• US 20100117963A1
• Filed: 11/12/2008
• Published: 05/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Zorkendorfer, Rico, Westerman, Wayne Carl
• Granted Patent: US 8,502,785 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/163
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03543 Mice or pucks G06F3/03541 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

The generation of gestures tailored to a hand resting on a mouse surface is disclosed. Gestures to be made on the mouse surface can be generated based on the natural pose of a hand resting on the mouse surface so that the gestures are comfortable. Fingers that are appropriately posed on the mouse surface to make a gesture can be identified for that gesture. Alternatively, gestures to be made on the mouse surface can be generated based on a user'"'"'s preference. The user can identify the fingers that the user wishes to use to make a gesture.

Claims

1. A method for generating gestures tailored for a hand resting on a touch surface, comprising:

based on a natural pose of a hand resting on a touch surface, determining fingers of the hand appropriately posed to make a first gesture; and

selecting at least a subset of the determined fingers appropriately posed to make a second gesture.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the natural pose of the hand resting on the touch surface.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining of the fingers comprises determining the fingers of the hand appropriately posed to make longitudinal motions on the touch surface comprising the first gesture.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of at least the subset comprises selecting one or more of the determined fingers appropriated posed to make lateral motions on the touch surface comprising the second gesture.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting at least a second subset of the determined fingers appropriately posed to make a third gesture.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the selecting of at least the second subset comprises selecting one or more of the determined fingers appropriately posed to make tapping motions on the touch surface comprising the third gesture.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the selecting of at least the second subset comprises selecting one or more of the determined fingers appropriately posed to make pinching motions on the touch surface comprising the third gesture.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of at least the subset comprises selecting one or more of the determined fingers and one or more of the undetermined fingers to make the second gesture.

9. A method for generating gestures tailored to a hand resting on a touch surface, comprising:

responsive to an input, generating a first gesture involving fingers of a hand resting on a touch surface; and

generating a second gesture involving at least a subset of the fingers.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving the input selecting the fingers involved in the first gesture.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the generating of the first gesture comprises generating the first gesture involving the fingers that can make longitudinal motions on the touch surface.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the generating of the second gesture comprises generating the second gesture involving one of more of the fingers that can make lateral motions on the touch surface.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a second input selecting the subset of the fingers involved in the second gesture.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the generating of the first gesture is based on a natural pose of the hand resting on the touch surface.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the first gesture has a first priority to be generated and the second gesture has a second priority to be generated.

16. A method for detecting a gesture tailored to a hand resting on a touch surface, comprising:

responsive to a touch event made by a hand resting on the touch surface, identifying which fingers of the hand are moving and which fingers of the hand remain substantially stationary;

determining motion components of the identified moving fingers;

based on the determination, proposing possible gestures tailored to the hand that can be made by the identified moving fingers having at least one of the determined motion components; and

selecting as the detected gesture the proposed possible tailored gesture that most closely matches the touch event.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the motion components comprise at least one of a translation motion component, a scale motion component, or a rotate motion component.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the translation motion component is calculated as a weighted average of translation motion components of the identified moving fingers, the faster of the identified moving fingers being weighed more heavily than the rest of the identified moving fingers.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining a dominant motion component from among the determined motion components; and

proposing the possible gestures having the determined dominant motion component.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the determining of the dominant motion component comprises:

calculating motion dominance factors corresponding to the determined motion components,

wherein the motion dominance factors for a scale motion component and a rotate motion component are high when a thumb is one of the identified moving fingers, and

wherein the motion dominance factor for a translation motion component is high when the thumb is not one of the identified moving fingers.

21. The method of claim 16, wherein the proposing of the possible gestures comprises proposing the possible gestures that are tailored to a natural pose of the hand.

22. A computer readable medium comprising program code for generating gestures tailored to a hand resting on a touch surface, the program code for causing performance of a method comprising:

responsive to a touch event on a touch surface, determining a pose of a hand comprising the touch event;

generating a first gesture based on the determined pose; and

generating a second gesture based on the generated first gesture.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the touch event comprising a natural pose of the hand resting on the touch surface.

24. The computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the determining of the pose comprising determining at least one of which fingers comprise the touch event, how many fingers comprise the touch event, or where fingers touch on the touch surface during the touch event.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the generating of the first gesture comprises selecting fingers of the hand appropriately posed to make the first gesture.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 22, wherein the generating of the second gesture comprises selecting fingers of the hand from the first gesture appropriately posed to make the second gesture.

27. A computing system comprising the computer readable medium of claim 22.

28. A computing system, comprising:

an input device having a plurality of input sensors configured to detect a plurality of inputs on a surface of the input device, the plurality of inputs corresponding to objects; and

a processor in communication with the input device and configured to generate a plurality of gestures based on the detected plurality of inputs.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the objects comprise fingers of a hand resting in a natural pose on the surface.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the plurality of input sensors is a plurality of touch sensors configured to detect a touch comprising a natural pose of a hand resting on the surface of the input device.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the plurality of touch sensors is incorporated into a touch sensor panel disposed on the surface of the input device.

32. The system of claim 28, wherein the input device is a mouse.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the plurality of input sensors is a plurality of touch sensors configured to detect a touch comprising a natural pose of a hand resting on the surface of the mouse and incorporated into a touch sensor panel disposed on the surface of the mouse.