Touch Sensitive Input

• US 20120075200A1
• Filed: 09/27/2010
• Published: 03/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: JOKINEN, Teppo Tapani, ANDREW, Piers, RADIVOJEVIC, Zoran, SALO, Antti, SAUNAMAKI, Jarkko Tapio, YAN, Qifeng, PARTANEN, Lotta, OGETURK, Okan, ANTTILAINEN, Mikko
• Granted Patent: US 9,971,405 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

An apparatus including: a touch sensitive input responsive to manual actuation; a display output associated with the touch sensitive input; and a controller configured to provide and maintain, in response to a manual actuation at a user selected location of the touch sensitive input, an output at the user selected location to facilitate additional manual actuation via the touch sensitive input in the region of the user selected location.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a touch sensitive input responsive to manual actuation;

a display output associated with the touch sensitive input; and

a controller configured to provide and maintain, in response to a manual actuation at a user selected location of the touch sensitive input, an output at the user selected location to facilitate additional manual actuation via the touch sensitive input in the region of the user selected location.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the output comprises haptic output in the region of the user selected location.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the output comprises a local deformation of the touch sensitive input in the region of the user selected location to facilitate additional user actuation in the region of the user selected location.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the deformation is static and does not dynamically vary in response to the facilitated additional manual actuation.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the deformation creates a three-dimensional user input feature at the touch sensitive input

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the output comprises an icon displayed on the display output at the user selected region to facilitate additional user actuation in the region of the user selected location.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller is configured to dynamically vary the icon in response to the additional manual actuation.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the icon is a visual indication disambiguating further additional manual actuations that provide different user control commands.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein anyone of a plurality of different icons is provided dependent upon the available user control.

10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the icon visually represents physical deformation of the touch sensitive input.

11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to interpret a further additional manual actuation in the region of the user selected location as a user control command that is dependent upon a location of the additional manual actuation relative to the user selected location.

12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein a user controlled instrument placed at the user selected location may be rocked to provide additional manual actuations via the touch sensitive input that are interpreted as joy-stick control commands.

13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to interpret a further additional manual actuation in the region of the user selected location as a user control command that is dependent upon an intensity of the manual actuation.

14. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a transparent deformable layer overlying the touch sensitive input.

15. A method comprising:

detecting manual actuation at a user selected location of a touch sensitive input, providing and maintaining an output at the user selected location to facilitate additional manual actuation via the touch sensitive input in the region of the user selected location.

16. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein providing and maintaining an output comprises providing and maintaining a haptic output in the region of the user selected location.

17. A method as claimed in claim 15, wherein providing and maintaining an output comprises providing and maintaining a local deformation of the touch sensitive input in the region of the user selected location to facilitate additional user actuation in the region of the user selected location.

18. (canceled)

19. (canceled)

20. (canceled)

21. An apparatus comprising:

a user interface comprising;

a touch sensitive input responsive to manual actuation; and

a display output associated with the touch sensitive input; and

a controller configured to provide and maintain, in response to a manual actuation at a user selected location of the touch sensitive input, a haptic output at the user selected location via the user interface in the region of the user selected location.

22. An apparatus as claimed in claim 21, wherein the haptic output comprises a local deformation of the touch sensitive input in the region of the user selected location.

23. (canceled)