Mouse with optical sensing surface
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A configurable mouse with an extended sensing surface, which provides the mouse a customizable, programmable or adaptable way of generating inputs, the mouse including an arbitrarily shaped grippable member having a 3D shape, a position detection mechanism that detects the movement of the mouse along a surface, a multipoint touch detection mechanism that includes a single lens assembly and detects one or more objects that are contacting or in close proximity to a majority portion of the grippable member, and a controller for processing signals generated by the position detection mechanism and multipoint touch detection mechanism.
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Abstract
A mouse with an extended optical sensing surface is disclosed.
442 Citations
32 Claims
- 1. A configurable mouse with an extended sensing surface, which provides the mouse a customizable, programmable or adaptable way of generating inputs, the mouse including an arbitrarily shaped grippable member having a 3D shape, a position detection mechanism that detects the movement of the mouse along a surface, a multipoint touch detection mechanism that includes a single lens assembly and detects one or more objects that are contacting or in close proximity to a majority portion of the grippable member, and a controller for processing signals generated by the position detection mechanism and multipoint touch detection mechanism.
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7. A method of operating a mouse coupled to a host device such as a personal computer, the method comprising:
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obtaining through a single lens assembly images of a hand as it interacts with a majority portion of an arbitrarily shaped mouse housing; obtaining touch patterns for each image; extracting control information from the resulting touch patterns; and controlling some aspect of a host device based on the control information. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer mouse, comprising
a mouse housing for enclosing mouse electronics and including a top shell that is connected to a base, the base being embodied as a flat member capable of traveling across a flat surface, the top shell being embodied as a single 3D shaped member that fits inside a user'"'"'s hand and that is optically transmissive, the base defining the bottom surface of the mouse, the top shell defining the top, front, back and side surfaces of the mouse; - and
a mouse tracking unit for tracking movements of the mouse along a flat surface; an optical image system for imaging a majority portion of the 3D shaped top shell, the optical imaging system including an illumination source for illuminating the 3D shaped top shell, an image sensor arrangement for imaging the 3D shaped top shell when the 3D shaped top shell is illuminated, and a single lens assembly that allows the majority portion of the 3D shaped top shell to be imaged by the image sensor arrangement, the illumination source including one or more light sources, the image sensor arrangement including one or more image sensors; a controller operatively coupled to the mouse tracking unit and optical imaging system, and configured to control the operations of the mouse tracking unit and the optical imaging system, the controller including a mouse tracking module associated with the mouse tracking unit and an optical sensing module associated with the optical imaging system. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 31, 32)
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27. A method of inputting from a mouse into a host device, comprising:
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at the mouse, imaging through a single lens assembly the entire or majority portion of a 3D shaped top shell of a mouse; at the mouse, mapping the 3D image to flat space; at the mouse, segmenting the flat space image into one or more features, each of which represents a discrete touch on the surface of the top shell; at the mouse, calculating contact patch parameters for each of the features; and at the mouse, sending the contact patch parameters to the host device so that actions can be performed based on the contact patch parameters. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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Specification