Generating gestures tailored to a hand resting on a surface

• US 8,502,785 B2
• Filed: 11/12/2008
• Issued: 08/06/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/12/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Westerman, Wayne Carl, Zorkendorfer, Rico
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sasinowski, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US12/269,843
• Publication Number:
  US 20100117963A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,728 Days
• Field of Search: 345/163, 345/173, 345/153, 345/156, 345/165
• US Class Current: 345/173
• 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 selecting gestures tailored for a hand resting on a touch surface, comprising:

storing a plurality of gestures for executing a first operation;

identifying one or more fingers of the hand resting on the touch surface;

based on at least a first subset of the identified fingers, selecting a first gesture from among the stored plurality of gestures;

receiving data indicative of at least the first subset of identified fingers performing a gesture;

comparing the stored first gesture to the performed gesture; and

executing the first operation based on the comparison.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying of the fingers comprises identifying the fingers of the hand posed to make longitudinal motions on the touch surface as part of the first gesture and the first operation is a scroll operation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting of the first gesture comprises selecting one or more of the identified fingers posed to make lateral motions on the touch surface as part of the first gesture and the first operation is a swipe operation.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a second gesture based on at least a second subset of the identified fingers.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the selecting of the second gesture comprises selecting one or more of the identified fingers posed to make tapping motions on the touch surface as part of the second gesture.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the selecting of the second gesture comprises selecting one or more of the identified fingers posed to make pinching motions on the touch surface as part of the second gesture.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting one or more unidentified fingers, wherein the first gesture is selected based on the first subset and the one or more unidentified fingers.

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

storing a plurality of gestures for executing a first operation;

determining a pose of the hand resting on the touch surface;

based on the hand pose, selecting, from among the stored plurality of gestures, a first gesture to be performed by the hand involving one or more fingers of the hand resting on the touch surface;

selecting a second gesture to be performed by the hand involving at least a subset of the fingers;

receiving data indicative of the hand performing a gesture;

comparing the stored first gesture to the performed gesture; and

executing the first operation based on the comparison.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

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

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the selecting of the first gesture comprises selecting the first gesture utilizing the fingers that can make longitudinal motions on the touch surface and the first operation is a scroll operation.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the selecting of the second gesture comprises selecting the second gesture utilizing one or more of the fingers that can make lateral motions on the touch surface.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

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

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the first gesture has a first priority to be defined and the second gesture has a second priority to be defined.

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

storing a plurality of gestures for executing a first operation;

determining a pose of the hand resting on the touch surface;

responsive to a touch event made by the 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;

selecting, from among the stored plurality of gestures, a first gesture tailored to the pose of the hand that can be made by the identified moving fingers having at least one of the determined motion components;

receiving data indicative of the hand performing a gesture;

comparing the stored first gesture to the performed gesture; and

executing the first operation based on the comparison.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the motion components comprise at least one of a translation motion component, a scale motion component, and a rotate motion component.

16. The method of claim 15, 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 weighted more heavily than the rest of the identified moving fingers.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

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

selecting the first gesture having the determined dominant motion component.

18. The method of claim 17, 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.

19. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program code for selecting gestures tailored to a hand resting on a touch surface, the program code for causing performance of a method comprising:

storing a plurality of gestures for executing a first operation;

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

based on the hand pose, selecting, from among the stored plurality of gestures, a first gesture to be performed by the hand;

defining a second gesture to be performed by the hand;

receiving data indicative of the hand performing a gesture;

comparing the stored first gesture to the performed gesture; and

executing the first operation based on the comparison.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the touch event comprises a natural pose of the hand resting on the touch surface.

21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the determining of the pose comprises determining 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.

22. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the selecting of the first gesture comprises selecting fingers of the hand posed to make the first gesture.

23. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the selecting of the second gesture comprises selecting fingers of the hand from the first gesture posed to make the second gesture.

24. A computing system comprising the non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 19.

25. A computing system, comprising:

a storage capable of storing a plurality of gestures for executing a first operation;

a processor capable of receiving data from an input device, the input device having a plurality of input sensors configured to detect a plurality of inputs on a surface of the input device, and the plurality of inputs corresponding to objects resting on the surface;

wherein the processor is further capable of;

selecting, based on the plurality of inputs and from among the stored plurality of gestures, a first gesture to be performed by the objects;

receiving data indicative of the objects performing a gesture;

comparing the stored first gesture to the performed gesture; and

executing the first operation based on the comparison.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the objects comprise fingers of a hand resting in a natural pose on the surface.

27. The system of claim 25, 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.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the plurality of touch sensors is incorporated into a touch sensor panel disposed on the surface of the input device.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein the input device is a mouse.

30. The system of claim 29, 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.