Techniques for controlling operation of a device with a virtual touchscreen

• US 8,525,776 B2
• Filed: 10/27/2008
• Issued: 09/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo PC International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Lenovo Singapore Pte Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Challener, David C., Rutledge, James S., Yang, Jinping
• Primary Examiner(s): Wang, Quan-Zhen
• Assistant Examiner(s): EURICE, MICHAEL
• Application Number:
  US12/259,086
• Publication Number:
  US 20100103141A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,772 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345/1.1, 345/173, 345/176, 345/177, 345/178, 345/179, 345/586, 340/932.2, 340/539.12, 178/18.01, 178/18.02, 178/18.03, 178/18.09, 178/18.11, 178/19.01, 178/19.05, 178/20.01
• US Class Current: 345/156
• 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 1/1662 Details related to the integrated keyboard
• 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 3/0426 tracking fingers with respect to a virtual keyboard projected or printed on the surface virtual keyboards on touch screens G06F3/04886
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0428 by sensing at the edges of the touch surface the interruption of optical paths, e.g. an illumination plane, parallel to the touch surface which may be virtual sensing beam interruptions in a planar beam grid of an optical touch-screen G06F3/0421
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

A technique for controlling operation of a device with a virtual touchscreen includes defining an area of a surface, associated with the device, as the virtual touchscreen. An operation within the device is then initiated based on activity within the virtual touchscreen. An overlay may be provided, on a display screen of the device, to indicate a location of the virtual touchscreen with respect to, for example, a keyboard of the device.

Claims

1. A data processing device comprising:

two infrared lasers for providing a plane of infrared light above a surface of said data processing device to transform said surface into a virtual touchscreen;

two infrared cameras positioned to capture infrared light reflected from an object breaking said plane of infrared light; and

a processor, coupled to said two infrared cameras, for determining a position of said object within said virtual touchscreen based on information related to said captured infrared light reflected from said object by solving

Xs=A3Xr³+A2Xr²+A1Xr+A0

Ys=B3Yr³+B2Yr²+B1Yr+B0

wherein Xs is an actual X surface position, Xr is a reflected X position as detected by a first one of said infrared cameras, Ys is an actual Y surface position, Yr is a reflected Y position as detected by a second one of said infrared cameras, wherein A0, A1, A2, A3, B0, B1, B2, and B3 are coefficients specific to physical dimensions of said virtual touchscreen, wherein said coefficients are determined by performing a polynomial regression.

2. The data processing device of claim 1, wherein said processor determines said position of said object by utilizing reflection intensity of said infrared light reflected from said object.