Resolving merged touch contacts
First Claim
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1. A method of tracking touch contacts, the method comprising:
- resolving a first touch contact applied to a first location of a multi-touch sensor to a first centroid(N) for a frame(N);
resolving a second touch contact, distinct from the first touch contact, to a second centroid(N) for the frame(N), the second touch contact applied to a second location, different than the first location, of the multi-touch sensor;
responsive to the first touch contact and the second touch contact moving toward a third location of the multi-touch sensor between the first and second locations and merging into a merged touch contact in a temporally subsequent frame(N+1), resolving the merged touch contact to a first centroid(N+1) and a second centroid(N+1) by assigning a first weight(N+1) and a second weight(N+1) to each particular pixel of the merged contact in frame(N+1), the first weight(N+1) calculated based on data from the first touch contact from frame(N) and the second weight(N+1) calculated based on data from the second touch contact from frame(N).
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Abstract
A method for resolving merged contacts detected by a multi-touch sensor includes resolving a first touch contact to a first centroid(N) for a frame(N) and resolving a second touch contact, distinct from the first touch contact, to a second centroid(N) for the frame(N). Responsive to the first touch contact and the second touch contact merging into a merged touch contact in a frame(N+1), the merged touch contact is resolved to a first centroid(N+1) and a second centroid(N+1).
27 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of tracking touch contacts, the method comprising:
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resolving a first touch contact applied to a first location of a multi-touch sensor to a first centroid(N) for a frame(N); resolving a second touch contact, distinct from the first touch contact, to a second centroid(N) for the frame(N), the second touch contact applied to a second location, different than the first location, of the multi-touch sensor; responsive to the first touch contact and the second touch contact moving toward a third location of the multi-touch sensor between the first and second locations and merging into a merged touch contact in a temporally subsequent frame(N+1), resolving the merged touch contact to a first centroid(N+1) and a second centroid(N+1) by assigning a first weight(N+1) and a second weight(N+1) to each particular pixel of the merged contact in frame(N+1), the first weight(N+1) calculated based on data from the first touch contact from frame(N) and the second weight(N+1) calculated based on data from the second touch contact from frame(N). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of tracking touch contacts, the method comprising:
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resolving a first touch contact to a first centroid(N) for a frame(N); resolving a second touch contact, distinct from the first touch contact, to a second centroid(N) for the frame(N); responsive to the first touch contact and the second touch contact merging into a merged touch contact appearing as a single, continuous touch contact in a temporally subsequent frame(N+1), resolving the merged touch contact to a first centroid(N+1) and a second centroid(N+1) based on data from the first touch contact from frame(N) and data from the second touch contact from frame(N), the resolving comprising, for each particular pixel of the merged touch contact; assigning a first weight(N+1) to that particular pixel with respect to the first touch contact, the first weight(N+1) being a product of an intensity of the merged touch contact observed at that particular pixel in frame(N+1) and a first probabilistic likelihood that particular pixel belongs to the first touch contact based on the first centroid(N) for the frame(N); assigning a second weight(N+1) to that particular pixel with respect to the second touch contact, the second weight(N+1) being a product of an intensity of the merged touch contact observed at that particular pixel in frame(N+1) and a second probabilistic likelihood that particular pixel belongs to the second touch contact based on the second centroid(N) for the frame(N); normalizing the first weight(N+1) and the second weight(N+1) such that a sum of the first weight(N+1) and the second weight(N+1) equals 1; normalizing each pixel for the probabilistic likelihood of the first touch contact such that a sum of first weights(N+1) of all pixels of the merged touch contact equals 1; normalizing each pixel for the probabilistic likelihood of the second touch contact such that a sum of second weights(N+1) of all pixels of the merged touch contact equals 1; resolving the merged touch contact to the first centroid(N+1) of normalized first weights(N+1) and the second centroid(N+1) of normalized second weights(N+1). - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A data-holding subsystem holding instructions, comprising:
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instructions to resolve a first touch contact applied to a first location of a multi-touch sensor to a first centroid(N) for a first frame(N), the first touch contact having a first region of maximum intensity; instructions to resolve a second touch contact, distinct from the first touch contact, to a second centroid(N) for the first frame(N), the second touch contact having a second region of maximum intensity distinct from the first region and applied to a second location, different than the first location, of the multi-touch sensor; instructions to, responsive to the first touch contact and the second touch contact moving toward a third location of the multi-touch sensor between the first and second locations and merging into a merged touch contact in a second, temporally subsequent frame(N+1), resolve the merged touch contact to a first centroid(N+1) and a second centroid(N+1) by assigning a first weight(N+1) and a second weight(N+1) to each particular pixel of the merged contact in the second frame(N+1), the first weight(N+1) calculated based on data from the first touch contact from frame(N) and the second weight(N+1) calculated based on data from the second touch contact from the first frame(N), the merged touch contact having a single, third region of maximum intensity. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. A device, comprising:
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a multi-touch sensor; a circuit in communication with the multi-touch sensor, the circuit configured to; resolve a first touch contact applied to a first location of the multi-touch sensor to a first centroid(N) for a frame(N); resolve a second touch contact, distinct from the first touch contact, to a second centroid(N) for the frame(N), the second touch contact applied to a second location, different than the first location, of the multi-touch sensor; responsive to the first touch contact and the second touch contact moving toward a third location of the multi-touch sensor between the first and second locations and merging into a merged touch contact in a temporally subsequent frame(N+1), resolve the merged touch contact to a first centroid(N+1) and a second centroid(N+1) by assigning a first weight(N+1) and a second weight(N+1) to each particular pixel of the merged contact in frame(N+1), the first weight(N+1) calculated based on data from the first touch contact from frame(N) and the second weight(N+1) calculated based on data from the second touch contact from frame(N). - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification