Information processing device

• US 9,128,550 B2
• Filed: 08/11/2011
• Issued: 09/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Computer Entertainment Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Imada, Yoshiyuki, Mochizuki, Arito, Kitayama, Tomoya, Profitt, Phillip
• Primary Examiner(s): Lao, Lun-Yi
• Assistant Examiner(s): McLoone, Peter D
• Application Number:
  US13/825,242
• Publication Number:
  US 20130181930A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,489 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345/169, 345/173, 345/176, 345/178
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 1/169 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 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Provided is an information processing device which allows a user to provide, regardless of a position or direction of a touch sensor, an operation input to the touch sensor at an arbitrary position or in an arbitrary direction. The information processing device includes two touch sensors each including a detection surface for detecting a position of an object thereon, the two touch sensors being arranged to be opposed to each other, determines at least one of a reference point and a reference axis based on one or a plurality of positions detected by one touch sensor of the two touch sensors, and evaluates a content detected by another touch sensor of the two touch sensors based on the at least one of the determined reference point and the determined reference axis to determine a content of an operation input of a user.

Claims

1. An information processing device having a processor, comprising:

two touch sensors each including a detection surface for detecting a position of an object thereon, the two touch sensors being arranged to be opposed to each other;

wherein the processor determines a reference point and a reference axis based on one or a plurality of positions detected by one touch sensor of the two touch sensors; and

the processor evaluates a content detected by another touch sensor of the two touch sensors based the reference point and the reference axis to determine a content of an operation input of a user,

wherein the processor determines the reference axis, a direction of the reference axis, and positive and negative directions along the reference axis using three or more positions detected by the one touch sensor, and wherein the processor determines a direction indicated by the user as a direction relative to the positive and negative directions along the reference axis from the content detected by the another touch sensor,

wherein the processor determines a rectangle having a smallest area including all of the three or more detected positions, and determines the reference axis in a direction parallel to a long side of the rectangle.

2. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor determines one of the two touch sensors as a reference sensor to be used in determining the at least one of the reference point and the reference axis, wherein the processor determines the at least one of the reference point and the reference axis based on a plurality of positions detected by the reference sensor.

3. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the processor determines a transition to an operation input state using a reference sensor based on a detection result of at least one of the two touch sensors, wherein the processor determines the reference point and the reference axis in the operation input state using the reference sensor, and wherein the processor evaluates, in the operation input state using the reference sensor, the content detected by the another touch sensor based on the reference point and the reference axis.

4. An information processing device having a processor, comprising:

two touch sensors each including a detection surface for detecting a position of an object thereon, the two touch sensors being arranged to be opposed to each other;

wherein the processor determines a reference point and a reference axis based on one or a plurality of positions detected by one touch sensor of the two touch sensors; and

the processor evaluates a content detected by another touch sensor of the two touch sensors based the reference point and the reference axis to determine a content of an operation input of a user,

wherein the processor determines the reference axis, a direction of the reference axis, and positive and negative directions along the reference axis using three or more positions detected by the one touch sensor, and wherein the processor determines a direction indicated by the user as a direction relative to the positive and negative directions along the reference axis from the content detected by the another touch sensor,

wherein the processor determines an ellipse having a smallest area including all of the three or more detected positions, and determines a long axis of the ellipse as the reference axis.

5. An information processing device having a processor, comprising:

two touch sensors each including a detection surface for detecting a position of an object thereon, the two touch sensors being arranged to be opposed to each other;

wherein the processor determines a reference point and a reference axis based on one or a plurality of positions detected by one touch sensor of the two touch sensors; and

the processor evaluates a content detected by another touch sensor of the two touch sensors based the reference point and the reference axis to determine a content of an operation input of a user,

wherein the processor determines the reference axis, a direction of the reference axis, and positive and negative directions along the reference axis using three or more positions detected by the one touch sensor, and wherein the processor determines a direction indicated by the user as a direction relative to the positive and negative directions along the reference axis from the content detected by the another touch sensor,

wherein the processor determines, of the three or more detected positions, two detected positions which are separated from each other by a longest distance, and determines a line connecting the two detected positions as the reference axis.

6. An information processing device having a processor, comprising:

two touch sensors each including a detection surface for detecting a position of an object thereon, the two touch sensors being arranged to be opposed to each other;

wherein the processor determines a reference point and a reference axis based on one or a plurality of positions detected by one touch sensor of the two touch sensors; and

the processor evaluates a content detected by another touch sensor of the two touch sensors based the reference point and the reference axis to determine a content of an operation input of a user,

wherein the processor determines the reference axis, a direction of the reference axis, and positive and negative directions along the reference axis using three or more positions detected by the one touch sensor, and wherein the processor determines a direction indicated by the user as a direction relative to the positive and negative directions along the reference axis from the content detected by the another touch sensor,

wherein the processor calculates a line approximating the three or more detected positions, and determines the line as the reference axis.

7. An information processing device having a processor, comprising:

two touch sensors each including a detection surface for detecting a position of an object thereon, the two touch sensors being arranged to be opposed to each other;

wherein the processor determines a reference point and a reference axis based on one or a plurality of positions detected by one touch sensor of the two touch sensors; and

the processor evaluates a content detected by another touch sensor of the two touch sensors based the reference point and the reference axis to determine a content of an operation input of a user,

wherein the processor determines the reference axis, a direction of the reference axis, and positive and negative directions along the reference axis using three or more positions detected by the one touch sensor, and wherein the processor determines a direction indicated by the user as a direction relative to the positive and negative directions along the reference axis from the content detected by the another touch sensor,

wherein the processor determines the positive and negative directions of the reference axis using a posture detection sensor mounted in the information processing device.