Interactive textiles
First Claim
1. A flexible object comprising:
- an interactive textile integrated within the flexible object, the interactive textile comprising a plurality of conductive threads woven into the interactive textile, the interactive textile including;
a first textile layer comprising first conductive threads of the plurality of conductive threads;
a second textile layer comprising second conductive threads of the plurality of conductive threads, the second conductive threads positioned to cross the first conductive threads; and
a third textile layer not including conductive threads, the third textile layer positioned between the first textile layer and the second textile layer to prevent the first conductive threads from making direct contact with the second conductive threads; and
a textile controller coupled to at least one conductive thread of the plurality of conductive threads, the textile controller configured to;
detect touch-input to the at least one conductive thread by detecting a change in capacitance to the at least one conductive thread when an object touches the at least one conductive thread; and
process the touch-input to provide touch data usable to control a computing device or an application at the computing device.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
This document describes interactive textiles. An interactive textile includes a grid of conductive thread woven into the interactive textile to form a capacitive touch sensor that is configured to detect touch-input. The interactive textile can process the touch-input to generate touch data that is useable to control various remote devices. For example, the interactive textiles may aid users in controlling volume on a stereo, pausing a movie playing on a television, or selecting a webpage on a desktop computer. Due to the flexibility of textiles, the interactive textile may be easily integrated within flexible objects, such as clothing, handbags, fabric casings, hats, and so forth. In one or more implementations, the interactive textiles may be integrated within various hard objects, such as by injection molding the interactive textile into a plastic cup, a hard casing of a smart phone, and so forth.
370 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A flexible object comprising:
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an interactive textile integrated within the flexible object, the interactive textile comprising a plurality of conductive threads woven into the interactive textile, the interactive textile including; a first textile layer comprising first conductive threads of the plurality of conductive threads; a second textile layer comprising second conductive threads of the plurality of conductive threads, the second conductive threads positioned to cross the first conductive threads; and a third textile layer not including conductive threads, the third textile layer positioned between the first textile layer and the second textile layer to prevent the first conductive threads from making direct contact with the second conductive threads; and a textile controller coupled to at least one conductive thread of the plurality of conductive threads, the textile controller configured to; detect touch-input to the at least one conductive thread by detecting a change in capacitance to the at least one conductive thread when an object touches the at least one conductive thread; and process the touch-input to provide touch data usable to control a computing device or an application at the computing device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A system comprising:
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a textile comprising a plurality of conductive threads woven with non-conductive threads, the textile including; a first textile layer comprising first conductive threads of the plurality of conducive threads; a second textile layer comprising second conductive threads of the plurality of conductive threads; and a third textile layer having no conductive threads and positioned between the first textile layer and the second textile layer to prevent the first conductive threads from directly contacting the second conductive threads; a textile controller configured to detect a position of touch-input on the textile by detecting a change in capacitance of one or more conductive threads of the plurality of conductive threads; and a network interface configured to communicate the position of the touch-input over a network to a computing device to control the computing device. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16)
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17. A method comprising:
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detecting touch-input to one or more conductive threads woven into an interactive textile integrated within a flexible object, the touch-input detected based on a change in capacitance of one or more first conductive threads in a first textile layer of the interactive textile that are separated from second conductive threads in a second textile layer of the interactive textile by a third textile layer of the interactive textile, the second conductive threads configured to cross the first conductive threads, the third textile layer not having conductive threads and configured to prevent the first conductive threads from directly contacting the second conductive threads; generating touch data based on the touch-input, the touch data comprising a position of the touch-input on the interactive textile; and communicating the touch data to a computing device to control the computing device or one or more applications at the computing device. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification