Apparatus, system and method for flexible tactile computer input
View Patent ↗An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for flexible tactile computer input. A surface module may define a pressure-sensitive surface, any physical surface, or a virtual surface of a flexible input device, the surface having a default shape, reshaping the surface in response to physical proximity to one or more external objects, including one or more bodily appendages of a user, and restoring the default shape when the surface is not in physical proximity to the objects. A sensing module may sense manipulation of the flexible input device by the bodily appendages in proximity to the surface. An analysis module may interpret the manipulation of the flexible input device as input to a computer.
1. A machine-implemented method comprising:
defining a surface of a flexible input device, the surface having a default shape;
reshaping the surface into a form analogous to a regular non-malleable input device in response to physical proximity to one or more external objects, the objects comprising one or more bodily appendages of a user;
sensing manipulation of the flexible input device in real time by the one or more bodily appendages in proximity to the surface;
interpreting the manipulation of the flexible input device as input to a computer via a control area on the surface that is defined more by the manipulation itself than by any distinct physical feature of the control area, wherein the control area is analogous to a fixed control area of the regular non-malleable input device, so as to behave at least in part as the regular non-malleable input device; and
restoring the default shape when the surface is not in physical proximity to the one or more objects.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the manipulation comprises pressure, a touch gesture, two-dimensional displacement, three-dimensional motion, or pointing.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein sensing is performed at a distance, away from the flexible input device.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the regular non-malleable flexible input device is explicitly selected by the user.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein interpretation of the manipulation is explicitly defined by the user.
6. An apparatus comprising:
a flexible input device having a surface;
a surface module that
reshapes the surface into a form analogous to a regular non-malleable input device in response to physical proximity to one or more external objects, the objects comprising one or more bodily appendages of a user, and
restores a default shape when the surface is not in physical proximity to the one or more objects;
a sensing module that senses manipulation of the flexible input device in real time by the one or more bodily appendages in proximity to the surface; and
an analysis module that interprets the manipulation of the flexible input device as input to a computer via a control area on the surface that is defined more by the manipulation itself than by any distinct physical feature of the control area, wherein the control area is analogous to a fixed control area of the regular non-malleable input device, so as to behave at least in part as the regular non-malleable input device.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the flexible input device is orientation-agnostic.
8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the sensing is not confined to any specific region of the surface.
9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the direct proximity of the surface to one of the external objects dictates the regular non-malleable flexible input device.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the surface module senses that one of the one or more external objects is substantially flat, dictating the regular non-malleable flexible input device to be a mouse.
11. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the surface is pressure-sensitive.
12. The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising one or more pressure sensors coupled to the surface.
13. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the flexible input device incorporates an internal accelerometer.
14. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the flexible input device behaves at least in part as a mouse, a trackball, a thumbwheel, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a joystick, a remote, a game controller, a wand, or a pedal.
15. A system comprising:
a computer;
a flexible input device operatively coupled to the computer, the flexible input device having a surface;
a surface module that
reshapes the surface into a form analogous to a regular non-malleable input device in response to physical proximity to one or more external objects, the objects comprising one or more bodily appendages of a user, and
restores a default shape when the surface is not in physical proximity to the one or more objects;
a sensing module that senses manipulation of the flexible input device in real time by the one or more bodily appendages in proximity to the surface; and
an analysis module that interprets the manipulation of the flexible input device as input to the computer via a control area on the surface that is defined more by the manipulation itself than by any distinct physical feature of the control area, wherein the control area is analogous to a fixed control area of the regular non-malleable input device, so as to behave at least in part as the regular non-malleable input device.
16. The system of claim 15 , further comprising an auxiliary sensor, apart from the flexible input device, the auxiliary sensor being employed by the sensing module.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the auxiliary sensor is at least in part electromagnetic.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the flexible input device behaves at least in part as a mouse, a trackball, a thumbwheel, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a joystick, a remote, a game controller, a wand, or a pedal.
19. The system of claim 15 , wherein the flexible input device comprises stretchable fabric, silicon electronic skin, rubber, or low-resilience polyurethane foam.
20. The system of claim 15 , wherein the system is physically integrated with the flexible input device in a single compact form factor.
21. A computer program product comprising a computer readable non-transitory storage medium storing a computer readable program code executed to perform operations for flexible tactile computer input, the operations of the computer program product comprising:
defining a surface of a flexible input device, the surface having a default shape;
reshaping the surface into a form analogous to a regular non-malleable input device in response to physical proximity to one or more external objects, the objects comprising one or more bodily appendages of a user;
sensing manipulation of the flexible input device in real time by the one or more bodily appendages in proximity to the surface;
interpreting the manipulation of the flexible input device as input to a computer via a control area on the surface that is defined more by the manipulation itself than by any distinct physical feature of the control area, wherein the control area is analogous to a fixed control area of the regular non-malleable input device, so as to behave at least in part as the regular non-malleable input device; and
restoring the default shape when the surface is not in physical proximity to the one or more objects.
22. The computer program product of claim 21 , wherein the flexible input device is virtual, and its surface is defined at least in part by the relative position of the external objects.