Haptic feedback device, haptic feedback method, driving signal generating device and driving signal generation method

1. A haptic feedback device which provides haptic feedback to a user by vibrating a panel, the haptic feedback device comprising:

the panel;

a plurality of actuators placed in mutually different positions on the panel for vibrating the panel;

a touch information obtaining unit configured to obtain a plurality of touch positions on the panel by detecting a plurality of touches having a state of concurrent contact on the panel;

a haptic feedback determining unit configured to determine a first touch position at which to provide haptic feedback from among the plurality of touch positions;

a driving signal obtaining unit configured to obtain first driving signals for driving the plurality of actuators to vibrate the panel at the first touch position according to a first haptic signal and vibrate the panel at a second touch position included in the plurality of touch positions more weakly than at the first touch position, the first driving signals being generated using transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first touch position or a plurality of first candidate positions and transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the second touch position or a plurality of second candidate positions, and the first driving signals being generated using the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to at least one of the plurality of first candidate positions and the plurality of second candidate positions; and

a control position determining unit configured to determine a first control position within a first region and a second control position within a second region, the first region having a predetermined size and including the first touch position and the plurality of first candidate positions, the second region having a predetermined size and including the second touch position and the plurality of second candidate positions, and the control position determining unit is configured to determine at least one of the first control position and the second control position from vibration strengths calculated at the first touch position for the plurality of first candidate positions and the plurality of second candidate positions, respectively,

wherein the plurality of actuators vibrate the panel based on the first driving signals,

wherein the driving signal obtaining unit is configured to obtain, as the first driving signals, signals generated using transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first control position and transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the second control position, and

wherein the control position determining unit is configured to determine, as the first control position, one of the plurality of first candidate positions which yields a vibration strength at the first touch position that is greater than or equal to a predetermined vibration strength.

2. The haptic feedback device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the driving signal obtaining unit is further configured to obtain second driving signals for driving the plurality of actuators to vibrate the panel at the second touch position according to a second haptic signal and cause the panel to not vibrate at the first touch position, the second driving signals being generated using the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first touch position and the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the second touch position, and

the haptic feedback device further comprises a signal adding unit configured to sum the first driving signals and the second driving signals for the plurality of actuators,

wherein the plurality of actuators vibrate the panel based on the summed signals.

3. The haptic feedback device according to claim 1 , further comprising

a driving signal storage unit which stores driving signals for driving the plurality of actuators to, with respect to an arbitrary combination of a plurality of positions on the panel, vibrate the panel at one position according to the first haptic signal and cause the panel to not vibrate at an other position, the driving signals being generated using transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the one position and transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the other position,

wherein the driving signal obtaining unit is configured to obtain the driving signals that each correspond to both the first touch position and the second touch position from the driving signal storage unit as the first driving signals.

4. The haptic feedback device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the driving signal obtaining unit is configured to generate the first driving signals using the first haptic signal and the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first touch position and the second touch position.

5. The haptic feedback device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the first haptic signal is determined based on a vibration characteristic of the panel.

6. The haptic feedback device according to claim 1 , further comprising

a touch position estimating unit configured to, for each of the plurality of touch positions obtained, based on temporal changes in the touch position, estimate a touch position of a touch to be made a predetermined amount of time later,

wherein the haptic feedback determining unit is configured to determine the first touch position and the second touch position from among the touch positions estimated.

7. The haptic feedback device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the transfer functions are impulse responses from the plurality of actuators to the first touch position and the second touch position.

8. The haptic feedback device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the control position determining unit is configured to:

determine the second touch position to be the second control position; and

for each of the plurality of first candidate positions within the first region, calculate a vibration strength at the first touch position upon the plurality of actuators being driven by driving signals generated using transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the plurality of first candidate positions and transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the second control position, and determine the first control position to be the one of the plurality of first candidate positions yielding the vibration strength that is greater than or equal to the predetermined vibration strength.

9. The haptic feedback device according to claim 1 ,

wherein the control position determining unit is configured to:

determine the first touch position to be the first control position; and

for each of the plurality of second candidate positions within the second region, calculate a vibration strength at the first touch position upon the plurality of actuators being driven by driving signals generated using the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first control position and transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the plurality of second candidate positions, and determine the second control position to be one of the plurality of second candidate positions yielding a vibration strength that is greater than or equal to the predetermined vibration strength.

10. The haptic feedback device according to claim 1 ,

wherein for each combination of the plurality of first candidate positions in the first region and the plurality of second candidate positions in the second region, the control position determining unit is configured to calculate a vibration strength at the first touch position upon the plurality of actuators being driven by driving signals generated using transfer functions from the plurality of the actuators to the plurality of first candidate positions and transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the plurality of second candidate positions, and determine the first control position to be the one of the plurality of first candidate positions yielding the vibration strength that is greater than or equal to the predetermined vibration strength, and determine the second control position to be one of the plurality of second candidate positions yielding a vibration strength that is greater than or equal to the predetermined vibration strength.

11. The haptic feedback device according to claim 1 , further comprising

a filter obtaining unit configured to obtain first filters for generating, by filtering a given haptic signal, driving signals for driving the plurality of actuators to vibrate the panel at the first touch position according to the given haptic signal and vibrate the panel at the second touch position according to a signal having a weaker vibration strength than the given haptic signal,

wherein the driving signal obtaining unit is configured to obtain the first driving signals by filtering the first haptic signal with the first filters.

12. The haptic feedback device according to claim 11 ,

wherein the filter obtaining unit being configured to obtain the first filters includes the filter obtaining unit being configured to calculate the first filters, so that a sum of convolution results, in a time domain, of the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first touch position and the first filters indicates an impulse, and a sum of convolution results, in the time domain, of the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the second touch position and the first filters indicates zero.

13. The haptic feedback device according to claim 11 ,

wherein the filter obtaining unit being configured to obtain the first filters includes the filter obtaining unit being configured to calculate the first filters, so that a sum of products, in a frequency domain, of the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first touch position and the first filters indicates an impulse, and a sum of products, in the frequency domain, of the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the second touch position and the first filters indicates zero.

14. The haptic feedback device according to claim 11 , further comprising

a filter storage unit which stores filters for generating, by filtering a given haptic signal, driving signals for driving the plurality of actuators to, with respect to an arbitrary combination of a plurality of positions on the panel, vibrate the panel at one position according to the given haptic signal and cause the panel to not vibrate at an other position,

wherein the filter obtaining unit is configured to obtain the filters that each correspond to both the first touch position and the second touch position from the filter storage unit as the first filters.

15. The haptic feedback device according to claim 11 ,

wherein the filter obtaining unit being configured to obtain the first filters includes the filter obtaining unit being configured to calculate the first filters, so that a sum of products, in a frequency domain, of the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first touch position and the first filters indicates an impulse, and a ratio of (i) a sum of products, in the frequency domain, of the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first touch position and the first filters and (ii) a sum of products, in the frequency domain, of the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the second touch position and the first filters indicates a response signal having a vibration strength greater than or equal to a predetermined vibration strength ratio.

16. The haptic feedback device according to claim 11 ,

wherein the filter obtaining unit being configured to obtain the first filters includes the filter obtaining unit being configured to calculate the first filters, so that a sum of products, in a frequency domain, of the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first touch position and the first filters indicates an impulse, and a sum of products, in the frequency domain, of the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the second touch position and the first filters indicates a response signal having a vibration strength less than or equal to a predetermined vibration strength.

17. The haptic feedback device according to claim 16 ,

wherein the filter obtaining unit is configured to calculate a plurality of first filter candidates by modifying at least one of an amplitude and a phase of the response signal, and calculate as the first filters, the first filter candidates from among the plurality of first filter candidates that yield, through filtering, driving signals having a vibration strength less than or equal to a predetermined vibration strength.

18. A haptic feedback method of providing haptic feedback to a user by vibrating a panel with a plurality of actuators placed in mutually different positions on the panel, the haptic feedback method comprising:

obtaining a plurality of touch positions on the panel by detecting a plurality of touches having a state of concurrent contact on the panel;

determining a first touch position at which to provide haptic feedback from among the plurality of touch positions;

obtaining first driving signals for driving the plurality of actuators to vibrate the panel at the first touch position according to a first haptic signal and vibrate the panel at a second touch position included in the plurality of touch positions more weakly than at the first touch position, the first driving signals being generated using transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first touch position or a plurality of first candidate positions and transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the second touch position or a plurality of second candidate positions, and the first driving signals being generated using the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to at least one of the plurality of first candidate positions and the plurality of second candidate positions;

determining a first control position within a first region and a second control position within a second region, the first region having a predetermined size and including the first touch position and the plurality of first candidate positions, the second region having a predetermined size and including the second touch position and the plurality of second candidate positions, and determining at least one of the first control position and the second control position from vibration strengths calculated at the first touch position for the plurality of first candidate positions and the plurality of second candidate positions, respectively; and

driving the plurality of actuators based on the first driving signals, wherein the obtaining of the first driving signals comprises obtaining signals generated using transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first control position and transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the second control position as the first driving signals, and

wherein the determining of the first control position comprises determining one of the plurality of first candidate positions which yields a vibration strength at the first touch position that is greater than or equal to a predetermined vibration strength as the first control position.

19. A haptic feedback device which provides haptic feedback to a user by vibrating a panel, the haptic feedback device comprising:

a driving signal generating device which generates driving signals for driving a plurality of actuators to vibrate the panel to provide the haptic feedback to the user, the driving signal generating unit including:

a transfer function obtaining unit configured to obtain transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to a plurality of positions on the panel; and

a driving signal generating unit configured to generate the driving signals for driving the plurality of actuators to, with respect to an arbitrary combination of the plurality of positions on the panel, vibrate the panel at one position according to a first haptic signal and vibrate the panel at another position more weakly than at the one position, the driving signals being generated using the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the one position or a plurality of first candidate positions and the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the other position or a plurality of second candidate positions, and the driving signals being generated using the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to at least one of the plurality of first candidate positions and the plurality of second candidate positions; and

a control position determining unit configured to determine a first control position within a first region and a second control position within a second region, the first region having a predetermined size and including the one position and the plurality of first candidate positions, the second region having a predetermined size and including the other position and the plurality of second candidate positions, and the control position determining unit is configured to determine at least one of the first control position and the second control position from vibration strengths calculated at the one position for the plurality of first candidate positions and the plurality of second candidate positions, respectively,

wherein the driving signal generating unit is configured to generate, as the driving signals, signals generated using transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first control position and transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the second control position, and

wherein the control position determining unit is configured to determine, as the first control position, one of the plurality of first candidate positions which yields a vibration strength at the one position that is greater than or equal to a predetermined vibration strength.

20. A haptic feedback method of providing haptic feedback to a user by vibrating a panel with a plurality of actuators placed in mutually different positions on the panel, the haptic feedback method comprising:

generating driving signals for driving a the plurality of actuators to vibrate the panel to provide the haptic feedback to the user, the generating including:

obtaining transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to a plurality of positions on the panel; and

generating the driving signals for driving the plurality of actuators to, with respect to an arbitrary combination of the plurality of positions on the panel, vibrate the panel at one position according to a first haptic signal and vibrate the panel at another position more weakly than at the one position, the driving signals being generated using the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the one position or a plurality of first candidate positions and the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the other position or a plurality of second candidate positions, and the driving signals being generated using the transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to at least one of the plurality of first candidate positions and the plurality of second candidate positions; and

determining a first control position within a first region and a second control position within a second region, the first region having a predetermined size and including the one position and the plurality of first candidate positions, the second region having a predetermined size and including the other position and the plurality of second candidate positions, and determining at least one of the first control position and the second control position from vibration strengths calculated at the one position for the plurality of first candidate positions and the plurality of second candidate positions, respectively,

wherein the generating of the driving signals comprises generating signals generated using transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the first control position and transfer functions from the plurality of actuators to the second control position as the driving signals, and

wherein the determining of the first control position comprises determining one of the plurality of first candidate positions which yields a vibration strength at the one position that is greater than or equal to a predetermined vibration strength is determined as the first control position.