SENSOR ARRAY TOUCHSCREEN RECOGNIZING TOUCH GESTURES
Touchscreen user interfaces for controlling software applications, computers, devices, machinery, and process environments with touch gestures. Such user interfaces can be manipulated by users and provide a wide range of uses with computer applications, assistance to the disabled, and control of electronic devices, machines, and processes. Enhancements can include velocity and pressure sensing capabilities. The touchscreen can be realized with a transparent touch sensor array positioned over a visual display. Dynamically assigned labels can be provided by the visual display. Multitouch capabilities can be included that are responsive to additional contact, for example by other parts of a user hand. Displayed visual content, including visual content selection, motion, and sizing, can be controlled by finger flicks and other touch gestures. Finger movement trajectories can be tracked, and pluralities of control parameters can be associated with each gesture.
1 . An apparatus comprising:
a transparent touchpad positioned over a visual display, the transparent touchpad configured to sense a contiguous region of contact from at least a portion of a human hand on a surface of the transparent touchpad, the transparent touch pad comprising a sensor array having a plurality of sensors, each sensor having a unique spatial location and an associated unique address, wherein the transparent touch pad is configured to sense the contiguous region of contact by a generation of sensor measurement values associated with each of the plurality of sensors;
a plurality of sensor spatial locations having associated sensor measurement values responsive to the contiguous region of contact;
a value of at least one control parameter for the contiguous region of contact responsive to a measured change in at least one of the associated sensor measurement values, the value obtained by performing a calculation on the associated sensor measurement values and interpreting the results as signifying a touch gesture, wherein the at least one control parameter is associated with the touch gesture; and
at least one derived control parameter assigned to a specific control signal;
wherein the touch gesture is recognized from sequential dynamics among postures derived from pressure profiles.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the transparent touch pad is configured to sense the contiguous region of contact by determining the pressure values and coordinates for selected pixels associated with the portion of the human hand on the surface of the transparent touchpad.
3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transparent touch pad is configured to determine the pressure profiles from a pressure distribution for the contiguous region of contact.
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transparent touch pad is configured to determine the sequential dynamics among postures based on a pattern for the contiguous region of contact.
5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transparent touch pad is configured to sense the contiguous region of contact by a generation of the associated sensor measurement values based on identifying a point of contact for the sensed region of contact relative to the surface of the transparent touchpad.
6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transparent touchpad is configured to sense the contiguous region of contact by a generation of the associated sensor measurement values based on identifying measurement values that exceed a threshold.
7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transparent touch pad is further configured to track a trajectory of movement of the portion of the human hand contacting the surface of the transparent touchpad.
8 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the visual display is further configured to provide dynamically assigned labels.
9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one control parameter is responsive to a geometric center of the contiguous region of measurement values.
10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one control parameter is responsive to a center of pressure of the contiguous region of measurement values.
11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one control parameter is responsive to an average pressure of the contiguous region of measurement values.
12 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one control parameter is responsive to a total size of the contiguous region of measurement values.
13 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transparent touch pad is further configured to sense at least a second contiguous region of contact from another portion of a human hand on a surface of the transparent touchpad, and the apparatus is configured to derive a value of at least another control parameter responsive the second contiguous region of contact.
14 . An apparatus comprising:
a transparent touch sensor array comprising a plurality of transparent sensors positioned over a display associated with the apparatus to form a transparent touch pad, wherein the transparent touch sensor array is configured to sense contact with one or more fingers on a corresponding contiguous region on the transparent touch pad, wherein each transparent sensor of the plurality of transparent sensors has a corresponding spatial location, associated address, and is configured to provide associated sensor measurement values;
a plurality of control parameters associated with a plurality of postures and a plurality of touch gestures, each of the plurality of touch gestures comprised of sequential dynamics among a set of postures from the plurality of postures, each of the plurality of touch gestures associated with a measured change to at least one of the associated sensor measurement values, wherein each of the plurality of postures is associated with a corresponding pattern of contact of the one or more fingers on the transparent touch pad sensed by the plurality of transparent sensors, wherein at least one of the plurality of control parameters is derived from recognizing one of the plurality of touch gestures from the corresponding sequential dynamics among postures from the plurality of postures, and
a plurality of control signals associated with the plurality of control parameters; and wherein the set of postures and gestures correspond to interactions with displayed visual content of an application operating on the apparatus.
15 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the set of postures are associated with a single continuous touching of the transparent touch sensor array.
16 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the display is configured to dynamically provide at least one label at a corresponding spatial location of at least one of the plurality for transparent sensors in response to the control signals.
17 . The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the display is configured to control displayed visual content based on controlling at least one of a selection, a motion, and a sizing of the displayed visual content.