Ultrasonic virtual mouse
An ultrasonic device determines a position of a user-controlled object within a virtual mouse region. The ultrasonic device includes an ultrasonic transmitter, spatially separated ultrasonic receivers and a processor. The ultrasonic transmitter produces an ultrasonic pulse and radiates the ultrasonic pulse into the virtual mouse region. The ultrasonic receivers receive a reflected ultrasonic pulse reflected from the user-controlled object within the virtual mouse region and produce respective reflected ultrasonic signals in response thereto. The processor determines the position of the user-controlled object within the virtual mouse region based on the reflected ultrasonic signals, and generates a position signal indicative of the position.
1 . An ultrasonic device for determining a position of a user-controlled object within a virtual mouse region, said ultrasonic device comprising:
an ultrasonic transmitter for producing an ultrasonic pulse and radiating said ultrasonic pulse into said virtual mouse region;
spatially separated ultrasonic receivers for receiving a reflected ultrasonic pulse reflected from said user-controlled object within said virtual mouse region and producing respective reflected ultrasonic signals; and
a processor operable to determine said position of said user-controlled object within said virtual mouse region based on said reflected ultrasonic signals and to generate a position signal indicative of said position.
2 . The ultrasonic device of claim 1 , wherein said processor is operable to determine said position based on a difference between times at which said respective reflected ultrasonic pulse is received by said spatially separated ultrasonic receivers.
3 . The ultrasonic device of claim 1 , wherein said processor is operable to compare said position to a previous position to determine a relative change in position of said user-controlled object, and wherein said processor is further operable to generate said position signal in response to said relative change in position.
4 . The ultrasonic device of claim 3 , wherein said position signal is used to produce incremental movement of a cursor on a display from an original position on said display to a new position on said display.
5 . The ultrasonic device of claim 1 , wherein said position signal is used to map said position to a position of a cursor on a display.
6 . The ultrasonic device of claim 1 , wherein said ultrasonic transmitter and one of said ultrasonic receivers form an ultrasonic transceiver.
7 . The ultrasonic device of claim 1 , additionally comprising:
an additional ultrasonic transmitter for producing and radiating an additional ultrasonic pulse into said virtual mouse region.
8 . The ultrasonic device of claim 7 , wherein each of said ultrasonic transmitters produce and radiate said respective ultrasonic pulses sequentially.
9 . The ultrasonic device of claim 1 , wherein said ultrasonic device is mounted on a keyboard.
10 . The ultrasonic device of claim 1 , wherein said ultrasonic device is included within a keyboard.
11 . The ultrasonic device of claim 1 , wherein said two receivers are arrayed in two dimensions.
12 . The ultrasonic device of claim 1 , wherein said processor is further operable to detect a click event based on said reflected ultrasonic pulse.
13 . The ultrasonic device of claim 12 , wherein said processor is operable to detect said click event when a difference between a time at which said reflected ultrasonic pulse is first received and a time at which said reflected ultrasonic pulse is no longer received is less than a predetermined time interval.
14 . The ultrasonic device of claim 1 , wherein said processor is further operable to configure said virtual mouse region.
15 . The ultrasonic device of claim 1 , wherein said ultrasonic pulse is at a frequency between 22 kHz and 100 kHz.
16 . The ultrasonic device of claim 1 , wherein said user-controlled object is a finger or stylus.
17 . A method for determining a position of a user-controlled object within a virtual mouse region, comprising:
radiating an ultrasonic pulse into said virtual mouse region;
at diverse locations, receiving a reflected ultrasonic pulse reflected from said user-controlled object within said virtual mouse region; and
determining said position of said user-controlled object within said virtual mouse region based on said receipt of said reflected ultrasonic pulse at said diverse locations.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said determining further includes:
determining said position based on a difference between times at which said reflected ultrasonic pulse is received at said diverse locations.
19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said determining said position further comprises:
comparing said position to a previous position to determine a relative change in position of said user-controlled object.
20 . The method of claim 19 , further comprising:
providing said position to produce incremental movement of a cursor on a display from an original position on said display to a new position on said display.
21 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
providing said position to map said position to a position of a cursor on a display.
22 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said transmitting further includes:
sequentially radiating an additional ultrasonic pulse into said virtual mouse region.
23 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
detecting a click event based on said reflected ultrasonic pulse.
24 . The method of claim 23 , wherein said detecting further includes:
detecting said click event when a difference between a time at which said reflected ultrasonic pulse is first received and a time at which said reflected ultrasonic pulse is no longer received is less than a predetermined time interval.
25 . The method of claim 17 , further comprising:
configuring said virtual mouse region.