System and Method for Creating Optimal Command Regions for the Hand on a Touch Pad Device
According to certain general aspects, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for allowing commands for an application to be effectively and conveniently executed. In general embodiments, an application executed on a tablet computer automatically senses fingertips on the tablet and forms command regions around them. Commands are associated with the command regions, and when a touch event occurs in a command region (e.g. a finger tap), the information is sent to a client application possibly running on a remote host, where the associated command is executed.
1 . A method comprising:
sensing locations of a plurality of contact points between portions of a hand and a touchpad;
forming command regions around the sensed locations; and
assigning commands to be executed when the hand makes gestures in the command regions.
2 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
sensing a gesture made in one of the command regions; and
causing one of the assigned commands to be sent to a remote device in response to the sensed gesture.
3 . A method according to claim 2 , wherein causing includes:
identifying the one command as being associated with the command region in which the gesture was sensed.
4 . A method according to claim 2 , wherein causing includes:
determining a type of the sensed gesture; and
identifying the one command as being associated with the determined type of gesture.
5 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising forming one or more command regions in addition to the sensed locations which can also be accessed by the portions of the hand.
6 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
automatically determining which of the sensed locations corresponds to a thumb of the hand.
7 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
automatically identifying which fingers of the hand respectively correspond to certain or all of the sensed locations.
8 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
automatically determining whether the hand is a right or left hand based on the sensed locations.
9 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
allowing a user to change one or more of a size, shape and position of the command regions.
10 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
dynamically adjusting the command regions over time according to one or both of sensed hand positions and sensed hand gestures.
11 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein assigning includes:
assigning a first set of commands to the command regions;
assigning a second different set of commands to the command regions; and
providing a mechanism to switch between the first and second sets of commands.
12 . A method according to claim 11 , wherein the first and second sets comprise at least one common command, the method further comprising locking one of the command regions to the common command.
13 . A method according to claim 2 , wherein the portions of the hand comprise fingertips.
14 . A method according to claim 13 , wherein the gestures comprise fingertip taps.
15 . A method according to claim 13 , wherein the gestures comprise fingertip swirls.
16 . A method according to claim 13 , wherein the gestures comprise fingertip swipes.
17 . A system comprising:
a touchpad;
a display overlying the touchpad; and
a touchpad application that is adapted to:
sense locations of a plurality of contact points between portions of a hand and the touchpad;
form command regions around the sensed locations; and
assign commands to be executed when the hand makes gestures in the command regions.
18 . A system according to claim 17 , further comprising a remote device, wherein the touchpad, display and touchpad application are all incorporated in a pad device separate from the remote device, and wherein the touchpad application is further adapted to:
sense a gesture made in one of the command regions; and
cause one of the assigned commands to be executed on the remote device in response to the sensed gesture.
19 . A system according to claim 18 , wherein the commands are associated with a client application executing in the remote device.
20 . A system according to claim 17 , wherein the touchpad application is further adapted to cause the command regions to be displayed on the display.