Braille chording accessory for a game controller

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10384137-B2
Application number	US-201715445786-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 28, 2017
Priority date	Feb 1, 2017
Publication date	Aug 20, 2019
Grant date	Aug 20, 2019

Abstract

The present disclosure describes a braille chording accessory for a game controller that includes a housing sized to be removably received by a handheld game controller, a plurality of paddles arranged as a braille cell on the housing, and a control circuit to translate a touch force applied to at least a portion of the plurality of paddles into individual braille characters.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A braille chording accessory, comprising:
a housing sized to be removably received by a handheld game controller;
a plurality of paddles arranged as a braille cell on the housing;
a control circuit to translate a touch force applied to at least a portion of the plurality of paddles into individual braille characters; and
a wired or wireless electronic interface to transmit the individual braille characters to the handheld game controller or a remote computing device.

2. The braille chording accessory of claim 1 , wherein the housing includes an attachment mechanism to removably attach the braille chording accessory to the handheld game controller.

3. The braille chording accessory of claim 2 , wherein the attachment mechanism at least partially surrounds a body of the handheld game controller when removably attached to the handheld game controller.

4. The braille chording accessory of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of paddles are shaped for manual manipulation by a finger as hands grip the handheld game controller.

5. The braille chording accessory of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of paddles is curved to follow a contour of a hand portion when a user grips the handheld game controller using at least one hand.

6. The braille chording accessory of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of actuation switches each coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of paddles.

7. The braille chording accessory of claim 6 , wherein the control circuit detects actuation of the actuation switches to translate the touch force applied to at least some of the plurality of paddles into the individual braille characters.

8. The braille chording accessory of claim 6 , wherein the control circuit transmits a translation of the individual braille characters to game text.

9. The braille chording accessory of claim 8 , wherein the control circuit enables displaying the game text on a chat box of a game.

10. A game controller accessory, comprising:
a handheld housing including a braille display;
a plurality of paddles arranged as a braille cell on the handheld housing;
a control circuit to translate a touch force applied to at least a portion of the plurality of paddles into individual braille characters; and
a wired or wireless electronic interface to transmit the individual braille characters to a remote computing device.

11. The game controller accessory of claim 10 , wherein the handheld housing includes an attachment mechanism to removably attach the game controller accessory to a handheld game controller.

12. The game controller accessory of claim 11 , wherein in the attachment mechanism at least partially surrounds a body of the handheld game controller.

13. The game controller accessory of claim 10 , wherein each of the plurality of paddles are shaped for manual manipulation by a finger.

14. The game controller accessory of claim 10 , wherein each of the plurality of paddles is curved to follow a contour of a hand portion of a game controller that is configured to be gripped by a hand.

15. The game controller accessory of claim 10 , further comprising:
a plurality of actuation switches each coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of paddles.

16. The game controller accessory of claim 15 , wherein the control circuit detects actuation of the plurality of actuation switches to translate the touch force applied to at least the portion of the plurality of paddles into the individual braille characters.

17. The game controller accessory of claim 16 , wherein the control circuit transmits a translation of the individual braille characters to game text for display on a game chat box.

18. An apparatus, comprising:
a housing sized to be received by a handheld game controller;
a plurality of paddles arranged as a braille cell on the housing and shaped for manual manipulation by a finger;
a control circuit to translate a touch force applied to at least a portion of the plurality of paddles into individual braille characters; and
a wired or wireless electronic interface to transmit the individual braille characters to a remote computing device.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising:
a plurality of actuation switches each coupled to a corresponding one of the plurality of paddles.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the control circuit is configured to transmit the individual braille characters as text to a game for display in a game chat box.

Assignees

• Microsoft Technology Licensing Llc

Inventors

• Tran Jessica Julie
• Gaule Patrick Thomas
• Porter Iii John Richard
• Baker Dillon Taylor
• Baker Catherine Marie
• Tu Harrison

Classifications

• G09B21/02

  Devices for Braille writing (typewriters for Braille B41J3/32) · CPC title

• A63F13/87

  Communicating with other players during game play, e.g. by e-mail or chat · CPC title

• A63F13/21

  characterised by their sensors, purposes or types · CPC title

• A63F13/24

  Constructional details thereof, e.g. game controllers with detachable joystick handles · CPC title

• A63F13/42

  by mapping the input signals into game commands, e.g. mapping the displacement of a stylus on a touch screen to the steering angle of a virtual vehicle · CPC title