Tactile display devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016170508-A1
Application number	US-201414567046-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 11, 2014
Priority date	Dec 11, 2014
Publication date	Jun 16, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Embodiments of tactile display devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, a tactile display device includes a housing having a first surface, a tactile display located at the first surface, a camera, a processor, and a non-transitory memory device. The tactile display is configured to produce a plurality of raised portions defining a tactile message. The camera generates image data corresponding to an environment. The processor is disposed within the housing and communicatively coupled to the tactile display and the camera. The non-transitory memory device stores machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to, generate a topographical map of objects within the environment from the image data received from the camera, generate tactile display data corresponding to the topographical map, and provide the tactile display data to the tactile display such that the tactile display produces the plurality of raised portions to form the tactile message.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A tactile display device comprising:
a housing having a first surface; a tactile display located at the first surface of the housing, the tactile display configured to produce a plurality of raised portions defining a tactile message; a camera configured to generate image data corresponding to an environment; a processor disposed within the housing and communicatively coupled to the tactile display and the camera; and a non-transitory memory device storing machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
generate a topographical map of objects within the environment from the image data received from the camera;
generate tactile display data corresponding to the topographical map; and
provide the tactile display data to the tactile display such that the tactile display produces the plurality of raised portions to form the tactile message.

2 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable instructions further cause the processor to generate a navigational route within the topographical map such that the tactile display data includes the navigational route and the tactile message displays a tactile representation of the navigational route.

3 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the non-transitory memory stores topographical map information, and the machine-readable instructions further cause the processor to:
access the topographical map information to retrieve topographical information corresponding to a location of a user within the environment; and generate the tactile display data based in part on the topographical information corresponding to the location of the user within the environment.

4 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the topographical map information comprises information relating to interior spaces of a building.

5 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the topographical map information comprises information regarding a location of one or more doorways.

6 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 3 , further comprising a global positioning system sensor, wherein the location of the user within the environment is determined at least in part by the global positioning system sensor.

7 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the tactile display data is such that the tactile message that is displayed by the tactile display includes one or more Braille messages corresponding to a name of one or more persons within the environment.

8 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 7 , wherein a position of the one or more Braille messages within the tactile message corresponds with a position of the one or more persons within the environment.

9 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an input device, wherein a class of the objects within the environment displayed by the tactile message on the tactile display is user-selectable by the input device.

10 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the machine-readable instructions further cause the processor to determine the class of objects within the environment by applying an object recognition algorithm to the image data.

11 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the housing has a second surface that is opposite from the first surface, and the input device is disposed on the second surface.

12 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the input device comprises one or more touch-sensitive regions on the tactile display.

13 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the input device is a microphone.

14 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the camera comprises a first camera and a second camera, and the image data corresponds to a stereoscopic image of the environment formed by a combination of a first image created by the first camera and a second image formed by the second camera.

15 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 14 , wherein:
the stereoscopic image provides depth information with respect to the environment; and the tactile message presents the depth information with respect to the environment.

16 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable instructions further cause the processor to extract text from the image data, and the tactile message is configured as a Braille message corresponding to the extracted text.

17 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an audio output device electrically coupled to the processor, wherein the machine-readable instructions further instruct the processor to:
generate audio message data corresponding to objects within the environment according to the image data received from the camera; and provide the audio message data to the audio output device such that the audio output device produces sound in accordance with the audio message data.

18 . A tactile display device comprising:
a housing having a first surface and a second surface that is opposite from the first surface; a tactile display located at the first surface of the housing, the tactile display configured to produce a plurality of raised portions defining a tactile message; a touch-sensitive input region disposed on a surface of the tactile display; an input device disposed at the second surface of the housing; a camera configured to generate image data corresponding to an environment; a processor; and a non-transitory memory device storing machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
receive a user input from the input device or the touch-sensitive input region;
analyze the image data to determine a class of objects within the environment, wherein the user input indicates a desired class of objects for display in the tactile message;
generate a topographical map of objects having the desired class according to the user input;
generate tactile display data corresponding to the topographical map; and
provide the tactile display data to the tactile display such that the tactile display produces the plurality of raised portions to form the tactile message.

19 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 18 , further comprising an audio output device electrically coupled to the processor, wherein the machine-readable instructions further instruct the processor to:
generate audio message data corresponding to the desired class of objects within the environment according to the image data received from the camera; and provide the audio message data to the audio output device such that the audio output device produces sound in accordance with the audio message data.

20 . The tactile display device as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the machine-readable instructions further cause the processor to generate a navigational route within the topographical map such that the tactile display data includes the navigational route and the tactile message displays a tactile representation of the navigational route.

Assignees

• Toyota Eng & Mfg North America

Inventors

• Moore Douglas A
• Djugash Joseph M A
• Ota Yasuhiro
• Sano Shin
• Rosenbach Sarah
• Hiruta Sho
• Hoven Maura

Classifications

• G06F3/041 Primary

  Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means · CPC title

• G09B21/003 Primary

  using tactile presentation of the information, e.g. Braille displays · CPC title