Dynamic sensor assignment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2020225768-A1
Application number	US-202016826818-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 23, 2020
Priority date	Dec 18, 2018
Publication date	Jul 16, 2020
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method including receiving data corresponding to one or more objects in proximity to the controller, determining scores for controller configurations of the controller, ranking the scores of controller configurations, selecting a controller configuration among the controller configurations, and configuring a touch sensor of the controller according to a selected controller configuration.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A controller comprising:
a sensor having capacitive pads; one or more processors; and one or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform acts comprising:
receiving data corresponding to one or more objects in proximity to the controller;
selecting a controller configuration that associates the one or more objects with the capacitive pads of the sensor; and
configuring the sensor according to the controller configuration.

2 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein configuring the sensor according to the controller configuration comprises:
associating first capacitive pads with a first object of the one or more objects; associating second capacitive pads with a second object of the one or more objects; and associating third capacitive pads with a third object of the one or more objects.

3 . The controller of claim 1 , the acts further comprising:
transmitting the data to one or more devices; and receiving an indication associated with the controller configuration, and wherein selecting the controller configuration is based at least in part on the indication.

4 . The controller of claim 1 , the acts further comprising:
determining, based at least in part on the data, individual scores for controller configurations, the controller configuration being one of the controller configurations; and ranking the individual scores for the controller configurations, and wherein selecting the controller configuration is based at least in part on the individual score for the controller configuration being a highest ranked score.

5 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the data comprises first data, the acts further comprising:
receiving second data representing capacitance values detected by the capacitive pads; associating the second data with the one or more objects based at least in part on the controller configuration; determining, based at least in part on associating the second data with the one or more objects, a proximity of the one or more objects to the controller; and transmitting third data representing the proximity of the one or more objects.

6 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the data comprises first data and the controller configuration comprises a first controller configuration, the acts further comprising:
receiving second data corresponding to the one or more objects in proximity to the controller; selecting a second controller configuration that associates the one or more objects with the capacitive pads of the sensor; and configuring the sensor according to the second controller configuration.

7 . The controller of claim 6 , wherein:
the first controller configuration comprises:
a first group of the capacitive pads assigned to a first object of the one or more objects; and
a second group of the capacitive pads assigned to a second object of the one or more objects; and
the second controller configuration comprises:
a third group of the capacitive pads assigned to the first object of the one or more objects; and
a fourth group of the capacitive pads assigned to the second object of the one or more objects.

8 . The controller of claim 7 , wherein at least one of:
the first group of the capacitive pads is different than the third group of the capacitive pads assigned; or the second group of the capacitive pads is different than the fourth group of the capacitive pads.

9 . The controller of claim 1 , wherein the one or more objects comprise one or more fingers.

10 . A method comprising:
receiving data corresponding to one or more objects in proximity to a controller; selecting, based at least in part on the data, a controller configuration for the controller that associates one or more sensors of the controller with the one or more objects; and causing the one or more sensors to configure according to the controller configuration.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
transmitting the data to one or more devices; and receiving an indication associated with the controller configuration, and wherein selecting the controller configuration is based at least in part on the indication.

12 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising transmitting an instruction that causes the one or more sensors to configure according to the controller configuration.

13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein causing the controller to configure according to controller configuration comprises:
causing first sensors of the one or more sensors to be associated with a first object of the one or more objects; and causing second sensors of the one or more sensors to be associated with a second object of the one or more objects.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the data comprises first data and the controller configuration comprises a first controller configuration, the method further comprising:
receiving second data corresponding to the one or more objects in proximity to the controller; selecting, based at least in part on the second data, a second controller configuration for the controller that associates the one or more sensors with the one or more objects; and causing the one or more sensors to configure according to the second controller configuration.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the first controller configuration comprises:
a first group of the one or more sensors assigned to a first object of the one or more objects; and
a second group of the one or more sensors assigned to a second object of the one or more objects;
the second controller configuration comprises:
a third group of the one or more sensors assigned to the first object of the one or more objects; and
a fourth group of the one or more sensors assigned to the second object of the one or more objects; and
at least one of:
the first group is different than the third group; or
the second group is different than the fourth group.

16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the data comprises first data and the one or more sensors comprise capacitive sensors, the method further comprising:
receiving second data representing capacitance values detected by the capacitive sensors; and associating the second data with the one or more objects based at least in part on the controller configuration.

17 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the one or more objects comprise one or more fingers.

18 . A method comprising:
receiving proximity data generated by a proximity sensor of a controller, the proximity data corresponding to one or more objects in proximity to the controller; determining a first score for a first controller configuration based at least in part on the proximity data; determining a second score for a second controller configuration based at least in part on the proximity data; selecting the first controller configuration; and transmitting an instruction to the controller that causes the controller to configure according to the first controller configuration, wherein causing the controller to configure according to the first controller configuration comprises associating one or more sensors of the proximity sensor with the one or more objects.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising ranking the first score and the second score, and wherein selecting the first controller configuration comprises selecting the first controller configuration based on the first score having a hi

Assignees

• Valve Corp

Inventors

• Nietfeld Scott Douglas

Classifications

• A63F13/92

  Video game devices specially adapted to be hand-held while playing · CPC title

• A63F13/428

  involving motion or position input signals, e.g. signals representing the rotation of an input controller or a player's arm motions sensed by accelerometers or gyroscopes · CPC title

• A63F13/22

  Setup operations, e.g. calibration, key configuration or button assignment · CPC title

• A63F13/218

  using pressure sensors, e.g. generating a signal proportional to the pressure applied by the player · CPC title

• G06F2203/04108

  Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction · CPC title