Hover angle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9262012-B2
Application number	US-201414147085-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 3, 2014
Priority date	Jan 3, 2014
Publication date	Feb 16, 2016
Grant date	Feb 16, 2016

Abstract

Example apparatus and methods concern detecting an angle at which an object is interacting with a hover-sensitive input/output interface. An example apparatus may include a proximity detector configured to detect an object in a hover-space associated with the hover-sensitive input/output interface. The proximity detector may provide three dimensional position information for the object (e.g., x,y,z). The angle may be determined from a first (x,y,z) measurement associated with a first portion (e.g., tip) of the object and a second (x,y,z) measurement associated with a second portion (e.g., end) of the object. The position of the object may determine a hover point on the interface while the position and angle may determine an intersection point on the interface. User interface elements or other information displayed on the interface may be manipulated based, at least in part, on the intersection point. Multiple objects interacting at multiple angles may be detected and responded to.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
acquiring position data about a portion of an object located at least partially in a three-dimensional hover space produced by a portable apparatus having a hover-sensitive interface,
where the position data is acquired solely by a passive capacitive sensing node that detects a capacitance change in the hover space caused by the object;
where the position data describes the position of the object in the three-dimensional hover space, where a first dimension and a second dimension in the hover space define a plane that is parallel to the surface of the interface, where the second dimension is orthogonal to the first dimension, and where a third dimension in the hover space is orthogonal to both the first dimension and the second dimension and perpendicular to the plane;
computing an angle at which the object is pitched with respect to the hover-sensitive interface based, at least in part, on the position data; and
controlling the hover-sensitive interface based, at least in part, on the angle at which the object is pitched with respect to the hover-sensitive interface.

2. The method of claim 1 , where the portable apparatus is a phone or tablet computer, and where the position data is acquired solely from a sensor located in the apparatus or solely from a sensor located on the apparatus.

3. The method of claim 2 , where the angle is computed based on position data associated with two different portions of the object.

4. The method of claim 2 , where the object is a finger and where the angle is computed based on position data for a distant phalange on the finger.

5. The method of claim 2 , comprising establishing a hover point for the object based, at least in part, on information in the position data about the location of a portion of the object in the first dimension and the location of the object in the second dimension.

6. The method of claim 2 , comprising establishing an intersection point for the object based, at least in part, on information in the position data about the location of the object in the first dimension, the location of the object in the second dimension, the location of the object in the third dimension, and on the angle.

7. The method of claim 6 , comprising:
selectively controlling the appearance of the hover-sensitive interface based, at least in part, on the intersection point;
selectively controlling the operation of the hover-sensitive interface based, at least in part, on the intersection point, or
selectively controlling the operation of a user interface element on the hover-sensitive interface based, at least in part, on the intersection point.

8. The method of claim 7 , where the hover-sensitive interface displays an item, and where controlling the appearance of the hover sensitive interface comprises re-orienting the item displayed on the hover-sensitive interface.

9. The method of claim 7 , where controlling the appearance of the hover-sensitive interface includes dynamically reconfiguring a user interface element, where reconfiguring the user interface element includes changing an appearance of the user interface element, changing a position of the user interface element, changing an orientation of the user interface element, changing a size of the user interface element, or simulating a mouse-over event for the user interface element.

10. The method of claim 7 , where controlling the operation of the hover-sensitive interface includes enhancing a functionality of a first user interface element located in an area within a threshold distance of the intersection point or diminishing the functionality of a second user interface element located beyond the threshold distance from the intersection point.

11. The method of claim 7 , where controlling the operation of the user interface element includes controlling a direction of a graphical effect associated with the user interface element, controlling an intensity of a graphical effect associated with the user interface element, or controlling an area impacted by a graphical effect associated with the user interface element.

12. The method of claim 6 , comprising:
fixing the intersection point;
acquiring second position data about the object, where the second position data is acquired solely by a passive capacitive sensing node that detects a capacitance change in the hover space caused by the object;
computing a second angle at which the object is pitched with respect to the hover-sensitive interface;
establishing a second intersection point for the object based, at least in part, on information in the second position data about the location of the object in the first dimension, the location of the object in the second dimension, the location of the object in the third dimension, and on the second angle; and
selectively controlling, based on a relationship between the intersection point and the second intersection point, the appearance of the hover-sensitive interface, the operation of the hover-sensitive interface, or the operation of the user interface element on the hover-sensitive interface.

13. The method of claim 2 , comprising:
identifying a portion of the hover-sensitive interface that is occluded by the object based, at least in part, on the position data and the angle, and
selectively manipulating the portion of the hover-sensitive interface that is occluded by the object.

14. The method of claim 2 , comprising:
acquiring second position data about a second object located in the three-dimensional hover space;
where the second position data is acquired solely by a passive capacitive sensing node that detects a capacitance change in the hover space caused by the second object;
computing a second angle at which the second object is pitched with respect to the hover-sensitive interface based, at least in part, on the second position data; and
controlling the hover-sensitive interface based, at least in part, on a relationship between the angle at which the first object is pitched with respect to the hover-sensitive interface and the second angle.

15. A computer-readable storage device storing computer-executable instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:
acquiring position data about a portion of an object located at least partially in a three-dimensional hover space produced by a phone or tablet computer having a hover-sensitive interface,
where the position data is acquired by a passive capacitive sensing node that detects a capacitance change in the hover space caused by the object;
where the position data describes the position of the object in the three dimensional hover space, where a first dimension and a second dimension in the hover space define a plane that is parallel to the surface of the hover-sensitive interface, where the second dimension is orthogonal to the first dimension, and where a third dimension in the hover space is orthogonal to both the first dimension and the second dimension and perpendicular to the plane;
computing an angle at which the object is pitched with respect to the hover-sensitive interface based on the position data, where the angle is computed based on position data associated with two different portions of the object;
establishing a hover point for the object based, at least in part, on information in the position data about the location of a portion of the object in the first dimension and the location of the object in the second dimension;
establishing an intersection point for the object based, at least in part, on information in the position data about the

Assignees

• Microsoft Corp

Inventors

• Hwang Dan
• Dai Lynn
• Usman Muhammad

Classifications

• G06F3/042 Primary

  by opto-electronic means · CPC title

• G06F3/04883 Primary

  for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text · 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

• G06F3/04842

  Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements (G06F3/0482 takes precedence) · CPC title