Resting contacts

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9448658-B2
Application number	US-83081507-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 30, 2007
Priority date	Jan 26, 1998
Publication date	Sep 20, 2016
Grant date	Sep 20, 2016

Abstract

Apparatus and methods are disclosed for simultaneously tracking multiple finger and palm contacts as hands approach, touch, and slide across a proximity-sensing, multi-touch surface. Identification and classification of intuitive hand configurations and motions enables unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation, and handwriting into a versatile, ergonomic computer input device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of selecting an input activity of a computing system including a touch sensing surface, the method comprising:
obtaining tracking information of contacts, the contacts corresponding to a plurality of hand parts contacting the touch sensing surface, the tracking information including first tracking information of a first hand part contact, the first tracking information including touchdown information of the touchdown of the first hand part contact, liftoff information of the liftoff of the first hand part contact, and lateral motion information of lateral motion of the first hand part contact between the touchdown and liftoff of the hand part first contact, and the tracking information including second tracking information of a second hand part contact, the second tracking information including touchdown information of the touchdown of the second hand part contact, liftoff information of the liftoff of the second hand part contact, and lateral motion information of lateral motion of the second hand part contact between the touchdown and liftoff of the second hand part contact;
determining whether the first hand part contact based on the touchdown information of the first hand part contact;
determining whether the second hand part contact is a resting contact based on the touchdown information of the second hand part contact; and
periodically processing the tracking information, the processing including selection of input activities of the computing system, the selection of an input activity being based on the tracking information, wherein
in accordance with a determination that the first hand part contact is not a resting contact and the second hand part contact is a resting contact, the periodic processing selects a first input activity based on at least one of the touchdown information, the lateral motion information, and the liftoff information of the first hand part contact and excludes the second tracking information corresponding to the second hand part contact from the selection of input activities; and
in accordance with a determination that the first hand part contact is a resting contact and the second hand part contact is not a resting contact, the periodic processing selects a second input activity based on at least one of the touchdown information, the lateral motion information, and the liftoff information of the second hand part contact and excludes the first tracking information corresponding to the first hand part contact from the selection of input activities.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the touchdown information of the first hand part contact includes a first value corresponding to a force of the touchdown of the first hand part contact, and determining whether the first hand part contact is a resting contact includes comparing the first value to a predetermined threshold, and determining that the first hand part contact is a resting contact if the first value is less than the predetermined threshold.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the first value includes a first impulsivity of the touchdown of the first hand part contact, and the predetermined threshold is a threshold impulsivity.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the periodic processing selects the first input activity if the first impulsivity is greater than the threshold impulsivity.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the touchdown information of the first hand part contact includes a proximity value of the first hand part contact, and determining whether the first hand part contact is a resting contact includes comparing the proximity value to a predetermined proximity threshold, and determining that the first hand part contact is a resting contact if the proximity value exceeds the predetermined proximity value.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the touchdown information of the first hand part contact includes a first proximity value at a first time during the touchdown of the first hand part contact, and a second proximity value at a second time, after the first time, during the touchdown of the first hand part contact, and determining whether the first hand part contact is a resting contact includes determining that the first proximity value is less than a predetermined proximity threshold, and determining that the second proximity value exceeds the predetermined proximity threshold, the method further comprising:
cancelling the selected first input activity based on the second proximity value exceeding the predetermined proximity threshold.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein selecting the first input activity includes entering a first input event of the first input activity into an input event queue, and cancelling the selected first input activity includes deleting the first input event from the input event queue.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the touchdown information of the first hand part contact includes a touchdown time of the first hand part contact, and determining whether the first hand part contact is a resting contact includes determining whether the touchdown time of the first hand part contact is synchronous with a touchdown time of the second hand part contact, the touchdown times being synchronous if a difference between the touchdown times of the first and second hand part contacts is less than a predetermined temporal threshold, and the touchdown times being asynchronous if the difference exceeds the predetermined temporal threshold.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first and second hand part contacts are included in a synchronized set of two or more contacts based on a determination that the touchdown times of the first and second hand part contacts are synchronous, and determining whether the first hand part contact is a resting contact further includes determining a third input activity based on the number of contacts in the synchronized set, and determining that the first hand part contact is a resting contact if the third input activity is an ignored input activity, the ignored input activity being an input activity that is predetermined to generate no input events.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the periodic processing includes selecting a third input activity prior to the touchdown of the first hand part contact and generating input events of the third input activity based on the tracking information of one or more previous contacts that touched down prior to the first hand part contact, wherein determining whether the first hand part contact is a resting contact includes determining whether the generation of the input events of the third input activity is ongoing during the touchdown of the first hand part contact, and determining that the first hand part contact is a resting contact if the generation of the input events of the third input activity is ongoing.

11. The method of claim 10 , the selection of the third input activity being based on touchdowns of two or more previous contacts that touched down prior to the first hand part contact, wherein selecting the third input activity includes determining that the two or more previous contacts are included in a synchronized set, and selecting the third input activity based on the number of contacts in the synchronized set, the first hand part contact touching down asynchronously with the contacts in the synchronized set.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein selecting the third input activity based on the number of contacts in the synchronized set further includes selecting the third input activity based on an arrangement of the contacts in the synchronized set.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein generating the input events of the third input activity inclu

Assignees

• Westerman Wayne
• Elias John G
• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Westerman Wayne
• Elias John G

Classifications

• G06V30/19173

  Classification techniques · CPC title

• G06F18/24137

  Distances to cluster centroïds · CPC title

• H03K17/9622

  using a plurality of detectors, e.g. keyboard · CPC title

• G06F2203/04104

  Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger · CPC title

• G06F3/0488

  using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures · CPC title