Systems and methods for determining haptic effects for multi-touch input

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9710063-B2
Application number	US-201414336548-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 21, 2014
Priority date	Jul 21, 2014
Publication date	Jul 18, 2017
Grant date	Jul 18, 2017

Abstract

A system of the present disclosure may include a haptic output device configured to output a haptic effect to a touch surface; a touch sensitive input device configured to detect a first user interaction and transmit a first sensor signal, the touch sensitive input device further configured to detect a second user interaction and transmit a second sensor signal, wherein at least part of the first user interaction occurs at the same time as the second user interaction; a processor in communication with the sensor, the processor configured to: receive the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal; determine a haptic effect based in part on the first user interaction and the second user interaction; transmit a haptic signal associated with the haptic effect to the haptic output device.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. A system comprising:
a haptic output device configured to output a haptic effect to a touch surface;
a touch sensitive input device configured to detect a first user interaction and transmit a first sensor signal, the touch sensitive input device further configured to detect a second user interaction and transmit a second sensor signal, wherein at least part of the first user interaction occurs at the same time as the second user interaction;
a processor in communication with the touch sensitive input device, the processor configured to:
receive the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal;
determine the haptic effect based in part on an earlier of the first user interaction or the second user interaction, wherein the first user interaction is distinct from the second user interaction; and
transmit a haptic signal associated with the haptic effect to the haptic output device.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the haptic effect further comprises:
determining a first haptic effect associated with the first sensor signal and determining a second haptic effect associated with the second sensor signal.

3. The system of claim 2 , further comprising: determining which of the first haptic effect and the second haptic effect is the most intense, which of the first haptic effect and the second haptic effect is highest priority, or an average of the first and second haptic effects.

4. The system of claim 2 , further comprising superpositioning the first haptic effect and the second haptic effect by applying a first weight to the first haptic effect and a second weight to the second haptic effect and combining the two weighted haptic effects.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the haptic effect comprises an average of the combination of the two weighted haptic effects.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the haptic effect further comprises:
determining a most active user interaction by determining which of the first user interaction and the second user interaction comprises the most user movement; and
determining the haptic effect based on the most active user interaction.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the haptic effect further comprises:
determining a highest pressure user interaction by determining which of the first user interaction and the second user interaction comprises the most pressure; and
determining the haptic effect based on the highest pressure user interaction.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the haptic effect is based in part on a user preference.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the touch sensitive input device is further configured to detect a third user interaction with the touch surface and transmit a third sensor signal to the processor, and wherein the processor is further configured to determine the haptic effect based in part on the third user interaction.

10. A method comprising:
transmitting a first sensor signal associated with a first user interaction;
transmitting a second sensor signal associated with a second user interaction, wherein at least part of the first user interaction occurs at the same time as the second user interaction;
receiving the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal;
determining a haptic effect based in part on an earlier of the first user interaction or the second user interaction, wherein the first user interaction is distinct from the second user interaction; and
transmitting a haptic signal associated with the haptic effect to a haptic output device.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the haptic effect comprises:
determining a first haptic effect associated with the first sensor signal and determining a second haptic effect associated with the second sensor signal.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: determining which of the first haptic effect and the second haptic effect is the most intense, which of the first haptic effect and the second haptic effect is highest priority, or an average of the first and second haptic effects.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising superpositioning the first haptic effect and the second haptic effect by applying a first weight to the first haptic effect and a second weight to the second haptic effect and combining the two weighted haptic effects.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the haptic effect comprises an average of the combination of the two weighted haptic effects.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the haptic effect further comprises:
determining a most active user interaction by determining which of the first user interaction and the second user interaction comprises the most user movement; and
determining the haptic effect based on the most active user interaction.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the haptic effect further comprises:
determining a highest pressure user interaction by determining which of the first user interaction and the second user interaction comprises the most pressure; and
determining the haptic effect based on the highest pressure user interaction.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the haptic effect is based in part on a user preference.

18. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
transmitting a third sensor signal associated with a third user interaction; and
determining the haptic effect based in part on the third user interaction.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program code, which when executed by a processor is configured to cause the processor to:
transmit a first sensor signal associated with a first user interaction;
transmit a second sensor signal associated with a second user interaction, wherein at least part of the first user interaction occurs at the same time as the second user interaction;
receive the first sensor signal and the second sensor signal;
determine a haptic effect based in part on an earlier of the first user interaction or the second user interaction, wherein the first user interaction is distinct from the second user interaction; and
transmit a haptic signal associated with the haptic effect to a haptic output device.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19 , further comprising program code, which when executed by the processor is configured to cause the processor to:
transmit a third sensor signal associated with a third user interaction; and
determine the haptic effect based in part on the third user interaction.

Assignees

• Immersion Corp

Inventors

• Levesque Vincent
• Cruz-Hernandez Juan Manuel

Classifications

• G06F3/04883

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

• G06F3/016 Primary

  Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user · CPC title

• G06F3/044

  by capacitive means · CPC title

• G06F2203/04808

  Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen · CPC title