Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Anatoly Yuryevich Churikov

Flavio Protasio Ribeiro

Steven Nabil Bathiche

James David Holbery

Siyuan Ma

Lincoln Matthew Ghioni

Carl Edward Picciotto

Kelly Marie Bogan

Aric Ahkeel Fitz-Coy

Paul Ryan Sandoval

Examples are disclosed that relate to touch-sensitive input devices, systems, and methods for providing user input to a computing device. In one example, a touch-sensitive input device comprises an elongated body and a plurality of force-sensing elements spaced along a length of the body. The touch-sensitive input device also comprises a wireless communication subsystem configured to communicatively couple the input device to the computing device and provide signals from the plurality of force-sensing elements to the computing device.

Force-sensing input device

An autonomous haptic stylus provides tactile feedback to a user writing or drawing on a smooth, uniform, touch-sensitive, glass display screen of a tablet, laptop computer, credit card point of sale device, or other device allowing a user to write or draw thereon. The stylus has an electrostatic detection sensor or a force/pressure sensor, which allows the stylus to detect certain characteristics of the display screen and to autonomously determine the position and/or velocity of the stylus on the display screen based on those characteristics. The position and/or velocity can be used to tailor the tactile feedback to the user. A display screen digitizer that provides driving signals for the row and column electrodes of a touch-sensitive display screen can be modified to transmit row and column information over the electrodes to allow a stylus to determine its position.

Autonomous haptic stylus

Examples of arrays of magnetometers that can be used as or as part of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) are disclosed herein. Various methods for using such arrays in order to obtain highly precise and locationally unique data, which can be used to correct for drift effects, are also disclosed. In certain embodiments, the Jacobian matrix of the magnetic field is computed from the magnetometer measurements. This Jacobian matrix data can be used to generate a magnetic field map for a particular environment and/or to locate position, velocity, and acceleration of the IMU by referencing such a magnetic field map.

Magnetometer arrays for inertial navigation, mapping, and drift compensation

Techniques for haptic feedback for a touch input device are described. Generally, haptic feedback is provided for different user interactions with a touch input device, such as interactions with applications, services, and so forth. According to various embodiments, how haptic feedback is initiated depends on whether different functionalities directly support haptic feedback. For instance, techniques described herein enable haptic feedback to be provided whether or not a particular functionality directly supports haptic feedback.

Haptic feedback for a touch input device

Examples for force-sensing elements are disclosed. An example method for forming a force sensor includes printing a suspension of a hollow-sphere conductive polymer in a liquid carrier over an electrode pair on a substrate, evaporating the liquid carrier, and encapsulating the electrode pair and hollow-sphere conductive polymer to form a force sensor.

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Las Vegas, NV, United States of America

Anatoly Yuryevich Churikov