Sensel, Inc.

Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Cirque Corporation

Tomer Daniel Moscovich

Ilya Daniel Rosenberg

Leo Benedict Baldwin

John Aaron Zarraga

Kenneth Mark Karakotsios

Brogan Carl Miller

Reuben Eric Martinez

Scott Gregory Isaacson

Timothy James Miller

Bethany Noel Haniger

Mark Joshua Rosenberg

Peter Hans Nyboer

James Frank Thomas

Yibo Yu

Shuangming Li

Connor Spencer Blue Worley

Stephanie Wanti Lim

Darren Lochun

Kenneth Perlin

Isaac Scott Noble

Alexander Meagher Grau

Julien George Beguin

Bradley James Bozarth

Stephanie Jeanne Oberg

Tiffany Yun

Oliver Huy Doan

Vijay Rajanna

Charles Robert Watson

Samuel Palomino

James Junus

Jacob Terracina

Ninad Sathe

Kenneth James Albanowski

Ishwar VenkataManikanda Ramani

Jay Michael Puckett

Biju Balakrishna Pillai

Kirsten Etzold

Susan Jie Gao

Agus Santoso

Aaron Zarraga

Erin Rowland Garrido

Stephanie Maria Chedid

Mark Riding

Gustavo Diaz Prado

A touch assembly includes: an outer tip; an inner tip; a circuit board; a vibration sensor; and a spring element. The outer tip includes a distal end defining an outer contact surface. The inner tip: is arranged concentrically within the outer tip; extends from the distal end of the outer tip; and defines an inner contact surface. The circuit board is arranged over a proximal end of the outer tip. The spring element: is interposed between the circuit board and the inner tip; couples the inner tip to a reference potential; and is configured to, during a haptic feedback cycle at a touch sensor in response to application of the inner tip toward the touch sensor, yield to locate the inner contact surface coplanar with the outer contact surface. The vibration sensor is arranged on the circuit board and configured to output vibration signals during the haptic feedback cycle.

System for measuring and calibrating touch, force, and haptic output at a touch sensor

A system includes: a substrate including an edge supported by a chassis; a first electrode spanning a first area of the substrate and arranged proximal a center of the substrate; and a second electrode spanning a second area, greater than the first area, on the substrate and interposed between the first electrode and the edge of the substrate. The system further includes a first coupling region: facing the first electrode; and electrically coupling to the first electrode to yield a first electrical value at the first electrode responsive to application of a first force magnitude proximal the center of the substrate. The system also includes a second coupling region: facing the second electrode; and electrically coupling to the second electrode to yield a second electrical value, approximating the first electrical value, at the second electrode responsive to application of the first force magnitude proximal the center of the substrate.

System for detecting and characterizing touch inputs at a human-computer interface

Facilitating dynamic adjustment of a click/unclick threshold corresponding to a force-based tactile sensor is presented herein. A system can comprise a tactile sensor comprising force-based sensor(s); and a motion detection component that can determine a rate of change of a movement that has been detected via a group of sensors comprising the force-based sensor(s), and based on the rate of change of the movement, modify a defined sensitivity of the force-based sensor(s) with respect to detection of a click and/or unclick event corresponding to the tactile sensor. Further, the motion detection component can decrease the defined sensitivity with respect to detection of the click and/or unclick event in response to the rate of change being determined to satisfy a defined condition representing an increase in the speed at which the stylus or the finger has moved across the tactile sensor.

Dynamic adjustment of a click threshold corresponding to a force-based tactile sensor

Simulation of a physical interface utilizing touch tracking, force sensing, and haptic feedback is presented herein. A system tracks, via a touch sensing device of a tactile sensor of the system, a movement of a finger across the tactile sensor; in response to a location of the movement being determined to correspond to an interactive surface of the tactile sensor, the system generates, at the location, a first haptic feedback representing a defined type of simulated physical interface; based on the defined type of simulated physical interface, the system detects a force that has been applied to the tactile sensor; and in response to the force being determined to satisfy a defined force condition representing that an action is to be initiated, the system generates, via the interactive surface, a second haptic feedback representing that the action has been initiated by the system.

Simulation of a physical interface utilizing touch tracking, force sensing, and haptic feedback

The present invention relates to touch-sensor detector systems and methods incorporating an interpolated variable impedance touch sensor array and specifically to such systems and methods for force-aware interaction with handheld display devices on one or more surfaces of the device. An exemplary embodiment includes a method for receiving a flexing gesture formed on a sensor panel of the handheld device including determining two or more pressure inputs at the sensor panel and determining a relative pressure between the two or more pressure inputs. The method further includes correlating the relative pressure inputs to the flexing gesture, associating the flexing gesture with a UI element and providing an input to the UI element based on the gesture and the relative pressure between the two or more pressure inputs.

Method and apparatus for variable impedance touch sensor array force aware interaction with handheld display devices

One variation of a method for detecting an input at a touch sensor—including a force-sensitive layer exhibiting variations in local resistance responsive to local variations in applied force on a touch sensor surface and a set of drive and sense electrodes—includes: driving a drive electrode with a drive signal; reading a sense signal from a sense electrode; detecting a alternating-current component and a direct-current component of the sense signal; in response to a magnitude of the direct-current component of the sense signal falling below a threshold magnitude, detecting an input on the touch sensor surface during the scan cycle based on the alternating-current component of the sense signal; and, in response to the magnitude of the direct-current component of the sense signal exceeding the threshold magnitude, detecting the input on the touch sensor surface during the scan cycle based on the direct-current component of the sense signal.

System and method for detecting and characterizing touch inputs at a human-computer interface

The present invention relates to automotive interface systems and methods. In one embodiment, an automotive interface system includes a steering wheel and an integrated interpolated variable impedance array that comprises a grid of sensing elements. The sensing elements are configured to power on simultaneously and to simultaneously generate multiple currents along multiple current paths in response to sensing a touch wherein the amount of current generated by a sensing element of the grid is directly proportional to the force applied by the touch. The automotive interface system also includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a processor communicatively coupled to the interpolated variable impedance array that are configured to receive the multiple currents along multiple current paths and determine a location, a duration, an area, and a force of the touch from the multiple currents along multiple current paths.

Method and apparatus for automotive variable impedance touch sensor array

A method for calibrating a touch sensor includes: at a calibration system during a calibration routine, applying a probe, at a target selection force, to a sequence of locations on a touch sensor surface of a touch sensor; at the touch sensor, capturing a sequence of touch images representing magnitudes of forces detected on the touch sensor surface during the calibration routine; fusing the sequence of touch images into a response map representing magnitudes of forces detected on the touch sensor surface by the touch sensor responsive to application of the target selection force on the touch sensor surface by the probe during the calibration routine; generating a force compensation map defining threshold forces for detecting selections at the target selection force on the touch sensor surface based on the response map.

System and method for calibrating a touch sensor

The present invention relates to interpolated variable impedance touch sensor arrays for force-aware large-surface device interaction. An exemplary system for detecting a continuous pressure curve includes a plurality of physical variable impedance array (VIA) columns connected by interlinked impedance columns and a plurality of physical VIA rows connected by interlinked impedance rows. The system also includes a plurality of column drive sources connected to the interlinked impedance columns and to the plurality of physical VIA columns through the interlinked impedance columns as well as a plurality of row sense sinks connected to the interlinked impedance rows and to the plurality of physical VIA rows through the interlinked impedance rows. Further, the system includes a processor configured to interpolate the continuous pressure curve in the physical VIA columns and physical VIA rows from an electrical signal from the plurality of column drive sources sensed at the plurality of row sense sinks.

Method and apparatus for variable impedance touch sensor array force aware interaction in large surface devices

One variation of a system includes: a frame; a sensor module; and a controller. The frame includes: a base structure that locates a display defining a front face of a device; and a lateral frame structure extending along and adjacent an edge of the display and supported on a side of the base structure. The base structure and the lateral frame structure cooperate to define a channel arranged behind the display and extending longitudinally between the lateral frame structure and the side of the base structure. The sensor module is arranged in the channel and includes: a substrate; and a linear array of sensors arranged on the substrate and outputting sense signals representing local deflections of the lateral frame structure. The controller detects locations and force magnitudes of side inputs on the device, proximal the edge of the display, based on sense signals output by the linear array of sensors.

Sensor module and method for detecting and characterizing side inputs at devices

One variation of a method for detecting an input at a touch sensor&#x2014;including a force-sensitive layer exhibiting variations in local resistance responsive to local variations in applied force on a touch sensor surface and a set of drive and sense electrodes&#x2014;includes: driving a drive electrode with a drive signal; reading a sense signal from a sense electrode; detecting a alternating-current component and a direct-current component of the sense signal; in response to a magnitude of the direct-current component of the sense signal falling below a threshold magnitude, detecting an input on the touch sensor surface during the scan cycle based on the alternating-current component of the sense signal; and, in response to the magnitude of the direct-current component of the sense signal exceeding the threshold magnitude, detecting the input on the touch sensor surface during the scan cycle based on the direct-current component of the sense signal.

The present invention relates to touch sensor detector systems and methods incorporating an interpolated variable impedance touch sensor array and specifically to such systems and methods for gesture recognition and associating a UI element with the recognized gesture. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a variable impedance array (VIA) system for receiving a gesture that includes: a plurality of physical VIA columns connected by interlinked impedance columns; a plurality of physical VIA rows connected by interlinked impedance rows; and a processor configured to interpolate a location and/or pressure of the gesture in the physical columns and rows from an electrical signal from a plurality of column drive sources (connected to the plurality of physical VIA columns through the interlinked impedance columns) sensed at a plurality of row sense sinks (connected to the plurality of physical VIA rows through the interlinked impedance rows).

Method and apparatus for variable impedance touch sensor array gesture recognition

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Tomer Daniel Moscovich