Patent Application
20130257815
The present invention relates to an interactive input system and method.
Interactive input systems that allow users to inject input (e.g., digital ink, mouse events etc.) into an application program using an active pointer (e.g., a pointer that emits light, sound, or other signal), a passive pointer (e.g., a finger, cylinder or other suitable object) or other suitable input devices such as for example, a mouse, or trackball, are known. These interactive input systems include but are not limited to: touch systems comprising touch panels employing analog resistive or machine vision technology to register pointer input such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,448,263; 6,141,000; 6,337,681; 6,747,636; 6,803,906; 7,232,986; 7,236,162; and 7,274,356 and in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0179001, all assigned to SMART Technologies of ULC of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, assignee of the subject application, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated by reference; touch systems comprising touch panels employing electromagnetic, capacitive, acoustic or other technologies to register pointer input; tablet and laptop personal computers (PCs); smartphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other handheld devices; and other similar devices.
Above-incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,906 to Morrison et al. discloses a touch system that employs machine vision to detect pointer interaction with a touch surface on which a computer-generated image is presented. A rectangular bezel or frame surrounds the touch surface and supports digital cameras at its corners. The digital cameras have overlapping fields of view that encompass and look generally across the touch surface. The digital cameras acquire images looking across the touch surface from different vantages and generate image data. Image data acquired by the digital cameras is processed by on-board digital signal processors to determine if a pointer exists in the captured image data. When it is determined that a pointer exists in the captured image data, the digital signal processors convey pointer characteristic data to a master controller, which in turn processes the pointer characteristic data to determine the location of the pointer in (x,y) coordinates relative to the touch surface using triangulation. The pointer coordinates are conveyed to a computer executing one or more application programs. The computer uses the pointer coordinates to update the computer-generated image that is presented on the touch surface. Pointer contacts on the touch surface can therefore be recorded as writing or drawing or used to control execution of application programs executed by the computer.
Above-incorporated U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,263 to Martin discloses an interactive display system comprising a touch sensitive display surface for sensing pressure applied thereto, and in response generating control signals indicating locations of the applied pressure. A personal computer coupled to the touch surface receives the control signals and in response generates graphic images. A liquid crystal (LCD) panel in combination with an overhead projector receives and projects the graphic images onto the touch sensitive display surface at the indicated locations.
Although various interactive input systems have been considered, improvements in pointer detection in interactive input systems is generally desired. It is therefore an object to provide a novel interactive input system and method.
Accordingly, in one aspect there is provided an interactive input system comprising a display panel defining an interactive surface, the display panel comprising a light sensitive layer configured to sense illumination impinging thereon; and processing structure in communication with the display panel, said processing structure processing output of the light sensitive layer to detect at least one pointer in proximity with the interactive surface.
In one embodiment, the display panel further comprises a layer configured to scatter illumination emitted by a light source. The layer scatters illumination such that the scattered illumination both impinges on the light sensitive layer and exits the display panel for reflection back into the display panel and onto the light sensitive layer by at least one pointer in proximity with the interactive surface. The scattered illumination impinging on the light sensitive layer is of a generally uniform intensity over the surface area thereof. The illumination may be infrared illumination.
In one embodiment, the light sensitive layer comprises an array of light sensitive elements, each light sensitive element generating a measurable output that is a function of illumination impinging thereon. The light sensitive elements may comprise an array of photovoltaic cells or an array of photodiodes.
According to another aspect, there is provided a method comprising detecting illumination reflected into a display panel by a pointer brought into proximity with the display panel; and detecting the existence and status of the pointer based on the detected illumination.
In one embodiment, the detecting is performed by an array of light sensitive elements within the display panel and wherein during the second detecting, outputs of the light sensitive elements are compared to a first threshold value and a second threshold value to determine hover contact status of the pointer.
According to another aspect, there is provided a display panel comprising a light sensitive layer; and a layer configured to scatter received illumination in one direction so that the scattered illumination impinges generally evenly on said light sensitive layer and in an opposite direction so that said scattered illumination exits said display panel, scattered illumination exiting said display panel that is reflected by a pointer in proximity thereto and travels back into said display panel impinging on said light sensitive layer.
Embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Turning now to
The interactive board 22 is able to detect one or more pointers brought into proximity with the interactive surface 26 and communicates with a general purpose computing device 28 executing one or more application programs via a universal serial bus (USB) cable 32 or other suitable wired or wireless communication link. General purpose computing device 28 processes the output of the interactive board 22 and adjusts image data that is output to the display panel of the interactive board 22, if required, so that the image presented on the interactive surface 26 reflects pointer activity. In this manner, the interactive board 22 and general purpose computing device 28 allow pointer activity proximate to the interactive surface 26 to be recorded as writing or drawing or used to control execution of one or more application programs executed by the general purpose computing device 28.
The general purpose computing device 28 in this embodiment is a personal computer or other suitable processing device comprising, for example, a processing unit, system memory (volatile and/or non-volatile memory), other non-removable or removable memory (e.g., a hard disk drive, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, DVD, flash memory, etc.) and a system bus coupling the various computer components to the processing unit. The computing device 28 may also comprise networking capability using Ethernet, WiFi, and/or other network format, for connection to access shared or remote drives, one or more networked computers, or other networked devices. The general purpose computing device 28 is also connected to the world wide web via the Internet.
The interactive input system 20 is able to detect passive pointers such as for example, a user's finger, a cylinder or other suitable object as well as passive and active pen tools that are brought into proximity with the interactive surface 26. The user may also enter input or give commands to the general purpose computing device 28 through a mouse 34 or a keyboard 36. Other input techniques such as voice or gesture-based commands may also be used by the user to interact with the interactive input system 20.
The display panel 24 is better seen in
In this embodiment, the interactive board 22 also comprises a light source 56 (see
The OPV layer 50 is better seen in
The structure of one of the photovoltaic cells 62 is shown in
As will be understood, the travel of the electrons from the photoactive layer 68 to the anode layer 64 corresponds to the photocurrent. For a typical load 72, the current drawn from the photovoltaic cell 62 depends on the amount of light incident thereupon, and in turn the amount of light absorbed by the photovoltaic cell 62. The voltage measured across the load 72 is therefore a function of the amount of light incident on the photovoltaic cell 62. Accordingly, and as will be understood, the photovoltaic cell 62 can effectively serve as a light sensor.
The OPV layer 50 is in communication with an OPV layer controller 78 also shown in
In this embodiment, the microprocessor 86 comprises a digital signal processor 90 embodying a clock source that receives the output of A/D converter 94. The microprocessor 86 is also in communication with the multiplexers 80 and 82, and is configured to poll each individual row-column pair of conductors 62R, 62C to measure the output of each photovoltaic cell 62 in the OPV layer 50.
The interface block 88 is in communication with the general purpose computing device 28, and provides an interface between the DSP 90 and the general purpose computing device 28 for communication of pointer position data.
When a pointer is brought into proximity with the interactive surface 26, scattered illumination exiting the display panel 24 and traveling outwardly from the interactive surface 26 is reflected by the pointer back toward the display panel 24. This reflected illumination travels into the display panel 24 and impinges on the OPV layer 50 thereby creating a region within the OPV layer having an increased amount of incident illumination. This increased amount of incident illumination will vary depending on the spacing between the pointer and the interactive surface 26.
For example, in
The process by which the locations of pointers brought into proximity with the interactive surface are calculated is shown in
After each photovoltaic cell 62 has been polled, the microprocessor 86 determines the position of each pointer in proximity with the interactive surface 26 by comparing the measured voltage output of each photovoltaic cell 62 to at least one voltage threshold value (step 206). In this embodiment, the microprocessor 86 initially compares the measured voltage output, V0, of each photovoltaic cell 62 to a first voltage threshold value, V1, and then possibly to a second voltage threshold value, V2, to determine if a pointer has been brought close to or into contact with the interactive surface 26. If the voltage output V0 of a photovoltaic cell 62 is less than first voltage threshold value V1, then the microprocessor 86 determines that no pointer has been brought into proximity with the interactive surface 26 adjacent that photovoltaic cell 62. If the voltage output V0 of a photovoltaic cell 62 is greater than first voltage threshold value V1 but less than second voltage threshold value V2, then the microprocessor 86 determines that a pointer has been brought into proximity with the interactive surface, but not into contact with the interactive surface 26, and is therefore hovering near the interactive surface 26 adjacent that photovoltaic cell 62. If the voltage output V0 of a photovoltaic cell 62 is greater than the second voltage threshold value V2, then the microprocessor 86 determines that a pointer has been brought into contact with the interactive surface 26 adjacent that photovoltaic cell 62.
After the voltage outputs of the photovoltaic cells 62 have been compared with the first and second voltage threshold values, the microprocessor 86 generates pointer position data for each photovoltaic cell 62 that outputs a voltage difference greater than the first voltage threshold. The pointer position data is generated by assigning either a hover status or a contact status to position coordinates of each photovoltaic cell 62, based on the known locations of those photovoltaic cells 62 within the OPV layer 50 that were responsible for a voltage output V0 greater than the first voltage threshold value V1. The microprocessor 86 then sends the generated position data to the general purpose computing device 28 (step 208) via interface block 88 and the process returns to step 204.
Upon receiving the pointer position data, the general purpose computing device 28 processes the received pointer position data, and the assigned hover or contact status, and updates the image output provided to the display panel 24 of the interactive board 22 for display, if required, so that the image presented on the interactive surface 26 reflects the pointer activity. In this manner, pointer interaction with the interactive surface 26 can be recorded as writing or drawing or used to control execution of one or more application programs running on the general purpose computing device 28.
The display panel 24 is not limited to the configuration described above and, in other embodiments, the display panel may have alternative configurations. For example,
Still other configurations are possible. For example,
Still other configurations of the display panel are possible. For example,
The touch panel layer 639 comprises two transparent panels 643 and 645, with each transparent panel 643 and 645 comprising planar surfaces. In this embodiment, the transparent panels are sheets of glass or other suitable energy transmissive material. Transparent panels 643 and 645 are separated by a spacer 647, such that the transparent panels 643 and 645 are positioned in a spaced and generally parallel relationship, thereby to define a generally uniform gap 649 therebetween. An illumination absorbing material 651 such as, for example, black electrical tape or other suitable material is positioned about the periphery of the touch panel layer 639.
In this embodiment, the light source 56 is positioned adjacent the periphery of the illumination layer 641 and is configured to emit infrared illumination into the plane of the illumination layer 641. The illumination layer 641 in turn scatters illumination 100 such that scattered illumination both travels outwardly into the touch panel layer 639 and inwardly toward the OPV layer 650, such that the OPV layer 650 receives a substantially uniform level of incident illumination over its entire surface area. Illumination entering the touch panel layer 639 travels through the transparent panels 643 and 645.
In the example shown in
During use, ambient light rays 700 enter the display panel 724 and are incident on the OPV layer 750. In the example shown, a pen tool 706 comprising an infrared light source is brought into contact or very close proximity with the interactive surface 26 of the display panel 724. The light source within the pen tool 706 emits illumination from a tip 707 of the pen tool 706. The illumination enters the display panel 724 and travels towards the OPV layer 750 as ray 708, and creates a region 710 of increased illumination incident on the OPV layer 750. The difference in the amount of illumination incident upon region 710 relative to the remainder OPV layer 750 is measureable by the OPV layer controller 78.
It will be understood that the display panels are not limited to the configurations described above, and may alternatively have other layer configurations.
Although in embodiments described above, the analog block comprises an operational amplifier and an analog-to-digital converter, in other embodiments, the analog block may alternatively have other configurations. For example,
The interactive input system is not limited to the configurations described above and, in other embodiments, the interactive input system may alternatively have other configurations. For example,
Although in embodiments described above, the OVP controller comprises a clock source that is embodied within the DSP, in other embodiments, a separate clock generator circuit may alternatively be used.
Although in embodiments described above, the backlight layer comprises an array of light emitting diodes (LEDs) and a diffuser layer adjacent the LEDs for diffusing light emitted therefrom, in other embodiments, the backlight layer may alternatively comprise another light source, such as for example a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL).
Although in embodiments described above, the display panel comprises a DSI layer, the display panel may alternatively comprise a frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) layer or other suitable layer configured to scatter illumination.
Although in embodiments described above, the display panel comprises an OPV layer, the photovoltaic layer of the display panel need not be limited to organic materials and in other embodiments, the display panel may alternatively comprise a photovoltaic layer comprising inorganic materials. Also, although in embodiments described above, the OPV layer is flexible, in other embodiments, the OPV layer may alternatively be rigid.
Although in embodiments described above, the photovoltaic cells are configured to absorb light having wavelengths corresponding to the wavelength of the infrared illumination emitted by the light source, in other embodiments, the photovoltaic cells may be configured to absorb light having other wavelengths, such as for example light having wavelengths within the visible or ultraviolet ranges, or light having wavelengths within any combination of the ultraviolet, visible and infrared ranges.
Although in embodiments described above, the light sensitive layer is an OPV layer comprising an array of photovoltaic cells, in other embodiments, the light sensitive layer may comprise other light sensitive elements such as for example an array of photodiodes. As is known in the art, photodiodes may be operated in a reverse-bias mode, in which a bias voltage is applied to the photodiode for generating a photocurrent.
Although the light source 56 is described as being separate from the display panel, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the light source may be integrated with the display panel.
Although embodiments have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those of skill in the art will appreciate that variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/618,691 to Rattray et al. filed on Mar. 31, 2012, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61618691 | Mar 2012 | US |
