Single-Touch Touchpad Multi-Touch Gesture Recognition
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing single-touch touchpads in older machines cannot implement multi-touch gesture control, as they lack the capability to recognize absolute coordinates necessary for advanced gesture recognition, making it difficult to upgrade without replacing the entire user interface.
Innovation Solution
A method that records both relative and absolute operating coordinates using a proprietary software protocol, allowing the generation of new gestures by combining these inputs, which would not be possible with single-touch touchpads alone, enabling the simulation of multi-touch gestures on single-touch touchpads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single-touch touchpad is used in older machines, then the device can be integrated easily into the control stand, but multi-touch gesture control cannot be implemented
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter of coordinate recognition from relative-only to absolute coordinate recognition by using the edge crossing detection method. The touchpad hardware remains the same, but the software interpretation changes to detect when a touch starts or ends at the edge of the touchpad surface, converting relative movements into absolute position information that enables gesture recognition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the need for multi-touch hardware with a software-based gesture recognition system that works on single-touch touchpads. By substituting the mechanical/multi-touch hardware requirement with a software algorithm that interprets touch patterns and edge crossings, the system achieves multi-touch functionality without hardware replacement.
2Adaptability or versatility
If absolute coordinates are recorded using a proprietary software protocol, then multi-touch gestures can be generated on single-touch touchpads, but the system requires integration of multiple coordinate systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges relative coordinate data from the touchpad with absolute coordinate data derived from edge crossing detection. By combining these two coordinate systems through the proprietary software protocol, the system creates a unified gesture recognition framework that leverages both types of information to enable multi-touch gestures on single-touch hardware.
3Adaptability or versatility
If edge crossing detection is used to determine absolute coordinates, then gesture recognition is enabled, but the input field must have a defined edge structure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary detection of touch start and end positions at the edges of the touchpad surface. By detecting where touches begin and end relative to the defined edge structure beforehand, the system can calculate absolute coordinates from these pre-detected boundary crossings, enabling gesture recognition without requiring additional hardware modifications.
Data Source
Figure 1~3
AI summary
Method for generating gestures for operating a machine by a computer, wherein an input medium converts touch-sensitive movement inputs of a user into input signals, and which is characterized in that an application interprets the touch-sensitive movement inputs of the user both as relative operating coordinates and as absolute operating coordinates in two separate input channels, combines and evaluates the coordinates of both input channels in order to interpret the input signals of the input medium and generate gestures from them.