Touch Interface Audio Sensor Impact Strength Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional touch interfaces, such as touchpads and virtual keyboard projectors, cannot differentiate between impact strengths of user touches, leading to difficulties in accurately registering taps and key presses.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an audio sensor to detect sound waves generated by user touches, allowing the electronic device to determine impact strength based on audio signals, and using this information to generate appropriate commands for actions such as selecting icons or executing applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If capacitive sensing technology is used in touchpads, then touch position and motion tracking are enabled, but the ability to differentiate between impact strengths of user touches is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines capacitive sensing technology with acoustic sensing technology in a single touch interface system. The capacitive sensors detect touch position and motion, while the acoustic sensors detect impact strength through sound waves generated by finger taps. This merging allows the system to differentiate between light and hard taps without requiring separate devices, resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces acoustic sensors as an intermediary component that captures sound waves generated by user touches. These acoustic sensors act as a mediator between the user's finger and the processing system, converting mechanical impact into audible signals that can be analyzed to determine impact strength. This intermediary approach enables precise impact differentiation without fundamentally changing the existing capacitive sensing architecture.
2Measurement precision
If camera-based virtual keyboard projection is used, then visual feedback is provided, but the ability to detect actual finger contact and impact strength is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the camera-based optical detection system with acoustic sensing technology for detecting finger contact. Instead of using a camera to visually track finger movement and infer contact, the system uses acoustic sensors to directly detect the sound waves generated when a finger physically contacts the surface. This substitution provides more reliable contact detection while maintaining ease of implementation, as acoustic sensors are simpler to integrate than camera systems.
3Adaptability or versatility
If audio sensors are added to touch interfaces, then impact strength differentiation is enabled, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs the acoustic sensing system to serve multiple functions within the touch interface. The same acoustic sensors that detect impact strength are also used to identify different types of user interactions (taps, holds, drags) and to provide feedback about touch quality. This multi-functionality approach increases adaptability without proportionally increasing complexity, as a single sensor system handles multiple detection tasks rather than requiring separate specialized sensors for each function.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables precise differentiation between various touch impacts, improving user interaction by allowing for context-dependent actions based on touch strength, enhancing the functionality of touch interfaces.
Implementation Method 1
an audio sensor to detect sound waves generated by user touches
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 1C
Figure 2A~2B
AI summary
A computing device receives position coordinates of a touch input region upon a user touching the touch input region. The computing device also receives an audio signal from an audio sensor upon the user touching the touch input region. An impact strength of the user's touch is determined based on the audio signal. The computing device performs an action that is associated with the determined impact strength.