Touch-Originating Sound Profile Sensing on Inactive Surfaces

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional touch input detection technologies require active surfaces, which are impractical for small devices, costly, and suffer from reduced accuracy due to external interference, especially in environments like direct sunlight.

Innovation Solution

A device-agnostic system using transducers to detect sound profiles from touch inputs, converting them into spectrograms, and applying image recognition to match these profiles with predefined sound profiles for controlling devices, without relying on capacitive or pressure-sensitive surfaces.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If capacitive touch technology is used, then touch detection capability is improved, but performance is reduced by conductive objects like water droplets

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetouch detection capabilityVSAvoidinterference from conductive objects

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces capacitive touch detection with acoustic detection using microphones and spectrogram analysis. Instead of detecting electrical charge changes on the surface, the system listens for acoustic signals generated by touch interactions, fundamentally changing the detection mechanism from electrical to acoustic domain.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces sound waves as an intermediary between the touch input and the detection system. The touch interaction generates acoustic waves that propagate through the air and are captured by microphones, allowing indirect detection of touch events without direct electrical contact with the surface.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Measurement precision

If surface acoustic wave technology is used, then touch detection accuracy is improved, but device cost and complexity increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetouch detection accuracyVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces complex surface acoustic wave generation and detection systems with simple acoustic microphones. Instead of requiring ultrasonic waveguides, reflectors, and specialized transducers integrated into the surface, the system uses off-the-shelf microphones and signal processing to achieve touch detection.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates acoustic copies or representations of touch events in the form of spectrograms. By converting acoustic signals into visual spectrogram representations, the system can analyze touch patterns without requiring complex real-time acoustic processing hardware.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

3Reliability

If active touch surfaces are used, then user input detection is improved, but device cost increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser input detectionVSAvoidmanufacturing cost

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of manufacture

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces expensive active touch surfaces with passive acoustic detection. Instead of coating surfaces with capacitive or resistive materials, the system uses standard microphones to detect acoustic signatures of touch inputs, eliminating the need for specialized touch-sensitive materials and complex surface structures.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent makes microphones serve multiple functions: they detect both acoustic content for audio processing and touch input signals. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate touch detection hardware, reducing overall device cost and complexity while maintaining input detection capability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

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 touch input detection on inactive surfaces, reducing costs and interference, allowing control of devices without direct interaction, and expanding user input functionality without hardware modifications.

Implementation Method 1

The at least one transducer can detect a sound produced from touching a surface and produce an electrical signal from the detected sound

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectAcoustic to electrical conversion:

Data Source

PatentUS12411579B2Touch-originating sound profile sensing systems and methods

Publication Date: 2025.09.09 BANG & OLUFSEN AS

AI summary

A device-agnostic system for detecting one or more sound profiles, each of the one or more sound profiles including at least one spectrogram produced from sound associated with a touch input and mapped to a control operation for a device, the system including a transducer and a processor. The transducer can detect a sound produced from touching a surface and produce an electrical signal from the detected sound. The processor is configured to receive the electrical signal from the transducer, convert the received electrical signal to a spectrogram, determine, using image recognition, that the spectrogram meets or surpasses a similarity threshold to one of the one or more sound profiles, and change at least one characteristic of the device based on the control operation mapped to the determined sound profile.