Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
VIDEO-GAME CONTROLLER ASSEMBLIES FOR
PROGRESSIVE CONTROL OF ACTIONABLE-OBJECTS
DISPLAYED ON TOUCHSCREENS
FIELD
The invention is in the field of touchscreen electronics.
BACKGROUND
The present invention is in the technical field of touchscreen electronics.
More particularly, the
present invention targets the video-game industry with progressive video-game
controllers; with an
emphasis on touchscreen-based electronics. Since video-game consoles and their
more immersive,
comprehensive and sophisticated footprint traditionally provide users with the
best overall gaming
experience when compared to other gaming platforms, such as pocket-gaining on
mobile devices, a
need exists for improved technology that serves to narrow the "gaming-
experience gap." An integral
focus of this application is a broad attempt at narrowing this touchscreen-
induced gap: a gap borne by
the traditionally inherent divergence between such gaming platforms. The
present invention seeks to
engage and empower the user. To heighten the gaming experience borne on
touchscreen devices and to
make control of a touchscreen interface more intuitive, natural and
compelling.
SUMMARY
Embodiments herein are directed to systems, devices and methods for improving
the control
finictionality of soft buttons displayed on congruous touchscreens; when used
in both stationary and
portable devices. In addition, embodiments herein are, amongst other
directives, directed to systems,
devices and methods for expanding the method and breadth of touch-input
delivery through assistive-
controller technologies for touchscreens. Touch-input delivery systems,
seeking engagement beyond
the control input of a finger, as a case in point, are described. Motion-
activated controllers, some
engaged by the innate capacitance of a user as they are concurrently clutched
and gestured and others by
an associated mapping system affording a tethered modal input of virtual
actuation, are additionally
demonstrated. Motion-activated controllers, relying on technologies detecting
and relaying a motion
input, are described with and without collaboration of an intermediary-
transceiver device, according to
embodiments.
The present invention in spirit and scope, as demonstrated by an articulation
of embodiments,
further serves to embolden the user experience by, amongst other means,
demanding a greater degree of
physical activity and participatory involvement from touchscreen users during
the course of game play.
This approach stands in marked contrast to the traditional "sofa-spud"
approach or "stationary" (not
itinerant) game play that is typically associated with touchscreen gaming.
Specialty controller inputs that
are traditionally associated with stand-alone, video-game consoles ¨ such as a
dance mat, guitar, musical
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
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keyboard and drum hardware, driving or racing wheels, hockey sticks, golf
clubs, baseball bats, bowling
balls and DJ turntables and mix stations (representing a mere sampling in the
spirit and scope of this
discourse; such listing disclosure is trot suggestive of controller and/or
interface limitation) are
purposefully transitioned to the touchscreen environment by the inventor and
discoursed in the
S embodying matter herein.
In embodying matter herein, a touchscreen device may "act" as a "video-game
console" of
sorts, in the sense that controllers are interfaced with the touchscreen
device for remote operating
scenarios and that the touchscreen device may broadcast a game's audio and
visual output to a TV
set through use of specially designed Component AV Cables and the like; this
combinatorial "linkage"
totality contributing to this "acting" parallel.
In the description that follows, the term "portable device" encompasses
portable media players,
personal digital assistants, laptop computers, tablets, branded i-devices,
multimedia and Internet-enabled
smart phones and smart-devices of all faces, amongst others similarly
situated. In the description that
follows, the term "stationary device" encompasses a device that is generally
operated in a fixed location.
A stationary device may be movable or transportable, but is generally not
operated while in transit.
In the description that follows, the terms "soft button" can encompass a
graphical representation
of a D-pad (directional pad) or gamepad, a physical button, a switch, a
pointer, an alphanumeric key, a
data-entry key, a player or any other input-seeking graphical representation
on a touchscreen; within a
gaming-environment, primarily, that may be engaged by a user through touch,
either remotely,
proximally or directly, in order to enter a command, indicate a selection,
input data or engage or control
an actionable object located on die touchscreen. An implementation of touch
engagement is geared for
the context in which the embodiment is intended, without suggestion of
limitation. The term "soft" used
as an adjective generally indicates that something is software-implemented. So
a "soft input" could be a
soft button or another kind of software-implemented input, but not a physical
input such as a depressable
button.
In the description that follows, the term "attachment" may generally refer to
a device or assembly
that is placed in contact with the soft-buttons on a touchscreen for purposes
of engaging control of an
actionable object or series of objects, such as those that may be present in a
gaming environment,
although this environment is not suggestive of limitation. An attachment may
be adapted for both wired
and wireless expressions. A serviceable mapping system further allows for a
system of virtual attachment
with the shared purpose of manipulating an actionable object.
In the description that follows, the term "remote operation" refers to both a
physical and/or
gesture-based controller assembly, interface or device that is intended to be
operated remotely from die
touchscreen.
A "specialty controller" is generally defined in the industry as any non-
standard controller.
Standard controllers are generally considered to include directional inputs,
such as directional pads and
joysticks, as well as depressable buttons, in a conventional form factor.
Examples of specialty controllers
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
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include racing wheel controllers, dance pads, guitar, piano, drum, microphone,
and other musical
instrument controllers, golf club controllers, hockey stick controllers,
tennis racket controllers, baseball
bat controllers, DJ station controllers, etc.
A new touchscreen specialty controller apparatus includes a specialty
controller input device
having one or more inputs and configured to communicate remotely with a
touchscreen user device. Each
of the one or more inputs is tethered to a corresponding touchscreen user
device input, such that actuation
of one of the one or more inputs is consistently translated to actuation of a
corresponding touchscreen
user device input to control an actionable object displayed on the touchscreen
user device. The specialty
controller input device may communicate with the touchscreen user device
through an actuating agent,
and the actuating agent may translate the actuation of the one or more inputs
into actuation of
corresponding touchscreen User device inputs. The actuating agent may be a
physical device such as an
intermediary transceiver or a direct conduit from the input device to the
touchscreen user device display,
such as a wired assembly, or may be software-based, such as an app or other
code installed on the
touchscreen user device for direct communication between the input device and
touchscreen user device.
A new touchscreen controller system includes a remote motion-sensing input
device, an
intermediary device comprising a processor, and one or more output ends
connected to the intermediary
device for affixing to a touch-screen device. The motion-sensing input device
comnumicates input to
die intermediary device and the intermediary device determines a touchscreen
gesture corresponding to
the communicated input and transmits a signal to the output ends causing the
determined touchscreen
gesture to be applied at the output ends.
The intermediary device may include a receiver for wirelessly receiving data
from the motion-
sensing input device, an internal capacitive source, and a capacitive manager
for applying capacitance
from the internal capacitive source to the output ends. Conductive members may
connect the motion-
sensing input device and the intermediary device and connect the intermediary
device to the output
ends. The motion-sensing input device may comprise traditional electronics
such as an accelerometer and
gyroscope and/or include divining input from atypical means such as a
plurality of surface holes and
internal ultrasonic anemometers for sensing the direction and speed of motion
of the motion-sensing
input device for touchscreens. The motion-sensing input device may include one
or more processors for
processing data from sensors in the motion-sensing input device and
determining corresponding input
gesture information for conununication to an intermediary device and/or
directly to a touchscreen user
device by virtue of a serviceable mapping system. Furthermore, the speed of a
gesture may be translated
into a power level by the one or more processor in the motion-sensing input
device, which may be output
at the output ends of a physical interface for intended actuation and/or by a
mapping complement such
that a corresponding power level on a power bar displayed on the touchscreen
is engaged. The motion-
sensing input device may also include one or more buttons, and the touchscreen
gesture may be
determined based on buttons pressed and motion sensed.
The system may also include a base station for securing a touchscreen device,
and the base
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station may be configured to hold the touchscreen device in an upright
position to ensure uninterrupted
connection to the output ends and for easy viewing, to charge the touchscreen
device, and to output the
display of the touchscreen device to a connector for transmission to a
separate display device. The system
may also include an A/V output for connecting a touchscreen device to a sepal-
ate display device and
outputting the touchscreen device's display to the separate display device.
The motion-sensing input
device may also include a plurality of surface holes and a plurality of
acoustical sensors distributed
beneath the holes for sensing the direction and speed of motion of the motion-
sensing input device. The
motion-sensing input device may also include a plurality of surface holes and
a plurality of pivoting
internal wind flaps configured to be engaged by wind front the surface holes,
where the wind flaps are
biased towards a central resting position and their deviation from this
central position indicates the
direction and speed of motion of the motion-sensing input device. The motion-
sensing input device may
also include one or more suspended, movable magnets biased towards a central
resting position and a
plurality of sensors around the magnets that are triggered by an incidence of
magnetic influence by the
magnets, for determining the direction and speed of motion of the motion-
sensing input device.
The output ends of an actuating interface may include a thin film membrane
having properties of
an actuating catalyst or agent present, where the film experiences a catalyst
reaction upon broadcast
collision of a serviceable projection, causing a capacitive instance, without
suggestion of limitation, to be
transferred to an attached touchscreen. The motion-sensing input controller
may include a mat that is
equipped with a plurality of sensors capable of determining a motion input and
a microcontroller unit
with wireless interface that bridges divined motion input of a physical
controller with a soft-input
interface. The motion-sensing input controller may fiuther include a mat
having a plurality of distributed
independent sensing modules of a conductive material that detect capacitive
objects in contact with the
modules, and the modules may permit determination of die location, as well as
direction and speed of
motion, of a capacitive object on the mat. The motion-sensing input device may
be in the shape of a shoe
for wearing by a user, and include means for tracking movement of the motion-
sensing input device from
a position of rest as well as the time elapsed and distance traveled in
between a series of contact of the
motion-sensing input device with a surface. The motion-sensing input device
may include motion-
capture balls configured to be worn by a user and video cameras configured for
detecting the motion of a
user wearing the motion capture balls for potentially added precision metrics
in a controller environment.
The motion-sensing input device may be in the shape of a guitar controller and
include
conductive strings and conductive, horizontally-divided frets, and the strings
and frets may conduct the
capacitance of a user touching them, thereby indicating which strings and
frets are being touched by a
user or may include a wireless interface reliant on mapping. The output ends
may include an internal
capacitive source and receive conunands wirelessly from the intermediate
device. The motion-sensing
input device may include a racing-wheel assembly and/or conductive pedal
having a scroll bar contacting
a surface plate that includes a plurality of isolated actuating elements,
where the scroll bar is configured
to slide along the surface plate as die pedal is depressed, moving from one
actuating element to the next
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
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on the surface plate and conducting a user's capacitance thereto, thereby
indicating the position, speed
and direction of movement of the pedal or may include a racing-wheel assembly
with wireless interface
reliant on virtual-mapping "attachment" with a compatible touchscreen device
and gaining title. The
motion-sensing input device may include a stick or club having a conductive
grip and bottom surface,
such that motion of the stick or club across the surface of a mat including a
plurality of conductive
sensing modules conducts a user's capacitance to the sensing modules, allowing
the motion of the stick or
club across the surface of the mat to be determined and/or may comprise a
motion-input controller with
sensors such as accelerometer and positional for wireless disposition reliant
on mapping. The motion-
sensing input device may include a ball element having a soft conductive
surface and an internal
capacitance source supplying capacitance continuously to the surface, such
that motion of the ball across
the surface of a mat comprising a plurality of conductive sensing modules
conducts ball surface
capacitance to the sensing modules, allowing the motion of the ball across die
surface of the mat to be
determined and/or a serviceable motion-controller input offering that divines
sport-themed motions for
corresponding virtual actuation of an actionable object on a touchscreen by
virtue of a mapping interface.
The motion-sensing input device may include a turntable element matrix having
a plurality of
autonomous sensing elements, where the autonomous sensing elements sense a
capacitive source in
contact with them, tracking user motions on the surface of the turntable
element matrix. There
may be a rotatable, capacitance-friendly thin-film membrane over the turntable
element matrix
configured to rotate in accordance with a user's motions for ease of movement
while conveying
capacitance from the user to the turntable element matrix below. Conversely, a
specialty Di-controller
system may operate in a manner not reliant on the capacitive input of a user
in a wireless expression.
A new system includes a remote motion-sensing input device, one or more output
ends
configured for connection to a touchscreen and application of capacitance to
the touchscreen, and
conductive connectors connecting the input device and output ends. The remote
motion-sensing input
device includes a conductive outer surface and a mechanical selection
mechanism, the mechanical
selection mechanism completes a conductive path between the conductive outer
surface and a conductive
connector and attached output end based on a movement of the remote motion-
sensing input device. The
motion-sensing input device may include a conductive outer surface, one or
more internal variable
components, and a plurality of internal controller nodes around the variable
components, where the
variable components move when the motion-sensing input device is accelerated,
forcing the variable
components to contact one or more of the controller nodes and forming a
conductive path between the
conductive outer surface and the contacted controller nodes.
The internal variable components may include ball bearings in guided channels.
The remote
motion-sensing input device may include a rotatable portion and rotatable
actuating element conductively
connected to the conductive surface, the rotatable actuating element may
rotate around a ring of isolated
conductive elements, configured such that a user's capacitance is conducted
from the conductive surface
to one of the isolated conductive elements at anv given time based on the
rotational position of the
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
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rotatable portion, where each isolated conductive element is connected to a
separate conductive
connector and output end.
A new system includes a plurality of beam-casting elements, a user input
device comprising a
light sensor, a timer, and a machine input interface. The machine input
interface is configured to receive
commands from a gaining device for activation of the timer and beam-casting
elements, the beam-casting
elements project a light beam to indicate the location of an object and the
timer indicates the time until
impact of the object, and detection of the light beam by the light sensor at
timer expiration indicates
intersection of die object and the user input device. The user input device
may include further light
sensors, and the light sensor detecting the light beam at timer expiration may
affect a determined result of
the intersection. The beam-casting elements may be movable. The user input
device may include one or
more buttons or motion-sensing devices, where a determined result of the
intersection is affected by a
button pressed by a user or motion made by a user.
The inventor seeks to introduce a paradign shift in operational control and
functionality tor
touchscreens by virtue of the described methods and assemblies (and their
spirited breadth and scope) of
communicable specialty-input controllers adapted for touchscreen enviromnents.
The application serves
an eclectic mix of both wired (e.g. a wired attachment interface for physical
mapping) and wireless (e.g.
a system of attachmentless actuation ushered by virtual mapping) touchscreen
controllers in an effort to
build on the inventor's previous discourse and to fiu-ther highlight a
continued theme of touchscreen-
controller innovation. The inventor seeks to revolutionize the face of
touchscreen gaming by first seeking
to revolutionize the face of touchscreen controllers, and in so doing, tries
to quash many of the perceived
touchscreen limitations highlighted by a growing chorus of users by not only
facing these limitations
head on, but in attempting to think outside the "screen" and attempting to
solve these issues to a level of
controller empowerment.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Images expressed in this application are for embodiment-based illustrative
purposes only and
are not suggestive of limitation, as products released to the market may
differ widely, from those
illustrated, while still remaining faithful to die spirit arid scope of this
discourse. Images are not
necessarily to scale and do not suggest fixed construction and/or component
composition.
According to embodiments:
Fig. I is a perspective view of a motion-input or gesture-sensing controller
(control dynamics
effected by motion-gesture input) with a modal plurality and a wirelessly-
tethered or wirelessly-linked
interinediary-transceiver device; in congruence with the input dynamics of a
touchscreen application.
Fig. IA depicts one such mode designed to measure "wind bursts" precipitated
from a user
gesture.
Fig. 1B depicts a traditional motion-controller input assembly serviceably
paired with a
touchscreen user device for the virtual manipulation of an actionable object.
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Fig. 2 is a top view of an intermediary-transceiver device connecting a dance-
mat interface and
related dance-step controller mat -- and potential exercise-mat variant ¨ with
a touchscreen device, as
constructed in congruence to the input dynamics of a toudiscreen application.
Fig. 2A illustrates a wireless dance and dance-step specialty-controller mat
variant.
Fig. 3 is a top view of a guitar interface and guitar-based controller,
congruent to the input
dynamics of a touchscreen application.
Fig. 3A represents a guitar-based specially-controller environment of wholly
wireless disposition
and a serviceable mapping interface.
Fig. 4 is a dichotomous view of a musical-keyboard interface and keyboard-
based controller
and a drum-set controller (both controllers acting as a controller input) with
an intermediary-transceiver
device component, congruent to the input dynamics of a touchscreen
application.
Fig. 5 is a top view of a racing-wheel interface and racing-wheel controller,
congruent to the
input dynamics of a touchscreen application. Fig_ SA represents the scroll-bar
apparatus of a gas-pedal
controller that is associated with pedial depression, in congruence with the
input dynamics of a
touchscreen application.
Fig. 5B illustrates a wireless racing-wheel controller and coalescent
audio/visual assembly
transitionally designed for operational and integral use in a race-themed
environment for touchscreen
devices.
Fig. 6A is a perspective view of a conductive, hockey-stick controller prop;
capable of effecting
a requisite conductive path, through the capacitive-clutch input of a user,
when combined with mat-based
gesturing. A plurality of controller mats, congruent to the input dynamics of
a touchscreen application,
are shown in accessory.
Fig. GB is a detailed view of potential attachment (or connectivity) means of
a pedial-input and
prop-gesture controller interface, as described in Fig. 6A.
Fig. 6C illustrates a "power-bar" Or .'power-meter" system of custom actuation
that may be
introduced to a touchscreen-controllcr environment; empowering layered
disposition.
Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a conductive, golf-club prop; capable of
effecting a requisite
conductive path, through the capacitive-clutch input of a user, when combined
with mat-based
gesturing. Respective orientation and gesture-input detemainant mats,
congruent to the input dynamics
of a touchscreen application, are shown in accessory. Fig. 7A is a perspective
view of a golf-club
controller prop that contains an asymmetrical surface at the head's underside
that, depending on club
angle, traverses across a plurality of densely-arranged, autonomous sensing
elements in a variable
manner, subject to calculation.
Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a baseball-bat and baseball-glove controller
prop designed to
interact with a beam-casting tower and an intermediary-transceiver device with
controller interface,
congruent to the input dynamics of a touchscreen application.
Fig. 9 is N perspective view of a howling-ball controller prop designed to
interact with a motion
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
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and directional-determinant mat input and, in a constituent link comprising a
requisite conductive path,
an intermediary-transceiver device effecting an input gesture, or series of
gestures, to a touchscreen
device, congruent to the input dynamics of a touchscreen application.
Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a DJ-station input controller and
intermediary-transceiver device
with interface and, at its inset, a manner prescribed for faithfully
translating an omnidirectional hand or
finger motion (a form of "path shaping" in the directional chronology of a
gestut-e) across the surface of
an element plurality, in accordance with the input dynamics of a touchscreen
application.
Fig. 10A illustrates a hybrid DJ specialty-controller input system for
touchscreen devices, in
accordance with a wireless embodiment.
Fig. 11 is a perspective view of an intermediary-transceiver device,
leveraging an innate-
capacitive source and capacitive manager to faithfully (in respect to a
controller input or series of input)
engage ¨ through a network of wired appendages attached to a touchscreen -- an
actionable object or
object plurality rendered on the touchscreen of a portable or stationary
device. Designed for remote
input in congruence to the input dynamics of a touchscreen application.
Fig. 12 is an illustration of a touchscreen-suspension device equipped with
comfort grips and a
tactile controller interface designed for remote operability.
Fig. 13 is an offspring illustration to Fig. 12 and a figure which depicts an
alternate touchscreen-
suspension device that supplies a user-mounted support apparatus.
Fig. 14 illustrates a tactile interface having a capacitance-transmitting
button member or member
plurality, communicably placed on the non-glass borders of a touchscreen user
device.
Fig. 15 illustrates a mouse-type input system that uses an associated camera
to track, for
example, a user's fingers and integrative gestures (assuming and influencing
the position of "mouse"
pointer).
Fig, 16 illustrates a wireless input controller and dynamic pairing
application that can be
integrated with Or without use of an intermediary-transceiver device and any
associated congruous
attachment or attachment plurality.
Figs. 17 and 17A illustrate a plurality of light-gun or akin-based specialty-
input controllers
mobilized for control of an actionable object on a receptive touchscreen user
device.
Fig. 17A shows a touchscreen user device oriented such that its broadcast
image thereon is
reflected by a relay mirror strategically positioned for both receipt and
subsequent reflection of said
broadcast image to an acrylic-minor counterpart concluding a reflection chain,
where the resulting
reflected image is the same as the original broadcast image and not reversed.
Below the acrylic mirror is
a receiving device comprising a grid of photodiodes which detect infrared
light (passing through the
acrylic mirror) projected from a light gull. Thus, a user may view and shoot
light beams at the acrylic
mirror (rather than the touchscreen itself) with the same coordinate precision
for purposes of
manipulating an actionable object.
18 illustrates a dock-connector system for the primary purpose of powering the
determinant
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
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components of a small intermediary-transceiver device with camera. A
capacitive-discharge overlay
operates in collaboration with the small intermediary-transceiver device to
strategically deploy (based
on camera-tracked input gestures) a capacitive charge to a targeted domain on
the touchscreen for
rd l ated actuation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring now to the present invention in more detail, according to an
embodiment, in Fig. 1 a
motion-input or gesture-sensing controller under a modal plurality and an
electronically-tethered or
linked intermediary-transceiver device is shown.
Common motion detectors include passive-infrared (PIR), active-ultrasonic and
microwave-
based detection systems, and while traditional passive infrared (PIR)
technologies in concert. with
accelerometers, for instance, are within the scope of the claimed invention
regarding touchscreen-
controller environments, alternate implementations designed to register the
product of motion with a
touchscreen device are presented in Fig. 1.
The inventor acknowledges that existing motion-input (and, where desired, non-
motion based or
traditional) controllers on the market may be made compatible and/or
operational under the present
invention via -plug-and-play" reconciliation with a specially-designed
intermediary-transceiver device
10. The intermediary-transceiver device 10 is equipped with a comprehensive
inter-connectivity and
interoperability interface designed to recognize a munber of foreign and/or
competing controllers and
their respective controller inputs and faithfully translate recorded
controller gestures ta controller input)
to corresponding actuation of a touchscreen (an output, of sorts, to a
touchscreen input) via an innate
capacitive source and capacitive manager. Gaming software may be adapted to
facilitate this purpose.
An implementation that focuses on measuring an incidence of wind and/or wind
speed created from the
"thrust" or "motioning" activity of a controller gesture, is one such
deviceful implementation of a
motion-input Of gesture-sensing controller 12.
Ultrasonic wind sensors (ultrasonic anemometers), such as ultrasonic
transducers 11, used to
measure apparent wind speed and direction can be purposefully built into a
motion-input or gesture-
sensing controller device 12 to attain that objective, although the present
invention is not limited to the
use of anemometer sensors. Rather any and all sensors (and sensor
combinations) serviceable to the
objectives of the claimed invention in adapting controllers for use with a
touchscreen device can be
utilized; including optical encoders, intenupters, photo-reflective, proximity
and hall-effect switches,
laser interferometers, triangulation, magnetostrietive, cable-extension
transducers, linear variable
differential transformers (LVDTs) and tachometers, as appreciated by those
skilled in the art, in the spirit
and scope of this discourse.
The motion-input or gesture-sensing controller device 12 is constructed to
dimensions which
facilitate grip comfort, grip security (with an inclusion of straps 13 to
complement said design) and
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
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extended operational use (for instance, the device is lightweight and not
awkward or bulky). The motion-
input or gesture-sensing controller device 12 contains a graspable bottom end
14 ¨ with optional
rubberized finger grooves on the underside and an accessible button controller
15 at its face, a fluent
body and top end containing an engulfing plurality of perforated or panoptic
holes 16 (each acting as a
wind channel 16). The set of holes circumvolving all sides of the control
structure and are preferably
positioned away from the graspable bottom end 14 to reduce potential incidence
of hand blockage of any
member of the wind-channel or channel plurality 16 upon a user gripping the
motion-input or gesture-
sensing controller device 12. The plurality of panoptic holes 16 are paired
with variant-to-task
monitoring sensors in the constructed interior; strategically placed to, under
the accompanying example,
ascertain -'wind bursts" produced by a plurality of directional inclinations
or gestures. Such circumvolved
design patterns provide the potential ability to sense the "motioning input"
of a full-range of user
gestures; which are subjected to translational interpretation for respective
touchscreen actuation.
The motion-input or gesture-sensing controller device 12 can be dissected into
two halves. For
purposes of discourse, they are labelled the front half and the reverse half.
Each half is sealed off from
the other in order to help prevent incidental "wind bleed" from opposing ends
"bleeding" through and
conflicting intentioned gestures and/or directives, thus helping render more
accurate directional readings
from a motion-input or gesture-sensing controller device 12. The sealing may,
for example, be
accomplished by physical shielding -- such as with a vacuum lock or any
serviceable seal that prevents
potentially turbulent air flow, air flow resulting from a motion in one
direction, from entering sensors
designed to "sniff' a contrary direction ¨ and/or by incorporating an
electronic dampener.
The ergonomic and/or fluent body of the controller contains a plurality of
ultrasonic transducers
11 that are positioned strategically within the device (see Fig. I A). The
ultrasonic transducers 11 may
operate in pairs (sending and receiving) and an occurrence of a potential
plurality of pairs may be
positioned, without being suggestive of limitation, as such: one in proximity
to the top end and one in
proximity to the bottom end, of each of the two sealed halves of the motion-
input Or gesture-sensing
controller device 12 for deft monitoring of the panoptic holes 16, as they arc
subjected to wind bursts.
A set of transducer nodes (with each node potentially assuming the appearance
of an antennae)
can also be positioned ¨ without suggesting limitation -- across the depth
(Eice-to-back) of the controller
innards (not illustrated), in each of the halves, to account for respective
ranges of motion seeking
measurement outside of the top-to-bottom transducer-pair disposition, as an
example. The ultrasonic
transducers 11, engaging a sniffing path travelled by an ultrasonic pulse 19,
are designed to monitor any
incidence of wind input through the panoptic holes or wind channels 16 for
related motion determination
and, by leveraging a linked processor or processor plurality, to begin the
"upstream" processing or
engagement of an actuating path faithful to an input gesture via an
intermediary-transceiver device 10.
A microprocessor in the motion-input or gesture-sensing controller device 12
or device series,
and/or an associated software script (for example, running from the motion-
input or gesture-sensing
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
1 I
controller device 12 and/or intermediary-transceiver device 10), can be
enlisted in the task of calculating
the presence of wind, if any, from any controller movement or gesture by the
user and, upon recorded
incidence, can assist to faithfully relay directives to the intermediary-
transceiver device 10 ¨ for
correlative soft-button actuation via a touchsereen interface ¨ as a
touchscreen application is being
rendered. An internal thermometer may be present to account for changes in air
temperature which
affects speeds, although such specificity may not be requisite to the control
dynamics of a given
application. Such controller technologies are highly migratory and can readily
be adapted into controller
or prop variants such as, but not limited to, a tennis or ping-pong racquet,
hockey stick and fishing-pole
controller; alone or in teclmological combination. A native motion-input or
gesture-sensing controller
device 12 may be designed for accessorizing by adjunct snap-on components,
preferably light-weight in
nature, such as a racquet or croquet-mallet head, for an added parallel.
According to a controller scenario embodiment similar to Fig. 1A, one
ultrasonic transducer 11,
aligning itself with a metal plate, on the opposing end of a sniffing path
across a plurality of wind
channels, may inject an ultrasonic pulse (sender) into the air and see the
pulse reflected by the
strategically-placed metal plate at the bottom of the "injecting' channel,
before it is readily carried by
the wind, if present, to a proximal listening transducer (receiver). When no
reading of wind is recorded,
the ultrasonic pulse is interpreted by the listening transducer at the speed
of sound. The time it takes
for the pulse to traverse between the originating node (sender) to the
receiving node (receiver) is
precisely measured. When wind is blowing in the direction of the projection,
the pulse will arrive faster
than when there is no incidence of wind. When wind is blowing (a directional
measure) in a direction
contrary to the projection, the pulse will arrive slower than when there is no
wind incidence. With no
wind, again, the ultrasonic pulse will travel at the speed of sound. The pair
of transducers can alternate
between sender and receiver.
Video-game applications or titles may be specially programmed to integrate
motion-input or
gesture-sensing controller devices 12, providing for a translation of gestures
into controller commands.
A "forward-motion" gcstm-c, for example, may logically be paired to an "up"
button -- or gestures may
take on a completely novel soft-button input mechanism for more intricate
touchscreen-controller
rendering by a gesture input. In illustration, the velocity of wind input --
indicating die "power" or
"intensity" of a thrust-- stemming from a gesture can be precisely measured
and coordinated to a
respective tier in a tier-based, soft-button controller system (not
illustrated here, a focus of discussion
in Fig. 6C). hi a tier-based, soft-button controller system, which accounts
for the power/intensity of a
motion, the intermediary-transceiver device 10 and/or motion-input or gesture-
sensing controller devices
12 may translate, through a series of calculations, the velocity of a gesture,
amongst other gesture
metrics, and see an intermediary-hansceiver device 10 actuating a
corresponding tier of a soft-button
"power bar' or "power meter" based on the rendered calculations.
When an aggressive gesture is registered, for example, the intermediary-
transceiver device 10,
containing an actuating interlace with a plurality of conductive elements;
with each individual element
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
1")
being individually assigned (until each tier is account for) to a
corresponding tier of a tier-based, soft-
button controller system, actuates a high-level power tier in response to said
aggressive gesture_ The
intermediary-transceiver device 10 faithfully engages an output interface
accordant to the registered input
dynamics. Exactly which level of tier is actuated can be dependent on a
rendered output of calculation
metrics, in contrast with a set of predetermined tier ranges, each tier
henuned to the range of metrics
afforded to it. Said another way, which level tier is actuated can be
dependent on a calculation of the
measured strength of a gesture input on a rating scale (such as between 1-
100), as it contrasts with a set
of predetermined tier ranges; matching each tier to a corresponding range on
the scale (for example, tier 9
might correspond to a rating of 81-90, tier 10 to a rating of 91-100,
etceteras).
Further in breadth, complementary input dynamics may be attuned by
incorporating
technologies, such as an innate-depth and proximity sensor, into the
controller; which can be similarly
interfaced, in independent layers of actuation, if so desired, via a layered
soft-button assembly mimicking
the "power-meter" system. In this way, the irmate-depth sensor, can, as a case
in point, detect motion
degree to and from a stationary-bearing point, such as the torso, floor and/or
touchscreen. This system
may provide for the intensity of motion in each direction to be captured and
output separately. A plurality
of layered soft-button assemblies may be used in concert, if warranted.
With a motion-input or gesture-sensing controller device 12 containing a
supplementary button
controller 15 ¨ for instance, a D-pad (directional pad), gamepad or any other
physical input button --
similar "tier-based" control methods can be established based on diverse input
metrics, such as, but nor
limited to, the triggering of a button or buttons in rapid succession and/or
touching and "dragging
forward", via a concurrent forward thrusting or sweeping motion of the motion-
input or gesture-sensing
controller device 12 (the drag length potentially representing different tier
sets for purposes of' this
discussion) while an actuated soft-button or button plurality remain(s)
concurrently depressed, suggesting
the premise of controller-input synergies by example. Game-specific,
controller-input synergies may be
learned. Gesture "shortcuts" may also be incorporated. Please note that
touchscreen-specific motion-
related gestures, controlled remotely from a input device, will be discussed
in greater detail in the
forthcoming discourse of a plurality of related figures.
A base station may be used to accept and securely station and/or mount a
touchscreen device at
a physical position of rest, for instance, in a manner not unlike the way a
device is docked for charging
(which may, parenthetically, be a design impetus during the course of game
play -- or periods of
inactiviN -- to apply and/or maintain a charge) or in which a console system
accepts and stations a
game cartridge. The base station may, for that matter, assume, or borrow from,
the appearance of a
traditional-gaming -console". The base station can further accommodate the use
of a AV cable output
or akin medium, Elms allowing any screen output of a touchscreen device to be
viewed remotely on an
independent television screen. "Plug-and-play" and/or "attach-and-play"
connectivity amongst a user
device, controller input and touchscreen output can be bolstered through
assistive-design and component
supplementation, such as, but not limited to, assistive cabling (facilitating
touchscreen device
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
connectivity amongst a broad base of compatible and/or peer components). The
premise of stationing a
user device is ideally situated for remote-operating scenarios.
The use of a screen-attachment interface, the premise of which is discussed at
great length in the
kindred applications incorporated by reference herein and noted on page one of
this application, makes
remote-operating scenarios possible. In simple terms, without an intermediary-
transceiver device 10
being employed in a conductive path, according to an embodiment, the interface
provides and manages
a plenary conductive (capacitive) path between a controller input and its
respective controller output
(which, in essence, outputs capacitance to a touchscreen input).
Beyond ultrasonic wind sensors (ultrasonic anemometers) used in the process of
registering and
translating a controller's motion to the touchscreen of a portable or
stationary device, alternative means
serviceable to this discourse are presented, although such exemplary language
is not intended to be
limiting in nature. Acoustical sensors 17, such as with the context of an
acoustically-sensitive
microphone 17 plurality monitoring acoustical patterns innate to the
controller, represent further
possibility, in the spirit and scope of this discourse, according to an
embodiment. Acoustically-sensitive
microphones 17 are a form of transducer, in that upon detecting air-pressure
patterns, these patterns are
then interpreted and translated into electric-current patterns or electrical
impulses. Said another way, a
microphone converts sound waves (acoustical energy), existing as patterns of
air pressure, into
electrical impulses and then usually back to sound waves (acoustical energy)
through an earpiece or
speaker; which act as a secondary transducer. Different types of microphones
convert energy differently,
but the common thread amongst them is the diaphragm¨a thin piece of material
that serves to vibrate
when struck by sound waves.
In the context of using acoustical energy as a measurement and conveyance tool
of a controller
input, a secondary transducer, such as an earpiece or speaker often associated
in a microphone-based
audio chain, may not be necessary, although such language does not, for
instance, limit the inclusion of
speakers in a controller-body design, where desired. The pattern of electrical
current or a current
plurality, sourced through a microphone or microphone plurality (at the
strategic exit of a wind channel
or channel plurality, for example) and then parsed by an innate processor in
relation to an acoustical
template, is the focus of this exemplary discourse, this according to an
embodiment.
A controller is fitted with a plurality of acoustically-sensitive microphones
17 -- with
appropriate noise filter technology that filters out ambient noise to help
improve acoustical-measurement
(and therefore, controller) accuracy -- that are positioned and distributed,
strategically, in a directionally-
encompassing manner, beneath a plurality of panoptic holes 16 or wind channels
16 to monitor "wind
bursts" resulting from each directional inclination or gesture of the motion-
input or gesture-sensing
controller device 12. Panoptic distribution of the acoustically-sensitive
microphones 17 or microphone
sensors provide the ability to sense a full range of motions or gestures via
the measurement of generated
acoustical impulses, based on an input gesture or gesture plurality, in the
spirit and scope of this
discourse.
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
14
As a user motions a gesture with a specially-designed motion-input or gesture-
sensing controller
device 12 (acoustical-impulse variant), an incidence of wind is fed into
active wind channels 16 for
measurement. Under certain operating scenarios, a motion or gesture may create
a faint-pitched
"whistling sound" from a wind injection, comparable to when wind is blown atop
the mouth of a water
bottle with an individual's lips placed at its edge. Wind channels 16 can be
designed to manipulate or
direct "wind bursts" in this manner for increased acoustical sensitivity,
although such language is not
intended as being 'imitative in nature and is merely exemplary. The wind
channels 16, for example, may
be constructed with basal spouts at a measured angle of variation to the
acoustically-sensitive
microphones 17 Or microphone sensors to enhance responsiveness and sensitivity
in the readings.
-Wind bursts" picked up by an acoustically-sensitive microphone 17, microphone
sensor or
related plurality, may be processed by an innate controller microprocessor
(for direction guage, velocity,
duration, etcetera) and then relayed to an intermediary-transceiver device 10
for related actuation upon
the touchscreen of a portable or stationary device. Wind patterns sensed at
the "top face" of the
controller, exempli gratia, may be recognized, under a controller scenario, as
originating from the
forward-thrusting motion of a controller. Both an innate processor to the
motion-input or gesture-sensing
controller device 12 and intermediary-transceiver device 10 are
communicatively engaged in order to
faithfully translate a gesture input or input plurality into addressed
actuation in mutual accordance with a
soft-button or soft-button plurality. The motion-input Or gesture-sensing
controller device 12 may also
wirelessly communicate directly with an equipped touchscreen device, in a
native, attachment-less state
and can also be equipped to impart the tactile experience of haptic feedback.
Ambient noise(s) such as those occurring from a vocal enviromnent, a game's
rendering,
background music, et cetera, can be purposefully distinguished from acoustical
impulses generated from
motion gestures or "wind bursts" by, for instance, judging them against a
thematic template, in the spirit
arid scope of this discourse. Ambient noise(s), can thus be rendered
inconsequential and dismissed from
motion calculations. Ambient noises typically elicit ftmdamentally different
acoustical patterns than
registered wind patterns resulting from an "injection" or "burst" of wind
(when an incidence of wind is
coursing through a plurality of panoptic holes 16 Or wind channels 16), as
measured by an embedded
plurality of acoustically-sensitive microphones 17 or microphone sensors, the
modal focus of acoustical
measurement in this exemplary discourse.
In a related impartation (not illustrated), a motion-input or gesture-sensing
controller device 12
variant involves implementation of oscillating ¨wind flaps", innate to the
controller, which can measure
an incidence of wind input from a controller gesture, this according to an
embodiment. The oscillating
wind flaps are engaged by wind generated through a plurality of perforated
wind channels or panoptic
holes, activated by "[trusting" motions. The panoptic holes comprise a
substantial region of the
controller shell, beginning above the controller's grip. With the potential to
oscillate from a pivot
structure, the wind flaps are designed to actuate a set of proximal sensors,
by pivot, through a range of
controller motions and represents further potential of remotely initialing an
actuating path, in the spirit
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
IS
and scope of this discourse. A forward-motion gesture, fur instance, will see
air forced through the
front-end of the wind channel (at the face of the controller) from said
gesture and cause the respective
wind flap to oscillate in a downward position actuating a (front) node sensor,
respectively. A wind flap
is inclined to return to centre at a position of rest and is designed to help
"ferret out" false readings,
such as an incidental gesture. As a case in point, only certain ranges and
motion durations may be
registered by the proximal sensors and their electronic counterparts or, in
another effort, by employing
gesture-confirmation measures requiring a user to, for instance,
simultaneously depress an "on" button
during a gesture motion (or requiring a voice-activated command and/or
confirmation prior to, or
concurrent with, the gesture) in order for an actuating path to be
initialized, although other measures
could be adopted in the spirit and scope of this discourse. The integration of
voice commands into a
controller environment should not interfere with acoustically-sensitive
controllers.
A tethered (electronically to the motion-controller device on one end and
physically to die
touchscreen through a network of actuating appendages on the opposite end),
intermedialy-transceiver
device faithfully translates any recorded gesture input that is broadcast
wirelessly from the motion-
controller device into coirelative touchscreen actuation of soft-buttons via
an innate capacitive source
and manager and its network of actuating appendages (or appendage in a
singular design). A forward-
motion gesture, for example, may reciprocate control and actuation of a
"forward" or "up" soft-button,
generally, although soft-button controllers and gesture metrics can be
customized fittingly to any gaining
enviromuent, where desired. An intermediary-transceiver device can be designed
for both two-way
and/or single-line communication with an input controller.
According to another embodiment of a motion-input or gesture-sensing
controller device 12 (this
variant, is not illustrated'), magnetic principles are utilized to register
motions. Tnside the motion-input or
gesture-sensing controller device 12 (magnetic variant) lies a suspended
magnet 18 or magnet plurality
that can be transposed from a position of rest (at centre) by the influence of
a controller gesture. As a
magnet is influenced by a controller gesture, it may, for example, be forced
towards, in a directionally-
proportional and understood manner, the shell of the motion-input or gesture-
sensing controller device
12. A transposable magnet 18 is free to pivot about its centre in any
direction and each path engaged in a
directional pivot is designed for detection by a member or member plurality of
strategic sensors set in
place. For each of the sensors to be triggered, it will require an incidence
of magnetic influence by the
transposable magnets 18 or magnet plurality during a motion gesture, similar
to the manner a cycle
computer operates. Tracking the engagement of sensors allow gesture metrics to
be ascertained. The
duration of magnetic influence before a magnet is transposed back to a
position of rest can be precisely
measured, exempli uatia, to help quantitV the velocity of a thrust. The motion-
input or gesture-sensing
controller device 12 variant may contain a processor capable of culling sensor
duplication of a defined
gesture, for example, as the transposable magnet 18 may cross the sensor
originally and then return past
the sensor to a position of rest after a gesture is concluded. Sensors can
alternatively be designed with a
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
=
16
forward-trajectory limit such that a transposable magnet's 18 path, regardless
of the force of a gesture,
does not breach this trajectory limit.
An additional method for culling sensor duplication is a controller design
that includes a
panoptic arrangement of dual sensors strategically positioned to account for
all degrees of motion. As a
magnet crosses the sensor closest to its position of rest, a gesture
initiation is registered and then
confirmed when the continued path of the transposable magnet 18 crosses die
secondary sensor closest
to the controller shell. Reverse order initiation of the sensors by a
transposable magnet 18 (that is, from
die secondary sensor closest to the controller shell to the sensor located
closest to the transposable
magnet's 18 position of rest) is readily deduced as a reflex measure (a return
of the transposable magnet.
18 to its position of rest) to the initial gesture itself Modest gestures
resulting in the breach of only the
initial sensor before returning to a position of rest can also be processed
accordingly for weaker gradients
or, depending on the setting, be ruled as unintentional or inconsequential. A
manner of manipulating the
path of the magnet 18, if so desired, can be to magnetize the controller shell
with the same polarity to that
of the transposable magnet IS; such that, as the transposable magnet
approaches the magnetized
controller shell, the transposable magnet 18 is naturally repelled towards a
position of rest. The -three of
repulsion is controlled to ensure that it does not thwart the intended
functionality of the controller.
Furthermore, strengths of the magnetic properties of all magnetic components
can be varied to help
tweak and optimize intended results. Rare-earth magnets may also be introduced
to an operating scenario,
where desired.
In one embodiment, a motion-input or gesture-sensing controller device 12 is
lined with a
metallic shell that serves to extend a conductive path -- for user-supplied
capacitance -- throughout the
shell-lined body of the controller, although this manifestation is not
illustrated. The motion-input or
gesture-sensing controller device 12 with metallic shell contains a plurality
of dynamic actuating paths;
paths which leverage a variable or ambulatory component to conclude a
conductive path. Whereas a
capacitive "switch" begins when a user first grips a motion-input or gesture-
sensing controller device
12 with metallic shell, the "switch" completes when an ambulatory component
engages an impelling
agent, such as a controller node, thus transmitting an actuating path upon
said engagement.
Said another way, registration of a user gesture begins first with the user
grasping a motion-input or
gesture-sensing controller device 12 with metallic shell ¨ beginning the
conductive path or circuit ¨ and
completes when a variable component comes into strategic contact and/or
proximity with any of the
plurality of strategically positioned controller nodes. Each node can be
triggered by a correlative gesture
motion and the trigger event acts as a conductive counterpart for the
completion of a conductive path.
Using built-in electronics to register motion gestures, directives are then
relayed (wirelessly, in the
preferred manner) to an intermediary-transceiver device 10 for related
touchscreen actuation.
A variable-dependent or dynamic-actuating path may be comprised of a liquid-
filled tubing, such
as, but not limited to, internal arches, that see a conductive liquid alter
positioning within the arches (and
hence, they may activate a respective controller node with positional contact
goaded by a gesture)
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
17
depending on the gesture. Once the actuating path is registered, this
effectively completes the "gesture-
circuit", originating from the user clutching the metallic shell or skin
(conductive-controller shell) and
then concluding when the conductive liquid contacts either the adjoined
metallic-controller node (a
"sensor") alone or in conductive combination with the metallic shell,
concurrent with the act of gripping,
Contact with the sensor to complete the "circuit" may occur directly, by the
free-moving liquid in a
housed component Or by employing a wire or conductive bridge from the sensor
node and/or
metallic shell; depending on the design construction of the embodiment. The
conductive bridge is
prone to ambulatory engagement.
Upon completion of a conductive path in this controller scenario, an
intermediary-transceiver
device 10 is then enlisted which converts a pending actuation or actuation
plurality into an actuation
reality on a touchscreen. The conductive liquid can be comprised of varying
viscosities that affect its
transposable flow; thus offering the ability to vary controller
characteristics in different gaming
environments. The conductive liquid may also be prone to user manipulation in
order to alter its
properties of viscosity. The ambulatory component in this themed embodiment is
exemplary in nature
and is not suggestive of limitation.
Any material component in contact with the transposable liquid is designed to
be non-corrosive
in nature. Actuating paths between a controller input and controller output
are dynamic, accounting for
a wide range of gestures, and may additionally require die user to first press
a button during a gesture
motion for initializing purposes. In this way, the controller is not always
"on" and sensing gestures at all
times when the conductive controller "shell" or "skin" is grasped. Controllers
may be marked to assist a
user with proper grip orientation, such as the controller top being labelled
"top". Where an additional
button-controller interface (such as a directional pad and/or game pad) exists
at the controller face for
foremost access, this can facilitate such orientation by design without such
helpful markings.
Actuating paths can, of course, widely differ from the preceding examples and
all actuating
paths (not just those cited in exemplary discourse) serviceable to the present
invention, in spirit and
scope, arc included as embodying manner herein. The potential for variants,
combinations, equivalents
and "kindred" controller scion, as appreciated and understood by those skilled
in the art, to the
embodying matter exists and all variants, combinations, equivalents and
"kindred" controller scion are
understood to be inclusive of this application's embodying matter herein.
Fig. 113 depicts a traditional motion-controller input assembly serviceably
paired with a
touchscreen user device for the soft-based manipulation of an actionable
object. According to the present
invention, a touchscreen interface may be provided for control operability of
a soft-input from a hand-
held motion controller of wireless disposition. Motion controllers, for
example those leveraging use of
accelerometers and optical sensor to track motion in (and/or relative to) a 3-
D space, may be integrated to
a touchscreen controller environment by virtue of a serviceable positional-
sensor apparatus and accordant
mapping system or software complement, in accordance with an embodiment.
Whereas the accelerometer
tracks speed of motion in three directions, the optical sensor determines
directional inclination the
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
18
controller is pointing and results in fluid control oldie game by gesturing
and pointing the controller.
Fig. 1B depicts the transitioning of such a controller environment to
touchscreens.
Referring now to the present invention in more detail, Fig. 2 is a top view of
an intermediary-
transceiver device with a ramifying dance-mat interface and a respective dance-
step controller mat (an
input device) -- and potential exercise-mat variant ¨ in accordance with the
input dynamics of a
touchscreen application, this according to an embodiment. A touchscreen and
application's rendering is
also shown, and in the case of the application's rendering, in duplicate on a
big-screen television, as an
illustrative aid for pedial input.
In an attempt to free the user from the constraints of traditional touchscreen
actuation in its
native, attachment-less state and raise the level of user involvement, a body-
activated dance and exercise =
mat variant 20 is introduced to the application. The body-activated dance and
exercise mat variant 20 is
comprised of a plurality of independent sensing modules 26 designed (although
design may vary, in the
spirit and scope of this discourse) to readily sense the control input of a
user. From the perspective of a
wired embodiment 29, each independent sensing module 26 comprises a conductive
material designed to
"network" or "relay" user-supplied capacitance from a control input to an
attachable remote touchscreen
interface 25, through the correlative integration with a wired (or conductive)
network securely housed in
the underside of the body-activated dance and exercise mat variant 20.
At the underside, each sensing module 26 sees its conductive path, initially
triggered by body
capacitance when a user places, for instance, his or her foot or feet on the
sensing module 26 (a form of
conductive isolate), extended, through said wired implementation or a
conductive "tether", to a remote
actuating appendage of the touchscreen interface 25. A physical "tether" can
be interchangeably imposed
by an electronic "tether", of course, under a wireless disposition; which is
discussed shortly.
The touchscreen interface 25 represents the -final "link" along a conductive
path of an input
gesture (or conductive path plurality for a matrix in a plenaiv view) and
serves to actuate the correlative
soft-button (or button plurality for a series of input gesuu-es) to a
controller input. Under this method,
each independent sensing module 26 is individually insulated from any
competing sensing modules 26 in
order to prevent "conductive bleed" and errant controller behaviour.
The body-activated dance and exercise mat variant 20 need not rely on the
relaying of user-
supplied capacitance to the touchscreen of a portable or stationary device 22
in a wireless 23 controller
scenario, since an intermcdiary-transceiver device 24 may be present. The
intermediary-transceiver
device 24 contains an innate, that is, independently manufactured (hardware
sourced, not supplied by
user) capacitive source and a capacitive manager. The intermediary-transceiver
device 24 faithfully
translates any recorded controller-input gesture into correlative output
touchscreen actuation, by drawing
upon said innate-capacitive source and manager, while leveraging the
intermediary-transceiver device's
24 network of actuating appendages (or appendage in the singular) comprising
the touchscreen interface
23 = An intermediary-transceiver device 24 is discussed in Fig. 11 of the
present invention and at length
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
=
19
in a plurality of kindred applications noted on page one of this application
(which are incorporated by
reference herein).
To engage control of an actionable object 21 on the touchscreen of a portable
or stationaty device
22, the user selects a matching position to the touchscreen (or position
plurality in a series) on the sensing
module(s) 26 of the body-activated dance and exercise mat variant 20 with his
or her foot or feet, thus,
breaking tradition from the typical control-input protocol of using a stylus
or user's fingers as a control
input. Where a wired and/or wireless incarnation of a body-activated dance and
exercise mat variant 20 is
not capacitance governed by design, a plurality of dist:libation sensors (such
as, but not limited to, weight
sensors, pedometers, etcetera) may be incorporated into the controller mat to
source input directives by
any means serviceable to this application, in the spirit and scope of this
discourse.
Upon sensing the control input of a user's foot (or feet in a plurality), the
body-activated dance
and exercise mat variant 20 instantly relays these directives ¨ either wired
29 or wirelessly 23 -- to an
intermediary-transceiver device 24 for related soft-button actuation via a
touchscreen interface 25. The
touchscreen interface 25 serves to complete a conductive path, where a
conductive path originates from
a body-activated dance and exercise mat variant 20 controller input (a
registration of pedial capacitance)
and completes with the actuation of a correlative soft-button counterpart at
the face of an attached
physical output, marking the end of a conductive path. The innate-capacitive
source and manager enable
breadth of remote operation and a profound platform for gaming delivery.
The touchscreen interface 25 may be comprised of any material facilitating a
conductive path in
the spirit and scope of this discourse, such as, but not limited to,
electronic ribbon, shielded flexible wire,
insulated cabling and/or flexible (dun-film) printed-circuit board (PCB)
construction with a pliant copper
layer providing for correlative inter-connectivity amongst requisite
conductive paths. Expanding on the
latter approach to construction, although not illustrated, the input and
output ends of the thin-film,
printed-circuit board (PCB) arc suitably melded for controller assimilation
(or intermedialy-transceiver
device 24 assimilation depending on die embodiment) and attachment to a
touchscreen of a portable or
stationary device 22, respectively. Suction and static properties may be
employed to the task for the
latter. Small, adhesive (removable adhesive backing), liquid-filled nubs,
comprising a conductive liquid
or gel in the insular, for instance, may also be used for attachment purposes
interposing both surfaces of
die flexible PCB and the touchscreen of a portable or stationary device 22 --
while remaining faithful to a
conductive path -- amongst any of the varying methods serviceable to this
application. For non-capacitive
touchscreens, a servomechanism, such as an actuator, can be employed to
electro-mechanically press an
actionable object directly on a touchscreen.
The body-activated dance and exercise mat variant 20 may physically minor the
layout of a
touchscreens soft-button controller configuration to simplify user actuation.
Designed to be gamer
friendly, the body-activated dance and exercise mat variant 20 may thither see
lighting of its insular,
sensing modules 26 and/or provide for a colour-coded design (matching a
touchscreen output or
rendering) in an effort to assist the user with visual orientation and correct-
actuation sequencing;
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
'7)0
through an interactive awareness with the touchscreen of a portable or
stationary device 22. To facilitate
this process, a touchscreens output can be broadcast to an independent
television screen 27 via
Component AV Cables 28, DVI, HDMI or any similar touchscreen-output
methodology, either wired or
wirelessly.
Dimensions of the body-activated dance and exercise mat variant 20 can be
tailored to reflect
traditional dance and exercise mats. User-defined input sequences and timing
of said sequences, for
example, including the duration of square (isolate) actuation, are easily
processed by the CPU of the
intermediary-transceiver device 21 and/or processor innate to the body-
activated dance and exercise mat
variant 20, in accordance with any respective itinerary of gaining metrics.
Since the present invention
may utilize a touchscreen interface 25 with a direct connection (wholly wired)
between the touchscreen
of a portable or stationary device 22 and the body-activated dance and
exercise mat variant 20 or may
rely on a wireless broadcasting agent (wireless network) using an intermediary-
transceiver device 24 or
direct pairing between a portable or stationary device 22, the present
invention can empower users with
choice between a wired and wireless implementation. In a wholly-wired
embodiment not requiring an
inteimediary-transceiver device 24, as this paragraph suggests above, the
controller may essentially be
powered by the innate capacitance of a user, thus making it an environmentally-
friendly or "green"
controller. In alternative embodiments, the CPU need not be physically located
within the intermediary-
transceiver device 24 and instead can, for example, be located at a remote
location and accessed by
wireless (or wired) network communication.
In yet another embodiment (not under illustration), a specially-designed,
controller-Shoe device
may also be trmisitioned, either with the interdependent aid of another device
such as a controller mat
or autonomously, to a dancing and exercise-driven environment (such as with
aerobics) for touchscreens.
The controller-shoe device may be equipped with a (]PS tracking system,
digital compass; electronic
pedometer and/or other germane electronics, such as an assembly providing the
ability to track traversed
and/or positional distances of the controller-shoe device from a position of
rest-- by interacting with
either a body-activated dance and exercise mat variant (in a complementary
environment) or floor (in an
autonomous environment) -- where desired. Along with the ability to track such
distances, this system
may further yield the ability to discern the duration of aerial transposition
(how long the controller-shoe
device remains in the air prior to touching back down on the floor or, in
complement, the body-activated
dance and exercise mat variant) and distances traversed between a succession
of a controller-shoe device
"touching down", both helping, for instance, determine an exercise gait in its
interaction with an
applications gaming metrics.
Furthermore, directional walking and running and related "kick" gestures; such
as with certain
ball sports, can be tracked by a controller-shoe input device in any
serviceable manner and incorporated
into a touchscreen-based gaming environment, in the spirit and scope of this
discourse. Deriving from a
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
7)1
potential motion determinant in Fig. 1, a controller-shoe device may also
contain a streamlined plurality
of convexed wind-sensors; spatially incorporated to the exterior of the
controller shoe or boot
(strategically placed to provide the ability to measure all directional
gestures; while maintaining foot
comfort by preserving an unencumbered interior) and/or any other serviceable
tracking-related
integrants to task.
Motion-capture systems, the technological process at the heart of much of
today's computer
animation, may also be adapted to a controller environment, of the present
invention, this according to
an embodiment. By placing reflective balls on the exterior of the controller-
shoe device, a plurality of
2-Dimensional cameras can readily pick up the reflective balls motion through
measured reflection,
which can then be transformed by computer software into 3-Dimensional
animation and/or incorporated
into a gaming environment by computer-generated integration, superimposition
(akin to the way a blue
screen works in the Elm industry) and/or any other serviceable manner to this
discourse. Such motion-
capture systems, are, of course, not limited to a controller-shoe device
environment and can be leveraged
to full body embodiments by having a user wear, for instance, a spandex suit
with a plurality of reflective
balls positioned at the joints, while surrounded by a plurality of 2-
Dimensional cameras for tracking
purposes. This system provides, amongst other features, the ability to track
full-body motion and
incorporate a captured gesture or gesture plurality into a gaming and
controller environment. Under this
controller scenario, gainers may be required to perform simple T-pose and
range of motion practices for
start-stop and potential-calibration purposes.
Fig. 2A illustrates a wireless dance and dance-step specialty-controller mat
variant.
Referring now to the present invention in more detail, according to an
embodiment, Fig. 3 is a
top view of a guitar interface (outputs capacitance to a touchscreen) and
guitar-based, input-controller
prop (serves to input capacitance), in accordance with the input dynamics of a
touchscreen application.
The guitar interface 30 is designed to interact with a rendering of
actionable, guitar-based soft buttons
31 displayed on the touchscreen of a portable or stationary device 32. The
plurality of guitar strings 33
of a guitar-based, input controller prop 34 rim in parallel -- with uniformly
prescribed spacing-- across
a plurality of frets 35 situated along the base of die neck of the guitar-
based, input controller prop 34.
The plurality of frets 35 assume a very salient purpose of comprising the
orientation, anchoring and
trigger points for a remotely "tethered" guitar interface 30 that is
purposefully designed for correlative
actuation of an actionable, guitar-based soft button 31 based on the mapped
string and fret input (stated
in the singular, without the added complexity of explaining mapping in
chords).
The guitar-based, input controller prop 34 operates, without suggestion of
limitation, on the
principle of transferring the innate finger capacitance of a user to a
correlative metallic fret by both
touching and concurrently depressing a targeted guitar string 33 until
positional contact or engagement
with a targeted fret occurs. In order to distinctly map the plurality of
guitar strings 33 with the plurality
of frets 35 and operate under the premise of capacitance transfer to engage
and trigger a fret coordinate
(x,y) for orientation and remote actuation purposes of the mirrored coordinate
(x,y) on a touchscreen,
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
11
each fret is horizontally divided (not distinguished in the illustration) into
a plurality to autonomously
accommodate a plurality of guitar strings 33 and a plurality of frets 35 in
the task of orientation mapping.
As a fret is divided into conductive parts to distinguish a string input, each
part of the divided frets, in the
totality, is insulated from those adjacent to it in order to prevent
conductive bleed. Upon the transfer of
S user-supplied capacitance to a singular guitar string 33 and then onto
its respective, singular fret 35 of the
divided plurality upon contactual alignment between the two, it "triggers" a
coordinate [divided singular
fret(x), string(y)] "switch" that will then faithfully relay the engaged
coordinate input to the appropriate
guitar-based soft button 31, wirelessly, via an intermediary-transceiver
device 36 equipped with a guitar
interface 30. The guitar interface 30 of an intermediaiy-transceiver device 36
comprises a plurality of
wired appendages, with their ends serving as actuation nodes upon touchscreen
attachment. The
intermediary-transceiver device 36 tracks a user input, including a sequence
of chords, faithfully. The
guitar-based, input controller prop 34 is wirelessly equipped and contains a
processor that adeptly tracks
and communicates input directives ¨ for the varying fret placement of a user's
fingers that may be
required during the course of instrument or game play -- with the intermediary-
transceiver device 36 for
targeted actuation_ The guitar-based, input controller prop 34 may draw from
an internal-power source
such as a rechargeable battery (and comes equipped with a recharging
interface), rechargeable-battery
cartridge or battery pack. An external-power source may also be implemented by
design.
The guitar strings 33 are comprised of a conductive material, such as a
metallic wire, to simulate
the look and feel of a real guitar and to serve as a conductive (capacitance)
path input mechanism.
Material components not involved in actuating an actionable object can be
comprised of various
materials and are not required to be conductive in nature. Construction
preferences will dictate such
selection. While plastics, fibreglass, wood and even metal components outside
of an actuating or
conductive path, for instance, may be used throughout to simulate prop
realism, such component realism
is not requisite. Faithfully administering a conductive path initially
registered at a "string input" to an
"appendage output" in order to actuate a corresponding guitar-based soft
button 31, is requisite.
Applicable software, such as popular note-streaming video games (that stream
musical "notes" down a
screen in an assembly-line-like fashion) governing the touchscreen of the
portable or stationary device
32, can be designed to work harmoniously with the guitar-based, input
controller prop 34. The screen
output of a touchscreen of a portable or stationary device 32 can be broadcast
to an independent
television screen 37 via Component AV Cables 38, DVI, DVI-HDCP, HDMI or
similar touchscreen-
output methodologies, either wired or wirelessly.
Fig. 3A represents a guitar-based specialty-controller environment of wholly
wireless disposition
and a serviceable mapping interface.
Referring now to the present invention in more detail, when viewed from top-to-
bottom. Fig. 4
is a dichotomous view of a musical-keyboard interface (output end) and
keyboard-based controller (input
end) and drum-set controller (input end) paired with an intermediary-
transceiver device, in accordance
with the input dynamics of a touchscreen application, fins according to an
embodiment.
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
"Y.3
Both the musical-keyboard interface 40, illustrated, and the drum-set
interface (not illustrated)
serve as an output or actuating mode component (serving as a medium of
touchscreen actuation, an
"output" mode to a soft-button or soft-button plurality seeking capacitive
input) and both the keyboard-
based controller 41 and drum-set controller 45 (each understood as serving as
a controller or modal input)
are designed to faithfully interact with a set of correlative soft-buttons
displayed on a torichscreen of a
portable or stationary device.
Each key on the keyboard-based controller 41 (input) is insulated from each
other to prevent key
"bleed" between neighbouring keys and is comprised of an actuating or
conductive material that serves to
transfer finger capacitance upon key touch -- the control input of a finger ¨
to a correlative conductive
isolate 43 of a ramifying matrix interface 42; for correlative actuation of a
targeted soft button.
Capacitance transfer is routed via a wholly-wired tether 48 network extending
from the keyboard-based
controller 41, in a wired embodiment and via a correlative musical-keyboard
interface 40 appendage of
the intermediary-transceiver device 44 in a wireless 47 embodiment. The
conductive path between each
key on the keyboard-based controller 41 and its respective soft-button
counterpart, in a wholly wired
tether to the screen input, may be maintained by a single -- such as with the
use of a flexible metallic wire
bridging a conductive path in its entirety -- or series of conductive
medium(s).
Under an operating scenario leveraging a series or plurality of conductive
mediums comprising
a conductive path, the material composition of which may be different between
medium components
comprising a collective link (representing the entirety of a conductive path),
care is warranted to ensure
a conductive path is faithfully preserved in the spirit and scope of this
discourse. Said another way,
despite the possibility of medium divergence, any medium combinations or
elemental compositions
constituting a conductive path are designed to ensure a conductive path
remains present throughout.
Although an intermediary-transceiver device 44 may constitute a component of
the conductive path in the
spirit and scope of this discourse, it is not essential, as a "wholly wired"
controller scenario suggests.
Referring again to the matrix interface 42, leveraging a further degree of
familiar terminology to
previously filed applications incorporated by reference herein, the matrix
interface 42 represents the
"exit" point of a correlative conductive path to a point of correlative
actuation. Purposefully designed,
the matrix interface 42 acts to couple a controller input and a remote,
correlative soft-button (seeking
input) displayed on a touchscreen. An "exit" point, the point on the matrix
interface 42 which acts as a
capacitive output to a soft-button input, transmits a reciprocal incidence of
input capacitance; capacitance
channeled along a conductive path to an "exit" or actuating conclusion, in the
spirit and scope of this
discourse_ Whereas an input gesture X, actuates a remotely displayed soft-
button X. The matrix interface
42 is comprised of a plurality of independent conductive isolates 43 or
nodules 43 that correspond to a
plurality of controller inputs. A matrix interface 42 may be constructed for
both a static and toggle
33 environment_ The toggle premise is discussed at length in an
incorporated plurality of kindred
applications and will not be elaborated upon in this embodiment.
Each conductive isolate 43 or output nodule may extend beyond the border of a
soft-button (not
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
7)4
illustrated) in order to increase the tactile surface area of an input base
and/or improve comfort and
ftmctional design, while still preserving an actuation path (as described in
kindred applications
incorporated by reference herein). In building on this premise, by displacing
the need for the direct
touch input of a linger on a touchsereen, soft-button systems can employ a
minimalistic design, thus
affording the potential to drastically reduce the touthscreen space occupied
by a soft-button controller
or physical controller attachment. This, to the great benefit of a game's
available or renderable space
and where a plurality of attachments are concurrently in place on a
touchscreen; especially in pocket-
sized operating scenarios_ In this light, in leveraging a minimalistic design,
a soft-button keyboard in its
entirety, for instance, could potentially be fit on the touchscreen at once
(and a fully integrated tactile
QWERTY keyboard -- an integrated input controller -- potentially attachable in
the space below the
touchscreen, if sufficient to task) without the need for a toggle. The premise
of minimalistic design
only being limited by the ability to isolate soft-buttons from each other and
to design an attachable matrix
interface 42 where each physical conductive isolate 43 or output nodule is
sufficiently isolated from a
neighbouring counterpart (via an insulating barrier or gate) to prevent
capacitive bleed, and by the
respective integration ability between the interface and isolates, in the
spirit and scope of this discourse.
As game designs and user devices evolve, technologies such as, but not limited
to, NFC (near-
field communication) may allow for a transitionary-controller environment
where a conductive isolate
may be designed to both send (relay) and receive a transmission (a premise for
two-way conductive
paths) and thus, potentially act as a conduit to more than just traditional
capacitance transfer. A
conductive isolate may be equipped with a tiny processor, potentially being
powered by the light emitted
by the touc,hscreen itself (although this is exemplary and not suggestive of
limitation) and possess the
ability to process a transmission internally. A conductive isolate may, in an
expanded reiteration, possess
the ability to receive commands laden with directives either wired or
wirelessly or convey information
received from the touchscreen device to an intermediary-transceiver or
associated input device, citing an
example of two-way communicative abilities, according to an embodiment. Future
gaming titles may
incorporate this two-way conummicative ability into a gaming and controller
environment.
The keyboard-based controller 41 may be designed to simulate the physical look
and tactile feel
of an actual musical keyboard, although product design and/or material
composition can vary widely
between production models (while faithfully retaining the requisite actuating
or conductive paths in the
spirit and scope of this discourse). This illustration, or any other
illustration of this application for the
matter at hand, is not suggestive of limitation in its depiction and is not
necessarily depicted to scale.
Drums as a modal input 45, may also be incorporated as accessory equipment to
the keyboard-
based controller 41 unit. In such a controller scenario, a capacitance input
is readily registered by
touching an independent drum face 46 comprised of a capacitance-friendly
material capable of streaming
a conductive path in the spirit and scope of this discourse. Each drum face 46
assumes the behaviour of
an individual conductive isolate that mobilizes an actuating path in either a
wired (with, for instance,
each dnun Face 46 -- a capacitive input -- physically tethered to a
correlative output appendage of a
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
drum-based interface, not shown) or wireless 47 environment (through adoption
of an intermediary-
transceiver device 44).
Referring now to the present invention in more detail, Fig. 5 is a top view of
an attachable
racing-wheel interface (a capacitance output) and racing-wheel controller (a
capacitance input), in
5 accordance with the input dynamics of a touchscreen application, this
according to an embodiment. The
racing-wheel interface 50, is a ramified physical "output" device serving to
actuate a correlative soft-
button "input", or input plurality, in accordance with an original controller
input gesture or gesture
plurality (a capacitive input) centring at the base of the tether (opposite
the racing-wheel interface 50).
Simply stated, a "capacitance input" and "capacitance output" may serve as the
beginning and
10 end of a conductive path, respectively, with language serviceable to
this discourse. Bridging a
"capacitance input" and "capacitance output" together for correlative
capacitive discharge to a soft-
button target is integral to the present invention. The racing-wheel
controller 51 and racing-wheel
interface 50 (a capacitive input and capacitive output, respectively),
together serve as a linked implement
for "streaming" directives (controller input gestures governed by capacitance
in this embodiment) to the
15 touchscreen of the portable or stationary device 52, for related
actuation_
In a wired environment such as this, a conductive "tether" between an input
and output end may
be comprised of any actuating or conductive medium, such as, but not limited
to, flexible metallic wire,
electronic ribbon 58 and/or flexible PCB, including combinatorial assembly,
faithful to its premise in the
spirit and scope of this discourse.
20 In a liberating-design stroke against traditional control-functionality
limitations, an improved
racing-wheel controller design for use with the capacitive touchscreen of a
portable or stationary device
52 is introduced. A steering-wheel component 53 -- acting as a controller
(capacitive) input; inciting and
comprising a fruitive conductive path ¨ is constructed of a conductive
material, such as, but not limited
to, a hollow, thin metal alloy or specially-treated conductive foam or
plastic, and/or a filler-composition
25 material hybrid, that maintains a serviceable conductive path. The
steering-wheel component 53
maintains a conductive path with a rotatable actuating element 54 that
faithfully tracks the steering-wheel
movement 55 in its entirety, as it tracks across and engages a ring of
conductive elements 56 in its path.
The ring of conductive elements 56 is located on the underside of the racing-
wheel controller 51
hardware. Each member of the ring of conductive elements 56 is individually
(reciprocally,
autonomously) insulated and tethered, through a wired network located in the
electronic ribbon 53, to the
inner actuating ring 59 of the racing-wheel interface 50. A soft-button "ring"
controller 57 displayed on
the touchscreen of a portable or stationary device 52, seeks correlative
attachment from the inner
actuating ring 59 of the racing-wheel interface 50 for intended actuation, in
the spirit and scope of this
discourse.
To engage control of an actionable object, the racing-wheel controller 51 sees
the actuation
process begin with directional contact (steering-wheel movement 55 by the
user) of the steering-wheel
component 53, thus engaging the rotatable actuating element 54; which then
relays capacitance
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
26
directives "upstream" in the conductive path to the inner actuating ring 59.
As a left-turn gesture is
initiated by the steering-wheel component 53, for instance, the rotatable
actuating element 54 follows a
counter-clockwise directional path against a plurality of the ring of
conductive elements 56 providing
the ability to track the counter-clockwise motion (all motions in the spirit
and scope of this discourse)
faithfully. The contactual path of the rotatable actuating element 54 against
members of the ring of
conductive elements 56 expresses motion when processed (and reproduced)
collectively in a series. In
virtue of the autonomous design -- the system of linked "book ends", that is,
the manufactured "tether"
from a remote controller input (racing-wheel controller 51) to an inner
actuating ring 59 (serving as a
touchscreen output or capacitive output) ¨ provides the ability to transmit
fluid directional gestures,
remotely, to a touchscreen upon proper attachment.
Borrowing from_ the process of transmitting directional gestures remotely to a
touchscreen, in
virtue of the autonomous design of the plurality of actuating elements, in the
spirit and scope of this
discourse, gas-pedal and braking-hardware variants may also be readily adopted
to a capacitive
touchscreen. The gas-pedal controller 51B, borrowing in expression from the
"plying" of an automotive
model when depressed, is designed to simulate typical pedal motion for more
profound gamine delivery.
Referring to Fig. 5A, in implementing a gas-pedal controller 51B in a
touchscreen environment,
according to an embodiment, the depression of the pedal directly causes an
attached bar, referred to as
the scroll bar 510, at die pedal's underside to scroll ¨ the degree of the
scroll being reflective of the
degree of pedal depression. Therefore, the greater the pedal depression, the
greater the degree of scroll
that will occur. The scroll bar 510 sits contacmally on a surface pad 511, a
type of pedial conductor or
"conductive mat" in the series, with the surface pad 511 comprising a
plurality of actuating elements 512.
The scroll bar 510 is capable of traversing the allocated plurality of
actuating elements 512 and relaying
the scroll-bar 510 motion to a touchscreen interface (the gas-pedal controller
interface 513) and
ultimately on to a respective soft-button plurality (not illustrated) through
the relay and conclusion of a
capacitive charge. As expressed above, for greater lucidity, die greater the
path distance of the scroll bar
510 across the plurality of actuating elements 512, the greater the speed
measurement that is transmitted
to a touchscreen's soft-button controller counterpart, in the spirit and scope
of this discourse.
Such input gestures (scroll-bar 510 directives, such as a velocity-input
metric) can be
correlatively relayed to the touchscreen of a portable or stationary device
under a conductive "tethering"
introduced by the gas-pedal controller interface 513. In leveraging a -
tether", correlative actuation is
realized upon the faithful distribution of a capacitive input, via an
appendage, to the respective tier of a
"power-bar" soft-button controller system being utilized in this exemplary
discourse (refer also to Fig. 1
and Fig. 6C. for related references). Thus, in building again on the example
above as to how a variable
degree of acceleration is transmitted to die touchscreen: the further the
pedal is pressed, the greater the
distance that is traversed by the scroll-bar 510 and, subsequently, the higher
the soft-button tier on the
"power-bar" that is actuated (to account for the greater speed measurement),
respectively. The "power-
bar" soft-button system comprises a plurality of tiers; a diverse mapping of
tiers to account for the
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
27
potential diversity in positional scroll-bar 510 directives (pedal-gesture
inputs) transmitted, in the spirit
and scope of this discourse.
A foot-activated, gas-pedal controller 51B and similarly constructed brake-
controller (the latter is
not illustrated), along with any associated conductive paths in a wholly-wired
embodiment, are
comprised of a conductive material faithful to an actuating path. Depending on
the thickness and material
of the socks worn by a user, pedial capacitance transfer may not be engaged
accordingly and a user may
therefore be required to wear specially-designed thin socks and footwear (such
as a "controller skin") that
are capacitance friendly, or play barefoot for gaming systems requiring user-
supplied pedial capacitance.
Removing pedial or foot pressure from a gas-pedal controller (or a brake-
controller offspring) causes the
controller to return to a position of rest and any active speed transmission
to be -dialed down"
accordingly.
Fig. 5B illustrates a wireless racing-wheel controller 520 and coalescent
audio/visual assembly
521 designed for use in a race-themed environment for touchscreen user devices
524, 525, this according
to an embodiment. The coalescent audio/visual assembly 521 of a racing-wheel
controller 520 system
comprises a vertical and centrally-mounted suspension arm 523 with mounding
assembly designed to
securely suspend a plurality of touchscreen user devices such as a tablet 524
and concomitant mobile
device 525 (such as a smaller or pocket-sized mobile device without suggesting
limitation in the
assembly of touchscreen user devices) in a manner such that the visual-display
component of a tablet
device 524 -- of course, having the larger screen versus its mobile smartphone
brethren 525 -- is mounted
proximally to a user's natural field-of-view (the tablet device 524 placed
according to a vantage that acts,
in some positional degree, to "mimic" a driver's "windshield" view) during
engagement of the racing-
wheel controller 520. In an area just above the clearance of the top of the
tablet device 524, as the
drawing suggests, the suspension arm 523 is further extended to provide
suspension and support for a
smaller mobile device 525, such as a smartphone, in manner that "mimics" the
involvement of a
"physical" rear-view mirror in a game environment.
Each of the racing-wheel controller 520, tablet 524 and smartphone device 525
can bc wirelessly
equipped to interchangeably transmit and receive integrative directives, in
association with each other, in
a harmony of controller input and virtual rendering. Whereas both touchscrecn
user devices 524, 525 are
equipped for wireless engagement, it is important to underscore that each
touchscreen user device 524,
525 may concurrently receive unique broadcast directives from the racing-wheel
controller 520 and/or
complementary touchscreen user device 524, 525 during the course of game-play.
For events such as, to
cite but one example, when a tire is blown out and the shredded rubber is
ejected onto a race circuit and
rolls out of view from the rear, the potential for independent, concurrent and
synchronized use of a
plurality of display devices in conciimiry may serve to resomidingly heighten
the gaming experience. In
this way, as the centrally-mounted tablet 524 provides rendering in real-time
of a forward-looking
orientation, the supported smaller smart device 525 provides for a "rear-view"
orientation, with
perspective (and rendering producing that perspective) more akin to a real-
world environment. Thus,
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
28
without suggestion of limitation, any corresponding touchscreen-related
software geared towards a race-
themed environment may be progranuned to articulate two distinct views in an
evolving manner as set
forth in the present example: the front view or tablet view 524 (the road
ahead) and the rear view or
smartphone view 525 (showing cars fast approaching from behind, for instance).
Given the tablet device 524 may act as the master device ¨ e.g. the device
primarily controlling
the race-themed app or application, at least according to an embodiment -- it
may thus be wirelessly
linked and responsible for transmitting primary directives (for instance,
integral game-based dynamics)
to the smaller smart device 525, in matters such as transmitting content for
digital rendering on the "rear-
view 111111-01s" delineatory views associated with the smaller mobile (second)
device 525. A smaller
mobile device 525 may also have the identical gaming software (e.g. a race-
themed app) concurrently
synched and operational for more thematic independence, although such an
arrangement is not intended
to be suggestive of limitation. As a user swivels the smaller mobile device
525 (attempting to reposition
the rear-view mirror), leveraging the gyroscope sensor, for instance, the
smaller mobile device 525
communicatively alerts the positional change to the primary tablet 524 device
by wireless exchange,
leading the primary tablet 524 device to transmit an adjustment or update to
the field of view on the
-rear-yew" mirror, accordingly. Said adjustment in the field of view is
permitted to occur in real-time by
virtue of instantly updated directives sent to and from the smaller mobile
device 525 for related
processing (hardware and software based).
The wirelessly equipped racing-wheel controller 520 may comprise a processor
and micro-
controller system that, amongst other capabilities, is capable of tracking
directional racing-wheel motion
for immediate communicable relay to the primary user device, or tablet 524,
the smaller mobile device
525, where applicable, or both concurrently under certain operating
conditions, this according to an
embodiment. This results in the potential for direct, real-time integration
into rendered game-play. The
racing-wheel controller 520 may be powered by a voltage source or a current
source. The racing-wheel
controller 520 in this exemplary discourse does not rely on the influence of
user-supplied capacitance
traditionally associated with a touchscreen controller input ,that is, a user-
supplied capacitive input is not
integral to the operability of a racing-wheel controller 520 input
accordingly), however, in alternative
embodiments, a racing-wheel controller 520 input may be reliant on the
capacitive input of a user.
The racing wheel 526 of the racing-wheel controller 520 may be designed, for
instance, to be
fluently integrated, accounting for a full-range of motion entitlement, to a
traditional soft-button input
system of a touchscreen according to a prescribed-mapping infrastructure
(representing the pairing or
actionable correlation between a positional deployment of a physical
controller input on the specialty-
wheel controller and a corresponding soft-button input) or calibration
previously advanced or the game
being played on the touchscreen-user device may offer users extended
functionality beyond what a native
touchscrcen-input system offers (certain, advanced features only available to
users that select a physical-
controller system, such as this, as a modal input in lieu of a traditional
soft-button interface; users may be
presented with controller options prior to game commencement). Said another
way, according to this
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
29
exemplary discourse, this option may yield a degree of advanced directional
input to a user that may not
otherwise be possible and/or inclined under the exclusive use of a traditional
soft-controller or soft-input
interface governed by the control input of a finger. Such controller designs
as this specialty controller, for
example, may change the way a developer programs a game for controllability,
introducing a paradigm
shift in thinking beyond the simple, yet traditional control-input-of-a-finger
status of operability and may
serve to both broaden the reach of a gaming audience and the software
repository of gaming titles
available to end users.
For possible attachment interjection in an associated controller environment,
the reader may refer
to Figs. 5 and 5A and the related teachings of an attachable capacitive-
discharge assembly and/or an
intermediary-transceiver device with attachable capacitive-discharge assembly,
the assembly of which
may be introduced in divergent operating scenarios to this controller
embodiment_ The capacitive-
discharge assembly/overlay may, for example, stem ffom the racing-wheel
controller 520 through a
ramifying interface; operating under the ascendency of an internal capacitive-
management and
distribution system (and/or by a capacitive charge supplied by a user) in
accordance with an ancillary
controller environment (not the subject of illustration in Fig. 5B).
Referring now to the present invention in more detail, Fig. 6A is a
perspective view of a hockey-
stick controller prop, plurality of controller mats and the base (faithful to
the correlative-attachment
principles of previous discourse, although not shown in full) of a ramifying
pedial-input and prop-gesture
controller interface, in accordance with the input dynamics of a touchscreen
application, this according to
an embodiment. Such interfaces comprise a network of connecting appendages
designed to transmit a
capacitive charge to a touchscreen. Designed to immerse users into a highly-
interactive experience, this
embodiment involves the use of both an engaging orientation and pedial-input
determinant controller mat
60 and an engaging orientation and prop-gesture input determinant controller
mat 61. A hockey-stick
controller prop 62 is a type of "activity controller" or a controller input
that is reliant on the associative
activity of its users.
The engaging orientation and pedial-input determinant controller mat 60
contains a plurality of
densely-arranged, autonomous sensing elements ¨ insulated from competing
sensing elements ¨ designed
to cooperatively monitor die positioning, orientation and/or activity of a
user's feet 67 upon patterns of
capacitive actuation of the sensing elements. The more dense the pattern of
autonomous sensing
elements, the more precise the orientation and activity can be determined.
Similarly, the engaging
orientation and prop-gesture input determinant controller mat 61 also contains
a plurality of densely-
arranged, autonomous sensing elements ¨ insulated from competing sensing
elements ¨ designed to
cooperatively monitor the positioning, orientation and/or directional
propensity (64, 65, 66), amongst
other discernments, of a hockey-stick controller prop 62 upon patterns of
capacitive actuation of the
sensing elements_ A hockey-stick controller prop 62 serves to extend the
capacitive path or user-supplied
capacitance of a hand input (initiated by user clutching) to a controller mat
or mat plurality for related
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
capacitive actuation of the sensing elements. See Fig. 7 for related operation
methodologies and
discussion depth.
The present embodiment offers broad controller-input potential, beyond,
exempli gratia, a
potential for cadence and/or step articulation of walking and running
gestures. Mindful of this, motions
5 simulating skating gestures, amongst a broad swath of possibilities, can
be deftly registered by the
plurality of densely-arranged, autonomous sensing elements comprising the
orientation and pedial-input
determinant controller mat 60. As the user's feet "glide" over the plurality
of densely-arranged,
autonomous sensing elements in a manner characterized by skating gestures, a
pattern of pedial
capacitance can be discerned and, according to a wired embodiment, faithfully
transmitted across a
10 network of conductive appendages for related touchscreen actuation with
appendage attachment. In a
forward-motion, for example, a plurality of densely-arranged, autonomous
sensing elements is subjected
to pedial manipulation occurring in the spirit of an upwardly-swiping motion.
Directional actuation is
reproduced on a touchscreen soft-button assembly, as per the bearing of an
input registration. In wireless
implementations, a controller mat may be designed for operation on a revolving
mechanism, similar to
15 operation of a tread mill, as another method of measuring such metrics
as a walking and/or running gait;
in a more physically-demanding environment.
Calculations as to how fast the hockey-stick controller prop 62 travels across
a plurality of
densely-arranged, autonomous sensing- elements on a determinant-controller mat
-- and its respective
path and contactual angulation (at the blade underside) against this plurality
-- can yield both speed and
20 stick-angle placement (aiding to discern shot selection, direction)
measurements, amongst other potential
metrics, and be suitably incorporated into a gaming environment.
Borrowing from the discourse of Fig. I, a hockey-stick controller prop 62 may
work beyond
simple capacitance transfer to a controller mat (as a means of controller
input or the process of
controlling an actionable object) and instead (or in addendum) borrow from the
controller metrics of a
25 motion-input Or gesture-sensing controller device; where the controller
itself may act independently to
sense and relay a motion input or motion-input plurality to a remote device.
Each incarnation described
may comprise a built-in gamepad controller for added versatility - providing,
for example, the ability
to control actionable objects on a touchscreen not affected by a hockey mat or
gesture-sensing controller
device. Amongst a much broader list of capabilities, a gamepad controller may
be used to enter a user
30 name; select a team and/or divine shot selection.
Orientation measures can also be calculated using such equipment as an -
orientation belt"
equipped with GPS navigation capabilities in reference to an orientation
point. Similar adaptation can,
of course, be made to any wearable controller (refer to Figs. 2,3 for related
discourse) designed to act
as controllers themselves. Orientation can also be registered using weight-
sensing technologies in a
controller mat and voice-activation, such as a user saying -forward", "pass"
or "slap shot to goal",
amongst other .ineans.
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
3 l
Referring now to the present invention in more detail, Fig. 6B is a detailed
view of the
attachment (or connectivity) apparatus for a pedial-input and prop-gesture
controller interface, first
alluded to in Fig. 6A, this according to an embodiment. The pedial-input and
prop-gesture controller mat
interfaces 63 serve to correlatively link a plurality of densely-arranged,
autonomous sensing elements --
acting as conductive elements of a controller input on both the orientation
and pedial-inpm determinant
controller mat 60 and orientation and prop-gesture input determinant
controller mat 61 ¨ with a
reciprocal mapping of a plurality of autonomous soft-buttons 600 on the
touchscreen of a portable or
stationary device 601, for intended actuation. The pedial-input and prop-
gesture controller mat interfaces
63 contain a customized matrix ¨ harmonizing an input and output dynamic
through correlative
transmission of a capacitive charge to a touchscreen -- such as an attachable
matrix "disc" 68.
For correlative actuation in a wired embodiment, each autonomous member of the
plurality of
densely-arranged, autonomous sensing elements comprising both the orientation
and pedial-input
determinant controller mat 60 and orientation and prop-gesture input
determinant controller mat 61 has
its conductive path extended remotely via an unobtrusive wiring scheme such as
a controller-mat
interface 63 with m attachable matrix "disc" 68. The attachable matrix "disc"
68 sees respective
attachment to a soft-button assembly 600 on the touchscreen of a portable or
stationary device 601.
VµTithout suggestion of limitation, the controller-mat interface 63 with an
attachable matrix "disc" 68
may be comprised of a flexible, printed-circuit board (that may be similar in
appearance to that of the
e-ink, "paper phones") with attachable conductive nodes, a channelled wire
plurality and/or by melding
a matrix "disc" 68 with an electronic ribbon extension, in any serviceable
manner, to reduce potential
wire clutter. Regardless of a matrix-"disc's" 68 assembly, it may be
attachable to a touchscreen in any
manner serviceable to this application, such as, but not limited to, suction,
static and/or removable
adhesive backing.
The attachable matrix "disc" 68 sees the conductive path of each respective
conductive isolate
69 on the attachable matrix "disc" 68 "channelled down" or extended to a
correlative controller input --
via an integrated wiring scheme stemming from an "electronic ribbon" or
similarly-based conduit, which
routes each conductive isolate 69 in the attachable matrix "disc" 68. Under
this embodiment, a
conductive path can be extended from each respective conductive isolate 69 on
an attachable matrix
"disc" 68 to both an orientation and pedial-input determinant controller mat
60 and/or an orientation and
prop-gesture input determinant controller mat 61; as an example_
Positional highlights Al, A2, A3, A4, AS and so thrth notated on an
orientation and pedial-input
determinant controller mat 60 and/or an orientation and prop-gesture input
determinant controller mat 61
and positional highlights Al õN2, A3; A4; AS and so forth notated on each
conductive isolate 69 of an
attachable matrix "disc" 68 (only the rightmost matrix "disc" 68 contains
actual positional labelling) are
brought into accord via an unobtrusive, wiring scheme. Wired inter-
connectivity channelled through a
conduit is an efficient method of extending a capacitive-based conductive
path, in the spirit and scope of
this discourse. The fundamentals of a capacitive-based conductive path are
further discussed in a
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
32
plurality of kindred applications under common ownership of the inventor (whom
also acts as the
primary author in each) noted on page one of this application and are
incorporated by reference, in their
entirety, herein. Such language is not intended as being limitative in nature
and any manner appropriate
to effecting and/or extending a conductive path, in the spirit and scope of
this discourse, is serviceable to
this application.
In a wireless variant, according to an embodiment, an integrated and
unobtrusive wiring scheme
may act as attachable appendages from an intermediary-transceiver device (see
related discussions in Fig.
11) in the management of a plurality of conductive paths for correlative
capacitive discharge. The
intermediary-transceiver device may also contain a slot (or slot plurality)
that, for instance, readily
accepts flexible "electronic ribbon" (or related connective assemblies) for
"routing" or "distribution" of
a capacitive stream for correlative actuation of an autonomous soft-button or
soft-button plurality.
An identical mapping of a plurality of autonomous soft-buttons on the
touchscreen of a portable
or stationary device to a plurality of densely-arranged, autonomous sensing
elements of a controller input
is not requisite in a controller environment. Patterns of input from a
controller input device, for example,
may be translated to a custom, soft-button interface, such as a "power-meter"
or "power-bar" system
(refer to Fig. GC for related discourse). As a controller input is manipulated
or interpreted for
manipulation by an integral processor in the series, it provides a platform
for custom actuation in a
control scenario.
According to an embodiment, Fig. 6C illustrates a soft-button "power-bar" or
"power-meter"
system of custom actuation; a robust system that may be introduced to a
touchscreen-control ler
enviromnent to empower users with added control-disposition and breadth_ A
soft-button "power-bar"
or "power-meter" system is designed to measure and relate a varying degree of
control input for a more
precise and dimensional controller environment. Slapshots, for instance, can
vary widely in speed
profiles based on varying inputs such as the amount of exerted force, stick
velocity and "sweet-spot"
delivery (impact location of stick and puck), all of which can be potentially
tracked and injected into a
gaming environment, in the spirit and scope of this discourse. For example:
upon input delivery of a
high-speed slapshot, the shot will see registration in the upper "power-meter"
ranges, which precise
upper tier is assigned will depend on the value assigned to it by a processor
computing an input variance.
This value, when contrasted with a predeteimined list, preciously narrows the
tier down to one.
Translation of the assigned value to the touchscreen sees actuation of the
precise soft-button der
in the digitally-rendered "power-meter" associated to the gesture, as
allotted. In this way, "generic
slapshots" or slapshots hemmed into a fixed metric regardless of disposition,
may be "benched" for the
layered-control disposition that this system brings to a gaming environment.
Control of on-screen,
actionable objects are premised by an accordant variable input, with gaming
software and/or accordant
hardware designed for controller interaction under "gradient- controller
scenarios".
Assuming a controller design that is built to detect and actuate a slapshot
classified within a
range of ten (10) possible power levels or classes, a soft-button "power-bar"
160 rendering (10-tiers) is
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
fin
illustrated; and accommodated by an intermediary-transceiver device 162 with a
"power-bar" interface
161. For clarity in attachment delineation, position X1 on the "power-bar"
interface 161 is attached,
through any serviceable means, to the X1 position on the soft-button "power-
bar" 160 rendering, then
X2 is tethered in the same manner, and so forth, until each soft-button of the
soft-button "power-bar"
160 is accounted for. The intermediary-transceiver device 162 receives
controller input directives,
wirelessly 161 according to an embodiment, and then leverages an innate
capacitive source, capacitive
manager and appendage interface to faithfully reproduce an input sequence for
actuation by directly
(and correlatively) engaging the respective tier or tier-plurality of a soft-
button "power-bar" 160
rendering depicted on the touchscreen of a. portable Or stationary device 161
Completion of a conductive
path ensues the transfer of a capacitive charge to the targeted tier.
The "power bar" or "power meter" is a highly customizable agent and any
related discourse
offered is merely exemplary and not suggestive of limitation. The "power bar"
or "power meter"
illustrated here can be leveraged by a concurrent plurality (that need not be
identical) of custom-actuation
themes serviceable to this discourse, discourse traversing well beyond this
example of slapshot
disposition.
Referring now to the present invention in more detail, Fig. 7 is a perspective
view of a
conductive, golf-club prop; capable of effecting a requisite conductive path
upon the capacitive-clutch
input and mat-based gesturing of a user and a plurality of orientation and
gesture-input determinant mats
¨ both a foot zone and a swing zone ¨ in accordance with the input dynamics of
a touchscreen
application, this according to an embodiment. Akin to the methodology and
system discussed in Fig. 6A,
a user's feet orientation and shot "line" can be similarly gauged in a golf
context. A general stance may
be determined when the user places both feet on a specially-designed "foot
zone" 70; which tracks a
user's pedial input. The foot-zone 70 controller mat is comprised of densely-
arranged, autonomous
sensing elements 71 -- independent in nature, that is, insulated from
competing elements -- and situated
at the face of a foot-zone 70 controller mat for facile pedial input.
As a plurality of the densely-arranged, autonomous sensing elements 71 are
engaged by pedial
manipulation (with the pedial input supplying a requisite capacitive
"charge"), interpolating tracking
software calculates the relative positioning and orientation of El user's feet
(a foot stance) 73, thereby
ascertaining an approximate stance that can be "plugged" into a gaming
environment. Moreover, a
lightweight, conductive, golf-club controller prop 72 ("charged" with the hand
capacitance of a user's
grip) can be correspondingly tracked as the head of the golf-club controller
prop 72 comes into contact
with, and transfers a conductive path to, a plurality of densely-arranged,
autonomous-sensing elements
71 of the -swing zone' 74. Related soft-button actuation or engagement (stated
in the singular expression
for simplification) is initiated at a controller input and concludes
"upstream" with the completion of a
conductive path, upon actuation, at the touchscreen of a portable or
stationary device.
The swing zone 74 controller mat represents a measured plurality of densely
arranged,
autonomous-sensing elements 71 and tracks a golf-club controller prop 72
input. Left and right-handed
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
34
golf swings are easily accounted for as both the swing zone 74 and foot zone
70 may be made
interchangeable with a simple software selection. Calculations as to how fast
the golf-club controller
prop 72 travels across the swing zone 74, for instance, can help determine a
gesture's speed (and
therefore, estimated drive distance) and the actuating path or pattern of
actuation across the swing zone
74 (specifically, the pattern of densely-arranged, autonomous-sensing elements
71 engaged by the
capacitance-bearing club head) may further yield a determination of club
angle, direction and stroke
"trajectory" (in a straight forward direction 77 or if the "ball" or
lightweight, treated foam-ball prop 75
is "shanked" by an unintentionally-crooked swing, as possibly illustrated
under 76, 78 in certain playing
scenarios, exempli Duda).
As indicated in Fig. 7A, a golf-club controller prop 72 may contain an
asymmetrical surface at
the head's underside 79 that, depending on club angle, traverses across the
plurality of densely-arranged,
autonomous sensing elements 71 in a variable manner, subject to calculation.
The club lie to
the left suggests the head's underside 79 sees its base relatively flat as its
is swung across the plurality
of densely-arranged, autonomous sensing elements 71 of the controller mat. In
contrast, the club lie to
the right suggests an angled base at the head's underside 79 with only the
basal tip (leftmost) contacting
the plurality of densely-arranged, autonomous sensing elements 71 in the
motion of swinging. The left
may be considered to be more of a direct Mt for a longer projection and the
right having a higher-degree
of ball loft and thus, less distance. The plurality of densely-arranged,
autonomous sensing elements 71
can readily ascenain differences between the two stances based on the amount
of surface space occupied
by the traversal of the head's underside 79. Such traverse variation can be
incorporated in a gaining
enviromnent to determine, without suggestion of limitation, club angle, as
alluded to above.
While this description is based on the engagement and extension of conductive
path based on a
contained wiring scheme, rooted from the controller mat's underside, that is
initialized and traversed by
the innate capacitance of a user (making it a type of -human-powered
controller") without enlisting the
engagement of an intermediary-transceiver device in the "conductive-path's
chain", an embodiment of
the present invention may opt for using an intermediary-transceiver device, in
the spirit and scope of
this discourse. Wireless, hybrid representations and/or the direct interaction
of an input device (controller
mat) with a user device, among any of the serviceable communicative
technologies, may be used.
A breadth and course of calculations are highly customizable and may vary
based on the
influence of game conditions and may be as specific as, for instance,
contrasting a foot stance 73 with
directional swings 76, 77, 78 to help determine if a lightweight, treated foam-
ball prop 75 was "shanked"
or a shot was simply directional. The golf-club controller prop 72 may
comprise a head face that contains
a plurality of conductive elements (each assigned independently with a
differing actuation path relayed,
exempli gratia, for contact with a central conductive-element range
representing the "sweet spot") for
more precise measurement of -ball" contact, as a further method of determining
if a lightweight, treated
foam-ball prop 75 was hit cleanly or was "shanked". To that purpose, any
serviceable sensor can be used,
well beyond the cited example.
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
Termed a variable-capacitance head (with sweet spot), for discussion purposes,
although not
illustrated, the golf-club controller prop 72 with variable-capacitance head
is wirelessly equipped to
relay directives to an intermediary-transceiver device (also not illustrated)
for related actuation. Stu-faces
of the swing zone Ti may be tlat or can be altered (through, for instance, an
interchangeable-terrain
5 accessory or stratum placed over the swing zone 74) for differing club
selection and differing terrain--
such as, but not limited to, the incorporation of conductively treated
"actuating turf' that is comparable to
"the rough"; turf fully capable of remaining faithful to a conductive path and
transmitting user
capacitance "upstream". An optional lightweight, treated foam-ball prop 75
may, of course, be
incorporated into a gaming environment for added tracking metrics and realism,
if so desired.
10 The golf-club controller prop 72 may contain a separate gamepad
controller for additional input
ability, such as a premise whereby a user is prompted with an on-screen
instruction on club selection
(for example, a user may choose from a choice of iron, wood, putter or a
numerical club annotation),
choice of difficulty level, course selection, adding a user name or electing a
namesake from a list of
professionals, et cetera. The swing zone 74 and foot zone 70 could also be
used to respond to an onscreen
15 prompt by, for example, dragging a foot or club prop in an upward or
downward direction to scroll on the
screen and then tapping a foot or club prop to make the desired selection.
Referring now to the present invention in more detail, Fig. 8 is a perspective
view of a baseball-
bat and baseball-glove controller prop; designed to interact with a beam-
casting tower and intermediary-
transceiver device, in congruence with the input dynamics of a touchscreen
application. The
20 intermediary-transceiver device comprises a connected controller
interface or interface plurality, this
related discourse is according to an embodiment.
In preliminary discourse, an understanding as to how the beam-casting tower
interacts with the
touchscreen device is fundamental to the incarnation. A plurality of
serviceable systems of interaction
are proposed here, although this exemplary discourse is not suggestive of
limitation. One such
25 implementation is by turning the tablet, smart phone, Or other user
device in the "interactive series" into
a remote control unit capable of interaction with the beam-casting tower. As a
game is being rendered
on the touchscreen, for instance, the tablet, smart phone, or other user
device may concurrently broadcast
(via remote control, in real time) directives to a compatibly equipped beam-
casting tower for
implementation of the received directives into a gaming environment. If, for
example, a timer is set to
30 start elapsing on a touchscreen, a rapidly broadcast directive to the
beam-casting tower may occur just
prior to its start in order to initialize and commence, synchronously, the
tower countdown with the
touchscreen countdown. This system may require use of a hardware dongle (an
infrared emitter) to
convert any electrical signals, broadcast by die user device, into infrared
signals that can he understood
by the beam-casting tower. A stand-alone hardware gateway could also be
incorporated without use of a
35 dongle, which is capable of receiving electrical control signals in wi-
ti or Bluetooth format and then
converting them into infrared before being broadcast remotely.
An alternate means would be syncing the user device and/or game app with die
beam-casting
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
36
hardware for potential two-way communication of directives via any serviceable
form (such as Bluetooth
or wi-fl) during game play. Furthermore, beam-casting hardware may be synced
to a computer to work
collaboratively with the component series in any administration of directives.
Other such
implementations may include integration of an intermediaiy-transceiver device
in the "interactive series"
(that may also perform such duties interchangeably) and/or synching-, in a
series plurality, a user device
and computer or user device and computer plurality directly in a touchscreen
environment for the
administration of directives, where desired. A user device and computer in
sync, for example, can be
fodder for the introduction of a multi-player environment to the touchscreen.
A user device such as a
smart device may be synced with an additional user device or user device
plurality in a proximate space
or via remote location over the internet, in the spirit and scope of this
discourse.
Designed to immerse users into a highly-interactive experience, both the
baseball-bat controller
prop SO (effecting an input gesture) with strap and baseball-glove controller
prop 81 (effecting an input
gesture) play active controller roles for both sides of the "field",
respectively, during the course of game
play. Unlike motion controllers discussed heretofore, the baseball-bat
controller prop 80 and baseball-
glove controller prop 81 rely on, as an example without suggestion of
limitation, an imbedded, fully
panoptic light sensor 82 ¨ amidst, at least from the baseball-bat controller
prop 80 perspective, specially-
designed, panoramic housing 83, or in the form of an internally-cast ring 83,
situated in the upper half of
the baseball-bat controller prop 80 -- for motion determination. Such
strategic, panoptic light-sensor 82
placement helps minimize the risk of unintentional hand blockage upon prop
gripp age. In this way, the
transfer of capacitance from the user to the baseball-bat controller prop is
not integral to motion
determination, by design (although hybrid implementations could be used, where
desired).
Unlike the play scenario noted with the capacitance-governed, golf-club
controller prop
advancing a conductive path upon contact with elements of the "swing-zone" and
the respective motion
determinant abilities described, in this disclosure the imbedded, fully
panoptic light sensor 82 is designed
to sense or register a projected light beam from a remote casting tower 84.
Upon an incidence of a light
path directly "locked" between the two components, either the remote casting
tower 84 or baseball-bat
controller prop 80 (in a "minimalism" electronic footprint) relay directives
to an intermediary-transceiver
device 85, wirelessly, under certain operating scenarios. The intermediary-
transceiver device 85 then., in
a manner faithful to directives calculated from an active controller-input
prop (or a remote casting tower
84, the discretion of which implementation is design dependent), relays any
registered controller
directives and motion determinants ascertained during the course of game play
to a predetermined set of
correlative soft-buttons located on the touchscreen of a portable or
stationary device 86 for actuation, via
a baseball-screen interface 87, in the spirit and scope of this discourse.
Under this exemplary operating scenario, a remote casting tower 84, as part of
a Lower plurality,
contains a plurality of stacked lights vertically integrated into the tower
and is transposably mounted on.
an adjustable floor track 88; permitting fluent horizontal motion of the tower
plurality along the
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
37
adjustable floor track 88. The stacked lights are designed to simulate a
ball's "motion". Using a tower
with three-stacked lights (resembling a traffic light), for instance, when a
simulated pitch is thrown, a line
(or, illtunination at the light source for invisible light paths) may appear
in any of the three light paths. In
exemplification, for a high fast ball, for description simplicity, a remote
casting tower 84 projects a light
at the top light bulb to distinguish and alert the user of the "balls'" "high"
position currently, in its
vertical orientation.
Accompanying a remote casting tower 84, as part of a tower plurality, is also
a timer 89, that
projects to a user the simulated "speed" of the ball in "flight". Therefore,
in continuance of the fast ball
example, a timer of 2 seconds is set for this particular play. For the user to
position himself or herself
accordingly, he or she will be required to stand proximately to the correct
remote casting tower 84 (the
one under current illumination in the plurality) with the baseball-bat
controller prop 80 (a controller
input) clutched and prepare to align the imbedded, fully panoptic light sensor
82 of the baseball-bat
controller prop 80 with the correct level of the illuminated light, in this
case at the high (XI, Y3)
position. The user will then swing die baseball-bat controller prop at
approximately 2 seconds into the
timer's countdown, once the counter starts, or at a reading of zero (with the
processor allowing for a
predetermined margin of error; such predetermination may be linked to skill-
level selection or other
variant criteria, as a non-limitative example). When a remote casting tower 84
communicates its light
path with die tip of the bat containing the imbedded, fully panoptic light
sensor 82 (subjected in the
light's path), upon countdown to zero -}-/- a margin of error, it registers as
a hit and the positioning and
timing, amongst other potential variables, of the bat swing, will assist in
determining the hit's efficacy
upon articulated calculation. An agent that detects bat or swing speed could,
for instance, also be
incorporated in the collaborative series to determine and/or distinguish a
swing metric; such as a bunt
versus an aggressive swing.
The embedded, fully panoptic light sensor 82 may work in association with a
plurality of like
sensors in the baseball-bat controller prop 80; with a primary panoptic light
sensor representing a bat's
"sweet spot" and an engagement of others similarly situated above and below
said sweet spot, detracting
from the quality of a hit, as measured. This type of sensor-plurality
distinction, may improve batting
realism, under pitch scenarios that, for example, show a dramatic curve
occurring. The batter may
correctly line up the baseball-bat controller prop 80 with a light or
serviceable beam broadcast in a
vertical line, but not so horizontally, as a "bah" shifts, thus potentially
engaging a lower or higher
(relative to the sweet spot) fully panoptic light sensor 82 upon swinging.
Alternatively, a fully panoptic
light sensor 82 can be designed to substantiate a greater portion of the top
half of the baseball-bat
controller prop 80 without the need for a plurality, but such operating design
may be inferior,. as it does
not account for "sweet-spot" validation that can serve to heighten a gaming
experience. In a design
tweak, a fully panoptic light sensor 82 can be designed to substantiate a
greater portion of the top half
of the baseball-bat with an embedded plurality or array of sensors scouting a
positional lock. Broadcast
agents are not limited In light, but by all agents serviceable to this
discourse, in spirit and scope.
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
38
Of note, it is possible for die simulated ball flight to start high and then
drop to a lower bulb
before the timer expires. This flight course would simulate a sinker ball, for
example. To add to "pitch"
complexity, curve balls can be further simulated under remote casting tower 84
operating scenarios
comprising both a tower plurality and a plurality of vertically-stacked
lighting elements per tower; such
as that depicted in this exemplary discourse. The middle light projection (X2,
Y2), for instance, may
represent a straight pitch and a shift to the rightmost (X3, Y1) remote
casting tower 84 at its lowest bulb
¨ before tinier expiration -- can simulate a curve bail. Extreme curves may be
indicated both vertically, in
a pitch that "dips", and horizontally, in a pitch that traverses, with such
shifts occurring between a pitch's
origination and a timer 89 lapse. Users must adapt their hitting posture and
swing accordingly, Or risk a
poor performance.
Conversely, for fielding postures, the "ball path" can also bc simulated such
that an upper light
illuminated in a light stack is the start of its trajectory (peak height) and
then, as time on the timer
diminishes, the middle light of the same light stack (representing a constant
vertical ball path) may
illuminate -- suggesting the ball is now on a downward path -- and finally, in
the last ball-flight stage, the
lower light of the same light stack may illuminate to reflect completion of
the flight of the ball path as it
hits the "ground". Light paths, in a fielding discipline, are also prone to
horizontal movement. For added
degree of difficulty in a gaming environment, the remote casting tower 84 may
also transpose across an
adjustable horizontal floor track 88 employing a fastened-wheel assembly
(illustrated at the inset to the
beam-casting light stack, although not annotated); with such transposition
representing a horizontally-
directional change in course of the "ball path". To field the simulated ball,
the user may simply be
required to place the baseball-glove controller prop 81, with its imbedded,
fully panoptic light sensor 82,
directly into the correct light path at the point of timer expiration,
according to one controller scenario, or
else yield a fielding error.
Software governing a gaming title on a user device synched to a remote casting
tower 84 can, of
course, be programmed for fielding to "snag a fly ball" prior to timer
expiration and/or other such
controller nuances that may be employed in a gaming environment. One such
deviceful implementation
providing the ability to "snag a fly ball", although not suggestive of
limitation, is through the possible
incorporation of a ball speed display system that pairs with a tinier 89
device (that could equally operate
in isolation without a need for pairing) to indicate a special fielding choice
is present, though perhaps
with a limited window of opportunity to simulate real-game situations where
decisions are often served
quickly. The baseball-glove controller prop 81 may conic equipped with an
interactive button or
gamepad interface, wirelessly equipped, and motion-determinant capabilities.
In an exemplary point, the
baseball-glove controller prop 81 can further serve as an input device when,
for instance, a user makes a
certain prop gesture or gesture plurality, should the glove be configured for
motion detection. In certain
embodiments, the beam-casting elements can be part of a display device, such
that appropriate
background can be displayed in a field of vision (a baseball field, pitcher,
etc.) and, for example, a
projected baseball may be displayed around each light as it is illuminated,
complete with a full
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
39
complement of sounds (pitch as it slices through the air, a hit, a catch,
etcetera), to add to the aura and
gaining experience. The baseball-bat controller prop 80 may be comprised of a
lightweight material, such
as foam or plastic (a thin plastic shell to shape, that is hollow On the
inside) to facilitate play safety and
further includes a hand strap 80-A for additional grip security. Any such
exemplary disclosure is not
intended to suggest limitation, but merely act as an aid to facilitate
understanding in accordance with an
embodiment.
Although not the focus of illustration, running metrics ¨ such as tracking a
"sprint" from third
base to home plate ¨ can be incorporated into the disclosed gaming environment
with the development
of, for instance, a specially-designed controller shoe that is both
capacitance friendly and/or
electronically equipped for related tracking. The body of the wearable-shoe
controller may be comprised
of an elastic material to account for varying foot dimensions of a potentially
diverse user base or be
manufactured in valiant sizes, just as regular footwear is. Desired running
metrics in a gaining
environment may also be ascertained by borrowing from previously described
controller scenarios
utilizing such methodology as a pedial-input determinant controller mat, also
not illustrated, in the spirit
and scope of this discourse.
Referring now to the present invention in more detail, Fig. 9 is a perspective
view of a bowling-
ball controller mat, bowling-ball prop and intermediary-transceiver device
comprising an attachable
interface, in accordance with die input dynamics of a touchscreen application,
this according to an
embodiment. A bowling-ball controller mat 90 is designed to interact with a
bowling-ball prop 91 upon
launch and the interaction is determined and dutifully relayed, to reproduce
an event, to a remote
touchscreen for correlative actuation by an intermediary-transceiver device
92. The bowling-ball prop
91 contains an innate capacitive source that contactually engages a plurality
of densely-arranged,
autonomous sensing elements 93 located in the bowling-ball prop's 91 path upon
a traditional play
sequence, with said engagement ensuing the launch of a bowling-ball prop 91 by
a game player 94 or
participant. The bowling-ball controller mat 90 becomes "action ready" upon
employing an
intermediary-transceiver device 92 with interface, as the bowling-ball
controller mat 90 comprises the
plurality of densely-arranged, autonomous sensing elements 93, in the spirit
and scope of this discourse.
When thc bowling-ball prop 91 is rolled across the plurality of densely-
arranged, autonomous sensing
elements 93, the bowling-ball prop's 91 orientation, speed, and directional
flow or path, amongst other
metrics, can be measured based on the distinct pattern and chronology of
actuation occurring amongst
said dense pattern of autonomous sensing elements 93. The more dense the
pattern of densely-arranged,
autonomous sensing elements 93, the more accurately the orientation can be
determined based on
actuation-borne calculations.
Use of an intermediary-transceiver device 92, as suggested above, is only
exemplary. Such
measured determinants can be injected into a gaming environment on a
touchscreen through either the
use of a wholly-wired, correlative attachable interface (through a series of
wired conductive paths
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
stemming from each conductive isolate in the plurality of densely-arranged,
autonomous sensing
elements 93 to the touchscreen by, for example, an attachable matrix disc), a
wholly-wired interface 95
with an intermediary-transceiver device 92 complement, a hybrid wireless
interface comprising an
intermediary-transceiver device 92 with interface complement that wirelessly
"pairs" with the bowling-
5 ball controller mat 90 for transmitting an input or input plurality by a
conductive interface and a system
that is wholly wireless (not illustrated) where a user device and bowling-ball
controller mat 90 are paired
directly without a "ramifying-physical interface" associated in a wired
assembly. The intermediary-
transceiver device 92 can output customized actuation patterns and need not
mirror a controller input.
Custom interfaces, such as, but not limited to, a "power-meter" geared network
of appendages that
10 subject a capacitive input to interpretation and "shaping" prior to
actuation of a capacitive output,
demonstrate that not all soft-button configurations nced to identically mirror
a related controller input, in
the spirit and scope of this discourse. An intermediary-transceiver device 92
and controller mat can act as
principal agents in such interpretation and shaping, through an integration of
apparatus to task, although
such language is not intended as being limitative in nature.
15 The bowling-ball prop 91 sees its outer shell or lining comprised of a
lightweight material such
as, but not limited to, treated foam, plastic and/or any serviceable material
or material composition, either
manipulated or implemented in a natural state, that is "capacitance friendly"
or capable of transmitting a
capacitive charge. The bowling-ball prop 91 may remain primarily hollow. The
bowling-ball prop 91
contains a plurality of finger holes for user grip of the prop. The iimate
capacitive source, being
20 minimalistic in design, is securely nested in the prop to withstand both
the throwing impact and the
rolling process as it is repetitively thrown across the bowling-ball
controller mat 90 in a game
environment. The innate capacitive source outputs a level of stored
capacitance to its conductive shell,
that keeps the bowling ball "always on" for intended actuation, as it is
tossed.
Referring now to the present invention in more detail, Fig. 10 is a
perspective view of a DJ-
25 station input controller and intermediary-transceiver device with
interface and, at its inset, a system for
translating a finger swipe or other such directional user motion, is shown, in
accordance with the input
dynamics of a touchscreen application, this according to an embodiment.
Borrowing from the manner
of tracking and determining the orientation of a user's feet (such as a golf
stance in the "foot zone") and
from the assay and engagement process of a contactual swing (a club input in
the "swing zone"), both
30 discussed in Fig. 7, a user may "become die DJ" by using the control
input of a finger, fingers and/or
hands to remotely control a "soft-disc"100 and/or soft-disc plurality 100 from
a DJ-station input
controller 101. Specifically, from the turntable element matrix 102 of the DJ-
station input controller
101.
The turntable element matrix 102 is comprised of a plurality of densely-
arranged, autonomous
35 sensing elements (acting as a control input) designed to track an
incidence of capacitance from the
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
4!
finger input of a user and relay each incidence of capacitance to a
touchscreen, faithfully, through either a
wholly wired network between the turntable element matrix 102 (a control
input) and a correlative
attachment interface 105 or under a wireless 106 hybrid system via an
intermediary-transceiver device
103 with an attachable correlative wired interface 104. Innate to the
intermediary-transceiver device
103 is a processor, capacitance purveyor (self-generating) and capacitive
manager, ensuring faithful
transmission of a controller input without the need for direct engagement of a
touchscreen by a user.
For added controller realism, a DJ-station input controller 101 may borrow
from both the
physical appearance and controller "feel" of the authentic hardware it is
designed to mimic. While the
turntable element matrix 102 is a fixed structure in this exemplary discourse
and, therefore, does not
"spin" a musical compact disc (or record variant), as authentic hardware may,
a capacitance-friendly,
CD-shaped, thin-film membrane may be placed in the area where a typical CD is
mounted. A measure,
thus allowing a user to slide or "spin" the thin-film overlay across the
turntable element matrix 102 face
while still actuating the plurality of fixed, densely-arranged, autonomous
sensing elements (each serving
as a control input) below it. A pitch slider 108 (used to adjust an on-screen
BPM count for mixing
purposes) and mix slider 109 are components specific to this rather "component-
simplistic" exemplary
discourse. The potential for increased functionality and complexity in a
controller embodiment, in the
spirit and scope of this discourse, clearly exists and any such discussions
here are not suggestive of
limitation. A pitch slider 108 or mix slider 109 may employ a similar system
to the gas-pedal controller
with scroll bar for engagement purposes, amongst other serviceable means.
Drawing upon the turntable element matrix 102 at inset, a finger swipe is
reproduced to the
touchscreen of a portable or stationary device 200 remotely. As opposed to a
controller scenario where an
actionable object 100 is remotely controlled, in the spirit and scope of this
discourse, by simply hitting a
singular (left, right, up or down) control input -- with a respective soft-
button counterpart(s) fixed or
tethered to a touchscreen geography to output a capacitive charge,
accordingly, a swipe offers the ability
for "fluidity of touch" or "fluent-touch motion" when taken in a series. The
inventor, whom is also the
primary author, refers to the first control scenario as "one-dimensional",
whereas a turntable element
matrix 102 offers a robust finger-tracking system ("fluid-dimension") that
catapults control dynamics (in
contrast to its one-dimensional counterpart) by reproducing a finger swipe,
remotely. By drawing on the
actuating sequence of the plurality of densely-arranged, autonomous sensing
elements and relaying said
sequence, faithfully, to a soft-button controller on a touchscreen of a
portable or stationary device 200,
remote-engagement of a "finger swipe" is actualized, and thus, made possible,
just as if the user were
touching the touchscreen of a portable or stationary device 200 directly.
Illustrating a directional plurality of autonomous sensing elements engaged in
a -finger swipe" is
a directional pointer 107 as an illustrative aid, it is not a physical pointer
manifestation). As a finger is
tracked across a turntable clement matrix 102 in an upward motion, as a
possibility suggested by the
directional pointer 107, a plurality of densely-arranged, autonomous-sensing
elements are actuated in the
path or course of the directional pointer 107 gesture (in this reference, an
upward motion). \\Then
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
=
4")
actuation is taken in a series, akin to how drawings are animated in a flip
book or flick book, a pattern of
"motion" is introduced and reproduced on a touchscreen of the portable or
stationary device 200 upon
successive actuation (a succession of a capacitive-charge input transferred to
a touchscreen) in the series,
in the spirit and scope of this discourse.
Fig. 10A illustrates a physical/virtual hybrid input-controller system (a DJ-
controller system)
utilizing both a physical-input controller mode and a gesture-seeking mapping
component (an input mode
based on the digital tracking of a user's gesture(s) by virtue of an
integrated camera, such as those found
on a touchscreen-user device) designed for bi-modal integration of a user
input into a virtual environment
being rendered on a remote touchscreen user device or device plurality. A
hybrid tactile and gesture-
based input-controller system 1000 utilizing both a physical-input controller
1001 and a gesture-sensing
input controller 1002 interface is thus introduced for purposes of
manipulating touchscreen-based
actionable objects. The gesture-sensing input controller 1002 operates under
the influence of a user's
gesture input (generally without a tactile, physical reference afforded to the
user), the gesturing being
mapped to a soft input of a touchscreen user device by an integrated camera
1005 and any associative
software that may be present translating the mapped input (the gesture) to the
mapped output (translating
a divined mapped input to a soft input by virtue of the corresponding
manipulation or "actualization" of
an actionable object associated with the gesture) of a touchscreen user-device
1003 remote from die user,
this according to an embodiment. Exemplifying a case of gesture input in the
spirit and scope of this
discourse ¨ while acknowledging that many serviceable replacements of
divergent systems tracking a
gesture input are possible from that suggested in this embodiment ¨ leads to
the disclosure of a hybrid
tactile and gesture-based input-controller system 1000 or DJ-input controller
system 1000, as transitioned
for operability in a touchscreen environment.
Under this operating scenario, upon the launching of a DJ-related software
application, a user
may, for instance, be given a selection of songs from which to choose from
using hand-based gesturing
as a method of controller input, this process of song selection being repeated
for both DJ turntables 1001
in a mixing environment. Leveraging a virtual pointer 1004 shown on the
touchscreen user-device 1003,
in accordance with an embodiment, a user is afforded an orientation point from
which to commence and
map an ensuing gesture for targeted virtual actuation. In this way, a user may
manipulate the virtual
pointer 1004 to a specific location on the touchscreen of a touchscreen user-
device 1003 (as the virtual
pointer 1(104 is directionally refreshed in real-time on the touchscreen).
Movement can, for instance, be
dynamically interpreted in -freestyle mode" by an integrated camera 1005 to
actionable commands
through an associated software-based filter or by virtue of framing using the
torso of the user as a
"mousepad" and/or, in further instance, potentially using the frame of the
large touchscreen's 1003 video
output display as a visual reference aid in, and the "digital framing off, the
tracking of a user's finger or
finger plurality for a related controller input and/or input plurality. The
physical footprint of a specialty
controller may also be used in this concept of framing. A system of pointer re-
centering, where
necessary, may also be applied to the disposition of a virtual pointer 1004.
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
43
Therefore, in expanding on the example above regarding a process of song
selection, a user may
proficiently guide the virtual pointer 1004 over the song of choice for
official selection and then may
proceed to tap the finger down (not suggestive of limitation, as gesture
mapping can be electronically
calibrated and/or written in a highly-diverse footprint), a gesture understood
by the tracking system to
indicate virtual actuation of the selected choice. Well beyond the simple menu
of song selection referred
to in this example, the virtual display may also include a digital "dashboard"
that affords the user
miscellaneous selective material to chose from to compliment the user
experience, such as, but not
limited to, selecting a venue, DJ style, music-type or genre, entering a DJ's
name, or any akin actionable
disposition prompting mid/or responsive to a remote input (all potentially
actionable at the coordinates of
the gesture-based (camera-tracked) virtual pointer 1004). Hand gestures, such
as an articulated left swipe,
may readily be recognized (and/or be readily assigned under a system relying
on calibration) by the
described gesture-sensor system (the integrated camera 1005 with associated
software according to this
exemplary discourse) to effect the changing of a digital "page" in a
directionally corresponding manner
to the gesture produced, exempli gatia. Furthermore, effects such as, but not
limited to, video sampling,
interjecting sound and video bites reflecting appreciation from an
enthusiastic crowd, camera pans, light
shows, dance-offs, mid the like, may also be added to a DJ-themed touchscreen-
gaming environment to
heighten the user experience. Of course, in a progressively gesture-based
input-controller environment
variant, even the DJ turntables 1001 could be activated mid engaged remotely
by processing selective
hand gestures in mapped mode, if so coveted, although for the embodiment under
primary discussion, the
turntables are controlled by a physical-controller interface in an effort to
inject a greater sense of tactile
realism to the game play.
The tactile component of the hybrid tactile and gesture-based input-controller
system 1000 or
DJ-controller system 1000 is designed for more "hands-on" enthusiasts,
connecting and integrating,
virtually, with a touchscreen user device 1003 by virtue of a wireless
capacity. The DJ- controller system
1000 further contains a CPU and responsive controller system for the
management and exchange of
control-based directives between it mid a communicable touchscrcen user device
1003, promoting
seamless, real-time integration between said physical or tactile input
controller and the associated
software application running on said touchscrecn user-device 1003. Thus, such
deejay Ihndamentals as
scratching, mixing, engaging a slider, etceteras performed on the physical
controller can instantly
translate into a reflex virtual rendering of the same. The act of scratching,
in adding colour by example,
may be readily tracked by any serviceable means, including the incorporation
of sensors in the turntable
element of the DJ-controller system 1000, capable of readily ascertaining
direction, range of motion and
the like. In this way, the stylish tactile or physical-input controller
assembly 1001 (of the DJ-controller
system 1000) complements the gesture-based input-controller system system 1002
in a rather bold design
stroke.
For possible attachment interjection in accordance with an ancillary (kindred)
DJ-controller
environment, the reader may refer to Fig. 10 detailing a serviceable tactile-
input interface, operating
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
44
under the ascendancy of an internal capacitive management and distribution
system (and/or under the
ascendancy of user-supplied capacitance under the manipulation of a controller
input for purposes of
manipulating onscreen actionable objects in the spirit and scope of this
discourse). For band-themed
games, a DJ-controller environment may also be complemented with similarly
spirited specialty-input
controllers and/or controller environments such as, but not limited to, drums,
keyboard and dance pad
(the bi-modal integration of motion-based gesture recognition input with an
element of tactile input being
optional) by virtue of either an established wired and/or wireless connection
with a touchscreen user
device. Some operating embodiments may, of course, witness uni-modal input
support, as opposed to bi-
modal input support that may be borne by a hybrid-controller scenario such as
the one described herein_
And in building on the excerpt above that refers to the use of a physical
footprint of a specialty
controller as a positional-framing tool in a virtual environment, for
instance, using similar methods of
controller disposition, a camera may be reconciled to detect where on a dance-
pad a user is stepping and
then have those germane directives transmitted to a serviceable mapping
interface, such as one found
governing a touchscreen-user device during active game play, for related
processing in order to map the
tapped dance-pad area (that is, the physical area being stepped on) to a
corresponding virtual soft-button
input (that is, the virtual area on a touchscreen associated with said
physical area) for related virtual
actuation. Citing now an example of bi-modal integration in building from a
dance-pad theme, a
specialty-input controller may be used in conjunction with a camera-based
system tracking user input,
whereas a specialty dance-pad controller may be used specifically for the
purposes of pedial mapping, a
camera-based system may be integrated to concurrently detect a user's finger,
hand and miscellaneous
body gestures in accordance with mapping to a soft-input interface (e.g.
combining a plurality of user-
based input-- such as in the determination of hand and foot movements ¨metrics
that may prove
germane for a dance-themed game). Although a camera-based tracking system may
be capable of
autonomously and concurrently tracking both modal inputs (pedial and non-
pedial) without use of a
specialty-input controller, many garners would show preference for a tactile-
input interface.
Fig. 11 is a perspective view of an intermediary-transceiver device according
to an embodiment.
An intermediary-transceiver device is designed to leverage an innate-
capacitive source and capacitive
manager to correlatively engage ¨ through a network of wired appendages (an
interface) seeking
attachment to a touchscreen -- a plurality of actionable objects, in this case
the perspective letters "A"
and "B", on the touchscreen of a portable or stationary device. Designed in
accordance with the input
dynamics of a touchscreen application, this device can displace user
capacitance, or put another way,
removes user-supplied capacitance as a requisite component in a conductive
path, in the spirit and scope
of this discourse.
In a rather rudimentary literal-brush stroke, the intermediary-transceiver
device 110, either in a
wired or wireless environment, acts to mediate a control input. As the diagram
inset Ill shows, an
elementary conductive path in the spirit and scope of this discourse, may
comprise a control input A,B,
remotely situated, as it is correlatively paired with a control output A,B
(that is, a physical interface that
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
4.5
outputs capacitance to the respective A,B soft-buttons on a touchscreen). A
conductive path may be
prone to influence by a wired or wireless tether. The intermediary-transceiver
device 110 may be
engaged to "mediate" an elementary conductive path, in the spirit and scope of
this discourse.
The intermediary-transceiver device 110 contains an innate capacitive source
112 and capacitive
manager 113. As a plurality of control inputs are engaged or manipulated
remotely, such as with the
letters A 114 and B 115 in respective order, this string of sequential input
directives is directed-- either
wired or wirelessly -- to an intermedialy-transceiver device 110 for related
processing. The capacitive
manager 113, faithful to input chronology and an origination source, leverages
an innate capacitive
source 112 to inject an incidence of capacitance, where necessary, to each
wire A 118 and wire B 119,
acting as a control output (or capacitive output) transmitting a capacitive
charge to a respective soft-
button 116 that responds to this capacitive input or capacitive charge, upon
correlative attachment. A
capacitive charge is relayed, respectively, to the soft-buttons 116 of the
touchscreen of a portable or
stationary device 117 through a wired network or network of attached
appendages (attachments not
depicted, but understood from previous applications incorporated by reference
herein).
Building on the example set forth, this wired network sees the control input A
114 relayed to the
correlative soft-button 116 by wire A 118, in a manner faithful to which it
originated. Similarly, the
control input B 115 sees the intermediary-transceiver device 110 relay an
instance of capacitance to the
correlative soft-button 116 by wire B 119; the wire of which is correlatively
attached, through any
serviceable means, to the "b" soft button 116.
An intermediary-transceiver device 110 may come equipped with a built-in
camera or camera
plurality that may facilitate motion determination or manage the sharing of
images or a live feed across
a network (for instance, to an online community and/or gaming portal) and be
fully functional as an
internet-enabled device with hub disposition, ideally suited for engaging in
online gaming and social-
gaming scenarios involving multiple-players. An intermediary-transceiver
device 110 may also be
equipped with devices such as, but not limited to, a headphone jack,
microphone jack (and/or a built in
hardware complement), speaker jack (and/or a built in hardware complement) and
to offer two-way
conummicahve capabilities, providing for potential user interaction with
online gainers during the course
of gameplay, the input of a voice command and/or for voip telecommunication,
as examples.
Referring now to an tmillusorated embodiment, a divergent approach to relaying
a motion
gesture to the touchscrecn of a portable or stationary device uses a thin-film
membrane, this according
to an embodiment. A thin-film membrane -- designed to be affixed to a
touchscreen of a portable or
stationary device -- is comprised, treated and/or coated with an actuating
catalyst or agent, such as, but
not limited to, an electrostatic material. When a casting device (specially
designed for its projection to
interact with the properties of the thin-film membrane at, and upon, point-of-
contact) such as, but not
limited to, an eye friendly laser pointer or infrared-projection tool (or any
projection tool serviceable to
this embodiment), projects its beam unto the surface of the thin-film
membrane, a reaction OCCULTS at the
point of contact causing a capacitive instance to be registered on the
touchscreen of a portable or
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
46
stationary device, at the precise location. While citing such examples as use
of an electrostatic material
in this exemplary discourse, such language is not intended as being limitative
in nature and any material
and/or properties conducive to using a broadcast agent to channel a controller
input and/or cause an
instance of capacitance (or gentle pressure in die case of non-capacitive
environments) to be registered,
to a touchscreen by said remote projection, in the fill breadth, scope and
spirit of this discourse, is
wholly inherent to the application. Furthermore, all broadcasting tools or
agents serviceable to this
application are to be considered inherent to this application. Use of a thin-
film membrane is not limited to
a touchscreen-defined sheet and can be constructed in all shapes and sizes, as
desired. Further still,
broadcast or projection tools may be designed for use where the broadcast
agent is projected directly on.
the surface of a touchscreen of a portable or stationary device with equal
(actuation efficacy) results,
without the need for an intermediary actuating catalyst -- such as a thin-film
membrane ¨ in order to
engage control of an actionable object and/or register a capacitive instance
with a touchscreen.
In a potential offspring to the unillustrated thin-film membrane embodiment
noted above, the
thin-film membrane can be designed to work independently, that is, without
being manipulated by a
casting device described above. Under this operational environment, a
transparent (thus, permitting for
fluent viewing of the display rendering) thin-film membrane may be designed to
be superimposed by
static, suction, removable adhesion or any other means serviceable, onto the
surface of the touchscreen;
and may be manufactured in accordance to vaiying touchscreen display sizes,
operating-control scenarios
of the soft-buttons and/or available framing adjacent to the touchscreen, as
so coveted, as merely an
example in point. The thin-film membrane is highly customizable in its native
environment and may lead
to, for instance, remote operating scenarios, whereas, a thin channel capable
of holding small quantities
of water-- acting as a transparent conductor designed to purposely channel a
quantity of capacitive input
(such as that via a finger input) and further permitting for fluent viewing of
the display rendering upon
superimposition due to this inherent transparency -- may be molded into the
thin-film membrane or skin
and be subjected to fluid injection completed by a sealing process.
According to an embodiment, a molded and water-filled channel can be designed
to conductively
contact a respective soft-button by any means serviceable, and sees its
respective water-filled channel
extended onto the border, that is, the area on the portable device adjacent to
the touchscreen, by an
interconnected, interchangeable, conductive bridging-button or plurality
attached in the spirit and scope
of this discourse. An independent button need not be used for capacitive
bridging and instead the water-
filled channel or channels comprising the thin-film membrane can each lead to
a remote "touch button"
as part of a single assembly and/or molded assembly. Under one design
rendering, without suggestion of
limitation, the conductive button can assume the form of a finger-sized,
collapsible, air-filled bubble or
bubble plurality, that is filled partially with a conductive liquid, such as
water. The collapsible, air-filled
bubble sees its upper region, notably, collapsible, as it is subjected to the
depression by the finger input
of a user. 'Hie act of depressing the collapsible air-filled bubble to a point
that transfers the finger
capacitance of a user through the air to the point of contact with the water
present in the collapsible
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
47
bubble, and then onto the interconnected, fluid-filled channel of the membrane
for respective soft-button
activation in the spirit and scope of this discourse. Further, these
collapsible, air-filled bubbles, partially
filled with water (with the water residing below the an- and the upper
collapsible surface) can be made
independently to be removable and re-attachable to any area of the touchscreen
serviceable under the
present invention.
Fig. 12 is an illustration of a touchscreen-suspension device equipped with
comfort grips and
remote-control operability stemming ftom a tactile input controller (operating
on die capacitive input of a
user's finger) and a respectively conjoined attachable soft-button output
interface or interface plurality
(serving to strategically discharge the capacitive input or charge of a finger
to, for instance, an associated
or a targeted soft-button or soft-button plurality upon congruous attachment
to a touchscreen). In
accordance with an embodiment, Fig. 12 depicts a touchscreen-suspension device
120 equipped with
grippable-handle members 122 and an associated tactile controller or
controller plurality 123 as shown
(with compressible or non-compressible conductive buttons 124). An
independently channelled and
insulated wire 125 (or any serviceable conductor in its place) may form the
requisite tether relationship in
a wired embodiment between each respective button member 124 of the tactile
input controller 123 and
each respective soft-button counterpart by means of an attachable (output)
interface 126 or interface
plurality at the tether end 125 (a subject well versed wider the common-
ownership teachings of the
inventor and not the subject of detailed illustration as per this figure).
A suspension device 120 comprises a receptive frame 127 -- designed to
securely station a
mountable touchscreen user device 121 -- and a single hand-grip (support)
structure 122 constructed at
each end of the receptive frame. Each grippable-handle member of the grippable-
handle member
plurality 122 may comprise a tactile input interface 123 delineated by a
capacitance-transmitting button
and/or button member plurality 124 and/or any serviceable capacitance-
transmitting manipulable member
124 and/or manipulable-member plurality 124, the arrangement and positioning
of which may vary
widely from this illustration. The capacitive-bearing (input) button members -
124 of the tactile input
interface 123, adhering to the teachings of previous inventive discourse and
permitting the fluent
introduction of a "green-controller" environment by serviceable
interconnection (since the controller may
be solely powered by the innate capacitance of a user), see a tethered
coupling by any serviceable
conductive medium such as, but not limited to, a flexible wire 125 that
capacitively pairs each (input)
button member 124 with its respective soft-button counterpart (by virtue of an
attachable and serviceable
output interface represented by annotation 126, although, as suggested, an
attachable interface 126 is not
shown in intricate and attached to a touchscreen in the accompanying figure).
Or stated differently for purposes of facilitating reader understanding, with
more of a literal
emphasis to the two opposing wire tips of a tether, on one end of a wire tip
is a capacitive-bearing button
member 124 capable of engagement upon manipulation by the control input of a
finger supplying a
capacitive charge, and on the opposing wire end is an affixed (preserving a
conductive path),
corresponding element (of an attachable output interface 126) capable of a
targeted capacitive discharge.
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
48
The length of wire 125 servicing the tether, of course, faithfully honours a
capacitive path between the
control input and control output interfaces to an actuating conclusion. The
attachable output interface 126
is befittingly superimposed to respective capacitive alignment over a soft-
button interface such that each
button member I 24 is communicably assigned, by any means serviceable, to a
respective soft-button
member for purposes of controlling an actionable object or object plurality
(remotely from the
touchscreen), in the spirit and scope of this discourse.
The tactile input controller 123 assembly may also be part of a suspension
device comprising an
electronic assembly that wirelessly pairs a tactile-input controller 123 with
a touchscreen-user device
directly for purposes of controlling, respectively, an actionable object
and/or actionable-object plurality
(without the use of an attachable interface) by virtue of a serviceable
mapping interface, for a kindred
state of remote operation. Alternately, a snap-on apparatus plurality
comprising a wired and/or wireless
physical-controller interface and designed to affix to both borders (in
reference to both landscape and
portrait page-orientation modes) of a touchscreen user device for communicable
and remote operation
therein, is, of course, serviceable to the spirit and scope of this discourse.
To wit, the controller design described in the present embodiment may afford
the user with an
exceptionally more precise, convenient and empowering way to control an
actionable (on-screen) object
or object plurality, while still permitting fluent access to the mounted
touchscreen device 121 for finger
swiping gestures ,if, for instance, it is deemed integral to the game being
rendered) and/or fluent user
influence on the integrated sensors of a touchscreen user device, such as, but
not limited to, the
gyroscope, accelerometer, proximity, GPS (Location Services measuring
positioning) and/or digital
compass, to name a few, where available and/or where integral to the engaged
gaming dynamics. In
alternate iterations, a tactile-input interface 123 comprising a capacitance-
transmitting button member
124 or member plurality, may, of course, also be serviceably attached to the
borders (e.g. an attachable
interface not directly affixed to the glass itself) adjacent to the
touchscreen of a touchscreen user device
121 (with any serviceable conductive medium serving in respective tether to
the soft-button members of
a soft-button controller), without use of a suspension device, as indicated in
Fig. 14.
A prefabricated overlay, comprising a plurality of serviceable transparent
conductive coatings
forming the requisite tethering channels between a soft-input interface and a
remote, manipulable (a
tactile input) member interface for a particular controller environment (which
may, as an exemplary case
in point and without suggestion of limitation, include physical buttons,
joysticks, gamepads, manipulable
combinations of a tactile input plurality and any serviceable touchscreen-
centric input that may be,
placed adjacent to a touchscreen display), can be used for offspring
embodiments. Prefabricated overlays
will vary, of course, based on the particular soft-controller structure of the
host device unto which the
overlay seeks serviceable attachment and may be manufactured to correspond to
the soft-button
controller environments of the most popular games and sized for the most
popular touchscreen gaming
devices. A serviceable overlay may further comprise a tactile-input interface
designed for direct
contactual alignment (e.g. a controller is not affixed adjacently to a
touchscreen display or not operated
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
49
remotely, if so coveted) of the tactile-input interface with the corresponding
surface of the touchscreen
resulting in the respective alignment of the tactile interface with the soft
interface upon positional
overlay, in accordance with the spirit and scope of this discourse.
While attachment-themed exemplary discourse may suggest a practicable
application of an
attachment interface, it is not intended to suggest limitation in any regard
and/or does not necessarily
imply a specific method and/or system of preferred operability. Rutter, where
applicable by virtue of
attachment-themes, any deviceful controller assembly described in the
specification's dissertation, may
operate directly, in wireless mode under an established duplexing system, with
its linked partner (e.g., a
touchscreen user device by virtue of a serviceable digital mapping system),
thereby potentially displacing
the requirement for an attachable physical interface under the disposition of
remote operation.
Fig. 13 is an illustration serving to broaden the embodiment of Fig. 12¨
complete with remote-
control operability -- whereas the comfort grips give way to a user-mounted
support apparatus acting to
suspend a touchscreen user device automatically; that is, without the need for
the user to actually clutch
the touchscreen user device to establish operable suspension. Particularly, in
accordance with a kindred
embodiment, the grippable-handle members of the suspension device described in
Fig. 12 are replaced by
a ready-mount 130 system of underpinning that firmly supports the touchscreen
device 131 positionally,
such that fluent touchscreen access by a user's hands is permitted. As a
user's hands would routinely be
occupied by the concurrent grasping of a touchscreen device 131 during typical
use, this embodiment
serves to appreciably liberate a user's hands for a variety of requisite task
administration. Examples of a
ready-mount 130 system may include, but are not limited to, a user-mounted
apparatus, for instance; an
illustrated anchor mechanism 132 permitting secure attachment to a buckle clip
or belt's lining, a lap-
mounted variant designed to sit securely on the lap of user during engagement
of a touchscreen device
131 (e.g. in the form of a foldable and pliant rubberized case that locks into
position) and/or a system
designed to rest atop and/or be suspended from (e.g using a pliant suspension
mechanism, such as a
mountable aim with memory return to securely anchor a touchscreen user device)
an underlying
infrastructure. As this is mere exemplaiy discourse, however, it in no way is
intended to suggest
limitation.
Expanding further on a buckle-clip system in illustrative fodder, the ready-
mount 130 system
may comprise a rigid, yet adjustable suspension arm 133 with an annexed swivel
apparatus (not the
subject of illustration) situated at its apex. The suspension device's
receptacle 136 (the flame structure)
for a touchscreen user device 131 is hinged on a sliding omni-directional
"ball-joint" swivel (die swivel
apparatus) at its underside and sees construction of said "ball-joint" encased
in a flexible rubber
membrane or rubber Sheathing to fluently permit the functional influence of a
user's hand gestures on
such input sensors as, for instance, a gyroscope and/or accelerometer, by
allowing an angular (e.g.
twisting and tilting) and somewhat undulating influence of the suspension
device, and by association, the
mounted or suspended touchscreen user device 131. Left-and-right and top-and-
bottom tilting and a
degree range of rotational freedom and positional influence influenced by the
ball-joint mechanism, as a
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
.50
case in point, are readily permitted by the rubberized ball-joint mechanism.
The onmi-directional,
joint" swivel assembly may, if so coveted, embody rubberized and mechanical
design tweaks (including,
for instance, the boot and the potential inclusion of any motion-control ball
joints retained by an internal
spring) that permit for broader movement fluency under a user's hand influence
and a "memory-return
system" that returns a touchscreen user device 131 to a position of rest
automatically upon release of a
user's hands. The field of rubberized ball joints is well versed and can be
readily adapted to this context.
The adjustable suspension arm 133 may contain a lockable-pivot mechanism 134
(that may use a
fastening device, without suggestion of limitation, to lock a touchscreen user
device securely in place
upon selected positioning and/or exhibit properties of inertia serving to
steady a device at rest, yet permit
for added positional fluency under hand influence) for added positioning
versatility. A capacitive-bearing
button member 135 or member plurality may be communicably linked -- by any
means serviceable to the
spirit and scope of the application¨ in accordance with a soft-button
controller present in an operational
environment.
Fig. 15 illustrates a mouse-type input system that leverages an associated
camera (or camera-
plurality in related iterations) to track a user's finger and/or finger
plurality and integrative gestures under
the administration of hand articulations and/or a similarly serviceable
recognized input gesture or gesture
plurality, assuming and manipulating the position of "mouse" pointer, in
accordance with this exemplary
discourse. A mouse-type input system is dm s designed for transitional modal
integration into a
touchscreen environment. In a method of operation under the described
embodiment, exempli gratia, a
finger and gesture-tracking app 155 is designed to launch (and attune with) an
associated camera 150 for
purposes of capably tracking a user's 151 accredited finger path 152, hand
articulations and an
aggregation of associative gestures. The finger and gesture-tracking app 155
may comprise a
distinguished inventory of gestures and finger derivations under its
recognition umbrella, with said
inventory available to the user for purposes of, for example, engaging a mouse
pointer 153 on the
touchscreen 154 of a touchscreen user device, and/or may comprise a feature
capable of learning new
input conimands entered and then saved to the software's repository by a user.
New input commands may
consist of a single gesture Or a series of gestures, perhaps prompted by a
camera pose and/or pose series,
and the user may choose what actions the new commands will be associated with.
The gesture-tracking
app 155 may run concurrently with other active software, thus affording real-
time and concomitant
gesture integration with the software into its rendering environment (by
virtue of both the software and
CPU-based processing of an integrative input such as a tracked finger path 152
and/or recognized set of
associative gestures). The finger and gesture-tracking app 155 may not be
requisite, of course, in a
controller environment where the primary software is programmed to
autonomously decipher and
incorporate camera-based gesture recognition into a gaming environment.
For instances of assuming mouse-like behaviour in tune with this embodiment, a
mouse pointer
153 may be dragged across the touchscreen 154 to a targeted icon 1503 fcir
related actuation via the
influence of an integrative input associated with a finger path 152,
accredited hand and/or finger
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
51
articulations and/or an aggregation of associative gesturing potentially
beyond that of hand-based input
for the intended manipulation of actionable soft elements of a primary
software application currently
naming. Said another way, a user may control a primary software application
and/or program -- such as
one that allows control of a user desktop PC ¨ by using nothing more than,
exempli gratia, an associated
finger input performed remotely from the touchscreen 154. Under the watchful
lens of an associated
camera 150, control-input gestures, such as the tracking and reproduction of
right-click and left-click
functionality, are readily spirited into the execution of a software program
for virtual mapping
translation.
Mapping Inn-id/finger articulations and/or accredited gestures for
corresponding soft-button
actuation remains fluent in accordance with the present embodiment. Accredited
finger articulations such
as, but not limited to, a user 151 tapping a finger of the left hand downward
156 at a point of mouse
pointer 133 orientation (with the left hand potentially representing the left-
mouse button in continuance
with the theme of desktop control cited previously and the downward motion of
an articulated finger
input representing an intent of actuation) and, conversely, the tapping of a
finger on the right hand
downward 137 in similar articulation (representing the right-mouse button) may
be readily discernible
and integrated into a touchscreen 154 environment (in a form of digital or
electronic "actuation"
replacing the need for a state of capacitive actuation by the control input of
a finger) by the tracking
and/or mapping software associated with the camera 150 of a touchscreen user
device 154. Up-and-down
motions 158, omnidirectional motions 159, double taps 1500, two-finger
directional swipes 1501 and
pinching motion 1502 may, for instance, comprise a partial list of
recognizable input-driven commands
in a given tracking inventory. Tracking markers, such as specially-designed
thimbles and/or the use of
motion-activated controllers (e.g. motion-input or gesture-sensing controllers
clutched by hand ) for
precision tracking purposes, could also be added to modal finger/hand and/or
gesture-based input,
according to an example set forth, for improved discernment in (where, for
instance, tracking
discernment in a given environment may prove difficult and/or require greater
precision), and a
broadening of, tracking ability.
In further stead of an exemplary broadening of tracking ability, it should be
noted that motion-
sensors such as, but not limited to, gyroscopes and accelerometers found in
graspable motion-input
controllers, with or without use of a gesture-sensing camera, may allow for
translation of natural athletic
motions to gamoplay input with great fidelity and may, exempli gratia, further
eliminate the need for
ground/surface out-id/surface controller pads for golf-club, hockey-stick,
bowling and tennis-racquet controllers since
the graspable motion-input controller (readily inserted into a likened
physical prop) may be readily
capable of ascertaining the requisite game metrics for the homologous supply
of directives to a
touchscreen user device for serviceable virtual mapping.
In a modified form of the present embodiment, suggesting a possible
commutative brush stroke
of camera-based fodder, this operating scenario, amongst other serviceable
iterations, may, of course,
also be tra nsi tioned to a controller environment comprising an intermediary-
transceiver device with an
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
52
engaged motion-seeking and/or gesture-tracking camera (discoursed in detail
above, the reader may
further refer to such articulations as Fig. 10A, Fig. 11) or akin camera
plurality in lieu of a
touchscreen user device's camera and/or may be concomitantly applied
(employing both the camera of
the touchscreen user device and intermediary-transceiver device concurrently),
without suggestion of
limitation. An intermediary-transceiver device may, of course, also operate in
a wholly wireless state
and thus, have the potential to remain wholly attachmentless. Furthermore, the
operating scenario may be
transitioned away from a mouse-type input system to any input-means
serviceable to a congruous
controller environment, including, as but one example, accredited body
mechanics and/or gestures
performed M a sports-or-dance themed game for the intended manipulation of an
actionable soft
interface (such as a soft-button and/or soft-button controller) and/or
actionable object tethered
electronically (in mapping). Said another way, an electronic tether may occur
between a serviceable
touchscreen specialty input controller and an engageable soft-based interface,
although, exempt i gratia,
in the case of accredited body mechanics and/or gestures performed in a sports-
or-dance themed game
under the governance of a camera-based system, a physical specialty controller
or tactile interface may
not be requisite for game play. That is, with advanced image processing
capabilities potentially inherent
in a controller embodiment, a camera alone may be capable of serviceably
processing input-based
gestures.
Falling under the breadth and scope of the previous mapping-based discourse.
Fig. 16 illustrates
a rechargeable or battery-powered wireless controller 1601 and associated
pairing app 1600 (control-
bearing) integral to the control mechanics of an attachmentless-controller
environment described herein
and in accordance with a touchscreen 1602 embodiment. As a prelude to
controlling actionable objects
during the course of game play, a user may be required to download and/or
preload an app or software-
based, input/output mapping interface 1600 (or any serviceable software)
associated with the transitional
operability of a wireless controller 1601 in a touchscreen environment. Upon
installation, a user may then
proceed to launch a third-party app that he or she wishes to engage control of
with said wireless
controller 1601 and the input/output mapping interface app 1600, running
concurrently, may proceed to
walk a user through, step-by-step, the congruous configuring/pairing of the
wireless controller 1601 with
the respective soft interface(s) for purposes of control or manipulation of an
actionable on-screen object
or object plurality and/or an actionable soft input deemed fundamental to a
controller environment.
Pairing, exempli r,Tatia, occurs by virtue of mapped electronic actuation at a
targeted soft coordinate by
virtue of an input controller influence, by any means serviceable, in the
broad context of the inventive
discourse. Any serviceable means, as a case in point, may include, but is not
limited to, a screen-capture
method disclosed -herein where a given screen in a controller environment is
scanned for soft-buttons so
that wireless controller inputs can be mapped to congruous actionable soft-
buttons.
The app-based, input/output mapping interface 1600, as noted, may run co-
dependently with a
third-party app, such as an action game or RPG, and upon launch is acclimated
for wireless integrative
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
53
control by initially proceeding to do a screen capture of the current soft-
button controller 1603 layout
and/or environment required for operational use (certain gaming titles may
also be programmed with
mapping code that an input/output mapping interface 1600 may interpolate to
simplify this task without
requiring facilitative methods such as the screen-capture method). Under the
described screen-capture
method, in accordance to this exemplary discourse, all graphics displayed on a
touchscreen 1602 may be
subjected to, for example, a "line-drawing filter" (not under illustration)
being applied ¨ thus, clearly
rendering the respective shape of all touchscreen graphics including a soft-
button controller system 1603
for manual selection in the configuration process -- to facilitate mapping
entries for soft-button
engagement. Since each soft-button of a soft-button controller 1603 interface
may be readily delineated
by this form of capture ¨ for example, through the presentation of a plurality
of four-line (or "empty")
squares parsed by the filter and representing the touchscreens 1602 soft-
button controller 1603 ¨ it may
serve to facilitate fluency in electronic mapping.
Furthermore, under certain iterations, said parsed squares may also repeatedly
shrink and expand
in size or assume an appearance of "flashing" in their fixed position (perhaps
upon user selection as a
soft-button mapping component) to indicate they are registered as actionable
and are awaiting formal
pairing to an associated wireless controller 1601. Upon an indication of
flashing, the user may, in farther
exemplary discourse, then proceed to tap each of the respective flashing
squares of the soft-buttons 1603
assigned for control, one at a time, and as each is tapped the user is
instructed to press the correspondent
button on the wireless controller 1601 to where a wireless signal is then
instantly sent from the wireless
controller 1601 to the touchscreen user device 1602 for respective soft-button
"locking". Controller
directives may be subjected to processing by a central control unit (of the
touchscreen user device 1602,
the wireless controller 1601 or both) and the app-based, input/output mapping
interface 1600 software in
the process of "locking" controller directives between the wireless controller
1601 disposition and the
application's soft-button disposition (for controller influence of an
actionable object or object plurality on
a touchscreen). In yet another serviceable embodiment, serving to suggest
breadth and scope to task, a
software-based input/output mapping interface 1600 may also compartmentalize
the touchscreen into a
comprehensive array of tiled squares (a uniform pattern of disposition [a form
of "virtual matrix"' that
may assume, for instance, a tile size proximal to the width of a finger tip or
the size of a traditional soft-
icon or the icon of an app in a traditional virtual arrangement) to facilitate
comprehensive coverage of all
salient screen domain of an associated touchscreen user device for mapping
delivery (for the intent and
purpose of remotely manipulating an onscreen actionable object, with all
nodules, in their entirety,
providing for a comprehensive screen-mapping interface). In this way, as a
virtual grid is established, a
thcilitative environment for mapping and virtual actuation by precise
coordinate (representing a
manually-selected tile addressed to a soft-button and matching controller
input, for instance) is
established, in the spirit and scope of this discourse. Furthermore, for games
requiring limited soft-button
functionality, exempli gratia, an input/output mapping interface 1600 may
replace the traditional soft-
button interface and/layout, with its own custom interface, so for games
involving commands such as
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
54
jumping, any place on the touchscreen may be mobilized to act as the jump
command in place of the
standard soft-button.
Moreover, beyond the suggested influence of an actionable on-screen object by
electronic pairing
and "actuation", the wireless input controller 1601 may also comprise its own
electronic sensors,
including, but not limited to: proximity, accelerometer, magnetometer and
device-positioning and motion
sensors, such as a gyroscope, under the management of an integrated circuit.
In this way, a much more
comprehensive mapping system may be possible. Sensor-derived directives may,
for example, be relayed
to an associated microcontroller assembly for the transmission of a
comprehensive derivation of input
directives to an equipped touchscreen user device 1602 and its associated
input/output mapping interface
1600 (a software iteration) for related processing. A physical controller
embodiment is thus able to
advance a "reflex" response, termed by the inventor as "comprehensive-gesture
mimicking", for Me
faithful translation of a detailed physical gesture into a virtual environment
for touchscreens. Thus,
sensor responses (e.g. the influencing of a sensor input) of a wireless
controller 1601 can be virtually
mapped to corresponding sensor responses (e.g. the reciprocal influencing of a
sensor input) of a
touchscreen user device, such that, for example, rotational acceleration of
the wireless controller 1601 is
mapped to and interpreted as rotational acceleration of the touchscreen user
device (without suggestion of
limitation in sensor mapping). Accelerometer controls for a racing-themed app,
for instance, and without
suggestion of limitation, can be influenced remotely by pairing an equipped
wireless input controller
1601 with accelerometer and an app-based, input/output mapping interface 1600,
or directly to the race-
themed app itself in divergent iterations, for virtual accelerometer mapping
in real-time. The result is
remote and ground-breaking wireless controller 1601 influence of, or
interaction with, a touchscreen user
device 1602 and each of its responsive control sensors, such as, but not
limited to, the accelerometer,
gyroscope, magnetometer, proximity, orientation and/or any serviceable
touchscreen-based sensor
capable of being virtually mapped in the spirit and scope of this discourse.
Divergent embodiments may
suggest a method and assembly of "X" virtual mapping, where wireless
controller-based sensor "X" of a
wireless controller 1601 device (suggesting divergence and breadth beyond the
accelerometer-based
sensor theme according to this exemplary discourse) is virtually mapped to a
touchscreen-based sensor
a wireless input controller's 1601 remote, "twin" sensor, for additional
remote touchscreen-
controller empowerment_
The wireless input controller 1601 may further comprise its own touchscreen
and/or touchpad
interface 1604, each being fully fluent in touch/tap gesture recognition, as
an additional type of remote
modal influence of a soft-input or soft-interface on a touchscreen user device
1602 (for example, in the
manipulation of a soft-button interface and/or pointer by virtue of
manipulation of a wireless input
controller 1601). Once all active soft-buttons 1603 and germane configurations
are associatively paired,
in accordance with an embodiment, a user may commence game play for more
precise control under an
operational controller. Furthermore, under certain operating, scenarios, a
system may be introduced where
visual and tactical mapping occtu-s instantly since a wireless input
controller's 1601 touchscreen, in
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
exemplary discourse, may see the verbatim output of a remote touchscreen user
device and since all
germane inputs (including soft and hardware-based sensors) may be
conununicably tethered, in a mirror-
like mapping footprint shared between the paired devices, it may promote the
one-to-one influence of all
germane input requirements of a game, remotely, by virtue of respective
manipulation of a wireless input
5 controller 160E And considering the actionable soft-buttons of a
touchscreen user device may be
correlatively present in a mirror-like rendering on the individual touchscreen
of the wireless input
controller 1601, a user may thus control an actionable object from both a
physical button inteiface and by
targeted touchscreen association, Users may appreciate the convenience and
level of control robustness in
a specialty touchscreen controller that combines a touchscreen interface with,
for instance, the physical
10 control elements associated with a traditional gaming console's input
controller in a complement of
mapping harmony.
Introducing a kindred embodiment that moreover describes a wireless input
controller 1601 with
its own touchscreen and/or touchpad 1604 surface, the inventor describes a two-
ring system of remote
finger and/or linger plurality input, such as a system designed for the remote
reproduction of a finger
15 swipe and/or tactical actuation of a targeted screen coordinate (e.g. a
particular soft-button). In
accordance with a disposition of such a controller environment, a two-ring
graphical iteration may be
injected into a touchscrem's virtual rendering -- exempli gratia, a singular
graphical ring may be inserted
into both corners (hence the expression of a two-ring system, with each ring
potentially associated with a
left and right hand, respectively, as an example, without suggestion of
limitation) of a graphical display
20 and each ring being prone to manipulable influence by a respective
finger across both a touchscreen and
touchpad surface in analogous fashion. Therefore, in building fttrther still
by example, if a user was
targeting a soft-button on the left-hand side of a touchscreen, a user may
simply place a finger of his left-
hand (most proximal) on the left-hand side of the touchscreen or touchpad
interface associated with the
wireless input controller I 601 , thus controllably engaging the left virtual
ring respectively. Upon initial
25 ring engagement, the user may then proceed to manipulate the virtual
ring until it is superimposed over a
touchscreen area a user intends to actuate with his lingers (remotely). Once
the intended superimposition
is achieved, without suggestion of limitation, a user may simply lift and then
quickly retouch his or her
finger in a proximal area of a touchpad or touchscreen to indicate intended
actuation at the presence of
the ring. The two-rings may be virtually tethered to a memory-retum system
according to a timer, if so
30 coveted, that sees each ring return to a position of rest at the corners
once a user has completed actuation
and/or may see rings remain in position and be "teleported" to a new location
upon new finger placement
(or have the ring digitally be removed temporarily until re-activation by the
control input of a finger),
although such examples in no way intend to suggest limitation and any
serviceable system, in the spirit
and scope of this discourse, may serve as descriptive fodder to a touchscreen
controller embodiment. For
35 attachment-based interfaces injected in an akin controller environment,
an innate capacitive source and
capacitive manager may be employed where influence of a wireless input
controller's 1601 independent
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
56
touchscreen, for instance, influences the capacitive manger to replicate a
"mirrored" capacitive discharge
at a targeted point of actuation in the spirit and scope of the inventive
discourse_
Figs. 17 and I 7A illustrate a plurality of light-gun and/or akin specialty
input controllers
transitionally designed for touchscreen operation, including a "micro-capture"
or (finite) screen-capturing
device. A linked ("line-of-sight") specialty-input controller may be designed
primarily for the
manipulation of actionable on-screen objects in a touchscreen environment. The
"micro-capture" or
(finite) screen-capturing device, exempli gratia, serves as a specialty input
controller and is used for
articulated touchscreen registration of a communicable directive or directive
plurality (by remote
influence) upon broadcast engagement. An aimer-controller assembly for
actionable-objects 170 is
shown interposed into a touchscreen 171 environment, in accordance with an
embodiment. An antler
controller for actionable-objects 170, serving as a touchscreen-input device
or controller input, may
represent a lightweight plastic controller comprising a processor, wireless
transmitter and an image-
capture device 172 such as a digital camera 172 equipped with an extremely
narrow viewfinder frame.
By design, the viewfinder frame may only be capable of capturing a very
limited image (for instance, a
small section of the active touchscreen display of a touchscreen user device
171 to which it is pointedly
cast), with said viewfinder image positionally influenced by directing the
focal point 173 or lens of the
aimer controller for actionable-objects 170 in a prelude to screen capture, as
per this exemplary
discourse. As an aimer controller for actionable-objects 170, for instance, is
µvirelessly paired to a
touchscreen user device 171 featuring a compatible game title (and/or under
the autonomous ascendency
of virtual mapping software, thus extensively broadening game compatibility of
the aimer controller
assembly for actionable-objects 170), upon user engagement of a projecting
tongue or trigger 174 at the
handle top of an aimer controller for actionable-objects 170, a wireless
directive is instantly transmitted
to the touchscreen user device causing the display image on the touchscreen to
rapidly flash an
alphanumeric rendering (without suggestion of limitation) uniquely
identifiable to a specific touchscreen
location, In further description, upon application of a trigger 174, the
rendered output of a touchscreen
sees an alphanumeric rendering instantly flashed by either the engaged game
and/or mapping software (at
a fraction of a second, an interval not even discerned by the user) across an
entire touchscreen for related
processing. To better facilitate reader understanding, without suggestion of
limitation, an example
rendering may comprise the following: "ala2a3a4a5a6a7a8a9a1
Obib2b3b4h5b6b7b8b9b10...
zl z27.3z4z5z6z7z8z9z10" for parsing. An encompassing flash rendering such as
this is immediately
classified into screen coordinates for related processing and, in conjunction
with the simultaneously
captured snippet image of a limited geographically-identifiable alphanumeric
rendering by an aimer
controller for actionable-objects 170, a process of cross-referencing occurs
instantly to determine an
exact location captured on a touchscreen 171, thereby allowing any mapping
software program present
on the touchscreen user device 471, exempli gratia, to manipulate and/or
engage an actionable-object at a
highly precise captured location (that "photographed" or captured by the
limited viewfinder of the aimer-
controller device 170) on the touchscreen 171, accordingly, during the course
of game play.
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
57
To expand on this discourse further, if an aimer controller for actionable-
objects 170 pointed at a
touchscreen user device 171 captures, as an example, the flashed (again,
injected at a rate imperceptible
to the human eye) digital-image snippet 7a or z7 of the alphanumeric rendering
noted in the embodiment
herein (reiteratively, the image captured within the limited range of the
viewfinder, the determination of
which will serve as precise coordinates of a touchscreen 171 capture) upon
trigger 174 application, the
aimer controller for actionable-objects 170 will then wirelessly transmit
these captured coordinates
instantly to the touchscreen user device 171 for related processing and
respective electronic "actuation"
or actionable touchscreen-coordinate engagement at point of capture. The
profuse of electronic
"actuation" may be precisely managed, without suggestion of limitation, under
the collaborative virtual
mapping software being rim on the touchscreen user device 171. Furthermore, an
aimer controller for
actionable-objects 170's driver software and/or mapping software (that may be
present in either of the
paired hardware devices and/or both, in the case of an input controller, more
particularly still the input
mapping software) may be, for example, programmed to consider screen-size
determination and distance
between the input device (an aimer controller for actionable-objects 170) and
touchscreen user device
171 to best assess the pattern of pixilation produced by the image capture
results (of the flashed
rendering) upon trigger activation. OCR software may also be incorporated into
the aimer controller for
actionable-objects 170, touchscreen user device 171 and/or both devices,
amongst other means
serviceable, to assist with parsing the screen capture (digital image) into
precise coordinates for the
accurate wireless relay of mapping directives to a touchscreen user device
171.
For those gainers seeking potentially greater compatibility and breadth across
a variety of
platforms and operating systems with less of an onus on software compatibility
and/or calibration
requirements, the inventor discloses a further iteration -- the subject of
Fig. I 7A -- in an effort to address
greater controller independence and freedom of operation. According to an
aimer controller for
actionable-objects' variant to that disclosed above, as additionally
transitioned to a video-game
enviromnent for touchscreen interfaces, a receiving device and related
disposition assembly for
touchscreens is introduced comprising an infrared-sensor plurality (such as a
plurality of photodiodes)
designed to collaborate with an infrared emitter comprising a touchscreen-
input device, such as a light
gun designed for casting against the surface of a receiving device that is
capable of coordinate detection
of a projected light beam.
A receiving device 1700 and related assembly comprising an infrared-sensor
1701 plurality, in
accordance with this exemplary discourse, is preferably sized in a way that
conspicuous remote viewing
1702 - such as that occurring from across the living room floor - by a user is
possible. The infrared-
sensors 1701 of the sensor plurality 1701 may be divided in a pattern of even
distribution across the
entire receiving device's 1700 surface area, in a manner that may, for
example, departmentalize each
sensor 170 I to proximate a -finger-span" size in order to effectively manage
(and prepare for associative
touchscreen mapping) the entire surface area of the receiving device 1700 for
correlative touchscreen
1703 actuation by electronic association. A serviceable communicable system of
coordinate flapping
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
58
between the receiving device 1700 and the touchscreen user device 1704, in
response to a manipulated
controller input of a light gun 1705, may comprise a system of software-driven
electronic association or
electronic "actuation". Across the face of the entire receiving device 1700,
in a proximal manner, an
acrylic (break-resistant) mirror 1706 -- capable of transmitting, or
traversing through the mirror depth in
its entirety, controller-born input 1705 communications such as an aimed light
projection beam or light-
beam casting by a light gun 1705 ¨ may be securely positioned. The broadcast
image of the touchscreen
user device 1704 is positionally manipulated such that it reflects first onto
an intermediary relay minor
1707, prone to angular manipulation, in such a manner that the relay mirror
then reflects the broadcast
image back (represented by the lines) onto said acrylic mirror 1706 encasing
the face of the receiving
device 1700 in a vantage that is shown right-side up to the user. In this way,
a user will see the exact
rendering -- overcoming he properties of reflection according to its design --
of the touchscreen's 1703
broadcast on the acrylic mirror's 1706 surface, and thus, be able to cast an
infrared beam "directly" onto a
game's broadcast-image rendering at its reflection point on the acrylic minor
1706 surface (which of
course, for repeated emphasis, permits a cast infrared-light beam to traverse
through the mirror depth to
the respective infrared sensors 1701 immediately below the acrylic mirror's
1706 surface, thereby
permitting sensing of a coordinate input for the related manipulation of an
actionable object accordingly).
Management of a coordinate input under a microcontroller influence of the
functional receiving
device 1700, in the spirit and scope of this discourse, permits identical
coordinate actuation directives
(e.g. a precise touchscreen 1703 mapping point) to be relayed to a touchscreen
user device 1704 for
appropriate response to an input controller I 705 signal for purposes of
manipulating an onscreen
actionable object. A carnival game, for instance, with a plurality of tin cans
strewn across a line on its
display screen 1703, may see a can knocked off its mooring if its position
represents the coordinate point
captured by the receiving device 1700 (and transmitted for action ¨ that is,
virtual actuation -- to a
touchscreen user device 1704). Identical touchscreen mapping, according to
this broadening iteration, is
premised on the communicability (for example, in a wholly wireless
disposition) between the various
hardware components present and any engaged software component(s) responsible
for faithful input-
gesture 1708 translation to a touchscreen user device 1704 from the initial
cast 1708 (a form of input) to
an electronic actionable-mapping or virtual "discharge" (virtual actuation at
a respective soft-button
coordinate input 1709, for instance) for the intended manipulation of an
actionable object.
According to an analogous iteration describing transitional adaptation to a
touchscreen, an
infrared-light emitter station (placed proximal to a touchscreen user device,
contrasting its kindred
embodiment) comprising an infrared light emitter plurality is used. The
infrared-light emitter station,
upon broadcast, may collaboratively engage one or more remote infrared
sensor(s) -- such as a
photodiode -- and a distribution of one or more angle sensor(s) contained in
the muzzle of a specialty
controller (a touchscreen-input device), such as a light gun described. As a
trigger is depressed on the
light gun, for instance, the intensity of an incoming 1k beam projection,
exempli grata, may be detected
by the engaged infrared (e.g. photodiode) and angle sensor(g) in the light gun
muzzle responsible for
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
59
surveying a coordinate origination. Since intensity is based on factors such
as ang,ulation and distance
from the infrared-light emitter station, the present method and assembly
described leverages a solved
trigonometric-equation system for calculating light-gun positioning relative
to an infrared-light emitter
station. Once respective angles of a broadcast agent (the infrared light
projection) are determined by the
angle sensors, as an infrared sensor receives an incidence of projection from
the infrared light-emitter
station, for example, a point of impact of an applied beam projecting from the
infrared-light emitter
station is electronically calculated and transmitted wirelessly for
correlative touchscreen actuation,
virtually, in the spirit mid scope of this discourse.
Light-gun muzzles comprising one or more photodiodes may also be injected into
a touchscreen
gaming environment such that upon depression of a light gun trigger, for
example, the touchscreen may
be instantly blanked out (also occurring at a rate imperceptible to a
touchscreen user) to a black base
wherein the diode then begins detection of an engaged rolling or digitally
"painted" line of white that
begins systematically traversing the entirety of the touchscreen and, thus,
triggering the diode at a
registration point in the course of traversal of said digitally painted "white
scroll" (a registered point
when the diode detects light subjected to it by the presence of this "white
scroll"), the exact timing of this
detection which is processed for related touchscreen orientation and virtual
actuation of an actionable on-
screen object at the point of mapping. A method deploying ultrasonic sensors,
for instance, in place of IR
emitters, may also be serviceable to this discourse and those skilled in the
art will appreciate the broader
implications of this embodiment in its transitionary discourse to a
touchscreen environment Where
impact-point precision is of less importance, designs may be adopted where
angle detectors are instead
replaced by, for instance, a quantity of 4 IR sensors for related integration.
Furthermore, 3 Or more IR
emitters, each with varying wavelengths and paired with the same quantity of
sensors, are variants to this
discourse that allow for angle determination relative to the 3 or more
emitters (with 3 emitters, 3 angles
are processed) upon calibration and can be further adapted for integration
into a touchscreen
environment, although such articulation in this paragraph is not accompanied
by illustration.
And in a further suggestion of breadth and scope to the associated discourse
in transitioning a
gun input controller to a touchscreen environment, a light gun may be further
transitioned to a
touchscreen environment such that the tip or muzzle of a light-gun controller
may be subjected to
camera-based tracking by an equipped touchscreen user device and its
associated mapping software; such
that as a communicative signal is received upon trigger depression by the
user, the orientation of a light-
gun pointer on the touchscreen (subject to said camera-based tracking) is
calculated and a virtual
"actuation" signal is applied at the coordinate of calculated orientation by
the mapping-software
component. Parenting the aim of an equipped tracking camera (or the camera
itself) to an object (such as
the Up of the light gun or muzzle), and/or by engaging a camera-lock on
feature, may also prove useful
for tracking and integrative-mapping purposes under certain operating
conditions. Furthermore, a camera
equipped with any serviceable camera-tracking and motion-tracking ability for
objects, including a
system that attaches a set of tracking markers to an object, such as the
muzzle of a light gun, prime for
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
optical tracking (and a trigonometric equation system capable of geometric
positioning and orientation of
a trackable object if germane to a gaming environment) is within die spirit
and scope of this discourse_
Such a method and assembly of course, is fodder for a system equally adept at
fully tracking a user (in
his or her entirety) and/or a user's fingers and/or hands for purposes of
gesture-based mapping, motion-
5 based mapping and/or virtual or electronic "actuation" of an actionable
object at a snapped point - as
-
manipulated by a respective gesture or gesture plurality of a user-- present
in a touchscreen controller
environment.
For more detailed information concerning the integral subject matter of ITO
deployment in the
spirit and scope of the following variant mapping system, the reader may refer
to Fig. 18 and the
10 discussion set forth therein. Disposition of a variant mapping system
that does not rely on virtual
"actuation" of an actionable touchscrcen object and instead relies on a
physical capacitive source is also
complementarily added to the thematic discourse herein. Although respective
actuation may occur by any
means serviceable in the spirit and scope of this discourse, such embodiments
fluently honour a
conductive path with the introduction of a capacitive-discharge overlay and
related assembly, where a
15 thin, transparent oveilay (that may be subjected to verbatim layering)
sees an initial application of a
transparent Indium-tin oxide coating on both its face and rear surface (to
ensure conductivity throughout
the overlay in only the areas coated with ITO at a matching or duplicate top-
and-bottom point) in an
arrangement that equally departmentalizes (an assembly of equal parts with die
adjacent borders serving
as insulation) the capacitive-discharge overlay for fluent touchscreen
assimilation across all salient screen
20 domain. Communicably bordering, from a coated tether maintained
throughout, the initial application of
transparent Indium-tin oxide coatings (the assembly of squares or "tiles"
responsible for capacitive
discharge) are a separate subset of conductive coatings or channels
conjoinedly applied to each ITO
deployment on the upper surface of the overlay only (to safeguard against
unintended transmission, that
is, transmission of a capacitive charge through the capacitive-discharge
overlay and onto a touchscreen,
25 along an entire (engaged) conductive path traversing the touchscreen).
By design then, only the areas
intended for transmission of a capacitive charge, such as an Indium-tin oxide
(ITO) coating or element
tile associated with a coordinate on the touchscreen area being targeted for
capacitive discharge, are
engaged as a conductive path traverses intently along the subset conductive
coating or channel (of a
capacitive-discharge overlay) of the enlisted capacitive network at its coated
surface (said differently, the
30 subset represents the transmission path prior to conclusion and occurs
adjacent to a touchscreen upon
overlay attachment) to a targeted touchscreen conclusion at the respective
tile intersection. In short, the
only point of realized actuation (by capacitive discharge) that occurs as an
engaged conductive path
traverses the entire conductive channel of a capacitive-discharge overlay is
at a targeted "tile" member or
associative element. The reader notes tile visibility in the associated
figures is for illustrative purposes
35 only and is intended to serve in the promotion of understanding; said
tiles (and channeling) are
imperceptible in practice due to their coated transparent nature.
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
61
A small intermediary-transceiver device, in adding colour by example, is
embedded in a
receiving device present in a controller environment and exists communicably
paired, by any serviceable
means, with an aimer controller for actionable-objects 170, in a preferred
supplement to the thematic
discourse above. The small intermediaiy-transceiver device, in concert with
its coupled capacitive-
discharge overlay, is able to fluently honour a conductive path from an ITO
origin (or file) up to and
including an exit point at the bottom of the capacitive-discharge overlay
since the capacitive-discharge
overlay sits conununicably nested in a homologous capacitive-distribution
centre (e.g. an exemplary
sleeve comprising a conductive pin assembly) found at its base. Once an input
directive, for example,
from an antler controller for actionable-objects 170, is registered by one or
more receptive sensors of the
receiving device with embedded intermedialy-transceiver device (along with one
or more associated
microcontroller unit[s]), a capacitive charge may be supplied or relayed to a
pin's "exit" point (now
serving as the engagement point at the capacitive-discharge overlay's base,
particularly comprising the
respective conductive coating or channel conjoinedly enlisted for targeted ITO
deployment by said pin)
for the intended manipulation of an actionable soft-object in a touchscreen-
controller environment. The
small intermediary-transceiver device comprises a capacitive manager and is
capable of recurrently
furnishing an innate capacitive supply in the spirit and scope of this
discourse. The related teachings of
this speciality-controller impetus, also lend well to a potential wired light-
gun variant with attachment,
under a prescribed method and assembly, that falls within the breadth and
scope of this discourse. And
while any physical-interface attachment assembly within die limits of the
intellectual property footprint
put forth by the inventor, where coveted and serviceable, may be interchanged
with a kindred wireless
variant that remains wholly attachmentless, the breadth and scope of all
controller assemblies and
associated physical and/or virtual mapping interfaces remain material to a
discussion. Further, any
controller assembly within the limits of the inventive disclosure, where
coveted, may be modified for
integration by virtue of a dock-connector pin system of the dock-connector
assembly of a touchscreen
user device in a manner that is directly attachable, engaged by wire or cable
extension and/of wirelessly
by a serviceable and/or paired coupler.
Fig. 18 illustrates, in accordance with an embodiment, a small intermedialy-
transceiver device
1800 assembly with camera 1801, male-dock connector and capacitive-discharge
overlay socket 1804 for
the housing of an attachable capacitive-discharge overlay 1802. The small
intemiediary- transceiver
device 1800, primarily functioning, in the aggregate, for die dual purpose of
docking a touchscreen user
device 1803 to be used as a modal power source and in the controlling of an
actionable object rendered
on the touchscreen of a touchscreen user device 1803, remotely, by substantive
virtue of a serviceable
male dock-connector assembly (not illustrated) to which a touchscreen user
device 1803 sits securely
attached; a capacitive-discharge overlay socket 1804 to which a capacitive-
discharge overlay 1802 is
received for relay of a targeted capacitive discharge both governed and
furnished by said small
intermediary-transceiver device 1800; and a communicable input device or
device plurality 1801, 1807
with associated mapping software. The small intermediatransceiver device 1800
with camera .1801
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
=
62
and male-dock connector interface is designed to receive controller input
directives, wirelessly from a
communicable input device or device plurality 1801, 1807, and then leverage an
innate capacitive source,
capacitive manager and mounted communicable appendage (the attachable
capacitive-discharge overlay
1802) to faithfully reproduce an input sequence for serviceable actuation .
The small intermediary-transceiver device 1800 with camera 1801 and the
capacitive-discharge
overlay socket 1804 may be integrated, by a wiring scheme, to the dock-
connector pin system of the
male-dock connector assembly for sourcing power from a voltage source (e.g. a
seated touchscreen user
device 1803) or a current source (furnished by an optional electrical socket-
based corded assembly). The
male dock-connector assembly receiving the touchscreen user device 1803, for
instance, comprises a
dock-connector pinout assembly and is wired in a manner, such that, the pound
and voltage pins -- along
with an appropriate resistor ¨may be engaged in a circuit upon the docking of
a touchscreen user device
1803. Thus, the associative wiring scheme is designed with the primary
objective of a docked
touchscreen user device 1803 powering the small intermediary-transceiver
device 1800 with camera
1801. In alternate iterations, of course, the pinout assembly responsible for
providing power, under this
embodiment, may be subject to change and/or replacement by an alternate power
supply.
The associated camera 1801 of the small intermediary-transceiver device 1800
(or, in variant
embodiments, tracking by an associated camera 1801 may be limited to those
associated camera's 1801
embodying a touchscreen user device 1803 with a system of mapping in place) is
capable of fluently
tracking, for instance, an accredited finger, hand-based and/or body gesture
and may remain under the
management of a microcontroller central to the small intermediary-transceiver
device 1800. The
associated camera 1801, may, for instance, amongst an expansive list of other
accredited input-gestures,
be capable of tracking a finger swipe, an articulated finger input or input
plurality, directional gesture
and/or a targeted engagement of touch (to actuate a soft-button, for instance)
motioned within a "capture
zone", to name a few possible implementations. A "capture zone" refers to the
given range of the
viewfinder associated with a camera-tracking system responsible for the
objective of motion-input
determination. Advancing the discussion further, upon the tracking of
accredited input directives based
on camera-discerned motion input, the capacitive manager of the small
intermediary-transceiver device
1800 with camera 1801 enlists an innately-supplied capacitive charge for relay
to a con-dative exit point
1805 tether of the capacitive-discharge overlay 1802. The relay of an innately-
supplied capacitive charge
serviceable to this embodiment, of course, occurs by virtue of the capacitive-
discharge overlay 1802
being contactually inserted into the integrated capacitive-discharge overlay
socket 1804 with pin
configuration¨with each pin being capable of distributing a capacitive charge.
The capacitive-discharge overlay 1802 is designed whereas a thin, transparent
overlay sees an
initial application of an Indium-tin oxide (ITO) coating 1806 on both its face
and rear surface (to ensure
element conductivity throughout the overlay upon layering only in the areas
treated or coated with the
ITO) in an arrangement that may equally departmentalize (an assembly of equal
parts or "tiles", with
adjacent borders serving as insulation) the capacitive-discharge overlay 1802
for fluent touchscreen
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
63
assimilation across all salient screen domain. Communicably bordering, from a
coated tether maintained
throughout, the initial application or set of ITO coatings 1806 (the assembly
of squares or "tiles"
responsible for capacitive discharge) are a separate subset of conductive
coatings or channels 1808
con joinedly applied to each ITO deployment 1806 on the upper surface of the
overlay only (to safeguard
against unintended transmission, that is, transmission of a capacitive charge
through the capacitive-
discharge overlay 1802 and onto a touchscreen, along an entire engaged
conductive path traversing the
touchscreen). By design, only the areas intended for transmission of a
capacitive charge, such as an
Indium-tin oxide (ITO) coated 1806 tile or element associated with a
coordinate on the touchscreen area
being targeted for capacitive discharge, will be engaged as the conductive
path is traversed intently along
the network's 1808 surface (by virtue of channeled routing along die upper
surface of the overlay 1802)
of a capacitive-discharge overlay 1802, attached to a touchscrecn, to a
targeted touchscreen conclusion.
Said differently, the only point of realized actuation (by capacitive
discharge) that occurs as a conductive
charge traverses the entire summoned conductive channel or path 1808 of a
capacitive-discharge overlay
1802 is at a targeted "tile" member or associative element. Targeting
determination may be based on, for
instance, the manipulation of a wireless input controller 1807 or accredited
camera gesture, this
according to the present embodiment and not being suggestive of limitation.
Said differently, the
processing of input directives of an associated wireless input controller 1807
may be replaced and/or
supplemented with the processing of input directives associated with an
associated camera 1801.
Upon actuation of a prescribed conductive channel 1808 with a targeted
capacitive-charge
distribution by associative pin disposition (reiteratively, by virtue of the
conductive alignment between
die exit points 1805 ¨ serviceably comprised of a tethered conductive coating -
- of a capacitive-discharge
overlay 1802 and the distribution pins of a capacitive-discharge overlay
socket 1804), a targeted domain
on the touchscreen of a touchscreen user device 1803 is thereby actuated, The
precise targeted domain
being dependent on the particular routed network 1805 or the capacitive-
discharge overlay 1802 (an
overlay actings as a physical output interface to a soft input) that was
summoned in reference to its
communicable tile 1806 association. A distribution element or "tile" 1806
enlisted for engagement of a
targeted domain, resides amongst a comprehensive disposition array of tiled
elements 1806 comprising
the capacitive-discharge overlay 1802 and has its entire network (from path to
tile initially engaged at an
exit point) skillfully managed by the microprocessor and coupled capacitive
manager of the small
intermediary-transceiver device 1800, without suggestion of limitation. The
targeted domain (or strategic
points of capacitive distribution) may be, for instance, points associated
with finger-based input tracking
such as a swipe, tap or akin accredited gesture processed through the camera
lens of an associated camera
1801, to name a few. The potential of commanding controller liberation by
virtue of an independent state
of remote controller use avails under such an embodiment, even potentially
displacing the need for a
virtual mapping component (e.g the described ITO-based system of physical-
capacitance delivery
originating from use of a small intermediary-transceiver device 1800 in
conjunction with a wireless input
controller 1601 of Fig. 16 with its own touchscreeti and/or touchpad 1604
interface), regardless of the
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
64
manlier of controller disposition. Mindful of that, actionable-object mapping
based on the conductive
network of a capacitive-discharge overlay 1802, may, of course, be replaced
with electronic or virtual
mapping supplied by an associated software program running, exempli gratia, on
a touchscreen user
device 1803, if so demanded in a controller environment. Mapping-based
software, for instance, may
inject a digital orientation point, such as a cross-hair or on-screen pointer
that may be manipulated by a
wireless input controller 1807, or conversely, the potential jettisoning of
the need for an orientation point
by virtue of pre-assigned mapping of all necessary soft-buttons in
synchronized relation to the input
buttons of a wireless input controller 1807. Orientation points could, of
course, also be influenced by
accredited camera gestures in a related controller environment and/or direct
touchscreen-to-touchsereen
mapping influence. This embodiment, or any stipulated in this application, for
that matter, is not in any
propensity suggestive of limitation.
The small intermediary-transceiver device 1800, in concert with its coupled
capacitive-discharge
overlay 1802, are able to fluently honour a conductive path from the ITO
origin 1806 up to and
including an exit point 1805 at the bottom of the capacitive-discharge overlay
1802. Once input
directives of a wireless input controller 1807 are determined by the
microcontroller unit of the small
intermediary-transceiver device 1800, for instance, a capacitive charge may be
supplied or relayed to an
exit point 1805 (with the -exit" point actually serving as the engagement
point of a quantity of relayed
capacitance or capacitive charge furnished by a small intermediary-transceiver
device 1800) of the
capacitive-discharge overlay 1802 -- also referred to previously as a thin,
transparent overlay ¨
communicably networked 1808 or linked 1308 to an Indium-tin oxide (ITO) tile
coating 1806 element. A
method and assembly thus permitting an induced conductive path to be
strategically honoured and
manipulated from a position of remote operation. A small intermediary-
transceiver device 1800 with
camera 1801 and attachable capacitive-discharge overlay 1802 may further be
embedded into a display
device, such as a HDTV, for direct touchscreen engagement of the touchscreen
TV (and/or associated
touchscreen user device 1803 linked by Component AV cables).
Under this exemplary operating scenario, without suggestion of limitation and
prescribed input
mechanics, whereas if a swipe gesture in an input cycle is determined by
camera 1801 to occur at the
bottom, right-hand corner of a framed capture range, for example, a capacitive
charge may then be
deployed (for related actuation) by the small intermediary-transceiver device
1800 along a designated
conductive path to an ITO-coating tile 1806 or conclusion element (the
targeted square or square
plurality in a series) associated with the bottom, right-hand corner of the
touchscreen. An HDTV may
serve, in a further instance of operability breadth and scope, as "a trackpad"
of sorts, where the cameras
viewfinder maps an omnidirectional range in proximity to the location in which
a user is standing that is
associated with "framing a gesture", which in this exemplary discourse may
rely on remotely using the
actual HDTV screen as the frame Or "canvas" in which a user may conduct
gestures for associative
mapping. Directional inclination may be mapped based on proximate gesture and
then translated to, for
instance, an HDTV in real-time either by wire and/or wirelesslv or, in die
case of operating scenarios
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
involving both a mobile touchscreen device, such as smart phone or tablet, mid
an HDTV, where a
touchscreen user devices output may dim be updated to the associated HDTV in
real-time. Of course, a
similar method of tracking and engagement could be transitioned for use
without the use of an
intermediary-transceiver device 1800 where the associated camera 1801 of a
user device is instead
5 engaged (or in addition to a transceiver device) and a serviceable
introduction of co-ordinate tracking and
mapping software on the user device is introduced for purposes of manipulating
an on-screen actionable
object. An infrared video camera, in another example suggesting both breadth
and scope, can also be
integrated into a system of gesture input where a plurality of stretchable
finger caps or thimbles, for
example, are introduced; where said caps may be designed to radiate a quantity
of serviceable heat
10 emission for a progressive means of tagging a finger-based gesture
input.
Attachment characteristics potentially attributed to the particular
embodiment: While the
following exemplary discourse may suggest a practicable application of an
attaclunent interface, it is not
intended to suggest limitation in any regard and/or does not necessarily imply
a specific method and/or
system of preferred operability. Any deviceful controller assembly described
in the accompanying
15 dissertation, may operate directly, in wireless mode under an
established duplexing system, with its
linked partner (e.g., a touchscreen user device by virtue of a serviceable
mapping system), thereby
potentially displacing the need for an attachable physical interface such as a
capacitive-discharge overlay
1802.
Embodiments herein are directed to systems, devices and methods for liberating
the input
20 function of soft-button controllers (graphical representations that are
engaged by ¨ or respond to -- the
control input of a finger in order to carry out a function) and/or any
respective soft key or keys and/or
graphical representations situated on a capacitive touchscreen, particularly;
in both stationary and
portable devices. The disclosures herein are provided to lend instance to the
operation and methodology
of the various embodiments and are neither intended to suggest limitation in
breadth or scope, nor to
25 suggest limitation to die claims appended hereto. Furthermore, such
exemplary embodiments may be
applicable to all suitable touchscreen-hardware platforms (tablets, smart
phones, monitors, televisions,
point-of-display, etceteras) and can also include all suitable touchscreen
technologies, beyond capacitive
and capacitance governed, such as those inclined with resistive touchscreens
that, too, respond to touch
input, albeit with its own peculiarities related to the technology. Those
skilled in die art will understand
30 and appreciate the actuality of variations, combinations and equivalents
of the specific embodiments,
methods and examples listed herein.
The embodiment(s) described, and any references in the specification to "one
embodiment", "an
embodiment", "an example embodiment', et cetera, indicate that die
embodiment(s) described may
include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Such phrases are
not necessarily referring to the
35 same embodiment. When a particular feature, structure, or characteristic
is described in connection with
an embodiment, persons skilled in the art may effect such a feature,
structure, or characteristic in
CA 02837808 2013-12-20
66
comiection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described. A
particular feature, structure, or
characteristic described in an embodiment may be removed; whilst still
preserving the serviceability of
an embodiment.
While a functional element may be illustrated as being located within a
particular structure, other
locations of the fruictional element are possible. Further, the description of
an embodiment and the
orientation and layout of an element in a drawing are for illustrative
purposes only and are not suggestive
of limitation. The embodiments described, and their detailed construction and
elements, are merely
provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of the invention. Any
description is not to be taken
in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the
general principles of the
invention.
While embodiments may be illustrated using portable devices, the particularity
of these
embodiments are not limited to application of portable devices and may instead
be applied to stationary
devices. For purposes of the discussion that follows, the term "user device"
can encompass both portable
and stationary devices.
While the noted embodiments and accompanying discourse and illustrations of
the invention
disclosed herein can enable a person skilled in the art (PSITA) to make and
use the invention in its
detailed exemplary embodiments, a skilled artisan will understand and
appreciate the actuality of
variations, modifications, combinations, atypical implementations,
improvements and equivalents of any
of the specific embodiments, methods, illustrations and examples listed
herein.
While the present invention has been described with reference to such noted
embodiments,
methods, illustrations and examples, it is understood by a skilled artisan
that the invention is not limited
to any of the disclosed embodiments, methods, illustrations and examples, but
by all embodiments,
methods, illustrations and examples within the spirit and scope of the
invention. The scope of the
following claims, and the principles and novel features, amongst the discourse
herein, is to be accorded
the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all modifications,
combinations, improvements and
equivalent structures and functions.
Any particular terminology describing certain features Or aspects of the
invention is not
suggestive of language restricted to any specific characteristics, features,
or aspects of the invention with
which that terminology is associated. Furthermore, any reference to claim
elements in the singular, for
example, using the articles "a," "an," or "the," is not to be construed as
limiting the element to the
singular.
