# US 10,768,747 B2 · Haptic realignment cues for touch-input displays > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 10,768,747 B2 - Document ID: US10768747B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/041,659 - Filed: 2018-07-20 - Published: 2019-02-28 - Granted: 2020-09-08 - Earliest claimed: 2017-08-31 - Assignees: Apple Inc. - Applicants: Apple Inc. - Inventors: Paul X. Wang; Ian M. Bullock - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10768747B2 ## CPC - G06F 3/04886: by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus - G06F 3/016: {Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user} - G06F 3/04812: Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects - G06F 3/0488: using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures - G06F 2203/014: Force feedback applied to GUI - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A touch-sensitive display of an electronic device is operated in conjunction with a notification system configured to provide haptic, acoustic, and/or visual output to cue a user to align and/or maintain the user's finger positioning relative to one or more virtual input regions, such as virtual keys of a virtual keyboard, presented on the touch-sensitive display. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An electronic device comprising: a touch-sensitive display defining an input surface configured to receive a touch input to a virtual key presented by the touch-sensitive display; a haptic element coupled to the input surface; and a controller in communication with the haptic element and the touch-sensitive display and configured to: detect a sequence of touch inputs occurring within a region of the virtual key, the sequence of touch inputs including a current touch and multiple previous touches, each of the multiple previous touches associated with an actuation of the virtual key caused by placement of a user's body part within the region of the virtual key; determine a relative positional drift of the current touch relative to the multiple previous touches using the sequence of touch inputs; and in response to the relative positional drift exceeding a threshold, actuate the haptic element to produce a haptic output. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the haptic element comprises a piezoelectric material coupled to the touch-sensitive display. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The electronic device of claim 2, wherein the piezoelectric material is configured to induce a bending moment into the input surface such that, when actuated, the haptic element generates a localized haptic output through the input surface below the virtual key. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the haptic element is configured to vibrate the input surface at a frequency between 100 Hz and 200 Hz to produce the haptic output. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the haptic element is configured to vibrate the input surface at an ultrasonic frequency to produce the haptic output. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the haptic element is configured to laterally shift the input surface to produce the haptic output. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The electronic device of claim 1, wherein a frequency or an amplitude of the haptic output is based, at least in part, on a determined distance between one of the sequence of touch inputs and a central region of the virtual key. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the haptic output is localized to the current touch. ### Claim 9 A method of operating a touch-sensitive display positioned below an input surface, the method comprising: displaying a virtual keyboard on the touch-sensitive display; receiving a series of individual touch inputs occurring within a region of a virtual key of the virtual keyboard, the series of individual touch inputs including a current touch input and multiple previous touch inputs, the multiple previous touch inputs each associated with an actuation of the virtual key caused by placement of a user's body part within the region of the virtual key; determining a relative positional drift of the current touch input relative to the multiple previous touch inputs using the series of individual touch inputs; and in response to the relative positional drift exceeding a threshold, providing a haptic output at least partially localized to the region of the virtual key. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the haptic output is localized to a boundary of the virtual key. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the haptic output is localized to a touch input of the series of individual touch inputs. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, wherein the haptic output comprises decreasing friction between the input surface and an object in contact with the input surface. ### Claim 13 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising providing an acoustic output simultaneously with the haptic output. ### Claim 14 (depends on 9) The method of claim 9, further comprising providing a visual output on the touch-sensitive display simultaneously with the haptic output. ### Claim 15 A method of operating a touch-sensitive display positioned below an input surface, the method comprising: receiving a set of touch inputs occurring within a region of a virtual key of a virtual keyboard presented by the touch-sensitive display, the set of touch inputs including a current touch input and multiple previous touch inputs, the multiple previous touch inputs each associated with an actuation of the virtual key caused by placement of a user's body part within the region of the virtual key; estimating a relative positional drift of the current touch input relative to the multiple previous touch inputs using the set of touch inputs; and in response to the relative positional drift exceeding a threshold, actuating a haptic element to produce: a first haptic output, localized to the virtual key, upon determining that the current touch input is located in a central region of the virtual key; and a second haptic output, localized to a boundary of the virtual key, upon determining that the current touch input is located outside the central region of the virtual key. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, wherein the first haptic output is different from the second haptic output. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein: the first haptic output corresponds to a first vibration of the input surface at a first frequency; and the second haptic output corresponds to a second vibration of the input surface at a second frequency. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the first frequency is related to a distance between the current touch input and the central region of the virtual key. ### Claim 19 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein an amplitude of the first vibration is related to a distance between the set of touch inputs and the central region of the virtual key. ### Claim 20 (depends on 15) The method of claim 15, further comprising: providing a first acoustic output with the first haptic output; and providing a second acoustic output with the second haptic output.