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US 2009/0021489 A1Published application
Identifying contacts on a touch surface
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsWayne Westerman, John G. Elias
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus and methods are disclosed for simultaneously tracking multiple finger and palm contacts as hands approach, touch, and slide across a proximity-sensing, multi-touch surface. Identification and classification of intuitive hand configurations and motions enables unprecedented integration of typing, resting, pointing, scrolling, 3D manipulation, and handwriting into a versatile, ergonomic computer input device.
Claims5
A method for segmenting hand contacts in a sequence of proximity images, the method comprising:
- creating a smoothed copy of the most recent proximity image;
- locating one or more locally maximum pixels in the smoothed proximity image;
- and searching outward from each local maximum pixel for corresponding contact boundary pixels using boundary tests that depend on one or more expected contact properties.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.