Resolving touch and press for multiple input objects

A method for operating a processing system for an input device comprising a surface, comprising:

• determining a first position of a first input object and a second position of a second input object on the surface;
• receiving a plurality of resulting signals from a plurality of force sensors;
• determining a plurality of force values for the plurality of force sensors based on the plurality of resulting signals;
• calculating a first aggregate force metric for a first region of the surface based on a first subset of the plurality of force values;
• determining that the first region comprises an input force based on a first comparison comprising the first aggregate force metric;
• calculating a first distance between the first position and the first region and a second distance between the second position and the first region;
• and
• determining that the first input object is applying the input force to the surface in response to the first distance being smaller than the second distance.

An input device, comprising:

• a surface;
• a plurality of force sensors below the surface;
• and
• a processing system that:
• determines a first position of a first input object and a second position of a second input object on the surface;
• receives a plurality of resulting signals from the plurality of force sensors;
• determines a plurality of force values for the plurality of force sensors based on the plurality of resulting signals;
• calculates a first aggregate force metric for a first region of the surface based on a first subset of the plurality of force values;
• determines the first region comprises an input force based on a first comparison comprising the first aggregate force metric;
• calculates a first distance between the first position and the first region and a second distance between the second position and the first region;
• and
• determines that the first input object is applying the input force in response to the first distance being smaller than the second distance.