System and method for touch-gesture recognition

An electronic system, comprising:

• a surface for detection of a touch gesture of a user;
• a processing unit;
• an electrostatic-charge-variation sensor, operatively coupled to the processing unit and to the detection surface, configured to detect a variation of electrostatic charge on the detection surface and to generate a charge-variation signal;
• and
• an accelerometer, operatively coupled to the processing unit and to the detection surface, configured to detect a vibrational signal on the detection surface and to generate an acceleration signal,
• wherein the processing unit is configured to:
• acquire the charge-variation signal;
• acquire the acceleration signal;
• detect, in the charge-variation signal, a first signal feature identifying the touch gesture of the user;
• detect, in the acceleration signal, a second signal feature identifying the touch gesture of the user;
• detect a temporal and shape correspondence between the first and second signal features that identify the touch gesture;
• and
• validate the touch gesture of the user only in the case where both of the first and second signal features have been detected and the temporal correspondence satisfies a pre-set relation.

A method for detecting a touch gesture of a user on a detection surface, comprising:

• supplying a charge-variation signal by an electrostatic-charge-variation sensor operatively coupled to a processing unit and to the detection surface, the electrostatic-charge variation sensor configured to detect a variation of electrostatic charge on the detection surface in response to the touch gesture of the user;
• supplying an acceleration signal by an accelerometer, operatively coupled to the processing unit and to the detection surface, the accelerometer configured to detect a vibration applied to the detection surface in response to the touch gesture of the user;
• detecting, in the charge-variation signal, a first signal feature identifying the touch gesture of the user;
• detecting, in the acceleration signal, a second signal feature identifying the touch gesture of the user;
• detecting a temporal and shape correspondence between the first and second signal features that identify the touch gesture;
• and
• validating the touch gesture of the user only in the case where both the first and second signal features have been detected and the temporal correspondence satisfies a pre-set relation.