# US 2021/0275906 A1 · Using finger presence to activate a motion control feature for a handheld controller > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2021/0275906 A1 - Document ID: US20210275906A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 17/303,391 - Filed: 2021-05-27 - Published: 2021-09-09 - Earliest claimed: 2019-05-07 - Assignees: Valve Corporation - Applicants: Valve Corporation - Inventors: Austin Palmer; Ian Campbell; Scott Dalton - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210275906A1 ## CPC - A63F 13/2145: the surface being also a display device, e.g. touch screens - A63F 13/211: using inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers or gyroscopes - A63F 13/214: for locating contacts on a surface, e.g. floor mats or touch pads - A63F 13/22: Setup operations, e.g. calibration, key configuration or button assignment - A63F 13/24: Constructional details thereof, e.g. game controllers with detachable joystick handles - G06F 3/0338: with detection of limited linear or angular displacement of an operating part of the device from a neutral position, e.g. isotonic or isometric joysticks - G06F 3/0346: with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a three-dimensional [3D] space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors - G06F 3/044: by capacitive means - G06F 2203/04108: Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction - A63F: CARD, BOARD, OR ROULETTE GAMES; INDOOR GAMES USING SMALL MOVING PLAYING BODIES; VIDEO GAMES; GAMES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A handheld controller may include a movable control that is usable for activating and deactivating a motion control feature of the handheld controller based on a detection of, or a failure to detect, a finger contacting a surface of the movable control. For example, a touch sensor associated with the movable control may provide touch sensor data indicative of a proximity of a finger relative to the movable control, and based on this touch sensor data, the motion control feature of the handheld controller can be toggled on and off, depending on whether the finger is contacting the movable control or not. When the motion control feature is activated, motion sensor data from a motion sensor(s) is sent to an application (e.g., a video game) as application input. When the motion control feature is deactivated, the motion sensor data is not used as application input. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A handheld controller comprising: one or more processors; a motion sensor configured to provide, to the one or more processors, motion sensor data indicative of movement of the handheld controller; a housing including a control that is configured to be used by a finger; a sensor associated with the control and configured to provide, to the one or more processors, sensor data indicative of the finger contacting a surface of the control; and logic configured to: determine that the finger is contacting the surface of the control based at least in part on the sensor data; activate a motion control feature of the handheld controller based at least in part on determining that the finger is contacting the surface of the control, wherein activating the motion control feature causes the handheld controller to provide the motion sensor data to an application for controlling an aspect of the application; determine that the finger has ceased contacting the surface of the control based at least in part on the sensor data; and deactivate the motion control feature based at least in part on determining that the finger has ceased contacting the surface of the control, wherein deactivating the motion control feature causes the handheld controller to stop providing the motion sensor data to the application for controlling the aspect of the application. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The handheld controller of claim 1, wherein: the sensor comprises a touch sensor; the sensor data comprises touch sensor data; the aspect of the application comprises at least one of: movement of a cursor of the application; movement of a virtual camera of the application; or movement of a virtual object of the application, and the logic is further configured to, prior to deactivating the motion control feature: determine, based at least in part on the touch sensor data, that the finger has ceased contacting the surface of the control and remains spaced a distance from the surface of the control that is less than a threshold distance; and adjust an amount of at least one of the movement of the cursor, the movement of the virtual camera, or the movement of the virtual object based at least in part on the distance the finger is spaced from the surface of the control. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The handheld controller of claim 1, further comprising a pressure sensor associated with the control and configured to provide, to the one or more processors, force data indicative of an amount of force of a press of the control, and wherein: the aspect of the application comprises at least one of: movement of a cursor of the application; movement of a virtual camera of the application; or movement of a virtual object of the application, and the logic is further configured to: determine, based at least in part on the force data, the amount of force of the press of the control; and adjust an amount of at least one of the movement of the cursor, the movement of the virtual camera, or the movement of the virtual object based at least in part on the amount of force of the press of the control. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The handheld controller of claim 1, wherein the control comprises a joystick. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The handheld controller of claim 4, wherein the sensor is mounted underneath the surface of the joystick. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The handheld controller of claim 1, wherein the motion sensor comprises at least one of a gyroscope or an accelerometer. ### Claim 7 A method comprising: determining, by one or more processors, and based at least in part on sensor data provided by a sensor associated with a control of a handheld controller, a presence of a finger on a surface of the control; activating, by the one or more processors, and based at least in part on determining the presence of the finger on the surface of the control, a motion control feature of the handheld controller, wherein the activating of the motion control feature causes the handheld controller to provide motion sensor data generated by a motion sensor of the handheld controller to an application for controlling an aspect of the application; determining, by the one or more processors, and based at least in part the sensor data provided by the sensor, an absence of the finger on the surface of the control; and deactivating, by the one or more processors, and based at least in part on determining the absence of the finger on the surface of the control, the motion control feature, wherein the deactivating of the motion control feature causes the handheld controller to stop providing the motion sensor data to the application for controlling the aspect of the application. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein: the sensor comprises a touch sensor; the sensor data comprises touch sensor data; the aspect of the application comprises at least one of: movement of a cursor of the application; movement of a virtual camera of the application; or movement of a virtual object of the application, and the method further comprises, prior to the deactivating of the motion control feature: determining, by the one or more processors, and based at least in part on the touch sensor data, that the finger remains spaced a distance from the surface of the control that is less than a threshold distance after the determining the presence of the finger on the surface of the control; and adjusting, by the one or more processors, and based at least in part on the distance the finger is spaced from the surface of the control, an amount of at least one of the movement of the cursor, the movement of the virtual camera, or the movement of the virtual object. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein: the aspect of the application comprises at least one of: movement of a cursor of the application; movement of a virtual camera of the application; or movement of a virtual object of the application, and the method further comprises: determining, by the one or more processors, and based at least in part on force data provided by a pressure sensor associated with the control, an amount of force of a press of the control; and adjusting, by the one or more processors, and based at least in part on the amount of force of the press of the control, an amount of at least one of the movement of the cursor, the movement of the virtual camera, or the movement of the virtual object. ### Claim 10 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the control comprises a trackpad. ### Claim 11 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the control comprises a movable control. ### Claim 12 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7, wherein the motion sensor comprises at least one of a gyroscope or an accelerometer. ### Claim 13 A handheld controller comprising: one or more processors; a motion sensor configured to provide, to the one or more processors, motion sensor data indicative of movement of the handheld controller; a control; a sensor associated with the control and configured to provide, to the one or more processors, sensor data indicative of a finger contacting a surface of the control; and memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: determine that the finger has come into contact with the surface of the control based at least in part on the sensor data; activate a motion control feature of the handheld controller based at least in part on determining that the finger has come into contact with the surface of the control, wherein activating the motion control feature causes the handheld controller to provide the motion sensor data to an application for controlling an aspect of the application; determine that the finger has ceased contacting the surface of the control based at least in part on the sensor data; and deactivate the motion control feature based at least in part on determining that the finger has ceased contacting the surface of the control, wherein deactivating the motion control feature causes the handheld controller to stop providing the motion sensor data to the application for controlling the aspect of the application. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The handheld controller of claim 13, wherein: the sensor comprises a touch sensor; the sensor data comprises touch sensor data; the aspect of the application comprises at least one of: movement of a cursor of the application; movement of a virtual camera of the application; or movement of a virtual object of the application, deactivating the motion control feature is based on determining that the finger has ceased contacting the surface of the control and has moved beyond a threshold distance from the control; the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to, prior to deactivating the motion control feature: determine, based at least in part on the touch sensor data, that the finger has ceased contacting the surface of the control and is spaced a distance from the surface of the control that is less than the threshold distance; and adjust, based at least in part on the distance the finger is spaced from the surface of the control, a sensitivity level of the motion control feature, the sensitivity level of the motion control feature causing at least one of the cursor, the virtual camera, or the virtual object to move by a particular amount proportional to an amount of movement of the handheld controller. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The handheld controller of claim 13, further comprising a pressure sensor associated with the control and configured to provide, to the one or more processors, force data indicative of an amount of force of a press of the control, and wherein: the aspect of the application comprises at least one of: movement of a cursor of the application; movement of a virtual camera of the application; or movement of a virtual object of the application, and the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to: determine, based at least in part on the force data, the amount of force of the press of the control; and adjust, based at least in part on the amount of force of the press of the control, a sensitivity level of the motion control feature, the sensitivity level of the motion control feature causing at least one of the cursor, the virtual camera, or the virtual object to move by a particular amount proportional to an amount of movement of the handheld controller. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The handheld controller of claim 13, wherein the control comprises a trackpad. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The handheld controller of claim 13, wherein the control comprises a movable control. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The handheld controller of claim 17, wherein the movable control comprises a joystick. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The handheld controller of claim 13, wherein the application comprises a video game. ### Claim 20 (depends on 13) The handheld controller of claim 13, wherein the motion sensor comprises at least one of a gyroscope or an accelerometer.