System and method for differentiating between pointers used to contact touch surface

A method of updating image data used to present a displayed image on a touch surface in response to pointer contact on said touch surface, said method comprising:

• displaying an image on said touch surface;
• generating pointer position data in response to pointer contact with said touch surface and acquiring images of pointers used to contact said touch surface;
• calculating a sum along each row of pixels in the images to generate a horizontal intensity profile of the pointer within the images and processing the horizontal intensity profile to determine the type of pointer used to contact the touch surface, the pointer type being selected from one of a pen tool and a finger;
• and
• updating image data used to present the displayed image on said touch surface based on the generated pointer position data and the determined type of pointer, wherein when the determined type of pointer is a pen tool, the images are further analyzed to determine whether a tip or a backend of said pointer is used to contact said touch surface and wherein when a tip is used to contact said touch surface, the images are further analyzed to determine a color assigned to said pen tool.

A touch system comprising:

• a touch surface on which an image is presented;
• a processor responsive to pointer contacts on the touch surface and generating image data that is used to present said image;
• and
• at least one camera to acquire images of said pointer, wherein said processor examines said images to generate a horizontal intensity profile representing said pointer and process the horizontal intensity profile to determine at least the shape of said pointer thereby to determine whether said pointer is a pen tool or a finger and updates the image data based on the type of pointer and the pointer activity on the touch surface, wherein one end of said pen tool has a generally conical tip and constitutes a writing tool and wherein said tip includes a unique identifier, when a writing tool is used to contact said touch surface, said processor examining said images to recognize said identifier and thereby determine another attribute assigned to the writing tool.

A camera-based touch system comprising;

• a pair of cameras having overlapping fields of view encompassing an area on which pointer contacts are to be made, said cameras acquiring images and generating corresponding image data;
• a processor receiving and processing the image data generated by said cameras to determine the location of a pointer relative to the area when the pointer is captured in images acquired by the cameras and analyzing the image data to generate a horizontal intensity profile of said pointer and processing the horizontal intensity profile to determine the type of pointer used to contact the area, said pointer type being selected from one of a pen tool and a finger;
• and
• a plurality of different pen tools, each pen tool having a unique three-dimensional tip configuration specifying an attribute assigned to said pen tool, wherein when said processor determines that the tip of one of said pen tools is used to contact said area, said processor further analyzes said acquired images to recognize the unique three-dimensional configuration of said tip.

A touch system comprising:

• a touch surface to be contacted by a pointer;
• at least one imaging device having a field of view looking generally across said touch surface;
• at least one processor communicating with said at least one imaging device and analyzing images acquired by said at least one imaging device to:
• (i) determine the type of pointer used to contact said touch surface;
• and (ii) determine the location on said touch surface where pointer contact is made;
• and
• a plurality of different pen tools, each pen tool having a unique three-dimensional tip configuration, wherein when said at least one processor determines that a tip of one of said pen tools is used to contact said touch surface, said at least one processor further analyzes said images to recognize the unique three-dimensional tip configuration of said one pen tool.

A method of updating image data used to present a displayed image on a touch surface in response to pointer contact on said touch surface, said method comprising the steps of:

• displaying an image on said touch surface;
• generating pointer position data in response to pointer contact with said touch surface and acquiring images of pointers used to contact said touch surface;
• analyzing the acquired images to determine the type of pointer used to contact the touch surface;
• and
• updating image data used to present the displayed image on said touch surface based on the generated pointer position data and the determined type of pointer, wherein when a tip of a pointer is used to contact said touch surface, the images are further analyzed to determine a color assigned to said pen tool, said determined color being based on a recognized three-dimensional pen tool tip configuration.

A touch system comprising:

• a touch surface to be contacted by at least one of a finger and a pen tool, said pen tool having a unique three-dimensional tip configuration;
• at least one imaging device having a field of view looking generally across said touch surface;
• and
• at least one processor communicating with said at least one imaging device and analyzing images acquired by said at least one imaging device to:
• (i) determine the type of pointer used to contact said touch surface;
• and (ii) determine the location on said touch surface where pointer contact is made, wherein when said at least one processor determines that a tip of a pen tool is used to contact said touch surface, said at least one processor further analyzes said images to recognize the unique three-dimensional configuration of said pen tool tip.

An interactive input system comprising:

• at least one imaging device having a field of view looking into a region of interest into which at least one pointer is positioned;
• and
• processing structure communicating with said at least one imaging device and analyzing images acquired by said at least one imaging device to:
• (i) determine the type of the at least one pointer;
• and (ii) determine the location of the at least one pointer in said region of interest, wherein during image analysis to determine pointer type, said processing structure processes the acquired images to recognize the three-dimensional configuration of the pointer tip.