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US 8,542,189 B2Granted
Accelerometer-based tapping user interface
AssigneeSony Corporation
InventorsJames R. Milne, Kirstin Connors, Trisha Ann Sachie Yasuhara
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A CE device for, e.g., displaying the time can incorporate an accelerometer to provide various features and enhancements. For example, tapping of the housing as sensed by the accelerometer may be used for controlling various application modes of the device.
Claims19
A consumer electronics (CE) device, comprising:
- a housing bearing a processor, an audio display, and a visual display, the processor controlling the displays to present a plurality of menus, an audio and/or video application on the displays;
- an accelerometer in the housing, the accelerometer operable to output signals to the processor representing acceleration of the housing, wherein the acceleration is induced by a person tapping the housing;
- and
- the processor determining a surface of the housing being tapped and a number of taps on the surface within a predetermined period of each other,
- wherein one or more taps on a first surface of the CE device is interpreted by the processor as a command to present a first menu of the plurality of menus on the visual display, and wherein one or more taps on a second surface of the CE device is interpreted by the processor as a command to present a second menu of the plurality of menus on the visual display.
2 more elements
A consumer electronics (CE) device comprising:
- a housing bearing a processor, an audio display, and a visual display, the processor controlling the displays;
- an accelerometer in the housing, the accelerometer operable to output signals to the processor representing acceleration of the housing;
- the processor presenting a time of day on the visual display, the accelerometer sensing when a person taps various surfaces of the CE device to signal intended input meanings, a double tap on a first surface of the CE device being interpreted by the processor as a command to present on the visual display a first menu, from which the user may select, using selector elements presented on the visual display, various alarm parameters, two taps on a second surface of the CE device being interpreted by the processor as a command to present a second menu on the visual display.
A method comprising:
- determining whether at least one tap has been made against one of a left edge or a right edge of a housing of a consumer electronics (CE) device based on signals from an accelerometer in the housing;
- determining which of the left edge or the right edge of the housing has been tapped based on the signals from the accelerometer;
- causing a next item of an application running on the CE device to be presented on a displays responsive to the processor determining that one of the left edge or the right edge of the housing has been tapped;
- and
- causing a previous item of the application running on the CE device to be presented on the display responsive to the processor determining that other of the left edge or the right edge of the housing has been tapped.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.