WO2002061564A1

WO2002061564A1 - Reconfigurable user interface

Info

Publication number: WO2002061564A1
Application number: PCT/AU2002/000090
Authority: WO
Inventors: Christopher James Markovic
Original assignee: Christopher James Markovic
Priority date: 2001-01-30
Filing date: 2002-01-30
Publication date: 2002-08-08
Also published as: AUPR277301A0

Abstract

A reconfigurable user interface (10) provides a signal to a system responsive to an input received by the user interface. The user interface includes a display means (14), a receptor (16), an output means (24) and a processor means. The display means is for displaying at least one representation (28), each representation corresponding to an intended response by the system, each representation displayed in a separate region of the display means. The receptor is for receiving a user input, the receptor is juxtaposed with the display means so as to be receptive to a user input at, and/or in the vicinity of, each region of the display means. The receptor is arranged to identify a location from which the user input is received. The output means is for providing the signal to the system. The processor means is arranged to control the displaying of the one or more representations on the display means according to a selected configuration. The processor means is also arranged to interpret the user input from the location of the user input received by the receptor and to control the signal provided by the output means, whereby the signal provided by the output means to the system is determined by the location of the user input and the selected configuration of the display.

Description

RECONFIGURABLE USER INTERFACE

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a user interface that may be reconfigured and in particular a reconfigurable user interface for providing a signal to a system responsive to an input received by the user interface.

Background of the Invention

A user interface such as a computer keyboard is a static item that is configured according to its manufacture. The keyboard receives input from a user depending on the depression of keys. This input is provided to a computer, which is responsive to that input.

Touch sensitive computer screens are also known. They combine the ability to display information and the ability to receive user input according to a computer program running at the time on the computer. However, the touch screen is not independent from the computer monitor and is controlled directly by the software running at the time. The touch screen therefore relies on the computer that it is interfaced to. Further, the display of selectable representations on the display takes up space on the display that is often needed to display other things.

Summary of the Present Invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a reconfigurable user interface that provides a signal to a system responsive to an input received from the interface.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a reconfigurable user interface for providing a signal to a system responsive to an input received by the user interface, said user interface comprising at least: a display means for displaying at least one representation, each representation corresponding to an intended response by the system, each representation displayed in a separate region of the display means; a receptor for receiving a user input, the receptor juxtaposed with the display means so as to be receptive to a user input at, and/or in the vicinity of, each region of the display means, said receptor arranged to identify a location from which the user input is received; an output means for providing the signal to the system; and a processor means arranged to control the displaying of the one or more representations on the display means according to a selected configuration, the processor means also arranged to interpret the user input from the location of the user input received by the receptor and to control the signal provided by the output means, whereby the signal provided by the output means to the system is determined by the location of the user input and the selected configuration of the display.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a system responsive to an input received by a reconfigurable user interface comprising at least: a display means for displaying at least one representation, each representation corresponding to a system response to the recept of a respective input, each representation displayed in a separate region of the display means; a receptor for receiving a user input, the receptor juxtaposed with a display means so as to be receptive to a user input at and/or in the vicinity of each region of the display means, said receptor arranged to identify a location from which the user input is received; and a processor means arranged to control the displaying of the one or more representations on the display means according to a selected configuration, the processor means also arranged to interpret the user input from the location of the user input received by the receptor, the processor arranged to communicate the interpreted response to a second processor means of the system, the second processor means the system being responsive to the interpreted input whereby the signal is interpreted by the location of the user input and the selected configuration of the display.

Preferably, the receptor is a pressure sensitive layer arranged to sit above the display means. Alternatively, the receptor is a heat sensitive layer.

Preferably, the display is a liquid crystal display. Alternatively, the display is a light emitting diode matrix. Alternatively, the display means is a plasma display. Preferably, the display is substantially planar in shape.

Preferably, the display means and the receptor are formed within a tablet or a panel. Preferably, the tablet includes a housing for receiving the receptor and the display means. Preferably, the receptor is layered upon the display means. Preferably, a protective layer is provided above the receptor layer. Preferably, the protective layer and the housing are water-proof.

Preferably, a plurality of configurations of the display are selectable, with each configuration controlling the position of the region of each representation displayed on the display means. Preferably, each configuration also controls the representation displayed. Preferably, each configuration controls the interpretation of each representation displayed when selected. Preferably, the processor means interprets the selection of a representation according to the configuration by using a look-up table where the look-up table provides the interpreted result according to the input location received.

Preferably, a new configuration may be provided for each specific application of the system.

Preferably, the system is a computer system that runs a software application. Preferably, the software application includes or is accompanied by data for use in determining the configuration of the user interface for that computer program application. Preferably, the configuration is automatically selected according to the data.

Preferably, the configuration may be tailored by the user. Preferably, the configuration defines the size of the representations. Preferably, the configuration defines the shape of the representations. Preferably, the configuration determines the nature of the representations. Preferably, the configuration determines the location of the region of displayed representations. Preferably, the representations are of buttons or keys. Preferably, the representations are keys of a keyboard.

Preferably, one of the configurations configures the user interface as an ordinary keyboard. Preferably, alternative configurations configure the user interface as a keyboard with keys in the QWERTY configuration of keyboard with standard computer keys. Alternatively, the keyboard is of a DVORAK configuration. Preferably, other configurations provide function keys specific to the software application.

Preferably, the user interface may be configured to operate as a graphics tablet by receiving real time movement over a particular region and interpreting that as real time input. Alternatively, the user interface may operate as a pointer controller. Preferably, the pointer controller can be used to receive press and drag information as the user presses and drags his or her finger or a pen or similar across the receptor, which results in periodic updates of the interpreted input.

Preferably, the user interface interfaces with the system by a standard cable and communication protocol. Preferably, the cable standard and communication protocol is the universal serial bus protocol standard.

Preferably, the user interface is arranged to receive information from the system in order to select the configuration of the user interface.

Preferably, the display means displays each representation within an X-Y coordinate range on the tablet. Preferably, if input is sensed from the receptor from within the X-Y coordinate range of one of the representation then the user input is interpreted as a selection of representation where the input was with the X-Y coordinate range. Preferably, a Z coordinate can be received in the form of pressure applied to the receptor.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments

In order to provide a better understanding of the present invention preferred embodiments will now be described in detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an upper perspective schematic representation of a first preferred embodiment of a user interface in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a second preferred embodiment of a user interface in_. accordance with the present invention; and Figure 3 is a flow chart representing steps in the process of operation of a user interface in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1 , there is shown a user interface 10 in the form of a tablet 12 having a display 14 overlayed by a touch sensitive layer 16. The tablet also includes a power ON/OFF button 18 and a power indicator light 20. Extending from the back of the tablet 12 is a cord 22 at the end of which is a plug 24 for plugging the interface 10 into a system responsive to the input from the user interface 10, such as for example, a computer system having a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port. Alternatively, the plug may be a PS/2 serial plug. Other suitable interface means may be used, including wireless interface means.

Displayed on the display 14 are a series of representations. A first group of representations 26 includes a plurality of individual representations 28 that represent keys of a keyboard. The group 26 of keys form a standard layout of a computer keyboard. A second group of representations 30 includes another plurality of representations 28, each of which represent another individual key. The group of representations 30 form a representation of a keypad. Also displayed on the display is a rectangular representation 32 that includes a pointer icon 34. The pointer icon 34 is for tracing the path of last contact with the pressure sensitive layer, within the confines of the touch pad representation 32.

As an alternative to the pressure sensitive layer 16, a heat sensitive layer could be used so that actual impact with the panel is not necessary. The heat produced by a finger being placed in close proximity would be enough to register as an input. Since the representations displayed are merely images, they may be increased in size, changed in orientation or moved in position relative to one another and/or as a group within the display area. In addition, other representations other than those described can be displayed.

The touch sensitive layer 16 is substantially transparent so that the displayed representations can be seen. The touch sensitive layer 16 is able to detect pressure on its surface and also determine the location of the application of pressure. When pressure is applied to a location on the touch pad layer 16 that corresponds with a region of the display 14 which is displaying a particular representation, a processor within the tablet 12 is able to recognise and interpret the presence and location of the pressure to mean the selection of the particular representation. For example, if a person depresses the representation of a space bar 28A, the pressure sensitive layer will detect the presence of the pressure and provide the location of the application of pressure, in terms of X-Y coordinates, to the processor. The processor will interpret the X-Y coordinates as being within X-Y coordinates of the region of the display where the space bar is displayed and will thus interpret the contact with the representation by the user as the entry of a space.

However, if the representation of the space were to be in a different location on the display the processor would still produce the same result because the new location of the depression would correspond with the new location of the display of the representation of the space bar.

In the case of the representation of the touch pad 32, the application of pressure is interpreted in real time. The application of pressure produces a locational input which is sampled and thus movement of pressure across the surface of the touch sensitive layer can be interpreted. This is the same as the movement of a track ball or a mouse ball. Thus the equivalent of a click and drag can be produced by touching and dragging the user's finger within the confines of the touch pad representation 32. A recording of the reaction to the sampling can be shown on the display. In this case, the pointer icon 34 indicates the point of last contact with the touch pad whenever the representation of the touch pad 32 is touched. Where the person drags their finger or a pen or similar across the representation of the touch pad 32, the location of the pressure is sampled. The sampled locations result in the pointer icon 34 moving so that the user can see the result of the interaction. In addition, the processor of the user interface interprets the samples as a directional movement. An output signal corresponding to a directional movement of a computer mouse is provided through the USB cable 22 to the computer.

The result on the computer is that when a representation of key is depressed the corresponding output of the depression of a same key on a conventional keyboard is output and thus the normal result would then be produced in the computer. Likewise, where a mouse would be dragged and/or clicked the corresponding touch and dragging within the representation of the touch pad 32 would produce a similar result by the computer, as if the input was received from a mouse. The advantage is that the interface is reconfigurable, but the computer receives an input as would be expected from a standard interface and therefore need not be concerned with control of the reconfiguration of the device.

An alternative form of a user interface of the present invention is shown in Figure 2. In this case the user interface is used to control air conditioning and it is mounted on a wall. The user interface here is a panel 40 (rather than a tablet). The panel 40 also has a display 14 over which is a pressure sensitive layer 16. In this instance, there is a representation of a heat button 42, a representation of an ON/OFF button 44, a representation of an UP button 46, a representation of a DOWN button 48 and a representation 50 showing a display of the permissible temperature range and the actual temperature within that range.

In this instance, if the representation of a button is depressed by the user making contact with the pressure sensitive layer 16 in the vicinity of the button, the air conditioner will responding according to which button 42, 44, 46 or 48 was pressed. However, if the person does not like the layout they can change the layout of the buttons. For example rather than the heat button being above the ON/OFF button they would prefer to have it the other way around. The panel may enter a set up mode whereby the position of each of the representations may be selected and thus the configuration of the display as a whole can be determined and altered. The same panel (without the heat button) could also be used to control lighting with the ON/OFF button representing the ON/OFF switch of the light and the UP button representing an increase in the light and the DOWN button representing a decrease or dimming of the light. Again, the configuration of the panel is set up so that upon the selection of one of the representations a corresponding output is provided b a processor to the system whether it be an air conditioning unit or an electrical dimming circuit for a light controlled which produces the requisite output. In fact the same panel could be used for both applications at the same time. This could be achieved by switching between each set of controls or by shrinking the size of each set of controls and having both displayed at the same time.

The configuration may be chosen by the user. The processor in the panel will interpret from the button pressed the required output to the air conditioner and/or the light circuit.

In Figure 3, there is shown a flow chart representing the typical power up and operation of a tablet that is able to operate as a computer keyboard. The first step in the process 100 is where the tablet powers up upon the depression of the power button 18. At 102 the tablet 12 initiates an interface with the computer system that it is plugged into. At 104 the tablet performs various power ON tests and self-diagnostics. At 106 an internal clock circuit begins and at 108 a timing counter beings incrementing. The time increments to a given value to allow the interface between the tablet and the computer to be completed at 110. Once the time has passed the tablet interfaces with the computer to determine if it has booted an operating system at 112. If the operating system is loaded and the user has preselected to use a particular custom layout of the keyboard.

The computer will send data to the tablet informing it of the desired layout as indicated by 112. If no such data is received at 116 the tablet then enters a default mode at 118 where it boots into a standard keyboard layout.

If the custom keyboard is requested on the boot of the operating system, the processor requests the layout for the custom keyboard at 126. This may be from a data file stored on the computer or it may be stored in the programmable memory within the tablet.

Depending on the configuration of the tablet the processor then determines the coordinates of all of the keys of the keyboard for displaying representations of the keys at 120.

If a custom keyboard is selected, the keyboard layout is then decoded into X-Y-Z coordinates for each button at 128, Z being a desired colour. These are checked to see whether they are valid ranges at 130. If the representation values are correct, the representations are displayed on the display 14 as indicated at 132. The draw routine is then finished at 134 and the processor then waits for user interaction or a change to the configuration and thus the display of the representations.

From these coordinates of the representations, the coordinates of tactile sensitive regions of the pressure sensitive layer is then determined at 122. In the case of the standard default keyboard these maybe standard values from memory as indicated by 124.

Where user interaction occurs at 138 the presence of a depression causes the measurement of the location in X and Y coordinates of the pressure sensitive layer and the degree of pressure. The degree ofpressure may be measured as variable Z at 140. If sufficient pressure is applied, a key press is registered at 142. The key press is then checked at 136 to see if it is within a tactile sensitive region of one of the representations. If it is not, then the depression is not registered as a valid key stroke at 144. This will normally result in the depression being ignored. If the depression is within a valid region corresponding with the representation of a key at 146, then processor interprets this as a depression of that key and thus the key API value is returned to the operating system as an output through the USB cable 22. If the pressure is insufficient to be regarded as a key press as indicated by 148 the processor then waits for further user interaction.

It will be clear to the skilled addressee that the present invention has at least the following advantages. The user interface may be reconfigured to suit the needs of the user depending on a layout that the user prefers and reconfigurable according to the application that the user interface is to be put to.

Modifications and variations may be made to the present invention without departing from the basic inventive concept. Such modifications may include the dimensions of the interface unit and the display thereon. The touch sensitive layout may not cover all of the display, so that only a portion of the display is interactive, the other portion being for display purposes only. The method of detection of input from the user may vary, such a s pressure or tactile sensing, heat sensing, or some other suitable means.

Such modifications and variations are intended to be within the scope of the present invention, the nature of which is to be determined from the foregoing description and appended claims.

Claims

The claims defining the description are as follows:

1. A reconfigurable user interface for providing a signal to a system responsive to an input received by the user interface, said user interface comprising at least: a display means for displaying at least one representation, each representation corresponding to an intended response by the system, each representation displayed in a separate region of the display means; a receptor for receiving a user input, the receptor juxtaposed with the display means so as to be receptive to a user input at, and/or in the vicinity of, each region of the display means, said receptor arranged to identify a location from which the user input is received; an output means for providing the signal to the system; and a processor means arranged to control the displaying of the one or more representations on the display means according to a selected configuration, the processor means also arranged to interpret the user input from the location of the user input received by the receptor and to control the signal provided by the output means, whereby the signal provided by the output means to the system is determined by the location of the user input and the selected configuration of the display.

2. A reconfigurable user interface according to claim 1, wherein the receptor is a pressure sensitive layer arranged to sit above the display means.

3. A reconfigurable user interface according to claim 1, wherein the receptor is a heat sensitive layer arranged to sit above the display means.

4. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the display means and the receptor are formed within a tablet or a panel.

5. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the receptor is layered upon the display means.

6. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a protective layer is provided above the receptor layer.

7. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a plurality of configurations of the display are selectable, with each configuration controlling the position of the region of each representation displayed on the display means.

8. A reconfigurable user interface according to claim 7, wherein each configuration also controls the representation displayed.

9. A reconfigurable user interface according to any either claims 7 to 8, wherein each configuration controls the interpretation of each representation displayed when selected.

10. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the processor means interprets the selection of a representation according to the selected configuration by using a look-up table where the look-up table provides the interpreted result according to the input location received.

11. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein a new configuration maybe provided for each specific application of the system.

12. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the system is a computer system that runs a software application.

13. A reconfigurable user interface according to claim 12, wherein the software application includes or is accompanied by data for use in determining the configuration of the user interface for that computer program application.

14. A reconfigurable user interface according claim 13, wherein the configuration is automatically selected according to the data.

15. A reconfigurable user interface according to claim 14, wherein the configuration may be tailored by the user.

16. A reconfigurable user interface according to claim 8, wherein the configuration defines the size of the representations.

17. A reconfigurable user interface according to claim 8, wherein the configuration determines the nature of the representations .

18. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 7 to 17, wherein the configuration determines the location of the region of displayed representations.

19. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the representations are of buttons or keys.

20. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the representations are keys of a keyboard.

21. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 1 to 19, wherein the user interface may be configured to operate as a graphics tablet by receiving real time movement over a particular region and interpreting that as real time input.

22. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 1 to 21, wherein the user interface is configured to operate as a pointer controller.

23. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claim 22, wherein the pointer controller can be used to receive press and drag information as the user presses and drags his or her finger or a pen or similar across the receptor, which results in periodic updates of the interpreted input.

24. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 1 to 22, wherein the user interface interfaces with the system by a standard cable and communication protocol.

25. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claims 1 to 24, wherein the user interface is arranged to receive information from the system in order to select the configuration of the user interface.

26. A reconfigurable user interface according to any one of claim 1 to 25, wherein the user interface is arranged to receive a pressure input in the form of pressure applied to the receptor, the pressure input being interpreted as a variable output.

27. A system responsive to an input received by a reconfigurable user interface comprising at least: a display means for displaying at least one representation, each representation corresponding to a system response to the recept of a respective input, each representation displayed in a separate region of the display means; a receptor for receiving a user input, the receptor juxtaposed with a display means so as to be receptive to a user input at and/or in the vicinity of each region of the display means, said receptor arranged to identify a location from which the user input is received; and a processor means arranged to control the displaying of the one or more representations on the display means according to a selected configuration, the processor means also arranged to interpret the user input from the location of the user input received by the receptor, the processor arranged to communicate the interpreted response to a second processor means of the system, the second processor means the system being responsive to the interpreted input whereby the signal is interpreted by the location of the user input and the selected configuration of the display.