Patent Publication Number: US-9430092-B2

Title: Event generation based on print portion identification

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/689,567 Filed Jan. 19, 2010, entitled “EVENT GENERATION BASED ON PRINT PORTION IDENTIFICATION”, which is incorporated herein by this reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The system and method relates to identification of prints and in particular to identification of print portions for generating events. 
     BACKGROUND 
     As the functionality in small mobile communication devices has increased, a demand for an increased functionality of user interfaces for these mobile communication devices has also increased. Users of these small mobile communication devices want the same functionality that is provided in non-mobile devices such as their personal computer. However, with the smaller screens that are pervasive in mobile communication devices, it has become increasingly more difficult to provide similar functionality. 
     Some systems have attempted to address this issue. For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2008/0158170 discloses a system that can provide multiple events based on a person touching/tapping an area on the screen with their fingernail versus tapping on the same area with their finger. The system can detect different properties of the skin versus the properties of the fingernail. This system also discloses using a sleeve so that the system can distinguish between the sleeve and the skin of a person to generate multiple events when an area of the screen is touched using the sleeve. 
     The problem with this system is that it does not use prints of body parts such as fingerprints or different properties in the sleeve to generate events. Being able to detect different print portions and/or different properties in a sleeve in different areas of a screen can provide the increased functionality that users are demanding from these mobile communication devices. 
     SUMMARY 
     The system and method are directed to solving these and other problems and disadvantages of the prior art. An optical scanner is configured to scan multiple print portions of a body part such as a finger. The optical scanner identifies a first one of the print portions in an area of an optical surface. An event, such as launching an application, is generated based on identifying the first print portion in the area of the optical surface. In addition, various events can be generated based on different combinations of print portions in different areas of the optical surface. 
     In a second embodiment, a property detector is configured to identify different properties of a sleeve in different areas of a surface. An event is generated based on the detection of a property of the sleeve in an area of the surface. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       These and other features and advantages of the system and method will become more apparent from considering the following description of an illustrative embodiment of the system and method together with the drawing, in which: 
         FIG. 1A  is a block diagram of a first illustrative system for identifying a print portion of a body part in an area of an optical surface. 
         FIG. 1B  is a block diagram of a second illustrative system for identifying a property of a sleeve in an area of a surface. 
         FIG. 2A  is a bottom view looking up from under an optical surface for identifying a print portion of a body part in an area of the optical surface. 
         FIG. 2B  is a bottom view looking up from under an optical surface for identifying different print portions of a body part in different areas of the optical surface. 
         FIG. 3A  is a top view looking down at a surface for identifying an area of a sleeve with different properties in an area of the surface. 
         FIG. 3B  is a bottom view of a cutout of an exemplary sleeve with different properties. 
         FIG. 4A  is a bottom view looking up from under a surface for identifying different properties of a sleeve in an area of the surface. 
         FIG. 4B  is a bottom view looking up from under a surface for identifying different properties of a sleeve in different areas of the surface. 
         FIG. 5A  is an exemplary top view of an optical surface that shows the generation of an event for use by an application when a first print portion is detected in an area. 
         FIG. 5B  is an exemplary top view of an optical surface that shows the generation of an event for use by an application when a second print portion of a second body part is detected in the area. 
         FIG. 6  is a flow diagram of a method for identifying a print portion of a body part in an area of an optical surface. 
         FIG. 7  is a flow diagram of a method for identifying a property of a sleeve in an area of a surface. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1A  is a block diagram of a first illustrative system  100  for identifying a print portion of a body part  130  in an area of an optical surface  110 . The first illustrative system  100  comprises an optical surface  110 , an optical scanner  120 , and an application  180 . The optical surface  110  can be any type of surface that the optical scanner  120  can scan through. For example, the optical surface  110  can be made of glass, plastic, or any material that allows the optical scanner  120  to scan a print portion of a body part  130 . The optical surface  110  can be an optical surface  110  that allows the optical scanner  120  to scan through displayed objects/icons that are presented to a user. The optical surface  110  can be, for example, a touch screen, a computer screen, a mouse pad, a surface on a mouse, a surface on a joystick, a surface on a gaming controller, a surface on a button, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), and the like. The optical surface  110  can be part of the optical scanner  120 . The body part  130  as shown in  FIG. 1A  is a finger; however, the body part  130  can be any body part  130  such as a thumb, a palm, a toe, and the like. 
     The optical scanner  120  can be any scanner that can detect a portion of a print of the body part  130  on or above an area of the optical surface  110 . The optical scanner  120  can scan a print portion using different wavelengths and/or combinations of wave lengths such as visible light frequencies, ultra-violet frequencies, infra-red frequencies, and the like. The optical scanner  120  can scan at different light frequencies that are not blocked by the displayed objects/icons. The optical scanner  120  can scan at different angles to allow for display of objects/icons through the optical surface  110  and/or be embedded into the optical surface  110 . The optical scanner  120  can include a processor, memory, a digital signal processor, and the like. The first illustrative system  100  can be implemented in a variety of devices such as a telephone, a cellular telephone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a gaming system or console, a Personal Computer (PC), a lap-top computer, a portable gaming device, a mouse, a joystick, a music system, and the like. 
     The application  180  can be any software and/or hardware application that can detect/process events generated/registered by the optical scanner  120  or the property detector  170  (see  FIG. 1B ). For example, the application  180  can be a word processing application, a gaming application, a spreadsheet, a telephony application, a calendar application, and the like. 
       FIG. 1B  is a block diagram of a second illustrative system  140  for identifying a property of a sleeve  150  in an area of a surface  160 . The second illustrative system  140  comprises a surface  160 , a property detector  170 , and the application  180 . The surface  160  can be any type of surface that can detect different properties of the sleeve  150  that are well known in the art, such as those that detect capacitance, resistance, inductances, colors, and the like. The different properties can be different capacitances, different inductances, different resistances, different impedances, different colors, and the like. The different properties can be different combinations of the above properties. The surface  160  can be, for example, the optical surface  110 , a touch screen, a computer screen, a mouse pad, a surface on a mouse, a surface on a joystick, a surface on a gaming controller, a surface on a button, an LCD display, and the like. 
     The property detector  170  can be any detector that can determine different properties of the sleeve  150 . For example, the property detector  170  can be the optical scanner  120 . The property detector  170  can scan the sleeve  150  to detect different wavelengths and/or combinations of wavelengths such as visible light frequencies, ultra-violet frequencies, infra-red frequencies, and the like. The property detector  170  can determine different properties in the sleeve  150  such as different capacitances, different inductances, different resistances, different impedances, and the like. The optical scanner  120  can include a processor, memory, a digital signal processor, and the like. The second illustrative system  140  can be implemented in a variety of devices such as a telephone, a cellular telephone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a gaming system, a Personal Computer (PC), a lap-top computer, a portable gaming device, a music system, a mouse, a joystick, and the like. 
       FIGS. 2A-2B  are a bottom view looking up from under an optical surface  110  for identifying a print portion ( 210 ,  220 ) of a body part  130  (e.g., a finger) in an area of the optical surface  110 .  FIGS. 2A-2B  display a view that would be seen by the optical scanner  120  when the optical scanner  120  scans the body part  130 . In this example, a finger is the body part  130 ; however other body parts  130  can be used. In  FIGS. 2A-2B , the numbers 1-8 and 11-18 represent a grid that is used to identify areas in the optical surface  110 . The grid is just one example of a way to identify areas in the optical surface  110 . In this example, a first print portion  210  of the fingerprint (e.g., the bottom portion of a finger) is in area  200  (represented in the grid at 3-5/12-14). The print portion of the finger can be any print portion of a finger such as the tip of the finger, the bottom of the finger, the right side of the finger, the left side of the finger, and the like. The first print portion  210  in area  200  is in this example, where a person first touches the optical surface  110 . The first print portion  210  of the fingerprint contains unique identifiable ridges in the finger that comprise a fingerprint of the person. 
     A second print portion  220  of the same fingerprint (e.g., the tip of the finger) is shown in  FIG. 2B  at the same area  200  (grid coordinates 3-5/12-14) of the optical surface  110 . However, the second print portion  220  can be a print portion of a different finger or other body part  130  such as a toe or palm.  FIG. 2B  also shows the first print portion  210  of the fingerprint in a second area  201  of the optical surface  110 . 
     The optical scanner  120  gets the first print portion  210  of the fingerprint and the second print portion  220  of the fingerprint (and optionally other print portions of the same body part  130  and/or other body parts  130 ). The print portions ( 210 ,  220 ) could be taken from a database (not shown) of print portions or scanned by the optical scanner  120  using some type of software that allows the user to register various print portions. The optical scanner  120  that scans the print portions ( 210  and  220 ) can be the same or a different optical scanner  120 . The scanning of the print portions ( 210  and  220 ) can be done by the optical scanner  120  in conjunction with application  180 . The optical scanner  120  stores the print portions ( 210  and  220 ) and associates the print portions ( 210  and  220 ) with an area ( 200 ,  201 ) and an event. The association can be done using software that associates an area (e.g.,  210 ,  220 , or other areas) of the optical surface  110  with a print portion. 
     One option is to associate a first event with the first print portion  210  being in area  200  and a second event being associated with the second print portion  220  being in area  200  (i.e., at different times). For example, if the user touches area  200  with the first print portion  210  (e.g., the bottom of the user&#39;s index finger), then a selection event is generated and the user can drag an icon across the optical screen  110 . If the user touches area  200  with the second print portion  220  of the index finger (e.g., the tip of the user&#39;s index finger), instead of a selection event being generated, a help menu event is generated, and the user can get help about the application represented by the touched icon. This can easily be extended to have other events associated with other print portions of the index finger, other fingers, and/or other body parts  130 . 
     The event(s) that are generated can be a variety of events such as generating a capital letter, generating a non-capital letter, generating a first language character, generating a second language character, generating a number, generating a tooltip, selecting a text, providing a menu, moving a cursor, a left click event, a right click event, providing a help text, and the like. For example, assume that a soft keyboard is being displayed by the optical surface  110  for a text messaging application and area  200  represents the softkey for the letter “A”; when the user touches the A softkey with print portion  210 , a capital letter “A” is displayed; when the user touches the same A softkey again with print portion  220 , a non-capital letter “a” is displayed. 
     Another option can be to associate the first print portion  210  being in area  200  with a first event and associating the first print portion  210  being in area  201  with a different event, or the same event. Being able to associate different print portion(s) ( 210 ,  220 ) with different area(s) ( 200 ,  201 ) and/or different event(s) is a very flexible way of controlling and interacting with a user interface. 
       FIG. 3A  is a top view looking down at the surface  160  for identifying a property of a sleeve  150  in an area of the surface  160 . The sleeve  150  contains multiple properties. The sleeve  150  is shown on the body part  130 . In this example, the body part  130  is a finger. The finger with the sleeve  150  can be placed in contact with and/or above the surface  160  so that the property detector  170  can detect the different properties of the sleeve  150 . 
       FIG. 3B  is a bottom view of a cutout of an exemplary sleeve  150  with different properties. The view is from the bottom looking up to the bottom of the finger that has the sleeve  150  on. In this example, the sleeve  150  has four areas that contain different properties  311 - 314 . Property  314  covers the tip of the finger. Property  312  covers the bottom of the finger. Property  313  covers the right side of the finger (looking from the bottom). Property  311  covers the left side of the finger (looking from the bottom). 
     In  FIG. 3B  the properties  311 - 314  are shown in a square pattern. The properties can be organized in various ways such as a circular shape, a shape conforming to the finger, a triangular shape, or various combinations of these, and the like. There can be more or less properties  311 - 314  in an area of the sleeve  150 . The properties  311 - 314  can be closer together or further apart. The properties  311 - 314  can be different properties such as: a capacitive property, an inductive property, an impedance property, a resistive property, a color, or combinations of these, and the like. 
       FIG. 4A  is a bottom view looking up from under a surface  160  for identifying a property  311 - 314  of a sleeve  150  with different properties in an area of the surface  160 .  FIG. 4A  is a view that would be seen by the property detector  170  when the property detector  170  detects different properties in the sleeve  150 . In  FIGS. 4A-4B , the numbers 1-8 and 11-18 represent a grid that is used to identify areas in the surface  160 . In this example, property  312  (the property on the bottom of the sleeve  150 ) is in area  400  (represented by grid 3-5/12-14) of the surface  160 . 
       FIG. 4B  is a bottom view looking up from under a surface  160  for identifying different properties  311 - 314  of a sleeve  150  in areas of the surface  160 .  FIG. 4B  is a view that would be seen by the property detector  170  when the property detector  170  detects different properties  311 - 314  of the sleeve  150 .  FIG. 4B  shows two different properties ( 312  and  314 ) in different areas ( 400  and  401 ) of the surface  160 . Property  314  (the property on the tip of the sleeve  150 ) is shown in area  400  (grid 3-5/12-14). Property  312  is shown in area  401  (grid 5-7/15-17). 
     The property detector  170  identifies property  312  of the sleeve  150  on the body part  130  in area  400  of the surface  160 . Once the property detector  170  identifies property  312  in area  400 , a first event is generated based on the identification of property  312  in area  400 . In addition to the first event, additional events can also be generated. 
     The property detector  170  identifies property  314  of the sleeve  150  on the body part  130  in area  400 . Once the property detector  170  identifies property  314  in area  400 , a second event is generated based on the identification of property  314  in area  400 . In addition to the second event, additional events can also be generated. The generated event can be any type of event such as generating a capital letter, generating a non-capital letter, generating a first language character, generating a second language character, generating a number, generating a tooltip, selecting a text, providing a menu, moving a cursor, a left click event, a right click event, providing a help text, and the like. 
     The property detector  170  identifies property  312  of the sleeve  150  on the body part  130  in area  401 . Once the property detector  170  identifies property  312  in area  401 , an event is generated. The generated event could be the first and/or second events described above or a different event(s). Detecting a specific property ( 311 - 314 ) in a specific area ( 400 ,  401 ) allows greater flexibility in generating different events. 
     The above descriptions describe the use of a single sleeve  150 . However, multiple sleeves  150  can be used. For example, each finger can have a different sleeve  150  with different properties. This allows different events to be generated when the user touches the same area (e.g., area  400 ) with different parts of different sleeves  150 . 
     The above descriptions describe the sleeve  150  touching the surface  160 . However, the property detector  170  can also detect different properties that are above the surface  160  and/or are partially on the surface  160 . 
       FIGS. 5A-5B  are an exemplary top view of the optical surface  110  that shows the generation of different events for use by an application  180  when different print portions of different body parts ( 130 ,  630 ) are identified in an area  500  of the optical surface  110 . In  FIGS. 5A-5B , the body parts ( 130 ,  630 ) are different fingers of a user or even possibly different fingers of different users. The different fingers can be on the same hand, or on a different hand. In this illustrative example, area  500  in the optical surface  110  contains an icon  520  for application  180 . 
     In  FIG. 5A , the user touches (print portion  210  of finger  130 ) the optical surface  110  in area  500  that contains the icon  520  for application  180 . The user does not have to touch the optical surface  110  as long as the optical scanner  120  can identify the print portion above the optical surface  110  or a combination of being above the optical surface  110  and on the optical surface  110 . In this example, when the user touches icon  520  in area  500  with print portion  210  of finger  130 , the optical scanner  120  identifies print portion  210  of finger  130 . The optical scanner  120  determines if there is an associated event for the identified print portion  210  being in area  500 . If there is an associated event for the identified print portion  210  being in area  500 , the associated event is generated. In this example, the associated event highlights (illustrated by the darker shaded icon  520 ) icon  520  and launches application  180 . Launching application  180  is just one of many different types of events that can be generated. In fact, multiple events can be generated when print portion  210  is identified in area  500 . 
     In  FIG. 5B , the user touches (i.e., with the bottom print portion of finger  630 ) the optical surface  110  in area  500  that contains the icon  520  for application  180 . In this example, when the user touches icon  520  in area  500  with the bottom print portion of finger  630 , the optical scanner  120  identifies the bottom print portion of finger  630 . The optical scanner  120  determines if there is an associated event for the identified bottom print portion of finger  630  being in area  500 . If there is an associated event for the identified print portion of finger  630  being in area  500 , the associated event(s) are generated. In this example, the associated event opens a menu  510  that allows the user to select an operation to perform such as open application  180 , cut icon  520 , delete icon  520 , get properties of application  180 , and/or get help about application  180 . 
       FIGS. 5A-5B  show generation of events using the detection of print portions with an optical scanner  120 . Likewise, similar types of events can be generated by identifying different properties  311 - 314  of a sleeve  150  in an area of the surface  160  with the property detector  170 . 
       FIG. 6  is a flow diagram of a method for identifying a print portion(s) of a body part  130  in an area of an optical surface  110 . Illustratively, the optical scanner  120 , the property detector  170 , and the application  180  comprise stored-program-controlled entities, such as a computer or processor, which performs the method of  FIGS. 6-7  by executing a program stored in a storage medium, such as a memory or disk. 
     The optical scanner  120  scans  600  print portion(s) of one or more body parts  130  of one or more users. This can be done one at a time based on a software program asking the user to scan a specific print portion for a specific body part  130  such as the tip of the index finger. The user can be asked to place all of their fingers in specific areas of the optical surface  110  to be scanned simultaneously. The optical scanner  120  associates  602  the print portion(s) with area(s) of the optical surface  110  and event(s). 
     The optical scanner  120  identifies  604  a print portion in an area of the optical surface  110 . The optical scanner  120  gets the scanned print portion(s) and the associated area(s) and event(s) from step  600  and  602  and compares the scanned print portion(s) associated with the area(s) to the identified print portion from step  604 . If there is a match in step  606  between the scanned print portion(s) that are associated with the area that the identified print portion is in, the associated event(s) are generated  608  and the process goes to step  610 . If there is not a match in step  606 , the process goes to step  610 . 
     The optical scanner  120  determines in step  610  if the user wants to associate different/new print portion(s) with different/new event(s) and/or scan new print portion(s). If the user does not want to associate different/new print portion(s) in step  610  with different/new event(s) and/or scan new print portions, the process goes to step  604 . Otherwise, the process goes to step  612 . In step  612 , the optical scanner  120  determines if the user wants to associate different print portion(s) to different event(s)/area(s). If the user wants to associate different print portion(s) in step  612  to different event(s)/area(s), the process goes to step  602 . Otherwise, if the user does not want to associate different print portions (i.e., the user wants to scan in new print portion(s)) in step  612  to different event(s)/area(s), the process goes to step  600 . 
       FIG. 7  is a flow diagram of a method for identifying a property  311 - 314  of a sleeve  150  in an area of a surface  160 . The property detector  170  associates  700  different properties of the sleeve(s)  150  with area(s) of the surface  160  and event(s). The property detector  170  identifies  702  one or more properties  311 - 314  in an area of the surface  160 . The property detector  170  determines in step  704  if the identified one or more properties are associated with the area that the identified property (from step  702 ) is in. If the identified one or more properties is associated with the area that the identified property is in, the associated event is generated in step  706  and the process goes to step  708 . 
     Otherwise, if the identified one or more properties in step  704  is not associated with the area that the identified property is in, the process goes to step  708 . In step  708 , the property detector  170  determines if the user wants to associate different properties with different area(s) in the surface  160 . If the user does not want to associate different properties in step  708  with different area(s) in the surface  160 , the process goes to step  702 . Otherwise, if the user wants to associate different properties in step  708 , the process goes to step  700 . 
     The phrases “at least one”, “one or more”, and “and/or” are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C”, “at least one of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “one or more of A, B, or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together. 
     The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. As such, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms “comprising”, “including”, and “having” can be used interchangeably. 
     Of course, various changes and modifications to the illustrative embodiment described above will be apparent to those skilled in the art. These changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the system and method and without diminishing its attendant advantages. The above description and associated figures teach the best mode of the invention. The following claims specify the scope of the invention. Note that some aspects of the best mode may not fall within the scope of the invention as specified by the claims. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the features described above can be combined in various ways to form multiple variations of the invention. As a result, the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, but only by the following claims and their equivalents.