Patent ID: 7609178

Claim:
A reconfigurable tactile input device comprising: a first electrode layer having a first electrical connection means, a flexible second electrode layer having a second electrical connection means, at least one of the first or second electrode layers comprising more than one electrode, a compressible dielectric structure separating said first electrode layer from said second electrode layer, said structure comprising a plurality of geometric elements made of compressible dielectric material forming voids therebetween, said plurality of geometric elements located beneath at least one electrode of said second flexible electrode layer, and a control means connected to said first and said second electrical connection means and adapted to measure capacitance in real time between electrodes of said first and said second electrode layers, whereby when a change in capacitance of at least one of said electrodes is detected, it is measured and converted by said control means into contact position and force of compression over said input device, which is then transformed into a recognized user input command signal based on a current input device configuration; said configuration being reconfigurable through said control means.