PATENT DOCUMENT

Publication Number: US-11526210-B2
Application Number: US-202017127059-A
Country: US
Kind Code: B2

Title: Electronic devices with directional haptic output

Abstract:
A system may have one or more electronic devices that include user input sensors such as force sensors, touch sensors, motion sensors, and other input devices. To provide a user with output, devices may have visual output components such as displays, audio output components, and haptic output components. Haptic output components may be used to apply an apparent force in a given direction relative to a device housing surface such as a sidewall surface or other device surface. Control circuitry in a device may direct a haptic output component to produce the apparent force in a direction perpendicular to the housing surface or tangential to the housing surface. The apparent applied force may be provided as feedback while the control circuitry is directing a display in the device or in an external device to provide a user with visual content based on the user input.

Claims:
What is claimed is: 
     
       1. An electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a surface; 
 a sensor configured to receive a user input; 
 a haptic output component in the housing configured to provide haptic feedback to a user&#39;s body part, wherein the haptic output component includes actuators extending along a length of the surface and configured to move back and forth in a first direction parallel to the length; 
 control circuitry in the housing, wherein the control circuitry is configured to drive the haptic output component with a first signal to produce an apparent applied force in the first direction to the user&#39;s body part based on the user input and to drive the haptic output component with a second signal to produce an apparent applied force in a second direction that is non-parallel to the first direction, and wherein the first signal is an asymmetric signal; and 
 wireless communications circuitry in the housing, wherein the wireless communications circuitry is configured to transmit a signal based on the user input. 
 
     
     
       2. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a display, wherein the display is on an additional surface of the device that extends from the surface at a non-zero angle. 
 
     
     
       3. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the housing has four sidewalls running around a periphery of the housing, and wherein the surface is on one of the four sidewalls. 
     
     
       4. The electronic device defined in  claim 3 , further comprising:
 a display having four edges, wherein each of the four edges is aligned with a respective one of the sidewalls. 
 
     
     
       5. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the actuators each comprise a stack of electrodes and interposed layers of adjustable material that expand and contract along the length in response to signals applied to the layers with the electrodes. 
     
     
       6. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises a head-mounted housing. 
     
     
       7. The electronic device defined in  claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises a finger mounted housing and the haptic output component provides haptic feedback to a user&#39;s finger. 
     
     
       8. The electronic device defined in  claim 7 , wherein the finger mounted housing has a U shape that exposes a user&#39;s finger pad. 
     
     
       9. The electronic device defined in  claim 7 , wherein the finger mounted housing has a ring shape. 
     
     
       10. A wearable electronic device, comprising:
 a housing having a surface; 
 a strap configured to hold the surface against a user; 
 actuators extending along a length of the surface and configured to move back and forth in respective first and second directions parallel to the length; and 
 control circuitry in the housing, wherein the control circuitry is configured to drive the actuators to produce an apparent applied force in only the first direction relative to the surface as the actuators move back and forth in the first and second directions. 
 
     
     
       11. The electronic device defined in  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a sensor, wherein the control circuitry is configured to gather user input with the sensor and configured to drive the actuators to produce the apparent applied force in response to the user input. 
 
     
     
       12. The electronic device defined in  claim 11 , further comprising:
 wireless communications circuitry configured to transmit a signal based on the user input. 
 
     
     
       13. The electronic device defined in  claim 12 , wherein the signal comprises information on the user&#39;s interactions with a virtual environment. 
     
     
       14. The electronic device defined in  claim 13 , wherein the apparent applied force is based on the user&#39;s interactions with the virtual environment. 
     
     
       15. The electronic device defined in  claim 10 , wherein the strap is configured to hold the surface against a user&#39;s wrist and wherein the actuators are configured to provide the user&#39;s wrist with a haptic output. 
     
     
       16. A system comprising:
 a control device comprising:
 a sensor that gathers user input; 
 a housing with sidewalls; and 
 haptic output components on the housing that are configured to move back and forth in a first direction to produce a first apparent applied force in the first direction and to produce a second apparent applied force in a second direction that is non-parallel to the first direction; and 
 
 a display device with a display that displays a computer generated object, wherein the display device moves the computer generated object on the display in response to the user input in a third direction that is opposite the first direction and wherein the apparent applied force provides a sensation of resistance to further movement of the control device in the first direction. 
 
     
     
       17. The system defined in  claim 16 , wherein the haptic output components produce the first and second apparent applied forces based on an interaction of the computer generated object. 
     
     
       18. The system defined in  claim 17 , wherein the interaction comprises visual alignment with a boundary. 
     
     
       19. The system defined in  claim 18 , wherein the boundary comprises a surface of an additional computer generated object. 
     
     
       20. The system defined in  claim 16 , wherein the control device comprises a cellular telephone with a housing and a sidewall surface, wherein the sensor comprises a motion sensor, and wherein the haptic output components provide the second apparent applied force in a direction relative to the sidewall surface.

Description:
This application is a continuation of patent application Ser. No. 15/988,936, filed May 24, 2018, which claims the benefit of provisional patent application No. 62/535,166, filed Jul. 20, 2017, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     This relates generally to electronic equipment, and, more particularly, to electronic equipment that supplies haptic output. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Devices such as wearable devices sometimes incorporate haptic output components. Haptic output components may supply a user with haptic output while the user is interacting with software such as gaming software. 
     It can be challenging to design a haptic output device. If care is not taken, haptic output may too weak or may not provide a desired sensation for a user, haptic output may not be applied to an appropriate location on the body of a user, or a haptic output device may be overly bulky or difficult to use. 
     SUMMARY 
     A system may have one or more electronic devices for gathering input and providing output to a user. In configurations with multiple devices, the devices may communicate wirelessly. One device may be used as a controller for another device. In a single-device system, user input and output may be handled by the same device. 
     To gather user input, devices may include user input sensors such as force sensors, touch sensors, motion sensors, and other input devices. The user input that is gathered may be used to manipulate objects in a virtual world or to interact with other content being provided to a user. 
     To provide a user with output, devices may have visual output devices, audio output components, and haptic output components. For example, a head-mounted device may have a display for presenting virtual reality or mixed reality content to a user. 
     Haptic output components may be used to apply an apparent force in a given direction relative to a device housing surface such as a housing sidewall surface or other device surface. Control circuitry in a device may direct a haptic output component to produce the apparent applied force perpendicular to the surface or tangential to the housing surface. The apparent applied force may be provided as feedback while the control circuitry is directing a display in the device or in an external device to provide a user with visual content based on the user input. By adjusting the direction of the apparent applied force, a user may be provided with sensations such as increased or decreased weight, increased or decreased lateral force, friction (resistance to finger movement in a particular direction), slippage (finger movement assistance), rendered boundary effects, and/or other directional haptic effects. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  2    is a cross-sectional side view of the illustrative electronic device of  FIG.  1    in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  3    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative haptic output component with a central deflecting portion in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  4    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative deflecting beam haptic output component in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  5    is cross-sectional side view of an illustrative haptic output component based on a stack of haptic output structures in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  6    is a side view of an illustrative voice coil haptic output component in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  7    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative linear resonance actuator haptic output component in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  8    is a side view of an illustrative haptic output component with a portion that extends when actuated in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  9    is a schematic diagram of an illustrative electronic device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  10    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative electronic device mounted on a finger in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  11    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative wristwatch device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  12    is a side view of an illustrative head-mounted device in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIG.  13    is a cross-sectional side view of an illustrative haptic output device that may apply shear force to a user&#39;s finger or other external object in accordance with an embodiment. 
         FIGS.  14 ,  15 ,  16 ,  17 , and  18    are graphs of illustrative haptic output drive signals in accordance with embodiments. 
         FIG.  19    is a diagram showing how an electronic device may be used to control the position of an object on a display while providing haptic feedback to a user of the device in accordance with an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A system may include one or more electronic devices. The electronic devices may be used to gather input from a user. In some configurations, a first electronic device may be used to control a second electronic device. For example, a first electronic device may serve as an input-output device for a second electronic device. Haptic output components may be included in the electronic devices to provide a user with haptic output. 
       FIG.  1    is a perspective view of an illustrative electronic device. Electronic device  10  may be a computing device such as a laptop computer, a computer monitor containing an embedded computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a media player, or other handheld or portable electronic device, a smaller device such as a wrist-watch device, a pendant device, a headphone or earpiece device, a device embedded in eyeglasses or other head-mounted device worn on a user&#39;s head, a finger-mounted device, a glove, or other wearable or miniature device, a television, a computer display that does not contain an embedded computer, a gaming device, a navigation device, an embedded system such as a system in which electronic equipment with a display is mounted in a kiosk or automobile, an accessory such as a remote control, ear buds, or a case (cover) for a device, equipment that implements the functionality of two or more of these devices, or other electronic equipment. In the illustrative configuration of  FIG.  1   , device  10  is a portable device such as a cellular telephone, media player, tablet computer, or other portable computing device. Other configurations may be used for device  10  if desired. The example of  FIG.  1    is merely illustrative. 
     In the example of  FIG.  1   , device  10  includes display  14 . Display  14  has been mounted in housing  12 . Housing  12 , which may sometimes be referred to as an enclosure or case, may be formed of plastic, glass, ceramics, fiber composites, metal (e.g., stainless steel, aluminum, etc.), other suitable materials, or a combination of any two or more of these materials. Housing  12  may be formed using a unibody configuration in which some or all of housing  12  is machined or molded as a single structure or may be formed using multiple structures (e.g., an internal frame structure, one or more structures that form exterior housing surfaces, etc.). 
     Display  14  may be a touch screen display that incorporates a layer of conductive capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor components (e.g., resistive touch sensor components, acoustic touch sensor components, force-based touch sensor components, light-based touch sensor components, etc.) or may be a display that is not touch-sensitive. Capacitive touch screen electrodes may be formed from an array of indium tin oxide pads or other transparent conductive structures. 
     Display  14  may include an array of pixels formed from liquid crystal display (LCD) components, an array of electrophoretic pixels, an array of plasma display pixels, an array of organic light-emitting diode pixels, an array of electrowetting pixels, or pixels based on other display technologies. 
     Display  14  may be protected using a display cover layer such as a layer of transparent glass or clear plastic. Openings may be formed in the display cover layer. For example, an opening may be formed in the display cover layer to accommodate a speaker port such as speaker port  18 . Button openings may also be formed in the display cover layer. If desired, openings may be formed in housing  12  to form communications ports, holes for buttons, and other structures. 
     Device  10  may have opposing front and rear faces. Display  14  may be formed on the front face. A rear wall of housing  12  may be formed on the opposing rear face. Sidewalls  18  may extend between peripheral portions of display  14  on the front face and peripheral portions of the rear wall of housing  12  on the rear face. Sidewalls  18  may be formed from one or more structures that are separated from the rear wall structures of housing  12  and/or may have portions that are formed integrally with the rear wall of housing  12 . Sidewalls  18  may extend vertically and may form planar sidewall surfaces and/or sidewalls  18  may have portions with curve cross-sectional shapes (e.g., so that the outer surfaces of sidewalls  18  are curved). Display  14  may have any suitable footprint (outline when viewed from above) such as rectangular footprint, an oval or circular shape, etc. In the example of  FIG.  1   , display  14  and device  10  have a rectangular outline and housing sidewalls  18  run along each of the four edges of display  14  and device  10 . Other arrangements may be used for device  10 , if desired. 
     Input-output components may be formed on sidewalls  18  (e.g., in the portion of housing  12  in regions  20  of sidewalls  18  and/or other portions of housing  12 ). When a user grips device  10 , the user&#39;s fingers or other portions of a user&#39;s body may overlap regions  20  of sidewalls  18  and/or other portions of sidewalls  18  that have been provided with input-output components. The input-output components may include touch sensors, force sensors, and/or other input sensors for determining where a user has touched device  10 . The input-output components may also include haptic output devices. For example, device  10  may include a strips of capacitive touch sensor electrodes in regions  20  that are overlapped by haptic output components in regions  20 . Using this arrangement, user input can be sensed using a touch sensor formed from the touch sensor electrodes while haptic output may be supplied to the user by the associated haptic output components. 
     Haptic output devices in regions  20  (e.g., regions  20  on the left and right edges of device  10  in the example of  FIG.  1    and/or other sidewall regions) and haptic output devices on other surface of device  10  (e.g., rear wall surfaces, portions of display  14 , etc.) may be used to apply forces perpendicular to the surface(s) being contacted by a user&#39;s finger(s) and/or may be used to apply forces tangential to the surface(s) being contacted by the user&#39;s finger(s). Perpendicular forces (sometimes referred to as normal forces) may displace the user&#39;s finger inwardly or outwardly. Tangential forces (sometimes referred to as shear forces) push and/or pull the user&#39;s finger parallel to the surfaces of device  10 . 
     A cross-sectional side view of electronic device  10  of  FIG.  1    taken along line  22  and viewed in direction  24  is shown in  FIG.  2   . As shown in  FIG.  2   , display  14  of device  10  may be formed from a display module such as display module  72  mounted under a cover layer such as display cover layer  70  (as an example). Display  14  (display module  72 ) may be a liquid crystal display, an organic light-emitting diode display, a display formed from a pixel array having an array of light-emitting diodes formed from respective crystalline semiconductor dies, an electrophoretic display, a display that is insensitive to touch, a touch sensitive display that incorporates and array of capacitive touch sensor electrodes or other touch sensor structures, or may be any other type of suitable display. Display cover layer  70  may be layer of clear glass, a transparent plastic member, a transparent crystalline member such as a sapphire layer, or other clear structure. Display layers such as the layers of display layers (module)  72  may be rigid and/or may be flexible (e.g., display  14  may be flexible). 
     Display  14  may be mounted to housing  12 . Device  10  may have inner housing structures that provide additional structural support to device  10  and/or that serve as mounting platforms for printed circuits and other structures. Structural internal housing members may sometimes be referred to as housing structures and may be considered to form part of housing  12 . 
     Electrical components  76  may be mounted within the interior of housing  12 . Components  76  may be mounted to printed circuits such as printed circuit  74 . Printed circuit  74  may be a rigid printed circuit board (e.g., a printed circuit board formed from fiberglass-filled epoxy or other rigid printed circuit board material) or may be a flexible printed circuit (e.g., printed circuit formed from a sheet of polyimide or other flexible polymer layer). Patterned conductive traces within printed circuit board  74  may be used to form signal paths between components  76 . 
     Haptic output components  80  may be mounted in regions  20  and/or other suitable areas of device  10  and housing  12 . Sensors  94  (e.g., a capacitive touch sensor, a force sensor, etc.) may, if desired, be mounted so as to overlap haptic output components  80 . Haptic output components  80  and/or sensors  94  may be mounted on exterior surfaces of housing  12 , in the interior of housing  12  adjacent to the walls of housing  12  (e.g., so that haptic output devices  80  may provide haptic output through the walls of housing  12 ), and/or may be embedded within housing walls of housing  12 . Configurations in which haptic output components  80  and sensors such as touch and force sensors are mounted on exterior surfaces of housing  12  may sometimes be described herein as an example. This is merely illustrative. Haptic output devices such as components  80  of  FIG.  2    may be mounted on any suitable portions of housing  12  that allow haptic output to be provided to a user of device  10  and touch and force sensors may be mounted on any suitable portions of housing  12  that allow these sensors to gather user touch and force input. 
     If desired, haptic output components may be mounted on portions of a device case The case may be, for example, a battery case such as illustrative device  10 ′ of  FIG.  2    that includes a supplemental battery (battery  82 ) for supplying power to device  10  when device  10  is mounted in device  10 ′. Housing  12 ′ of device (battery case)  10 ′ may have sidewalls such as sidewalls  18 ′ and/or other housing walls. Input-output components (e.g., touch sensors, haptic output components  80 , etc.) may be mounted on the interior and/or exterior of walls  18 ′, may be embedded partially or fully within walls  18 ′, and/or may be supported by other portions of housing  12 ′ of case  10 ′ and may overlap haptic output components  80 , as illustrated by optional sensors  94 . 
       FIGS.  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7 , and  8    are diagrams of illustrative haptic output components  80 . 
     Illustrative haptic output component  80  of  FIG.  3    has a piezoelectric member such as member  28 . A biasing structure such as spring  26  is interposed between support structure  30  and the lower surface of member  28  and configured to push upwards on member  28 . During operation, control signals (e.g., control voltages) may be applied to member  28  using electrodes on the upper and lower surfaces of member  28 . The control signals may be adjusted to adjust the tension of member  28 . When member  28  is adjusted to exhibit a high tension, member  28  will compress spring  26  and will have a planar shape. When member  28  is adjusted to exhibit low tension, member  28  will relax and will be moved upwards to position  28 ′ by spring  26 . 
     Illustrative haptic output component  80  may have a deflectable beam such as beam  34  of  FIG.  4    that is attached to support structure  32 . Piezoelectric members  28 A and  28 B may be coupled to the upper and lower surfaces of beam  34 . Control signals may be supplied to electrodes in members  28 A and  28 B to cause these members to contract or expand. As shown in  FIG.  4   , for example, signals may be supplied to members  28 A and  28 B to cause member  28 A to contract inwardly in directions  38  while causing member  28 B to expand outwardly in directions  40 . This causes beam  34  to deflect in direction  36 . 
     Illustrative haptic output component  80  of  FIG.  5    is formed from electrode layers  42  and adjustable material layers  44 . During operation, control circuitry in device  10  may supply signals to electrode layers  42  that cause layers  44  to expand and contract. Multiple stacks of layers  42  and  44  may be included in component  80  to enhance the amount of displacement that is produced for a given applied signal. With one illustrative configuration, haptic output component  80  may be an electroactive polymer device (e.g., layers  44  may be formed from electroactive polymer). Arrangements of the type shown in  FIG.  5    may also be used with piezoelectric ceramic layers, etc. 
     If desired, haptic output component  80  may be formed using electromagnetic structures. With one illustrative arrangement, which is shown in  FIG.  6   , haptic output component  80  is a voice coil actuator formed from a coil such as coil  52  and a corresponding magnet such as magnet  50 . When current is supplied to terminals  54  of coil  52 , a magnetic field is generated by coil  52 . This magnetic field produces a force between magnet  50  and coil  52  and thereby causes magnet  50  and coil  52  to move relative to each other (e.g., vertically in the orientation of  FIG.  6   ). Component  80  may use a moving coil design in which coil  52  is moved when current is applied to terminals  54  or a moving magnetic design in which magnet  50  is moved when current is applied to terminals  54 . Haptic output components such as component  80  of  FIG.  6    may sometimes be referred to as electromagnetic actuators. Any suitable geometry may be used for an electromagnetic actuator (rotary, linear, etc.). The configuration of  FIG.  6    is merely illustrative. 
     As shown in  FIG.  7   , haptic output component  80  may be a linear resonant actuator. Component  80  of  FIG.  7    has a support structure such as support structure  56 . Moving mass  60  is coupled to support structure  56  by spring  58 . Coil  64  may receive a drive current and may interact electromagnetically with magnet  62 . Coil  64  may be coupled to moving mass  60  and magnet  62  may be coupled to support structure  56  or vice versa, so that application of drive signals to coil  64  will cause moving mass  60  to oscillate along axis LA. 
     As shown in  FIG.  8   , haptic output component  80  may have portion such as portion  68  that can be displaced (e.g., to a position such as displaced position  68 ′ in the  FIG.  8    example). Fluid such as pressurized air, rheological fluid that changes in viscosity under applied magnetic fields from an electromagnet in component  80 , pressurized water, and/or other fluid may be introduced into a chamber in support structure  66  with controllable properties (pressure, viscosity, etc.), thereby adjusting the displacement of portion  68 . Portion  68  may be an expandable diaphragm, may be a movable pin, or may be other suitable movable structure. If desired, an electromagnetic actuator (e.g., a servomotor or other motor, solenoid, etc.) can be used to adjust the displacement of portion  68 . 
     The configurations for haptic output component  80  that are shown in  FIGS.  3 ,  4 ,  5 ,  6 ,  7   , and  8  are merely illustrative. In general, any suitable haptic output devices may be used in providing a user of an electronic device with haptic output. 
       FIG.  9    is a diagram of a system containing electronic devices of the type that may use haptic output components  80  to provide a user with haptic output. Electronic systems such as illustrative system  8  of  FIG.  9    may include electronic devices such as electronic device  10  and electronic device  100 . Device  10  may be used in supplying a user with haptic output. In some configurations, electronic device  100  can be omitted and device  10  can be used to provide visual and/or audio output to a user of device  10  in conjunction with the haptic output. The haptic output may, as an example, be provided as feedback while a user is supplying touch input, force input, motion input, or other input to device  10 . 
     In other configurations, one or more supplemental devices in system  8  such as device  100  (and, if desired, an additional electronic device coupled to device  100 ) may be used in providing visual and/or audio output to a user while device  10  serves as a control device for device  100  (and any additional device coupled to device  100 ). Device  10  may, as an example, have touch sensors, motion sensors, and/or other sensors that gather user input. This user input may be used in manipulating visual objects displayed by a display in device  100  (as an example). Haptic output components  80  may be included in device  10  and may be used to provide a user with haptic output associated with the visual objects on device  100  that are being manipulated by the user. In this type of arrangement, device  100  (e.g., a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a television, a head-mounted with a display and speakers, a head-mounted display with a display and speakers that is coupled to a computer, a set-top box, or other host, etc.) may display computer-generated visual objects (e.g., a computer game, virtual reality environment, etc.) and associated audio while the user interacts with this content using device  10 . If desired, haptic output components  80  may be included in device  100 , so that haptic output may be provided both by device  10  and by device  100 . 
     As illustrated by communications link  98 , device  10  may communicate with one or more additional electronic devices such as electronic device  100 . Links such as link  98  in system  8  may be wired or wireless communication links. Each device in system  8  such as device  10  may include communications circuitry such as communications circuitry  96  of device  10  for supporting communications over links such as link  98 . 
     Communications circuitry  96  may include wired and wireless communications circuitry. Communications circuitry  96  in one device may be used to support communications over one or more wired or wireless communications links (e g, link  98 ) with one or more additional devices (e.g., a peer device, a host, an accessory, etc.). Wireless circuitry in communications circuitry  96  may include one or more antennas and one or more radio-frequency transceiver circuits. Wireless communications circuitry may be used to support wireless communications over cellular telephone bands, wireless local area network bands, near field communications bands, etc. 
     As shown in  FIG.  9   , electronic device  10  may have control circuitry  90 . Control circuitry  90  may include storage and processing circuitry for supporting the operation of device  10 . The storage and processing circuitry may include storage such as nonvolatile memory (e.g., flash memory or other electrically-programmable-read-only memory configured to form a solid state drive), volatile memory (e.g., static or dynamic random-access-memory), etc. Processing circuitry in control circuitry  90  may be used to control the operation of device  10 . The processing circuitry may be based on one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, baseband processors, power management units, audio chips, application specific integrated circuits, etc. 
     Input-output circuitry in device  10  such as input-output devices  92  may be used to allow data to be supplied to device  10  and to allow data to be provided from device  10  to external devices. Input-output devices  92  may include buttons, joysticks, scrolling wheels, touch pads, key pads, keyboards, microphones, speakers, tone generators, cameras (e.g., cameras configured to visually monitor foot movements, etc.), displays and/or other light-emitting components, light-emitting diodes and other status indicators, data ports, etc. Input-output devices  92  may include sensors such as sensors  94 . Sensors  94  may include force sensors, touch sensors, temperature sensors, air pressure sensors, moisture sensors, ambient light sensors and other light-based sensors, magnetic sensors, and/or other sensors. If desired, sensors  94  may include position and motion sensors such as inertial measurement units that include accelerometers, compasses, and/or gyroscopes. Control circuitry  90  may use sensors  94  to gather information such as information on movement of device  10 . Haptic output components  80  in input-output devices  92  may be used to provide haptic output to a user (e.g., based on sensed movement, wirelessly received information, etc.). In some configurations (e.g., when a haptic output component  80  has a piezoelectric material), components can serve both as haptic output components  80  and as sensors  94 . For example, a piezoelectric material may be driven with a signal to supply haptic output and, when not driven, may produce an output signal indicative of applied force. Using appropriate drive signals from control circuitry  90 , haptic output components  80  may be used to supply a user&#39;s finger or other body part with a sensation of applied force in a given direction relative to the surface of sidewalls  18  or other housing surface of device  10 . This type of haptic output, which may sometimes be referred to as directional haptic output, may be used to provide a user with sensations of increased or decreased weight, applied lateral force (e.g., force to the left or right in a horizontal plane), a sensation of device  10  slipping out of a user&#39;s grasp, a sensations of friction as a finger or other body part slides across a housing surface, etc. 
     Device  10  may serve as a stand-alone device. A stand-alone haptic output device may be used independently and need not be used with external equipment. Battery power and/or power received wirelessly, via wired connection, or via an energy harvesting device in device  10  may be used in powering device  10 . In some stand-alone arrangements, stand-alone devices may occasionally gather information from external equipment (e.g., settings, etc.) and/or may supply output to external equipment (e.g., usage history information, etc.). In other stand-alone arrangements, stand-alone devices are never coupled to external equipment. 
     In other configurations, device  10  can serve as a controller for additional equipment. Device  10  may, for example, be an accessory or a stand-alone device that can operate as a remote control or other input-output device for another electronic device such as device  100 . In this type of operating environment, device  100  may, as an example, be a computer, television, head-mounted display (stand-alone or tethered or otherwise coupled to an external electronic device such as device  10  and/or additional electronic equipment such as a computer, set-top box, television, etc.), and/or other electronic equipment (e.g., one or more devices such as device  10 ). Device  100  (or associated equipment) may be used to run a computer game or other software for a user while providing a user with visual and audio output (e.g., computer-generated images or other visual content and associated audio content). A user may interact with the game or other software by providing input to device  100  using device  10 . As an example, a user may use device  10  as a game controller (e.g., a sword, joystick, magic wand, pointer, etc.). While manipulating visual objects and otherwise interacting with the software, haptic output such as in-game force feedback may be provided to the user by haptic output components  80  in device  10 . The haptic output may include directional haptic output associated with the user&#39;s interactions with visual objects being displayed. 
     In the example of  FIG.  10   , device  10  has a finger-mounted housing such as housing  12 . Housing  12  has a ring shape or a U-shape (e.g., with an exposed finger pad region) that mounts on a user&#39;s finger (finger  102 ). Haptic output components  80  may be formed on housing  12  to provide the user with haptic output such as directional haptic output (e.g., an apparent applied force in a given direction relative to a surface of housing  12 ). 
     In the example of  FIG.  11   , device  10  is a wristwatch device having a strap that holds housing  12  against a user&#39;s wrist (wrist  104 ). Haptic output components  80  may be supported against wrist  104  by wristwatch housing  12  to provide a user with haptic output. The wristwatch haptic output may include directional haptic output (e.g., an apparent applied force in a given direction relative to a surface of housing  12 ). 
     As shown in  FIG.  12   , device  100  may be a head-mounted device such as a pair of virtual reality or mixed reality glasses. Device  100  of  FIG.  12    has a head-mounted housing structure such as support structure  112  that allows device  100  and display  106  to be mounted on a user&#39;s head. In this position, a user (e.g., user eyes  108 ) may view display  106  in direction  110  while a speaker in housing  112  is used to play audio for the user. Haptic output components  80  may be supported by housing  12  to provide a user&#39;s head with haptic output (e.g., directional haptic output). Haptic output such as directional haptic output may also be provided using haptic output components  80  in device  10  (e.g., while the user is using device  10  to provide motion input, touch input, force input, and/or other user input to device  100  or computer equipment communicating with device  10 ). 
     As shown in the cross-sectional side view of  FIG.  13   , haptic output components  80  (e.g., components formed from stacked output components  80  such as stack-shaped haptic output component  80  of  FIG.  5    and/or other stacked output components) may be configured to exhibit shearing force across most or all of the surface of a user&#39;s skin (e.g., the skin of finger  102  or other user body part). Shear force output is tangential to the surface of components  80  and the user&#39;s skin (e.g., shear forces may be applied along the Y dimension in the example of  FIG.  13   , when the exposed surface of components  80  and the outer surface of device  10  adjacent to user finger  102  lie in the X-Y plane). Normal forces (e.g., in the Z dimension in the illustrative configuration of  FIG.  13   ) may also be applied by haptic output components, if desired. Shear output may be used to create sensations of movement along the surface of the user&#39;s skin. For example, shear output may create a sensation of applied force in a leftwards tangential direction relative to the surface of housing  12 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  14   , asymmetric drive signals may be applied to haptic output components  80 . For example, signal I may have steeper portions such as portions  114  and less steep portions such as portion  116 . In configurations in which portions  116  change slowly enough, the changes in displacement that are associated with portions  116  will not be sensed by a user. Because portions  116  are sufficiently slow in this type of configuration, the user&#39;s sense of touch will be insensitive to changes in haptic output device displacement that are associated with portions  116 . Portions  114 , however, change magnitude more abruptly than portions  114 . As a result, the user&#39;s sense of touch will be sensitive to the changes in haptic output device displacement that are associated with portions  114 . The overall result of using an asymmetric drive signal such as the illustrative asymmetrical sawtooth drive signal of  FIG.  14    is that a user may sense an applied force (net normal force and/or net shearing force) in a given direction relative to the surface of housing  12  and components  80 . This applied force is associated with portions  114  and will not sense restoring displacements associated with portions  116 . A user may therefore be provided with the illusion of overall applied force in a single given direction even though the user&#39;s finger or other body part in contact with one or more haptic output components remains at a fixed location and the haptic output component moves back and forth by equal amounts parallel to the given direction. 
     Directional haptic output effects such as these may be used to provide a user who is holding device  10  or otherwise receiving haptic output from components  80  with a sensation of enhanced weight or decreased weight (apparent applied force in a given vertical direction—up or down), with a sensation of lateral applied force (apparent applied force in a given horizontal direction), with a sensation of resistance or attraction (e.g., apparent applied force in a given direction relative to a virtual object or other reference point), with a sensation of enhanced or decreased friction (e.g., by adjusting shear force to resist or assist lateral movement of a finger across a surface using a finger-mounted device, handheld device, etc.), with a sensation of compliance (e.g., the sensation of gripping a real-world object as the user is interacting with a virtual reality environment), with a sensation of striking a boundary (e.g., boundary rendering associated with moving a virtual object in a virtual reality world through a virtual boundary using user input from device  10 ), with feedback associated with navigation tasks or other software functions (e.g., apparent applied force in a direction associated with driving directions or other navigation system output such as apparent applied force directed to the right for right turns and to the left for left turns), with a sensation that device  10  is slipping out of the user&#39;s grasp (e.g., by applying shear forces to the user&#39;s fingers), and/or other haptic output effects. 
     Normal-force or shear-force haptic output components can be applied to sidewalls and other walls of housing  12  in configurations in which device  10  is a computer mouse, track pad, or other pointing device, in a configuration in which device  10  is a remote control (e.g., for a television or set-top box), when device  10  is an accessory such as a supplemental battery case (see, e.g., illustrative device  10 ′ of  FIG.  2   ), when device  10  is a wristwatch device, finger mounted device, head-mounted device, and/or other wearable device, or in other configurations. 
     As shown in the example of  FIG.  14   , asymmetric drive signals may change orientation. For example, signals  118  may be used to create a sensation of applied force in a first direction whereas signals  120  (in which the positions of the steep and less steep portions of the waveform have been reversed) may create a sensation of applied force in an opposing second direction. As indicated by dashed lines  122 , the peaks of sawtooth drive signals may, if desired, be truncated.  FIG.  15    shows how drive signal I may have a sawtooth shape embedded in sawtooth envelope  122 .  FIG.  16    shows how Gaussian drive signal pulses may be embedded within sawtooth envelope  122 . In the  FIG.  17    arrangement, drive signal I has an overall sawtooth shape upon which smaller increasing sawtooth features have been impressed. Sawtooth pulses  124  of drive signal I of  FIG.  18    have steep rising edges, which is in opposition to the overall slowly rising and rapidly falling sawtooth envelope  122  of signal I. Other drive signals may be used in controlling haptic output components  80  if desired. The arrangements of  FIGS.  14 ,  15 ,  16     17 , and  18  are merely illustrative. 
       FIG.  19    is a diagram showing how a user may use device  10  to supply a system with user input to manipulate a displayed object such as object  154 . A user may grip device  10  so that the user&#39;s fingers receive haptic output from output components  80  (and, if desired, provide input to overlapping sensors  94 ). A motion sensor in device  10  may gather motion input as a user moves device  10 . 
     During operation of the system, object  154  may be presented to a user visually (e.g., using a display in a head-mounted device such as device  100  of  FIG.  1    or other display and other optional electronic equipment such as an associated set-up box, computer, etc.). The user may use force input, touch input, motion input, voice input, and/or other user input gathered with device  10  to control the system. For example, a user may point device  10  in direction  150  at object  154  and may press on a button, touch sensor, force sensor, or other component or may otherwise indicate to device  10  that the user has selected object  154  to enable user manipulation of the position of object  154 . Once object  154  has been selected, the use may move device  10  in direction  152  so that a motion sensor in device  10  can sense a desired movement of object  154  in direction  156 . Motion input from device  10  can then be used by the system to move the displayed object. If desired, user input for moving object  154  may also be provided using touch input, force input, and/or other input. 
     When the user moves object  154  in direction  156 , object  154  may come into contact (visually) with another object being displayed for the user such as object  158 . As the leading surface  160  of object  154  comes into visual alignment with surface  160  of object  158 , control circuitry in the system may direct haptic output components  80  to provide directional output that gives rise to a sensation of resistance to further movement of device  10 . In this way, virtual boundaries may be rendered and other sensations of force can be created in association with the visual content being presented to the user (e.g., when a virtual object interacts with other virtual items). The directional haptic feedback being provided to a user in the example of  FIG.  19    may be oriented in direction  164  and may be applied when surface  162  meets surface  160  to make it appear to the user as if object  154  has struck object  158  in the real world. This type of force feedback may be provided to the user in any suitable operating environment (e.g., when viewing virtual reality content and/or mixed reality content using head-mounted device, when working in a content creation or productivity application on a desktop computer, when playing a game on a television using a set-top box, when dragging displayed objects across a cellular telephone display, etc.). The use of haptic output components  80  in device  10  to render resistance to virtual object movement in a virtual reality world being presented to a user with a head-mounted display or other device  100  that communicates with device  10  is merely illustrative. 
     The foregoing is merely illustrative and various modifications can be made to the described embodiments. The foregoing embodiments may be implemented individually or in any combination.

Metadata:
Filing Date: 20201218
Publication Date: 20221213
Grant Date: 20221213
Priority Date: 20170720
Inventors: WANG, PAUL X.
CHEUNG, Michael Y.
Assignee: APPLE INC
CPC Classifications: [{"code": "G06F3/016", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W88/02", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/011", "inventive": true, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/016", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "G06F3/016", "inventive": true, "first": true, "tree": "[]"}, {"code": "H04W88/02", "inventive": false, "first": false, "tree": "[]"}]
Family ID: 74537108