U.S. patent application number 15/016605 was filed with the patent office on 2016-08-18 for content-aware haptic system and associated control method.
The applicant listed for this patent is MediaTek Inc.. Invention is credited to Yu-Hao HUANG, Tsu-Ming LIU, Shuo-Li SHIH, Kui-Chang TSENG.
Application Number | 20160239087 15/016605 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 56621537 |
Filed Date | 2016-08-18 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160239087 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SHIH; Shuo-Li ; et
al. |
August 18, 2016 |
CONTENT-AWARE HAPTIC SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED CONTROL METHOD
Abstract
A haptic system and an associated control method are provided.
The haptic system includes: a processor, and control circuitry. The
processor is configured to receive an input signal and perform
haptic conversion on the input signal according to content of the
input signal to generate a first control signal. The control
circuitry is configured to generate a driving signal according to
the first control signal so as to provide haptic feedback through a
haptic device.
Inventors: |
SHIH; Shuo-Li; (New Taipei
City, TW) ; TSENG; Kui-Chang; (Kaohsiung City,
TW) ; HUANG; Yu-Hao; (Kaohsiung City, TW) ;
LIU; Tsu-Ming; (Hsinchu City, TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
MediaTek Inc. |
Hsin-Chu |
|
TW |
|
|
Family ID: |
56621537 |
Appl. No.: |
15/016605 |
Filed: |
February 5, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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62116710 |
Feb 16, 2015 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 1/1626 20130101;
H04N 7/144 20130101; H04N 5/2257 20130101; G01N 21/55 20130101;
G06F 2203/04806 20130101; G06K 9/00255 20130101; H04N 7/15
20130101; H04N 5/2254 20130101; G01N 2201/062 20130101; G06F 3/16
20130101; H04N 5/2253 20130101; G01N 21/53 20130101; G06F 3/0484
20130101; H04N 2007/145 20130101; G06F 2203/04808 20130101; G06F
3/0414 20130101; G06F 3/0488 20130101; H04N 5/2252 20130101; G01N
2201/0638 20130101; H04M 1/0264 20130101; H04N 5/23218 20180801;
G01N 15/1434 20130101; G06F 3/016 20130101; G06F 3/0416 20130101;
G06T 3/60 20130101; G06F 1/1686 20130101; H04N 5/23293
20130101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/01 20060101
G06F003/01; G06F 3/0488 20060101 G06F003/0488 |
Claims
1. A haptic system, comprising: a processor, configured to receive
an input signal and perform haptic conversion on the input signal
according to content of the input signal to generate a first
control signal; and control circuitry, configured to generate a
driving signal according to the first control signal so as to
provide haptic feedback through a haptic device.
2. The haptic system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the input
signal comprises a video signal, an image signal, an audio signal,
a message, a sign, or a combination thereof.
3. The haptic system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the haptic
feedback comprises vibration, shape deformation, friction change,
or volumetric haptic shape.
4. The haptic system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the haptic
conversion performed by the processor comprises operations selected
from at least one of decoding, processing, analyzing, converting
the content of the input signal, retrieving, transforming,
calculating relevant information of the input signal, and any
operations in combination thereof.
5. The haptic system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the input
signal is a video signal, and the processor analyzes the video
signal to obtain motion vectors of an image frame of the video
signal or obtain foreground object information, and haptic feedback
controlled by the driving signal corresponds to the motion vectors
or is associated with a position of the foreground object.
6. The haptic system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor
is coupled to a sensor and receives a sensor data from the sensor;
wherein the processor generates the first control signal according
to the content of the input signal and the sensor data.
7. The haptic system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processor
is coupled to a touch module and receives a touch position
information from the touch module; wherein the touch position
information indicates location where a user is touching on the
haptic device; wherein the processor further generates a second
control signal so as to provide an enhanced haptic feedback around
the touch position.
8. The haptic system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a
microphone or a camera, and the processor further modifies the
first control signal according to a voice command or an ultrasound
signal captured by the microphone or a gesture or pose from the
user captured by the camera.
9. The haptic system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the input
signal is an image signal, and the processor analyzes the image
signal to identify a material information of the image signal, and
generates the first control signal associated with the material
shown in the image signal, and the control circuitry generate the
driving signal to provide haptic feedback according to the first
control signal.
10. The haptic system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the material
has an individual material haptic file, and the processor retrieves
the individual material haptic file from a database when the
specific material is being identified.
11. A control method for a haptic system, the method comprising:
receiving an input signal; performing haptic conversion on the
input signal according to content of the input signal to generate a
first control signal; and generating a driving signal according to
the first control signal so as to provide haptic feedback through a
haptic device.
12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the haptic feedback
comprises vibration, shape deformation, friction change, or
volumetric haptic shape.
13. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the haptic
conversion comprises operations selected from at least one of
decoding, processing, analyzing, converting the content of the
input signal, retrieving, transforming, calculating relevant
information of the input signal, and any operations in combination
thereof.
14. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising:
receiving a sensor data from a sensor; wherein the first control
signal is generated according to the content of the input signal
and the sensor data.
15. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising:
detecting a touch position information where a user is touching on
the haptic device; and generating a second control signal so as to
provide an enhanced haptic feedback around the touch position.
16. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the input signal is
an image signal, and the method further comprises: analyzing the
image signal to identify a material information of the image
signal; generating the first control signal associated with the
material shown in the image signal; and generating the driving
signal to provide haptic feedback according to the first control
signal.
17. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the material has an
individual material haptic file, and the method further comprises:
retrieving the individual material haptic file from a database when
the specific material is being identified.
18. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the input signal is
a video signal, and the step of performing haptic conversion
further comprises: analyzing the video signal to obtain motion
vectors of an image frame of the video signal or obtain foreground
object information; wherein the haptic feedback controlled by the
driving signal corresponds to the motion vectors or is associated
with a position of the foreground object.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 62/116,710 filed on Feb. 16, 2015, the entirety of
which is incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The invention relates to haptic systems, and, in particular,
to a content-aware haptic system and an associated control
method.
[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0005] In recent years, haptic technologies have emerged in
academic reports and industrial products. However, current haptic
technologies mostly consider how to address the haptic experience
of the end user, but haptic experiences are not easy to record or
to duplicate in different haptic systems. In addition, the patterns
of haptic feedback are usually edited or predetermined in a
specific manner, such as using a predefined mapping table to map
specific symbols into corresponding haptic patterns. Conventional
haptic technologies do not control the haptic feedback according to
the content of an input signal such as a video signal, image
signal, audio signal, etc.
[0006] Accordingly, there is demand for a haptic system and an
associated control method to solve the aforementioned problems.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] A detailed description is given in the following embodiments
with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0008] In an exemplary embodiment, a haptic system is provided. The
haptic system includes: a processor, and control circuitry. The
processor is configured to receive an input signal and perform
haptic conversion on the input signal according to content of the
input signal to generate a first control signal. The control
circuitry is configured to generate a driving signal according to
the first control signal so as to provide haptic feedback through a
haptic device.
[0009] In another exemplary embodiment, a control method for a
haptic system is provided. The method comprises the steps of:
receiving an input signal; performing haptic conversion on the
input signal according to the content of the input signal to
generate a first control signal; and generating a driving signal
according to the first control signal so as to provide haptic
feedback through a haptic device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] The present invention can be more fully understood by
reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with
references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a haptic system in accordance
with an embodiment of the invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a control method for a haptic
system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
[0013] FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating enhancing haptic
feedback on the touch position in accordance with an embodiment of
the invention;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a control method for a haptic
system in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;
and
[0015] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a control method for a haptic
system in accordance with yet another embodiment of the
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0016] The following description is of the best-contemplated mode
of carrying out the invention. This description is made for the
purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and
should not be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention
is best determined by reference to the appended claims.
[0017] The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods
for providing content-aware haptic controls. Haptic systems may be
used for actuation such as vibration, shape deformation (e.g.,
contouring a flat surface, or deformation), friction change,
volumetric haptic shape, transcutaneous nerve stimulation,
temperature stimulation, or other suitable actuations or
combination of actuations which could provide tactile feedback to a
user. Haptic systems may also be used for sensing stimuli such as,
for example, contact on a display screen, patterns of contact on a
screen, shape changes, physical changes of a system or component,
or other suitable stimuli or combinations of stimuli which may be
received. Haptic systems may sense particular stimuli, change one
or more characteristics of a shape change element, or both. Haptic
systems may perform sensing functions and actuating functions by a
integrated haptic device. In some embodiments, haptic systems may
be coupled to a display screen, audio processing circuitry, image
processing circuitry, device hardware, or other system to provide
for any combination of tactile, visual, and audio interactions.
Actuation may occur, in some embodiments, substantially normal to a
substantially planar surface, which may allow for three dimensional
contouring of the planar surface.
[0018] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a haptic system in accordance
with an embodiment of the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the haptic
system 100 includes a processing unit 110, control circuitry 120,
and a haptic device 130. The processing unit 110 is configured to
receive an input signal 10, and performs a haptic conversion to
convert the content of the input signal 10 into a control signal 20
that is transmitted to the control circuitry 120. For example, the
processing unit 110 may comprises one or more processors, or
digital signal processors (DSP), but the invention is not limited
thereto. The haptic conversion may include operations selected from
at least one of decoding, processing, analyzing, converting the
content of the input signal, retrieving, transforming, calculating
relevant information of the input signal, and any combination
operations mentioned in above, so as to generate the control signal
20 accordingly. The control signal 20 may be one single signal or a
set of signals, and may include information for indicating the
strength of the haptic feedback to be provided as well as the
location information of rendering the haptic feedback on the haptic
device 130. The input signal 10 may be an image, video, acoustic
signal, message, or sign, but the invention is not limited thereto.
The details for converting different types of input signals into an
associated control signal will be described later.
[0019] The control circuitry 120 is configured to receive the
control signal 20 and generate a driving signal 30 so as to control
the haptic device 130 to provide haptic feedback. For example, the
control circuitry 120 may comprise a digital-to-analog converter
(DAC) 121 that is configured to convert a digital control signal 20
received from the processing unit 110 into the driving signal 30,
e.g. an audio waveforms. The haptic feedback provided by the haptic
device 130 may include vibration, shape deformation, friction
change, volumetric haptic shape, transcutaneous nerve stimulation,
temperature stimulation etc., but the invention is not limited
thereto.
[0020] In an embodiment, given that the input signal 10 is a video
signal and the haptic device 130 including vibrator to provide
vibration haptic feedback, the processing unit 110 may analyze the
video signal to obtain the motion vectors of macroblocks of an
image frame in the video signal. The magnitude and/or frequency of
the driving signal 30 depend on the motion vectors of the
macroblocks of the image frame. For example, when the scene of the
video signal moves fast, it indicates that the magnitude of the
motion vectors of the image frame in the video signal would be
larger, and thus the processing unit 110 may provide a control
signal 20 indicating a higher amplitude and/or frequency of
vibration to the control circuitry 120, so that the control
circuitry 120 may provide a driving signal 30 to control the haptic
device 130 to provide vibration haptic feedback having a
corresponding amplitude and/or frequency. It should be noted that
the control circuitry 120 may provide a driving signal 30 to
control the haptic device 130 so as to provide a global vibration
haptic feedback for the whole haptic device 130. In yet another
embodiment, the control circuitry 120 may provide a plurality of
driving signals 30 to locally control a plurality of vibrators
located in specific regions of the haptic device 130 so as to
provide regional vibration haptic feedbacks respectively.
[0021] In addition, the processing unit 110 may analyze the video
signal to obtain the foreground object, its position, and motion
vectors of the foreground object. The processing unit 110 may
generate the control signal 20 to control at least a local vibrator
of the haptic device 130 on the position at which the foreground
object is presented. In some embodiments, the processing unit 110
may also detect the content change of the video signal, and
generate the control signal 20 corresponding to the content
change.
[0022] Moreover, the processing unit 110 may also analyze the
acoustic content of the video signal, and may generate the control
signal 20 based on the acoustic content: For example, when there is
a huge explosion scene in the video signal, and the associated
acoustic content may have a sudden explosion sound with a high
magnitude. Accordingly, the control signal 20 generated by the
processing unit 110 may indicate a sudden strong vibration on the
haptic device 130 while the explosion occurs.
[0023] In another embodiment, the haptic device 130 includes
electrostatic generator which is capable of providing electrostatic
haptic feedback. For example, the haptic device 130 may be an
electrostatic passive haptic display or an electrostatic passive
haptic touchpad and the input signal 10 is a video signal, but the
invention is not limited thereto. Given that the haptic device 130
is an electrostatic passive haptic display, the user may sense
friction change while sliding his/her finger or fingers on the
surface of the haptic device 130, and the friction force sensed by
the user corresponds to the content of the image. Additionally, the
friction force (i.e. sensing slippery or rough) sensed by the user
can be controlled by the driving signal 30 applied to the haptic
device 130. In some embodiments, given that the haptic device 130
is an electrostatic passive haptic display, the user may place
his/her finger or fingers directly on the surface of the haptic
device 130, and the voltage difference occurs between the finger
(as an electrode) and the haptic device 130. This allows a direct
touch without the use of any additional components. In addition,
the surface of the haptic device 130 may include several segmented
electrodes placed in a plurality of different regions. In some
other embodiments, given that the haptic device 130 is an
electrostatic passive haptic touchpad, the user may experience
tactile feedback by putting his/her finger or fingers on the
touchpad and explores the surface of the haptic device 130. For
example, there may be a cursor or pointer on a display of the
haptic system 100, and the user may sense the friction haptic
feedback where the cursor or pointer is located when putting his
finger on the surface of the haptic device 130.
[0024] In the aforementioned embodiments, the processing unit 110
may perform a two-dimensional frequency-domain transformation (e.g.
digital wavelet transform (DWT) or digital cosine transform (DCT))
on the image frame of the video signal, and thus a map in the
frequency domain can be obtained. When pixel values in a specific
image block vary a lot, it indicates that the frequency in the
specific image block is higher, and thus the control signal 20
generated by the processing unit 110 may control the control
circuitry 120 to provide the driving signal 30 with higher voltage
or frequency, so that the user may sense that the friction force on
the specific image block is larger (i.e. sensing a rough surface)
while sliding on the corresponding specific image block of the
haptic device 130 via his finger.
[0025] In some embodiments, the haptic device 130 (e.g. an
electrostatic passive haptic display) could be able to provide
friction haptic feedback. The applied driving signal 30 to drive
the haptic device 130 for generating a friction haptic feedback
depends on the magnitude of motion vectors of the image frame.
Additionally, the control circuitry 120 may provide a plurality of
driving signals 30 to control different segmented electrodes in the
haptic device 130 to provide a friction haptic feedback at which
the foreground object or an obvious image feature (e.g. a human
face) is appeared in the image frame. Alternatively, the friction
force provided by the haptic device 130 may also depend on the
magnitude or frequency of the acoustic content of the incoming
video signal, and the details can be found in the aforementioned
embodiment.
[0026] Similarly, given that the haptic device 130 is further
capable of providing deformation haptic feedback (e.g. through a
display screen having a deformation function on its surface), the
processing unit 110 may also generate the control signal 20
associated with the content of the video signal. For example, as
described above, the degree of deformation haptic feedback also
corresponds to the magnitude of the motion vectors and/or the
content change in the video signal.
[0027] In an embodiment, the haptic device 130 is a haptic
deformation display having a plurality of deformation components,
e.g. micro-fluidics display panel, and the processing unit 110 is
capable of converting an incoming stereoscopic video signal or 3D
image into a control signal 20 indicating deformation magnitude and
shape of the deformation components of different regions on the
haptic device 130. It should be noted that the surface of the
haptic device 130 can be divided into a plurality of regions, and
the control circuitry 120 may generate a plurality of driving
signals 30 to control the deformation component of respective
region according to the control signal 20 from the processing unit
110. For example, the haptic deformation display is originally in a
first-shape configuration, and the deformation component may at
least partially define the shape of the haptic deformation display,
thereby causing the shape of the haptic deformation display to
deform into a second-shape configuration that is different from the
first-shape configuration. The second-shape configuration may
substantially be maintained.
[0028] The processing unit 110 may calculate depth information
(e.g. a depth map) associated with image frame in the stereoscopic
video signal or 3D image, and the deformation height of the
deformation component of a specific region corresponds to the
associated depth information. In addition, the processing unit 110
may perform foreground segmentation on the incoming video signal or
image to obtain a foreground object. The control signal 20 controls
the individual deformation component of each region of the haptic
device 130 to generate the deformation shape corresponding to the
segmentation result of the foreground object.
[0029] In some embodiments, control signal 20 is generated
according to the temporal motion prediction results of the incoming
stereoscopic video signal or 3D image when the haptic system 100 is
used in a video codec system. Similarly, the haptic feedback (e.g.
slippery or rough) may also correspond to the magnitude, or
correspond to motion vectors in the stereoscopic video signal or 3D
image. In addition, the processing unit 110 may perform foreground
segmentation on the stereoscopic video signal or 3D image to obtain
a foreground object so as to generate the control signal 20
accordingly by the processing unit 110. The control circuitry 120
may generate the driving signals 30 to control the corresponding
deformation components where the foreground object is presented on
the haptic deformation display. Furthermore, the deformation
behavior may also correspond to the acoustic content in the
stereoscopic video signal, and the aforementioned embodiments can
be referred to for the details.
[0030] In an embodiment, the haptic device 130 equipped with
transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation device having a
plurality of electrodes. The processing unit 110 is capable of
converting an incoming video signal or audio signal into a control
signal 20. The control circuitry 120 may provide a plurality of
driving signals 30 to control the plurality of electrodes in the
haptic device 130 to provide a transcutaneous nerve stimulation
haptic feedback. The driving signals 30 indicate amplitude,
frequency and/or duration of electrical impulses which would be
applied by the plurality of electrodes on the haptic device
130.
[0031] In yet an embodiment, the haptic device 130 equipped with
heaters. The processing unit 110 is capable of converting an
incoming video signal or audio signal into a control signal 20. The
control circuitry 120 may provide a plurality of driving signals 30
to control the heaters in the haptic device 130 to provide thermal
stimulation haptic feedback. The driving signals 30 control thermal
energy, and/or heating duration of the heaters of the haptic device
130.
[0032] In view of the above, the haptic system 100 is able to
convert the input content into various types of haptic feedback,
e.g. vibration, shape deformation, friction change, volumetric
haptic shape, transcutaneous nerve stimulation, and/or temperature
stimulation mentioned in the embodiments in above. FIG. 2 is a flow
chart of a control method for a haptic system in accordance with an
embodiment of the invention. In FIG. 2, in step S210, the input
signal 10 is received. In step S220, the haptic conversion is
performed based on the content of the input signal 10 to generate a
control signal 20 indicating associated haptic feedback. In step
S230, a haptic feedback driving signal 30 is provided to the haptic
device 130 according to the control signal 20.
[0033] In yet another embodiment, the input content can be
processed so as to generate driving signal to provide various
haptic feedback with the help of sensor data. For example, the
haptic system 100 may further includes at least a sensor 140 such
as GPS sensor, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, thermal
sensor, accelerometer, pressure sensor, heart-rate sensor, or UV
sensor, etc. The sensor 140 provides sensor data 40 to the
processing unit 110. In an embodiment, the processing unit 110
receives the input video signal 10 and GPS data from the GPS sensor
and generates a control signal 20 according to the input video
signal 10 and GPS data, where the control signal 20 may be
converted to the driving signal 30 to control the haptic device 130
to provide the haptic feedback, e.g. vibration haptic feedback. For
example, the vibration magnitude may depend on the motion vectors
of the image frame of the video signal, and also depend on the GPS
data e.g. geographical location of the user such as at home or
office. The vibration haptic feedback may be weaker when the user
is at home, and the vibration haptic feedback may be stronger when
the user is in the office. Additionally, the processing unit 110
may also generate the control signal 20 according to the video
signal and a plurality of sensor data 40 so as to control the
haptic feedback of the haptic device 130.
[0034] FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating enhancing haptic
feedback on the touch position in accordance with an embodiment of
the invention. In an embodiment, the haptic device 130 includes a
touch module 131 is configured to detect the touch position 310
where the user's finger is touching on the haptic device 130 or is
touching the mid-air space above the haptic device 130, as shown in
FIG. 3A. And the touch module 131 is further configured to send the
touch position information 50 to the processing unit 110, and thus
the processing unit 110 may adjust the control signal 20 to enhance
the haptic feedback corresponding to the touch position 310. For
example, when the user's finger touches on the haptic device 130,
the user may sense that there is a first haptic feedback on the
touch position 310. After receiving the touch position information
50, the processing unit 110 may increase the strength (e.g.
magnitude or frequency) of the haptic feedback on or near the touch
position 310, and thus the user may sense a stronger haptic
feedback on the touch position 310, as shown in FIG. 3B.
[0035] In an embodiment, the haptic device 130 further comprises an
ultrasound haptic component. The ultrasound haptic component is
capable of producing a volumetric haptic shape to the user by
vibrating the air particles near the ultrasound haptic component,
so that the user may sense the friction haptic feedback by
"touching" the mid-air where the ultrasound haptic component
renders the volumetric haptic shape. In addition, the ultrasound
haptic component is capable of detecting the touch position where
the user is touching in mid-air, and sends the touch position
information 50 to the processing unit 110. Thus, the processing
unit 110 may enhance the ultrasound haptic feedback on the touch
position.
[0036] In view of the above, the haptic system 100 is able to
convert the input content and the sensor data 40 into various types
of vibration, shape deformation, friction change, and/or volumetric
haptic shape mentioned in the embodiments in above. FIG. 4 is a
flow chart of a control method for a haptic system in accordance
with another embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, in
step S410, the input signal 10 and sensor data 40 are received. In
step S420, the haptic conversion is performed based on the content
of the input signal 10 and the sensor data 40 from the sensors 140
of the haptic system 100 to generate a control signal 20 indicating
associated haptic feedback. In step S430, the haptic feedback
driving signal 30 is provided to drive the haptic device 130
according to the control signal 20.
[0037] In another embodiment, the sensors 140 of the haptic system
100 may further comprise a microphone for detecting the acoustic
signal performed by the user. And the sensors 140 of the haptic
system 100 may further comprise a camera for detecting the motions
performed by the user. For example, the processing unit 110 can be
further controlled by the user through a gesture, a voice command,
an ultrasound signal, or a pose captured by the microphone or the
camera. Specifically, when the processing unit 110 detects the
gesture, voice command, ultrasound signal, or pose performed by the
user, the processing unit 110 may apply a specific haptic signal
instead of the original control signal, so that the control
circuitry 120 would generate the driving signal 30 according to the
specific haptic signal. It should be noted that the haptic signal
includes vibration, friction, or deformation, but the invention is
not limited thereto.
[0038] In an embodiment, the haptic system 100 may further comprise
a network interface unit 150 configured to communicate with other
devices using wired or wireless protocols such as LAN, Bluetooth,
Wifi, LTE etc. For example, the processing unit 110 of the haptic
system 100 may receive a status signal 60 indicating a remote
user's action or a remote object's status from a remote electronic
device (not shown in FIG. 1), and the processing unit 110 may
generate the control signal 20 corresponding to the status signal
60, and convert the control signal 20 to a driving signal 30
through control circuitry 120. It should be noted that the remote
electronic device may also comprise sensors such as accelerometer
and gyroscope (not limited), that detect the remote user's action
or a remote object's status, and the status signal 60 is generated
based on the sensor data 40 from the sensors of the remote
electronic device.
[0039] In yet another embodiment, the processing unit 110 may
analyze a input image signal and identify objects having different
materials from the image signal by using object recognition
techniques or material data base from an external source. And the
processing unit 110 is configured to be capable of generating
haptic signals corresponding to different materials such as cloth,
glass, paper, metal, air, but the invention is not limited thereto.
For example, given that the haptic device 130 provides friction
haptic feedback, the user may sense that the cloth may be rough and
the metal may be slippery when touching on the associated portion
on the haptic device 130 e.g. a electrostatic passive haptic
display. That is, different material has a corresponding haptic
signal that causes an individual haptic feedback, e.g. different
friction haptic feedback driven by driving signals 30 having
different magnitude and/or frequency.
[0040] Furthermore, the haptic signals of different materials can
be recorded using analog signals such as audio signals.
Specifically, each material has its own acoustic material haptic
file. When the processing unit 110 recognizes the materials in the
video signal, the processing unit 110 may retrieve the acoustic
material haptic files of the recognized materials from a database
(not shown in FIG. 1), and generate the control signals 20
associated with the recognized materials according to the retrieved
acoustic material haptic files. The database could be stored in the
haptic system 100, or the data base could be received from outside
of the haptic system 100 through network interface unit 150. With
the help of acoustic material haptic files, the haptic properties
of different materials can be easily duplicated and distributed,
and different haptic systems may share the same acoustic material
haptic files, so that the user may sense the same haptic feedback
on different haptic systems.
[0041] In an embodiment, the input signal 10 may include an analog
content, e.g. an analog audio signal, which can be regarded as the
control signal 20. Thus, the analog content could be treated as the
driving signal 30 and be sent to the haptic device 130 for proving
haptic feedback directly. For example, the processing unit 110 may
determine whether the input signal 10 is an analog signal. If the
input signal 10 is an analog signal, the processing unit 110 may
directly send the analog signal to the haptic device 130. For
example, the direct output haptic feedback from the input audio
signal can also reflect the vibration from the air wave such as
collision between materials, or the explosion of fireworks.
[0042] If the input signal 10 is a digital signal, the processing
unit 110 may perform haptic conversion to convert the digital
signal into an analog control signal that is transmitted to the
control circuitry 120. However, both the digital content and the
analog content may exist in a multimedia file. For example, when
the input signal is a video signal including video images and an
analog acoustic signal, the processing unit 110 may perform haptic
conversion on the video signal to generate a first control signal,
and directly send the analog acoustic signal to the control
circuitry 120 as the second control signal. Accordingly, the haptic
device 130 performs haptic feedback according to the first control
signal and the second control signal.
[0043] FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a control method for a haptic
system in accordance with yet another embodiment of the invention.
In step S510, an input signal comprising a digital signal and an
analog signal is received. In step S520, the haptic conversion is
performed on the digital signal to generate a first control signal.
In step S530, analog signal is directly determined as a second
control signal. In step S540, haptic feedback driving signal 30 is
provided according to the first control signal and the second
control signal. In an embodiment, the first control signal is
converted by a DAC 121 then to be mixed with the second control
signal to generate the driving signal 30.
[0044] While the invention has been described by way of example and
in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that
the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the
contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar
arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art).
Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the
broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications
and similar arrangements.
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