The tactile touchpad

ABSTRACT

A prototype touchpad with embedded tactile feedback is described. Tactile feedback allows the touchpad to mimic the operation of a mouse for basic transactions such as clicking, double-clicking, and dragging. A button click is achieved by increasing the finger pressure applied to the touchpad, instead of using a lift-and-tap strategy or by pressing separate buttons. The result is more natural and less error prone. Pressure thresholds for the button-down and button-up actions are under software control and include hysteresis to minimise inadvertent selections.

REFERENCES

• 1: Motoyuki Akamatsu , I. Scott MacKenzie, Movement characteristics using a mouse with tactile and force feedback, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, v.45 n.4, p.483-493, Oct. 1996 [doi>10.1006/ijhc.1996.0063]
• 2: William Buxton, A three-state model of graphical input, Proceedings of the IFIP TC13 Third Interational Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, p.449-456, August 27-31, 1990
• 3: I. Scott MacKenzie , Abigail Sellen , William A. S. Buxton, A comparison of input devices in element pointing and dragging tasks, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: Reaching through technology, p.161-166, April 27-May 02, 1991, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States [doi>10.1145/108844.108868]

INDEX TERMS

Keywords:
pointing devices, tactile feedback, touchpads