HAP2U* is a Grenoble-based, French Tech company, winner
of a CES (Computer Electronics Show) 2020 Innovation Award in the Virtual &
Augmented Reality category, for the HAP2U mobile phone technology.
The HAP2U mobile phone technology raises the bar on haptics, the
science of touch-driven interfaces. Indeed, the HAP2U mobile phone technology is the first to offer third dimension touch
sensations for the objects appearing onscreen. Whether it is a scally fish, or a scratchy scrub sponge, the user can feel it on screen.
Believe it or not! Imagine now, what a HAP2U-enhanced touch-driven interface could do
for long-distance romance, for couples who could touch each other, remotely!
There is more to the augmented user experience of HAP2U-enhanced, touch-driven interfaces. HAP2U innovators are haptic experts. They have also integrated haptic
interfaces, into surfaces other than glass, such as wood, metal, and plastic surfaces.
HAP2U technology is patented. The company has an IP Queen on board. For example, the
patent application US20190354185Al, titled Touch interface
including a force sensor, recites the detection of touch on a contact surface, and a processing unit designed to quantify the touch force, exerted on the contact surface of the interface. This invention arises in the prior
art context of interface haptics, where only the presence, or absence, of touch could be detected
via capacitance, without the frequency-dependent quantification of the touch force, exerted on the
contact surface.
The English abstract of this invention, recited in a
family of 8 patents, is included below, together with two patent drawings, Figures 2A and 2B. The two patent figures, 2A and 2B, illustrate how a signal is obtained via attenuation of plate (2) vibrations, upon contact
of a finger (5). Figure 2A shows the vibrating resonance of the plate (2), untouched
by the finger (5). The amplitude of the flexural wave (4) is the reference amplitude [Aref]. Figure 2B shows the attenuated vibrating resonance of an interface plate (2) under the finger (5) force (F). Attenuation of the flexural wave (4) results in decreased
vibration amplitude [A(t)] at a given frequency of time. In turn, the decreased
vibration amplitude [A(t)] is each time compared to the reference resonance [Aref], yielding
an amplification difference or ratio, which corresponds to the detected signal [SΔ(t)] (i.e.; the attenuation produced by the finger (5)). Finally, the magnitude of the force applied on the contact surface is estimated, based on the detected signals, and a calibration function.
The invention is a touch interface having a contact surface that is able to be touched by an effector, a finger for example. The interface includes actuating transducers, piezoelectric transistors for example, allowing a standing flexural wave to be formed, in a resonant mode, extending over the length of the slab. The interface includes a detector for measuring the amplitude of the wave, and a detecting circuit for determining an attenuation signal, when the contact surface is touched by an effector. It includes a processing circuit for estimating a magnitude of the force exerted by the effector on the contact surface. [Abstract US20190354185Al]
The Youtube
video below, a HAP2U demonstration, shows various sorts of HAP2U-enhanced touch-sensitive interfaces. The first application shows a HAP2U-enhanced scally fish
interface. The second application, requiring the user to press a virtual
button, demonstrates an embodiment of the invention recited in US20190354185Al, concerning finger
force applied to a virtual button. The finger force exerted on the button is visually quantified
in a vertical indicator bar, where the length of the bar varies with the
measured magnitude of the force.
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*The name of the company HAP2U comes for the Ancient Greek
word ἅπτομαι (haptomai), meaning touch.
References
CES2020
CES2020
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