Invention Grant
- Patent Title: Input devices that use self-mixing interferometry to determine movement within an enclosure
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Application No.: US16883390Application Date: 2020-05-26
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Publication No.: US11422638B2Publication Date: 2022-08-23
- Inventor: Mehmet Mutlu , Yuhao Pan , Stephen E. Dey
- Applicant: Apple Inc.
- Applicant Address: US CA Cupertino
- Assignee: Apple Inc.
- Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
- Current Assignee Address: US CA Cupertino
- Agency: Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP
- Main IPC: G06F3/01
- IPC: G06F3/01 ; G06F3/03 ; G01P13/00 ; G01L1/24 ; A63F13/211

Abstract:
An input device includes an enclosure defining a three-dimensional input space and one or more self-mixing interferometry sensors coupled to the enclosure and configured to produce a self-mixing interferometry signal resulting from reflection of backscatter of emitted light by a body part in the three-dimensional input space. In various examples, movement of the body part may be determined using the self-mixing interferometry signal, which may in turn be used to determine an input. In some examples, a body part displacement or a body part speed and an absolute distance to the body part may be determined using the self-mixing interferometry signal and used to determine an input. In a number of examples, multiple self-mixing interferometry sensors may be used and the movement may be determined by analyzing differences between the respective produced self-mixing interferometry signals.
Public/Granted literature
- US20210011559A1 Input Devices that Use Self-Mixing Interferometry to Determine Movement Within an Enclosure Public/Granted day:2021-01-14
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