Immersion Corporation
Systems and methods for manipulating a graphical user interface through gestures in real space and providing associated haptic effects

Abstract:

One illustrative system of the present disclosure includes a sensor configured to detect a gesture that includes a movement through multiple positions in real space. The multiple positions can include a first position that is distant from a touch sensitive surface and a second position that is closer to the touch sensitive surface than the first position. The system also includes a processor in communication with the sensor. The processor can output a graphical user interface (GUI) that includes multiple available user interface levels. During the gesture, the processor can activate a sequence of user interface levels, where each user interface level in the sequence is selected from among the multiple available user interface levels and is activated at a respective position among the multiple positions in the gesture. The processor can also cause a haptic output device to provide haptic feedback associated with each user interface level.