Tangible user interface and a system thereof

摘要

The present invention relates to a TUI having a plurality of faces. A sensing system is provided to detect the presence of one or more adjacent TUIs within a predetermined sensing distance of one of the faces. Thus, the sensing system is arranged to detect whether any of the faces of the TUI opposes one or more adjacent TUIs. It may further be able to detect the relative orientation of opposing faces of the TUI and the one or more adjacent TUIs. The sensing system is further configured to enable the determination of the orientation of the TUI with respect to the vertical direction.

主权项

1. A tangible user interface (TUI) for use as part of a set of TUIs, the TUI comprising:
a plurality of faces wherein said plurality of faces form the outer surface of the TUI; and a sensing system configured to detect, for each of said faces, whether another of the set of TUIs is within a predetermined sensing distance from the face, and, for each face of the TUI for which the determination is positive, determine which face of a corresponding opposing TUI is opposing that face of the TUI, and a relative orientation of that face of the TUI and the opposing face of the corresponding opposing TUI, the relative orientation being a relative angular position about a line connecting centers of the TUI and the corresponding opposing TUI; wherein the sensing system comprises inductive-based sensors arranged to determine the relative orientation of that face of the TUI and the opposing face of the corresponding opposing TUI, wherein the TUI produces an output based on the determination of the relative orientation.