Canon Patent: Haptic Feedback On Camera Operations

A new Canon patent application: haptic feedback, i.e. vibration, for feedbacks when “beeps” should be avoided.

Canon patent application 2023-147064A (Japan, published 10/12/2023) discusses technology and methods to implement a haptic feedback in a camera body.

From the patent literature:

• The present invention provides an electronic device that can provide appropriate notification depending on a user’s holding state of the electronic device or a setting state of the electronic device.
• BACKGROUND ART: Hitherto, there has been known an electronic device having a function of causing the vibrating device to generate vibration at a predetermined timing and notifying the user. By using vibration (tactile sensation), notifications can be made without relying on sight or hearing, which is useful in that it does not easily affect the user’s operation of electronic devices. Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which a plurality of piezoelectric members are arranged in a grip section or a display section of a camera, and the piezoelectric member with the largest contact area with the user’s hand is deformed to notify the user.
• However, in the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the piezoelectric member that has a large contact area with the user’s hand is deformed, depending on the state or setting of the camera, the Users may not be able to properly recognize notifications.
• SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device that can provide appropriate notification depending on the state in which the electronic device is held by the user or the setting state of the electronic device.

It seems the described system recognises how the user is holding the camera body (which hand?) and then activates the right motors, which are the items 100 and 100b in the image on top. If I got it right, the described technology gets the hand position through pressure measurements on the grip. Not sure if this patent will go into production any time soon.

More Canon patents are listed here.

[via asobinet]