Interactive display with tactile feedback

Abstract

An electronic device including a housing having a first surface and a second surface, and an interactive display having a keyboard-enabled mode and a keyboard-disabled mode. The interactive display includes a first image display device disposed at the first surface that displays image data, and a physical keypad disposed at the second surface that provides tactile feedback to a user only when the interactive display is in the keyboard-enabled mode, the physical keypad being substantially smooth when the interactive display is in the keyboard-disabled mode.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An electronic device comprising:
 A) a physical keypad comprising a plurality of physical keys disposed at a first surface of the electronic device, the plurality of physical keys comprising: 1) at least one modifier key, at least one navigation key, at least one lock key, and at least one editing key; and 2) alphanumeric keys, each of the alphanumeric keys corresponding to a number or a letter; and   B) an interactive image display device configured to display imaged keys, wherein the interactive image display device is disposed at a second surface of the electronic device and wherein the interactive image display device is further configured:
 i) to display, in a first mode of a plurality of modes, 1) a plurality of imaged keys, wherein the plurality of imaged keys do not include imaged keys that correspond to the alphanumeric keys and perform in the first mode a different function from the plurality of physical keys; and 2) one or more selectable menus; and 
 ii) to not display, in a second mode of the plurality of modes, the plurality of imaged keys, 
   wherein each of the plurality of imaged keys are configured so that, when an imaged key is activated, respective data is input to the electronic device.   
     
     
         2 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a non-interactive display configured to display image data,   wherein the non-interactive display is not capable of receiving user inputs via a surface of the non-interactive display.   
     
     
         3 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the physical keypad has a first mode in which the plurality of physical keys are lowered relative to the second surface and the physical keypad does not provide tactile feedback to a user, and the physical keypad has a second mode in which the plurality of physical keys are raised relative to the second surface to provide tactile feedback to a user.   
     
     
         4 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the physical keypad comprises one or more physical keys that control activation of the imaged keys within the imaged keypad. 
     
     
         5 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a sensor that detects user interaction with the physical keypad; and   an image generator that displays within the interactive image display device an imaged representation of the user interaction with the physical keypad.   
     
     
         6 . The electronic device of  claim 5 , wherein the sensor comprises one or more of the following sensor types: a motion sensor, a thermal sensor and a pressure sensor. 
     
     
         7 . The electronic device of  claim 5 , wherein the imaged representation of the user interaction comprises an imaged depiction of a location of the user interaction with the physical keypad. 
     
     
         8 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second surfaces are adjacent to one another. 
     
     
         9 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second surfaces are angled relative to one another. 
     
     
         10 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the interactive image display device is selected from one of the following types of interactive image display devices: liquid crystal displays, digital light processor displays, plasma displays and light emitting diode displays. 
     
     
         11 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is a laptop computer. 
     
     
         12 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is a desktop computer. 
     
     
         13 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is a cell phone. 
     
     
         14 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is a personal digital assistant. 
     
     
         15 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is a gaining device. 
     
     
         16 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is an automatic teller machine. 
     
     
         17 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the electronic device is a data input device. 
     
     
         18 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the functions of at least one of the plurality of imaged keys are user adjustable. 
     
     
         19 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the functions of at least one of the plurality of physical keys are user adjustable. 
     
     
         20 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein shapes of the plurality of imaged keys are reconfigurable. 
     
     
         21 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , further comprising a touchscreen panel. 
     
     
         22 . The electronic device of  claim 21  wherein the touchscreen panel is a capacitive touchscreen panel. 
     
     
         23 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , further comprising an optical imaging device. 
     
     
         24 . The electronic device of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of physical keys have respective indented regions to provide a user with tactile feedback.