GESTURE CAPTURE FOR MANIPULATION OF PRESENTATIONS ON ONE OR MORE DEVICE DISPLAYS
An intuitive technique for inputting user gestures into a handheld computing device is disclosed allowing a user to better manipulate different types of screen display presentations, such as desktops and application windows, when performing tasks thereon, e.g., minimization, maximization, moving between display screens, and increasing/decreasing a display thereof across multiple display screens. For manipulating an application window on a device display screen for performing tasks as identified above, user gestures are input to a corresponding gesture capture area for this display screen, wherein this capture area is separate from this display screen.
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The present application claims the benefits of and priority, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e), to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. Nos. 61/389,000, filed Oct. 1, 2010, entitled “DUAL DISPLAY WINDOWING SYSTEM;” 61/389,117, filed Oct. 1, 2010, entitled “MULTI-OPERATING SYSTEM PORTABLE DOCKETING DEVICE;” 61/389,087, filed Oct. 1, 2010, entitled “TABLET COMPUTING USER INTERFACE;” 61/458,150, filed Nov. 17, 2010, entitled “Dual Screen Email Client;” 61/539,884, filed Sep. 27, 2011, entitled “MOBILE DEVICE.” Each of the aforementioned documents is incorporated herein by this reference in their entirety for all that they teach and for all purposes.
BACKGROUNDA substantial number of handheld computing devices, such as cellular phones, tablets, and E-Readers, make use of a touch screen display not only to deliver display information to the user but also to receive inputs from user interface commands. While touch screen displays may increase the configurability of the handheld device and provide a wide variety of user interface options, this flexibility typically comes at a price. The dual use of the touch screen to provide content and receive user commands, while flexible for the user, may obfuscate the display and cause visual clutter, thereby leading to user frustration and loss of productivity.
The small form factor of handheld computing devices requires a careful balancing between the displayed graphics and the area provided for receiving inputs. On the one hand, the small display constrains the display space, which may increase the difficulty of interpreting actions or results. On the other, a virtual keypad or other user interface scheme is superimposed on or positioned adjacent to an executing application, requiring the application to be squeezed into an even smaller portion of the display.
This balancing act is particularly difficult for single display touch screen devices. Single display touch screen devices are crippled by their limited screen space. When users are entering information into the device, through the single display, the ability to interpret information in the display can be severely hampered, particularly when a complex interaction between display and interface is required.
SUMMARYThere is a need for a dual multi-display handheld computing device that provides for enhanced power and/or versatility compared to conventional single display handheld computing devices. These and other needs are addressed by the various aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations of the present disclosure. Also, while the disclosure is presented in terms of exemplary embodiments, it should be appreciated that individual aspects of the disclosure can be separately claimed. More particularly, there is a need for an intuitive technique for inputting user gestures into a handheld computing device that allows a user to more easily manipulate different types of screen display presentations, such as desktop presentations as opposed to application window presentations (the terms “desktop” and “application window” being described and distinguished hereinbelow). Since applications may be downloaded from a wide variety of sources and may respond to an application specific set of user gestures, user gesture inputs are neither uniform nor consistent between application windows. Furthermore, since device application windows typically require the user to provide application specific user gesture inputs directly to the displayed application windows, such application specific user inputs prevent the use of a uniform or consistent set of user gesture inputs directly to displayed application windows for performing, e.g., window manipulation tasks such as minimizing, maximizing, and moving application windows from one screen display to another, as well as rearranging in a stack of application windows, activating a display of an application window across multiple screen displays, and/or reducing a display of an application window to a single screen display that is currently displayed across multiple screen displays. Accordingly, user gesture inputs for manipulating application windows according to a consistent or uniform set of window based user gesture inputs has heretofore been problematic. On-the-other-hand, for displays of desktops, since the device typically has control over the operation and manipulation of desktop displays, user gesture inputs for such desktop operation and manipulation can be made or forced to be uniform. Accordingly, the present disclosure describes a handheld device which retains the uniformity that a device typically can impose on the manipulation of desktop displays while also imposing a similar uniformity and consistency on the manipulation of application windows. In one embodiment, the present disclosure is directed to performing the following steps (a) through (h) for configuring a device having at least one display screen for displaying one or more of screen display presentations and for displaying one or more operably different screen display presentations, wherein the screen display presentations are able to be manipulated via user gesture input differently from the operably different screen display presentations:
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- (a) receiving a first user gesture input to a gesture capture area associated with the at least one screen, the gesture capture area being separate from the at least one display screen;
- (b) determining whether a first of the one or more of screen display presentations is displayed on the at least one screen;
- (c) when the first screen display presentation is determined to be displayed, perform a step of interpreting the gesture input for determining a predetermined operation to apply to the first screen display presentation;
- (d) when none of the one or more screen display presentations are determined to be displayed in the step of determining, perform a step of preventing the device from using the gesture input to change the at least one display screen;
- (e) receiving a second user gesture input in response to a second user gesture input that includes user contact input directly to the at least one screen;
- (f) second determining whether one of the operably different screen display presentations is displayed on the at least one screen;
- (g) when the one operably different screen display presentation is determined to be displayed on the at least one screen, performing a step of second interpreting the second gesture input for determining a predetermined second operation to apply to the one operably different screen display presentation; and
- (h) when none of the operably different screen display presentations are determined in the step of second determining, perform a step of second preventing the device from using the second gesture input to change the at least one display screen.
Moreover, is it an aspect of the present disclosure that there is a predetermined collection of a plurality of user gesture input descriptions for recognizing user gesture inputs that are interpretable in the step of interpreting in (c) above, wherein:
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- (i) the one or more screen display presentations includes a plurality of application windows,
- (ii) each of a plurality of software applications provide a corresponding one of the plurality of application windows,
- (iii) each of the user gesture input descriptions (UGI) of the predetermined collection is operable for recognizing user gesture inputs for each application window (AW) of the plurality of application windows when: (1) the user gesture input UGI is an instance of the first user gesture input, and (2) the application window AW is an instance of the first screen display presentation for which the user gesture input UGI is an input.
Note that each of the software applications of the plurality of software applications in (ii) immediately above may be downloaded (via a communications network such as the Internet) to the handheld device from a software vendor that is independent other software vendors from which other of the plurality of software applications can be downloaded.
The present disclosure can provide a number of advantages depending on the particular aspect, embodiment, and/or configuration. In particular, the present disclosure simplifies a user's experience in providing gesture input to the device. More particularly, for each of the plurality of device displays, the present disclosure provides a corresponding separate area associated therewith for receiving user gesture input, wherein this gesture input (to the separate area) is interpreted as applying to application windows and not to desktop displays. Thus, since user gesture input for manipulating desktops can be input directly to a display presenting the desktop, a user can readily specify that how a displayed application window is to be manipulated by inputting user gestures into the corresponding separate area associated with the display presenting the application window.
These and other advantages will be apparent from the disclosure.
The phrases “at least one”, “one or more”, and “and/or” are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C”, “at least one of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “one or more of A, B, or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, or A, B and C together.
The term “a” or “an” entity refers to one or more of that entity. As such, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “at least one” can be used interchangeably herein. It is also to be noted that the terms “comprising”, “including”, and “having” can be used interchangeably.
The term “automatic” and variations thereof, as used herein, refers to any process or operation done without material human input when the process or operation is performed. However, a process or operation can be automatic, even though performance of the process or operation uses material or immaterial human input, if the input is received before performance of the process or operation. Human input is deemed to be material if such input influences how the process or operation will be performed. Human input that consents to the performance of the process or operation is not deemed to be “material”.
The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any tangible storage and/or transmission medium that participate in providing instructions to a processor for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, NVRAM, or magnetic or optical disks. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, magneto-optical medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium with patterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, a solid state medium like a memory card, any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any other medium from which a computer can read. A digital file attachment to e-mail or other self-contained information archive or set of archives is considered a distribution medium equivalent to a tangible storage medium. When the computer-readable media is configured as a database, it is to be understood that the database may be any type of database, such as relational, hierarchical, object-oriented, and/or the like. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include a tangible storage medium or distribution medium and prior art-recognized equivalents and successor media, in which the software implementations of the present disclosure are stored.
The term “application” as used herein refers to a software program and/or the display therefor on an electronic display screen, wherein the application is computer software designed to help the user to perform one or more predetermined tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software, and media players. An “application” has a user interface for receiving and presenting information from a user. An “application” as used herein typically refers to software (and/or its graphical presentation) wherein: (i) each separately installed additional application (if any) that can be activated from a user activation of the application is interactive with the user for assisting the user in performing a task the user is cognizant of and purposefully activates the application to perform the task, and (ii) the application is not viewed by the user as providing graphical interactions for graphically displaying with a display of the application additional applications such that by user input to the application, the displays of the additional applications can be rearranged relative to the application display, added to the application display, deleted from the application display, and activated from the application display.
The term “application window” refers to a potentially complex data structure(s) defining a graphical presentation of interrelated information that can be manipulated on a graphical display screen for moving, minimizing, and maximizing as a unit. Each application window has an “application” associated therewith that defines predetermined user input thereto to which the application window is responsive according to processing performed by the associated application. As referred to herein, an “application window” also refers its graphical presentation when the application window is displayed on an electronic display device such as a “touch screen” as one skilled in the art will appreciate.
The term “desktop” refers to a metaphor used to portray systems. A desktop is generally considered a “surface” that typically includes pictures, called icons, widgets, folders, etc. that can activate or show applications, windows, cabinets, files, folders, documents, and other graphical items thereon. The icons are generally selectable to initiate a task through user interface interaction to allow a user to execute applications or conduct other operations. More precisely, as used herein a “desktop” refers to a potentially complex data structure for providing graphical interactions for graphically displaying with a display of the desktop a plurality of applications such that by user input to the desktop, the displays of the applications can be rearranged relative to the desktop display, added to the desktop display, deleted from the desktop display, and activated from the desktop display. Each desktop includes or has associated therewith data identifying it as a desktop and not an application and not an application window. Similarly, each application and application window includes or has associated therewith data identifying it has an application or application window and not a desktop.
The term “screen,” “touch screen,” or “touchscreen” refers to a physical structure that includes one or more hardware components that provide the device with the ability to render a user interface and/or receive user input. A screen can encompass any combination of gesture capture region, a touch sensitive display, and/or a configurable area. The device can have one or more physical screens embedded in the hardware. However a screen may also include an external peripheral device that may be attached and detached from the device. In embodiments, multiple external devices may be attached to the device. Thus, in embodiments, the screen can enable the user to interact with the device by touching areas on the screen and provides information to a user through a display. The touch screen may sense user contact in a number of different ways, such as by a change in an electrical parameter (e.g., resistance or capacitance), acoustic wave variations, infrared radiation proximity detection, light variation detection, and the like. In a resistive touch screen, for example, normally separated conductive and resistive metallic layers in the screen pass an electrical current. When a user touches the screen, the two layers make contact in the contacted location, whereby a change in electrical field is noted and the coordinates of the contacted location calculated. In a capacitive touch screen, a capacitive layer stores electrical charge, which is discharged to the user upon contact with the touch screen, causing a decrease in the charge of the capacitive layer. The decrease is measured, and the contacted location coordinates determined. In a surface acoustic wave touch screen, an acoustic wave is transmitted through the screen, and the acoustic wave is disturbed by user contact. A receiving transducer detects the user contact instance and determines the contacted location coordinates.
The term “display” refers to a portion of one or more screens used to display the output of a computer to a user. A display may be a single-screen display or a multi-screen display, referred to as a composite display. A composite display can encompass the touch sensitive display of one or more screens. A single physical screen can include multiple displays that are managed as separate logical displays. Thus, different content can be displayed on the separate displays although part of the same physical screen.
The term “displayed image” refers to an image produced on the display. A typical displayed image is a window or desktop. The displayed image may occupy all or a portion of the display.
The term “display orientation” refers to the way in which a rectangular display is oriented by a user for viewing. The two most common types of display orientation are portrait and landscape. In landscape mode, the display is oriented such that the width of the display is greater than the height of the display (such as a 4:3 ratio, which is 4 units wide and 3 units tall, or a 16:9 ratio, which is 16 units wide and 9 units tall). Stated differently, the longer dimension of the display is oriented substantially horizontal in landscape mode while the shorter dimension of the display is oriented substantially vertical. In the portrait mode, by contrast, the display is oriented such that the width of the display is less than the height of the display. Stated differently, the shorter dimension of the display is oriented substantially horizontal in the portrait mode while the longer dimension of the display is oriented substantially vertical.
The term “composited display” refers to a logical structure that defines a display that can encompass one or more screens. A multi-screen display can be associated with a composite display that encompasses all the screens. The composite display can have different display characteristics based on the various orientations of the device.
The term “gesture” refers to a user action that expresses an intended idea, action, meaning, result, and/or outcome. The user action can include manipulating a device (e.g., opening or closing a device, changing a device orientation, moving a trackball or wheel, etc.), movement of a body part in relation to the device, movement of an implement or tool in relation to the device, audio inputs, etc. A gesture may be made on a device (such as on the screen) or with the device to interact with the device.
The term “module” as used herein refers to any known or later developed hardware, software, firmware, artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, or combination of hardware and software that is capable of performing the functionality associated with that element.
The term “gesture capture” refers to a sense or otherwise a detection of an instance and/or type of user gesture. The gesture capture can occur in one or more areas of the screen, A gesture region can be on the display, where it may be referred to as a touch sensitive display or off the display where it may be referred to as a gesture capture area.
A “multi-screen application” refers to an application that is capable of multiple modes. The multi-screen application mode can include, but is not limited to, a single screen mode (where the application is displayed on a single screen) or a composite display mode (where the application is displayed on two or more screens). A multi-screen application can have different layouts optimized for the mode. Thus, the multi-screen application can have different layouts for a single screen or for a composite display that can encompass two or more screens. The different layouts may have different screen/display dimensions and/or configurations on which the user interfaces of the multi-screen applications can be rendered. The different layouts allow the application to optimize the application's user interface for the type of display, e.g., single screen or multiple screens. In single screen mode, the multi-screen application may present one window pane of information. In a composite display mode, the multi-screen application may present multiple window panes of information or may provide a larger and a richer presentation because there is more space for the display contents. The multi-screen applications may be designed to adapt dynamically to changes in the device and the mode depending on which display (single or composite) the system assigns to the multi-screen application. In alternative embodiments, the user can use a gesture to request the application transition to a different mode, and, if a display is available for the requested mode, the device can allow the application to move to that display and transition modes.
A “single-screen application” refers to an application that is capable of single screen mode. Thus, the single-screen application can produce only one window and may not be capable of different modes or different display dimensions. A single-screen application is incapable of the several modes discussed with the multi-screen application.
The term “window” refers to a, typically rectangular, displayed image on at least part of a display that contains or provides content different from the rest of the screen. The window may obscure the desktop.
The terms “determine”, “calculate” and “compute,” and variations thereof, as used herein, are used interchangeably and include any type of methodology, process, mathematical operation or technique.
It shall be understood that the term “means” as used herein shall be given its broadest possible interpretation in accordance with 35 U.S.C., Section 112, Paragraph 6. Accordingly, a claim incorporating the term “means” shall cover all structures, materials, or acts set forth herein, and all of the equivalents thereof. Further, the structures, materials or acts and the equivalents thereof shall include all those described in the summary of the invention, brief description of the drawings, detailed description, abstract, and claims themselves.
The preceding is a simplified summary of the disclosure to provide an understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is neither an extensive nor exhaustive overview of the disclosure and its various aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations. It is intended neither to identify key or critical elements of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of the disclosure but to present selected concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as an introduction to the more detailed description presented below. As will be appreciated, other aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations of the disclosure are possible utilizing, alone or in combination, one or more of the features set forth above or described in detail below.
10E illustrates processing performed by an embodiment of the Gesture Module 576, wherein a combination flick-drag gesture is applied to the display 110, and the Gesture Module 576 ignores the gesture since no desktop is displayed in the display 110 to be operated on according to the gesture;
In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have the same reference label. Further, various components of the same type may be distinguished by following the reference label by a letter that distinguishes among the similar components. If only the first reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label irrespective of the second reference label.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONPresented herein are embodiments of a device. The device can be a communications device, such as a cellular telephone, or other smart device. The device can include two screens that are oriented to provide several unique display configurations. Further, the device can receive user input in unique ways. The overall design and functionality of the device provides for an enhanced user experience making the device more useful and more efficient.
Mechanical Features:
Primary screen 104 also includes a configurable area 112 that has been configured for specific inputs when the user touches portions of the configurable area 112. Secondary screen 108 also includes a configurable area 116 that has been configured for specific inputs. Areas 112a and 116a have been configured to receive a “back” input indicating that a user would like to view information previously displayed. Areas 112b and 116b have been configured to receive a “menu” input indicating that the user would like to view options from a menu. Areas 112c and 116c have been configured to receive a “home” input indicating that the user would like to view information associated with a “home” view. In other embodiments, areas 112a-c and 116a-c may be configured, in addition to the configurations described above, for other types of specific inputs including controlling features of device 100, some non-limiting examples including adjusting overall system power, adjusting the volume, adjusting the brightness, adjusting the vibration, selecting of displayed items (on either of screen 104 or 108), operating a camera, operating a microphone, and initiating/terminating of telephone calls. Also, in some embodiments, areas 112a-C and 116a-C may be configured for specific inputs depending upon the application running on device 100 and/or information displayed on touch sensitive displays 110 and/or 114.
In addition to touch sensing, primary screen 104 and secondary screen 108 may also include areas that receive input from a user without requiring the user to touch the display area of the screen. For example, primary screen 104 includes gesture capture area 120, and secondary screen 108 includes gesture capture area 124. These gesture capture areas are, e.g., capacitive touch sensitive areas which are able to receive user touch input to be used for recognizing gestures made by a user without the need for the user to actually touch the surface of the display area (i.e., display area 110 or 114). In comparison to touch sensitive displays 110 and 114, the gesture capture areas 120 and 124 are commonly not capable of rendering a displayed image, and in particular, cannot display a desktop or an application window.
The two screens 104 and 108 are connected together with a hinge 128, shown clearly in
Device 100 also includes a number of buttons 158. For example,
There are also a number of hardware components within device 100. As illustrated in
The overall design of device 100 allows it to provide additional functionality not available in other communication devices. Some of the functionality is based on the various positions and orientations that device 100 can have. As shown in
In addition to the open position, device 100 may also have a “closed” position illustrated in
Device 100 can also be used in an “easel” position which is illustrated in
Transitional states are also possible. When the position sensors 172A and B and/or accelerometer indicate that the screens are being closed or folded (from open), a closing transitional state is recognized. Conversely when the position sensors 172A and B indicate that the screens are being opened or folded (from closed), an opening transitional state is recognized. The closing and opening transitional states are typically time-based, or have a maximum time duration from a sensed starting point. Normally, no user input is possible when one of the closing and opening states is in effect. In this manner, incidental user contact with a screen during the closing or opening function is not misinterpreted as user input. In embodiments, another transitional state is possible when the device 100 is closed. This additional transitional state allows the display to switch from one screen 104 to the second screen 108 when the device 100 is closed based on some user input, e.g., a double tap on the screen 110,114.
As can be appreciated, the description of device 100 is made for illustrative purposes only, and the embodiments are not limited to the specific mechanical features shown in
Hardware Features:
A third region of the touch sensitive screens 104 and 108 may comprise a configurable area 112, 116. The configurable area 112, 116 is capable of receiving input and has display or limited display capabilities. In embodiments, the configurable area 112, 116 may present different input options to the user. For example, the configurable area 112, 116 may display buttons or other relatable items. Moreover, the identity of displayed buttons, or whether any buttons are displayed at all within the configurable area 112, 116 of a touch sensitive screen 104 or 108, may be determined from the context in which the device 100 is used and/or operated. In an exemplary embodiment, the touch sensitive screens 104 and 108 comprise liquid crystal display devices extending across at least those regions of the touch sensitive screens 104 and 108 that are capable of providing visual output to a user, and a capacitive input matrix over those regions of the touch sensitive screens 104 and 108 that are capable of receiving input from the user.
One or more display controllers 216a, 216b may be provided for controlling the operation of the touch sensitive screens 104 and 108, including input (touch sensing) and output (display) functions. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in
The processor 204 may comprise a general purpose programmable processor or controller for executing application programming or instructions. In accordance with at least some embodiments, the processor 204 may include multiple processor cores, and/or implement multiple virtual processors. In accordance with still other embodiments, the processor 204 may include multiple physical processors. As a particular example, the processor 204 may comprise a specially configured application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a controller, a hardwired electronic or logic circuit, a programmable logic device or gate array, a special purpose computer, or the like. The processor 204 generally functions to run programming code or instructions implementing various functions of the device 100.
A communication device 100 may also include memory 208 for use in connection with the execution of application programming or instructions by the processor 204, and for the temporary or long term storage of program instructions and/or data. As examples, the memory 208 may comprise RAM, DRAM, SDRAM, or other solid state memory. Alternatively or in addition, data storage 212 may be provided. Like the memory 208, the data storage 212 may comprise a solid state memory device or devices. Alternatively or in addition, the data storage 212 may comprise a hard disk drive or other random access memory.
In support of communications functions or capabilities, the device 100 can include a cellular telephony module 228. As examples, the cellular telephony module 228 can comprise a GSM, CDMA, FDMA and/or analog cellular telephony transceiver capable of supporting voice, multimedia and/or data transfers over a cellular network. Alternatively or in addition, the device 100 can include an additional or other wireless communications module 232. As examples, the other wireless communications module 232 can comprise a Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH™, WiMax, infrared, or other wireless communications link. The cellular telephony module 228 and the other wireless communications module 232 can each be associated with a shared or a dedicated antenna 224.
A port interface 252 may be included. The port interface 252 may include proprietary or universal ports to support the interconnection of the device 100 to other devices or components, such as a dock, which may or may not include additional or different capabilities from those integral to the device 100. In addition to supporting an exchange of communication signals between the device 100 and another device or component, the docking port 136 and/or port interface 252 can support the supply of power to or from the device 100. The port interface 252 also comprises an intelligent element that comprises a docking module for controlling communications or other interactions between the device 100 and a connected device or component.
An input/output module 248 and associated ports may be included to support communications over wired networks or links, for example with other communication devices, server devices, and/or peripheral devices. Examples of an input/output module 248 include an Ethernet port, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394, or other interface.
An audio input/output interface/device(s) 244 can be included to provide analog audio to an interconnected speaker or other device, and to receive analog audio input from a connected microphone or other device. As an example, the audio input/output interface/device(s) 244 may comprise an associated amplifier and analog to digital converter. Alternatively or in addition, the device 100 can include an integrated audio input/output device 256 and/or an audio jack for interconnecting an external speaker or microphone. For example, an integrated speaker and an integrated microphone can be provided, to support near talk or speaker phone operations.
Hardware buttons 158 can be included for example for use in connection with certain control operations. Examples include a master power switch, volume control, etc., as described in conjunction with
The device 100 can also include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver 236. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, the GPS receiver 236 may further comprise a GPS module that is capable of providing absolute location information to other components of the device 100. An accelerometer(s) 176 may also be included. For example, in connection with the display of information to a user and/or other functions, a signal from the accelerometer 176 can be used to determine an orientation and/or format in which to display that information to the user.
Embodiments of the present invention can also include one or more position sensor(s) 172. The position sensor 172 can provide a signal indicating the position of the touch sensitive screens 104 and 108 relative to one another. This information can be provided as an input, for example to a user interface application, to determine an operating mode, characteristics of the touch sensitive displays 110, 114, and/or other device 100 operations. As examples, a screen position sensor 172 can comprise a series of Hall effect sensors, a multiple position switch, an optical switch, a Wheatstone bridge, a potentiometer, or other arrangement capable of providing a signal indicating of multiple relative positions the touch screens are in.
Communications between various components of the device 100 can be carried by one or more buses 222. In addition, power can be supplied to the components of the device 100 from a power source and/or power control module 260. The power control module 260 can, for example, include a battery, an AC to DC converter, power control logic, and/or ports for interconnecting the device 100 to an external source of power.
Device State:
As illustrated in
In state 304, the device is in a closed state with the device 100 generally oriented in the portrait direction with the primary screen 104 and the secondary screen 108 back-to-back in different planes (see
In the closed state, the device can also move to a transitional state where the device remains closed but the display is moved from one screen 104 to another screen 108 based on a user input, e.g., a double tap on the screen 110, 114. Still another embodiment includes a bilateral state. In the bilateral state, the device remains closed, but a single application displays at least one window on both the first display 110 and the second display 114. The windows shown on the first and second display 110, 114 may be the same or different based on the application and the state of that application. For example, while acquiring an image with a camera, the device may display the view finder on the first display 110 and displays a preview for the photo subjects (full screen and mirrored left-to-right) on the second display 114.
In state 308, a transition state from the closed state 304 to the semi-open state or easel state 312, the device 100 is shown opening with the primary screen 104 and the secondary screen 108 being rotated around a point of axis coincidence with the hinge. Upon entering the easel state 312, the primary screen 104 and the secondary screen 108 are separated from one another such that, for example, the device 100 can sit in an easel-like configuration on a surface.
In state 316, known as the modified easel position, the device 100 has the primary screen 104 and the secondary screen 108 in a similar relative relationship to one another as in the easel state 312, with the difference being one of the primary screen 104 or the secondary screen 108 are placed on a surface as shown.
State 320 is the open state where the primary screen 104 and the secondary screen 108 are generally on the same plane. From the open state, the device 100 can transition to the docked state 344 or the open landscape state 348. In the open state 320, the primary screen 104 and the secondary screen 108 are generally in the portrait-like orientation while in landscaped state 348 the primary screen 104 and the secondary screen 108 are generally in a landscape-like orientation.
State 324 is illustrative of a communication state, such as when an inbound or outbound call is being received or placed, respectively, by the device 100. While not illustrated for clarity, it should be appreciated the device 100 can transition to the inbound/outbound call state 324 from any state illustrated in
Transition state 322 illustratively shows primary screen 104 and the secondary screen 108 being closed upon one another for entry into, for example, the closed state 304.
In
As discussed, in the center portion of the chart 376, the inputs that are received enable the detection of a transition from, for example, a portrait open state to a landscape easel state—shown in bold—“HAT.” For this exemplary transition from the portrait open to the landscape easel state, a Hall Effect sensor (“H”), an accelerometer (“A”) and a timer (“T”) input may be needed. The timer input can be derived from, for example, a clock associated with the processor.
In addition to the portrait and landscape states, a docked state 368 is also shown that is triggered based on the receipt of a docking signal 372. As discussed above and in relation to
User Interaction:
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
The above gestures may be combined in any manner, such as those shown by
The functional result of receiving a gesture can vary depending on a number of factors, including a state of the device 100, display 110, 114, or screen 104, 108, a context associated with the gesture, or sensed location of the gesture. The state of the device commonly refers to one or more of a configuration of the device 100, a display orientation, and user and other inputs received by the device 100. Context commonly refers to one or more of the particular application(s) selected by the gesture and the portion(s) of the application currently executing, whether the application is a single- or multi-screen application, and whether the application is a multi-screen application displaying one or more windows in one or more screens or in one or more stacks. Sensed location of the gesture commonly refers to whether the sensed set(s) of gesture location coordinates are on a touch sensitive display 110, 114 or a gesture capture region 120, 124, whether the sensed set(s) of gesture location coordinates are associated with a common or different display or screen 104,108, and/or what portion of the gesture capture region contains the sensed set(s) of gesture location coordinates.
A tap, when received by an a touch sensitive display 110, 114, can be used, for instance, to select an icon to initiate or terminate execution of a corresponding application, to maximize or minimize a window, to reorder windows in a stack, and to provide user input such as by keyboard display or other displayed image. A drag, when received by a touch sensitive display 110, 114, can be used, for instance, to relocate an icon or window to a desired location within a display, to reorder a stack on a display, or to span both displays (such that the selected window occupies a portion of each display simultaneously). A flick, when received by a touch sensitive display 110, 114 or a gesture capture region 120, 124, can be used to relocate a window from a first display to a second display or to span both displays (such that the selected window occupies a portion of each display simultaneously). Unlike the drag gesture, however, the flick gesture is generally not used to move the displayed image to a specific user-selected location but to a default location that is not configurable by the user.
The spread gesture, when received by a touch sensitive display 110, 114 or a gesture capture region 120, 124, can be used to minimize or otherwise increase the displayed area or size of a window (typically when received entirely by a common display), to switch windows displayed at the top of the stack on each display to the top of the stack of the other display (typically when received by different displays or screens), or to display an application manager (a “pop-up window” that displays the windows in the stack). The pinch gesture, when received by a touch sensitive display 110, 114 or a gesture capture region 120, 124, can be used to maximize or otherwise decrease the displayed area or size of a window, to switch windows displayed at the top of the stack on each display to the top of the stack of the other display (typically when received by different displays or screens), or to display an application manager (typically when received by an off-screen gesture capture region on the same or different screens).
The combined gestures of
Firmware and Software:
The memory 508 may store and the processor 504 may execute one or more software components. These components can include at least one operating system (OS) 516, an application manager 562, a desktop 566, and/or one or more applications 564a and/or 564b from an application store 560. The OS 516 can include a framework 520, one or more frame buffers 548, one or more drivers 512, previously described in conjunction with
The applications 564 can be any higher level software that executes particular functionality for the user. Applications 564 can include programs such as email clients, web browsers, texting applications, games, media players, office suites, etc. The applications 564 can be stored in an application store 560, which may represent any memory or data storage, and the management software associated therewith, for storing the applications 564. Once executed, the applications 564 may be run in a different area of memory 508.
The framework 520 may be any software or data that allows the multiple tasks running on the device to interact. In embodiments, at least portions of the framework 520 and the discrete components described hereinafter may be considered part of the OS 516 or an application 564. However, these portions will be described as part of the framework 520, but those components are not so limited. The framework 520 can include, but is not limited to, a Multi-Display Management (MDM) module 524, a Surface Cache module 528, a Window Management module 532, an Input Management module 536, a Task Management module 540, an Application Model Manager 542, a Display Controller, one or more frame buffers 548, a task stack 552, one or more window stacks 550 (which is a logical arrangement of windows and/or desktops in a display area), and/or an event buffer 556.
The MDM module 524 includes one or more modules that are operable to manage the display of applications or other data on the screens of the device. An embodiment of the MDM module 524 is described in conjunction with
The Surface Cache module 528 includes any memory or storage and the software associated therewith to store or cache one or more images of windows. A series of active and/or non-active windows (or other display objects, such as, a desktop display) can be associated with each display. An active window (or other display object) is currently displayed. A non-active windows (or other display objects) were opened and, at some time, displayed but are now not displayed. To enhance the user experience, before a window transitions from an active state to an inactive state, a “screen shot” of a last generated image of the window (or other display object) can be stored. The Surface Cache module 528 may be operable to store a bitmap of the last active image of a window (or other display object) not currently displayed. Thus, the Surface Cache module 528 stores the images of non-active windows (or other display objects) in a data store.
In embodiments, the Window Management module 532 is operable to manage the windows (or other display objects) that are active or not active on each of the displays. The Window Management module 532, based on information from the MDM module 524, the OS 516, or other components, determines when a window (or other display object) is visible or not active. The Window Management module 532 may then put a non-visible window (or other display object) in a “not active state” and, in conjunction with the Task Management module Task Management 540 suspends the application's operation. Further, the Window Management module 532 may assign, through collaborative interaction with the MDM module 524, a display identifier to the window (or other display object) or manage one or more other items of data associated with the window (or other display object). The Window Management module 532 may also provide the stored information to the application 564, the Task Management module 540, or other components interacting with or associated with the window (or other display object). The Window Management module 532 can also associate an input task with a window based on window focus and display coordinates within the motion space.
The Input Management module 536 is operable to manage events that occur with the device. An event is any input into the window environment, for example, a user interface interactions with a user. The Input Management module 536 receives the events and logically stores the events in an event buffer 556. Events can include such user interface interactions as a “down event,” which occurs when a screen 104, 108 receives a touch signal from a user, a “move event,” which occurs when the screen 104, 108 determines that a user's finger is moving across a screen(s), an “up event, which occurs when the screen 104, 108 determines that the user has stopped touching the screen 104, 108, etc. These events are received, stored, and forwarded to other modules by the Input Management module 536. The Input Management module 536 may also map screen inputs to a motion space which is the culmination of all physical and virtual display available on the device.
The motion space is a virtualized space that includes all touch sensitive displays 110,114 “tiled” together to mimic the physical dimensions of the device 100. For example, when the device 100 is unfolded, the motion space size may be 960×800, which may be the number of pixels in the combined display area for both touch sensitive displays 110, 114. If a user touches on a first touch sensitive display 110 on location (40, 40), a full screen window can receive touch event with location (40, 40). If a user touches on a second touch sensitive display 114, with location (40, 40), the full screen window can receive touch event with location (520, 40), because the second touch sensitive display 114 is on the right side of the first touch sensitive display 110, so the device 100 can offset the touch by the first touch sensitive display's 110 width, which is 480 pixels. When a hardware event occurs with location info from a driver 512, the framework 520 can up-scale the physical location to the motion space because the location of the event may be different based on the device orientation and state. The motion space may be as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/187,026, filed Jul. 20, 2011, entitled “Systems and Methods for Receiving Gesture Inputs Spanning Multiple Input Devices,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all that it teaches and for all purposes.
A task can be an application and a sub-task can be an application component that provides a window with which users can interact to do something, such as dial the phone, take a photo, send an email, or view a map. Each task may be given a window in which to draw a user interface. The window typically fills a display (for example, touch sensitive display 110,114), but may be smaller than the display 110,114 and float on top of other windows. An application usually consists of multiple sub-tasks that are loosely bound to each other. Typically, one task in an application is specified as the “main” task, which is presented to the user when launching the application for the first time. Each task can then start another task or sub-task to perform different actions.
The Task Management module 540 is operable to manage the operation of one or more applications 564 that may be executed by the device. Thus, the Task Management module 540 can receive signals to launch, suspend, terminate, etc. an application or application sub-tasks stored in the application store 560. The Task Management module 540 may then instantiate one or more tasks or sub-tasks of the application 564 to begin operation of the application 564. Further, the Task Management Module 540 may launch, suspend, or terminate a task or sub-task as a result of user input or as a result of a signal from a collaborating framework 520 component. The Task Management Module 540 is responsible for managing the lifecycle of applications (tasks and sub-task) from when the application is launched to when the application is terminated.
The processing of the Task Management Module 540 is facilitated by a task stack 552, which is a logical structure associated with the Task Management Module 540. The task stack 552 maintains the state of all tasks and sub-tasks on the device 100. When some component of the operating system 516 requires a task or sub-task to transition in its lifecycle, the OS 516 component can notify the Task Management Module 540. The Task Management Module 540 may then locate the task or sub-task, using identification information, in the task stack 552, and send a signal to the task or sub-task indicating what kind of lifecycle transition the task needs to execute. Informing the task or sub-task of the transition allows the task or sub-task to prepare for the lifecycle state transition. The Task Management Module 540 can then execute the state transition for the task or sub-task. In embodiments, the state transition may entail triggering the OS kernel 518 to terminate the task when termination is required.
Further, the Task Management module 540 may suspend the application 564 based on information from the Window Management Module 532. Suspending the application 564 may maintain application data in memory but may limit or stop the application 564 from rendering a window or user interface. Once the application becomes active again, the Task Management module 540 can again trigger the application to render its user interface. In embodiments, if a task is suspended, the task may save the task's state in case the task is terminated. In the suspended state, the application task may not receive input because the application window is not visible to the user.
The frame buffer 548 is a logical structure(s) used to render the user interface. The frame buffer 548 can be created and destroyed by the OS kernel 518. However, the Display Controller 544 can write the image data, for the visible windows, into the frame buffer 548. A frame buffer 548 can be associated with one screen or multiple screens. The association of a frame buffer 548 with a screen can be controlled dynamically by interaction with the OS kernel 518. A composite display may be created by associating multiple screens with a single frame buffer 548. Graphical data used to render an application's window user interface may then be written to the single frame buffer 548, for the composite display, which is output to the multiple screens 104,108. The Display Controller 544 can direct an application's user interface to a portion of the frame buffer 548 that is mapped to a particular display 110,114, thus, displaying the user interface on only one screen 104 or 108. The Display Controller 544 can extend the control over user interfaces to multiple applications, controlling the user interfaces for as many displays as are associated with a frame buffer 548 or a portion thereof. This approach compensates for the multiple physical screens 104,108 that are in use by the software component above the Display Controller 544.
The Application Manager 562 is an application that provides a presentation layer for the window environment. Thus, the Application Manager 562 provides the graphical model for rendering by the Task Management Module 540. Likewise, the Desktop 566 provides the presentation layer for the Application Store 560. Thus, the desktop provides a graphical model of a surface having selectable application icons for the Applications 564 in the Application Store 560 that can be provided to the Window Management Module 556 for rendering.
Further, the framework can include an Application Model Manager (AMM) 542. The Application Manager 562 may interface with the AMM 542. In embodiments, the AMM 542 receives state change information from the device 100 regarding the state of applications (which are running or suspended). The AMM 542 can associate bit map images from the Surface Cache Module 528 to the tasks that are alive (running or suspended). Further, the AMM 542 can convert the logical window stack maintained in the Task Manager Module 540 to a linear (“film strip” or “deck of cards”) organization that the user perceives when the using the off gesture capture area 120 to sort through the windows. Further, the AMM 542 may provide a list of executing applications to the Application Manager 562.
An embodiment of the MDM module 524 is shown in
The Display Configuration Module 568 determines the layout for the display. In embodiments, the Display Configuration Module 568 can determine the environmental factors. The environmental factors may be received from one or more other MDM modules 524 or from other sources. The Display Configuration Module 568 can then determine from the list of factors the best configuration for the display. Some embodiments of the possible configurations and the factors associated therewith are described in conjunction with
The Preferences Module 572 is operable to determine display preferences for an application 564 or other component. For example, an application can have a preference for Single or Dual displays. The Preferences Module 572 can determine an application's display preference (e.g., by inspecting the application's preference settings) and may allow the application 564 to change to a mode (e.g., single screen, dual screen, max, etc.) if the device 100 is in a state that can accommodate the preferred mode. However, some user interface policies may disallow a mode even if the mode is available. As the configuration of the device changes, the preferences may be reviewed to determine if a better display configuration can be achieved for an application 564.
The Device State Module 574 is operable to determine or receive the state of the device. The state of the device can be as described in conjunction with
The Gesture Module 576 is shown as part of the MDM module 524, but, in embodiments, the Gesture module 576 may be a separate Framework 520 component that is separate from the MDM module 524. In embodiments, the Gesture Module 576 is operable to determine if the user is conducting any actions on any part of the user interface. In alternative embodiments, the Gesture Module 576 receives user interface actions from the configurable area 112,116 only. The Gesture Module 576 can receive touch events that occur on the configurable area 112,116 (or possibly other user interface areas) by way of the Input Management Module 536 and may interpret the touch events (using direction, speed, distance, duration, and various other parameters) to determine what kind of gesture the user is performing. When a gesture is interpreted, the Gesture Module 576 can initiate the processing of the gesture and, by collaborating with other Framework 520 components, can manage the required window animation. The Gesture Module 576 collaborates with the Application Model Manager 542 to collect state information with respect to which applications are running (active or paused) and the order in which applications must appear when a user gesture is performed. The Gesture Module 576 may also receive references to bitmaps (from the Surface Cache Module 528) and live windows so that when a gesture occurs it can instruct the Display Controller 544 how to move the window(s) across the display 110,114. Thus, suspended applications may appear to be running when those windows are moved across the display 110,114.
Further, the Gesture Module 576 can receive task information either from the Task Manage Module 540 or the Input Management module 536. The gestures may be as defined in conjunction with
The Requirements Module 580, similar to the Preferences Module 572, is operable to determine display requirements for an application 564 or other component. An application can have a set display requirement that must be observed. Some applications require a particular display orientation. For example, the application “Angry Birds” can only be displayed in landscape orientation. This type of display requirement can be determined or received, by the Requirements Module 580. As the orientation of the device changes, the Requirements Module 580 can reassert the display requirements for the application 564. The Display Configuration Module 568 can generate a display configuration that is in accordance with the application display requirements, as provided by the Requirements Module 580.
The Event Module 584, similar to the Gesture Module 576, is operable to determine one or more events occurring with an application or other component that can affect the user interface. Thus, the Event Module 584 can receive event information either from the event buffer 556 or the Task Management module 540. These events can change how the tasks are bound to the displays. The Event Module 584 can collect state change information from other Framework 520 components and act upon that state change information. In an example, an email application receiving an email can cause the display to render the new message in a secondary screen. The events associated with such application execution can be received and interpreted by the Event Module 584. The information about the events then may be sent to the Display Configuration Module 568 to modify the configuration of the display.
The Binding Module 588 is operable to bind the applications 564 or the other components to the configuration determined by the Display Configuration Module 568. A binding associates, in memory, the display configuration for each application with the display and mode of the application. Thus, the Binding Module 588 can associate an application with a display configuration for the application (e.g. landscape, portrait, multi-screen, etc.). Then, the Binding Module 588 may assign a display identifier to the display. The display identifier associated the application with a particular display of the device 100. This binding is then stored and provided to the Display Controller 544, the other components of the OS 516, or other components to properly render the display. The binding is dynamic and can change or be updated based on configuration changes associated with events, gestures, state changes, application preferences or requirements, etc.
User Interface Configurations:
With reference now to
It may be possible to display similar or different data in either the first or second portrait configuration 604, 608. It may also be possible to transition between the first portrait configuration 604 and second portrait configuration 608 by providing the device 100 a user gesture (e.g., a double tap gesture), a menu selection, or other means. Other suitable gestures may also be employed to transition between configurations. Furthermore, it may also be possible to transition the device 100 from the first or second portrait configuration 604, 608 to any other configuration described herein depending upon which state the device 100 is moved.
An alternative output configuration may be accommodated by the device 100 being in a second state. Specifically,
The device 100 manages desktops and/or windows with at least one window stack 700, 728, as shown in
A window stack 700, 728 may have various arrangements or organizational structures. In the embodiment shown in
Another arrangement for a window stack 728 is shown in
Yet another arrangement of a window stack 760 is shown in
In the embodiment shown, the desktop 786 is the lowest display or “brick” in the window stack 760. Thereupon, window 1 782, window 2 782, window 3 768, and window 4 770 are layered. Window 1 782, window 3 768, window 2 782, and window 4 770 only occupy a portion of the composite display 764. Thus, another part of the stack 760 includes window 8 774 and windows 5 through 7 shown in section 790. Only the top window in any portion of the composite display 764 is actually rendered and displayed. Thus, as shown in the top view in
When a new window is opened on the device 100, the newly activated window is generally positioned at the top of the stack. However, where and how the window is positioned within the stack can be a function of the orientation of the device 100, the context of what programs, functions, software, etc. are being executed on the device 100, how the stack is positioned when the new window is opened, etc. To insert the window in the stack, the position in the stack for the window is determined and the touch sensitive display 110, 114 to which the window is associated may also be determined. With this information, a logical data structure for the window can be created and stored. When user interface or other events or tasks change the arrangement of windows, the window stack(s) can be changed to reflect the change in arrangement. It should be noted that these same concepts described above can be used to manage the one or more desktops for the device 100.
A logical data structure 800 for managing the arrangement of windows or desktops in a window stack is shown in
A window identifier 804 can include any identifier (ID) that uniquely identifies the associated window in relation to other windows in the window stack. The window identifier 804 can be a globally unique identifier (GUID), a numeric ID, an alphanumeric ID, or other type of identifier. In embodiments, the window identifier 804 can be one, two, or any number of digits based on the number of windows that can be opened. In alternative embodiments, the size of the window identifier 804 may change based on the number of windows opened. While the window is open, the window identifier 804 may be static and remain unchanged.
Dimensions 808 can include dimensions for a window in the composite display 760. For example, the dimensions 808 can include coordinates for two or more corners of the window or may include one coordinate and dimensions for the width and height of the window. These dimensions 808 can delineate what portion of the composite display 760 the window may occupy, which may be the entire composite display 760 or only part of composite display 760. For example, window 4 770 may have dimensions 880 that indicate that the window 4 770 will occupy only part of the display area for composite display 760, as shown in
A stack position identifier 812 can be any identifier that can identify the position in the stack for the window or may be inferred from the window's control record within a data structure, such as a list or a stack. The stack position identifier 812 can be a GUID, a numeric ID, an alphanumeric ID, or other type of identifier. Each window or desktop can include a stack position identifier 812. For example, as shown in
A display identifier 816 can identify that the window or desktop is associated with a particular display, such as the first display 110 or the second display 114, or the composite display 760 composed of both displays. While this display identifier 816 may not be needed for a multi-stack system, as shown in
Similar to the display identifier 816, an active indicator 820 may not be needed with the dual stack system of
An embodiment of a method 900 for creating a window stack is shown in
A multi-screen device 100 can receive activation of a window, in step 908. In embodiments, the multi-screen device 100 can receive activation of a window by receiving an input from the touch sensitive display 110 or 114, the configurable area 112 or 116, a gesture capture region 120 or 124, or some other hardware sensor operable to receive user interface inputs. The processor may execute the Task Management Module 540 (
In embodiments, the Task Management Module 540 places the user interface interaction in the task stack 552 (
The Multi-Display Management Module 524, upon receiving instruction from the Task Management Module 540, determines to which touch portion of the composite display 760, the newly activated window should be associated, in step 912. For example, window 4 770 is associated with the composite display 764 (
The Display Configuration Module 568 (
In embodiments, the Task Management Module 540 sends the window stack information and instructions to render the window to the Window Management Module 532 (
In at least one embodiment of the device 100, the MDM 524 (and its Gesture Module 576) may be operable for interpreting gestures in the gesture capture areas 120 and 124 so that they may be used to manipulate application windows, e.g., to minimize, maximize, and move application windows between the displays 110 and 114, as well as to rearrange the application windows in the window stack, to active an application window across multiple screen displays, and/or reduce an application window to a single screen display that is currently displayed across displays 110 and 144. However, in various embodiments, user gesture input to the gesture capture areas 120 and 124 is not used to manipulate displayed desktops. Referring to
Referring to
In a further embodiment shown in
Note that in addition to the combination flick-drag gesture used illustratively above, other gestures and combination gestures input to the gesture capture areas 120 and 124. In particular, the following gestures and their interpretations (as applied to application windows) are contemplated herein:
The device 100 functionality described immediately above for manipulating only application windows (via user gestures input the gesture capture area 120 or 124) may be provided a particular embodiment of the MDM 524 that performs the flowchart shown in
The Display Configuration Module 568 determines for each gesture input to the device 100 (whether this input is to one of the displays 110, 114, or to one of the gesture capture areas 120 or 124) if the gesture identity (for the gesture input) is applicable or not for initiating a predetermined gesture corresponding action to perform on an application window or a desktop displayed on the display 110 or 114 to which the gesture input corresponds. Thus, if the gesture input is from one of the displays 110 or 114, then Display Configuration Module 568 will only notify the Window Management Module 532 to modify the display receiving the gesture input if this display displays a desktop. Alternatively, if the gesture input is from one of the gesture capture areas 120 or 124, then Display Configuration Module 568 will only notify the Window Management Module 532 to modify the display corresponding to the gesture input if this display displays an application window.
Accordingly, in step 1108, the Display Configuration Module 568 determines whether there is an application window displayed on the display 110 or 114 corresponding to the gesture capture area 120 or 124 that received the inputted user gesture. If no application window is displayed on the display 110 or 114 corresponding to the gesture capture area 120 or 124 that received the inputted user gesture, then in step 1112, Display Configuration Module 568 prevents the user gesture input from being used to change the displays 110 and 114, and instead discards such user gesture input. However, if the display 110 or 114 (corresponding to the gesture capture area receiving the inputted user gesture) displays an application window, then the Display Configuration Module 568 uses the identity of the gesture input for determining how to change the display 110 or 114.
Note that it is also within the scope of the present disclosure that the above described different processing performed on one or more desktops as opposed to the processing performed on one or more application windows, according to user gesture input, can be reversed. For example, in an alternative embodiment, for each of the displays 110 and 114: (i) a desktop displayed on the display (110 or 114) is manipulated via gesture input to the corresponding gesture capture area 120 or 124, (ii) when an application window is displayed on the display (110 or 114), such gesture input to the corresponding gesture capture area 120 or 124 is not used for manipulating the displayed application window, (iii) an application window displayed on the display (110 or 114) is manipulated via gesture input that includes user input that directly contacts the display (110 or 114), and (iv) when a desktop is displayed on the display (110 or 114), such a gesture input that includes user input that directly contacts the display (110 or 114) is not used for manipulating the desktop.
The exemplary systems and methods of this disclosure have been described in relation to processing performed for the interpretation of gestures in the gesture capture areas 120 and 124. However, to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present disclosure, the preceding description omits a number of known structures and devices. This omission is not to be construed as a limitation of the scopes of the claims. Specific details are set forth to provide an understanding of the present disclosure. It should however be appreciated that the present disclosure may be practiced in a variety of ways beyond the specific detail set forth herein.
Furthermore, while the exemplary aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations illustrated herein show the various components of the system collocated, certain components of the system can be located remotely, at distant portions of a distributed network, such as a LAN and/or the Internet, or within a dedicated system. Thus, it should be appreciated, that the components of the system can be combined in to one or more devices, or collocated on a particular node of a distributed network, such as an analog and/or digital telecommunications network, a packet-switch network, or a circuit-switched network. It will be appreciated from the preceding description, and for reasons of computational efficiency, that the components of the system can be arranged at any location within a distributed network of components without affecting the operation of the system. For example, the various components can be located in a switch such as a PBX and media server, gateway, in one or more communications devices, at one or more users' premises, or some combination thereof. Similarly, one or more functional portions of the system could be distributed between a telecommunications device(s) and an associated computing device.
Furthermore, it should be appreciated that the various links connecting the elements can be wired or wireless links, or any combination thereof, or any other known or later developed element(s) that is capable of supplying and/or communicating data to and from the connected elements. These wired or wireless links can also be secure links and may be capable of communicating encrypted information. Transmission media used as links, for example, can be any suitable carrier for electrical signals, including coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, and may take the form of acoustic or light waves, such as those generated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications.
Also, while the flowcharts have been discussed and illustrated in relation to a particular sequence of events, it should be appreciated that changes, additions, and omissions to this sequence can occur without materially affecting the operation of the disclosed embodiments, configuration, and aspects.
A number of variations and modifications of the disclosure can be used. It would be possible to provide for some features of the disclosure without providing others.
In yet another embodiment, the systems and methods of this disclosure can be implemented in conjunction with a special purpose computer, a programmed microprocessor or microcontroller and peripheral integrated circuit element(s), an ASIC or other integrated circuit, a digital signal processor, a hard-wired electronic or logic circuit such as discrete element circuit, a programmable logic device or gate array such as PLD, PLA, FPGA, PAL, special purpose computer, any comparable means, or the like. In general, any device(s) or means capable of implementing the methodology illustrated herein can be used to implement the various aspects of this disclosure. Exemplary hardware that can be used for the disclosed embodiments, configurations and aspects includes computers, handheld devices, telephones (e.g., cellular, Internet enabled, digital, analog, hybrids, and others), and other hardware known in the art. Some of these devices include processors (e.g., a single or multiple microprocessors), memory, nonvolatile storage, input devices, and output devices. Furthermore, alternative software implementations including, but not limited to, distributed processing or component/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also be constructed to implement the methods described herein.
In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be readily implemented in conjunction with software using object or object-oriented software development environments that provide portable source code that can be used on a variety of computer or workstation platforms. Alternatively, the disclosed system may be implemented partially or fully in hardware using standard logic circuits or VLSI design. Whether software or hardware is used to implement the systems in accordance with this disclosure is dependent on the speed and/or efficiency requirements of the system, the particular function, and the particular software or hardware systems or microprocessor or microcomputer systems being utilized.
In yet another embodiment, the disclosed methods may be partially implemented in software that can be stored on a storage medium, executed on programmed general-purpose computer with the cooperation of a controller and memory, a special purpose computer, a microprocessor, or the like. In these instances, the systems and methods of this disclosure can be implemented as program embedded on personal computer such as an applet, JAVA® or CGI script, as a resource residing on a server or computer workstation, as a routine embedded in a dedicated measurement system, system component, or the like. The system can also be implemented by physically incorporating the system and/or method into a software and/or hardware system.
Although the present disclosure describes components and functions implemented in the aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations with reference to particular standards and protocols, the aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations are not limited to such standards and protocols. Other similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein are in existence and are considered to be included in the present disclosure. Moreover, the standards and protocols mentioned herein and other similar standards and protocols not mentioned herein are periodically superseded by faster or more effective equivalents having essentially the same functions. Such replacement standards and protocols having the same functions are considered equivalents included in the present disclosure.
The present disclosure, in various aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/or apparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, including various aspects, embodiments, configurations embodiments, subcombinations, and/or subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art will understand how to make and use the disclosed aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations after understanding the present disclosure. The present disclosure, in various aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations, includes providing devices and processes in the absence of items not depicted and/or described herein or in various aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations hereof, including in the absence of such items as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g., for improving performance, achieving ease and\or reducing cost of implementation.
The foregoing discussion has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. The foregoing is not intended to limit the disclosure to the form or forms disclosed herein. In the foregoing Detailed Description for example, various features of the disclosure are grouped together in one or more aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. The features of the aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations of the disclosure may be combined in alternate aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations other than those discussed above. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claims require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed aspect, embodiment, and/or configuration. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment of the disclosure.
Moreover, though the description has included description of one or more aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations and certain variations and modifications, other variations, combinations, and modifications are within the scope of the disclosure, e.g., as may be within the skill and knowledge of those in the art, after understanding the present disclosure. It is intended to obtain rights which include alternative aspects, embodiments, and/or configurations to the extent permitted, including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges or steps to those claimed, whether or not such alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publicly dedicate any patentable subject matter.
Claims
1. A method for configuring a device having at least one display screen for displaying one or more of screen display presentations and for displaying one or more operably different screen display presentations, wherein the screen display presentations are able to be manipulated via user gesture input differently from the operably different screen display presentations, comprising:
- receiving a first user gesture input to a gesture capture area associated with the at least one screen, the gesture capture area being separate from the at least one display screen;
- determining whether a first of the one or more of screen display presentations is displayed on the at least one screen;
- when the first screen display presentation is determined to be displayed, perform a step of interpreting the user gesture input for determining a predetermined operation to apply to the first screen display presentation;
- performing the predetermined operation;
- when none of the one or more screen display presentations are determined to be displayed in the step of determining, perform a step of preventing the device from using the user gesture input to change the at least one display screen;
- receiving a second user gesture input in response to a user gesture input that includes user contact directly to the at least one screen;
- second determining whether one of the operably different screen display presentations is displayed on the at least one screen;
- when the one operably different screen display presentation is determined to be displayed on the at least one screen, performing a step of second interpreting the second user gesture input for determining a predetermined second operation to apply to the one operably different screen display presentation; and
- when none of the operably different screen display presentations are determined in the step of second determining, perform a step of second preventing the device from using the second user gesture input to change the at least one display screen.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the gesture capture area includes a capacitive touch sensitive area for receiving the user gesture input.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the gesture capture area is not capable of displaying any of the screen display presentations, and is not capable of displaying any of the operably different screen display presentations.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first screen display presentation includes an application window.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the one operably different screen display presentation includes a desktop.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the user gesture input includes one of: a drag, a flick, a pinch, and a spread.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second user gesture input includes one of: a drag, a flick, a pinch, and a spread.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the first screen display presentation and the one operably different screen display presentation has corresponding data included in a corresponding stack, wherein a user inputs user gestures to the device rearranging entries in each stack.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the user gesture input and the second user gesture input is for a same user gesture.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one display screen is one of a plurality of display screens of the device, and the predetermined operation moves the first screen display presentation from the at least screen to another of the plurality of screens.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein the predetermined second operation moves the one operably different screen display presentation from the at least screen to another of the plurality of screens.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein there is a predetermined collection of a plurality of user gesture input descriptions for recognizing user gesture inputs that are interpretable in the step of interpreting,
- wherein the one or more screen display presentations includes a plurality of application windows,
- wherein each of a plurality of software applications provide a corresponding one of the plurality of application windows,
- wherein each of the user gesture inputs (UGI) of the predetermined collection is operable for recognizing user gesture inputs for each application window (AW) of the plurality of application windows when: (1) the user gesture input UGI is an instance of the first user gesture input, and (2) the application window AW is an instance of the first screen display presentation for which the user gesture input UGI is an input.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein each of the software applications is operable on the device independently of each of the other of the software applications.
14. A computer readable medium for configuring a device having at least one display screen for displaying one or more of screen display presentations and for displaying one or more operably different screen display presentations, wherein the screen display presentations are able to be manipulated via user gesture input differently from the operably different screen display presentations, comprising:
- machine instructions for performing the following steps:
- receiving a first user gesture input to a gesture capture area associated with the at least one screen, the gesture capture area being separate from the at least one display screen;
- determining whether a first of the one or more of screen display presentations is displayed on the at least one screen;
- when the first screen display presentation is determined to be displayed, perform a step of interpreting the user gesture input for determining a predetermined operation to apply to the first screen display presentation;
- performing the predetermined operation;
- when none of the one or more screen display presentations are determined to be displayed in the step of determining, perform a step of preventing the device from using the user gesture input to change the at least one display screen;
- receiving a second user gesture input in response to a user gesture input that includes user contact directly to the at least one screen;
- second determining whether one of the operably different screen display presentations is displayed on the at least one screen;
- when the one operably different screen display presentation is determined to be displayed on the at least one screen, performing a step of second interpreting the second user gesture input for determining a predetermined second operation to apply to the one operably different screen display presentation; and
- when none of the operably different screen display presentations are determined in the step of second determining, perform a step of second preventing the device from using the second user gesture input to change the at least one display screen.
15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the step of interpreting is for rearranging of a stack for the screen display presentations so that an order of presentation of the screen display presentations is rearranged.
16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein each of the screen display presentations includes an application window.
17. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein the step of second interpreting is for rearranging of a stack for the operably different screen display presentations so that an order of presentation of the operably different screen display presentations is rearranged.
18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein each of the operably different screen display presentations includes a desktop.
19. A hand-held device, comprising:
- at least one display screen for displaying one or more of screen display presentations and for displaying one or more operably different screen display presentations;
- a gesture capture area associated with the at least one screen for receiving first user gesture input, the gesture capture area being separate from the at least one display screen;
- wherein the screen display presentations are operably manipulated via the first user gesture input received by the gesture capture area;
- wherein the at least one display screen is responsive to user touch for receiving second user gestures input for manipulating the operably different screen presentations;
- a display manager for determining: (a) whether one of the screen display presentations is displayed on the at least one screen, and (b) whether one of the operably different screen display presentations is displayed on the at least one screen;
- a gesture interpreter for interpreting each of the first and second user gesture inputs for determining an action to perform on a corresponding displayed one of the screen display presentations or a corresponding displayed one of the operably different screen display presentations, wherein the gesture interpreter compares each of the first and second user gesture inputs with a predetermined collection of a plurality of user gesture input descriptions for recognizing user gesture inputs that are interpretable;
- wherein for the first user gesture input, if the one screen display presentation is determined to be displayed on the at least one screen, the interpreter interprets the first user gesture input for determining a predetermined first task to apply to the one screen display presentation;
- wherein when none of the one or more screen display presentations are determined to be displayed in the display manger prevents the device from using the first user gesture input to change the at least one display screen;
- wherein for the second user gestures input, if the one operably different screen display presentation is determined to be displayed on the at least one screen, the interpreter interprets the second user gesture input for determining a predetermined second task to apply to the one operably different screen display presentation; and
- wherein when none of the operably different screen display presentations are determined to be displayed in the display manger prevents the device from using the second user gesture input to change the at least one display screen.
- a task manager for performing the predetermined first and second tasks.
20. The device of claim 19, wherein the gesture capture area is not capable of displaying any of the screen display presentations, and is not capable of displaying any of the operably different screen display presentations.
21. The device of claim 19, wherein the one screen display presentation includes an application window.
22. The method of claim 19, wherein the one operably different screen display presentation includes a desktop.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 28, 2011
Publication Date: Apr 5, 2012
Applicant: IMERJ LLC (Broomfield, CO)
Inventors: Martin Gimpl (Helsinki), Ron Cassar (Burlington), Maxim Marintchenko (Vaughan), Nikhil Swaminathan (Toronto)
Application Number: 13/247,977
International Classification: G06F 3/048 (20060101);
