Display of objects on a touch screen and their selection

• US 10,146,424 B2
• Filed: 02/28/2014
• Issued: 12/04/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Graf, Knut, Aurongzeb, Deeder M.
• Primary Examiner(s): SAX, STEVEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US14/193,447
• Publication Number:
  US 20150248215A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,740 Days
• Field of Search: 715822, 715860, 715823
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

A touch screen may emphasize the display of objects near the tip of a user input instrument located near the surface of the touch screen but not touching the touch screen. The objects may consist of words and the emphasis may consist of highlighting. The user input instrument may be a finger of a user or an electronic pen. As the user input instrument is moved, the objects emphasized may change. A user may select objects on a touch screen by entering into object-selection mode and moving the user input instrument along the surface of the touch screen. An initial touch of the user input instrument to the surface of the touch screen may select a nearest object or objects. As the user input instrument is moved along the surface, the selection of objects may change based upon the movement.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting, via a hover-sensing device, a user input instrument tip perpendicularly near a tip hover detection point on a touch screen but not touching the touch screen;

determining via a processor that objects controlled by an application program are displayed near the tip hover detection point in a plane of a display and the touch screen; and

providing a first visual feedback highlighting indication and a second visual feedback highlighting indication altering the original appearance of objects displayed in the plane of the display by an object selection assistance program, where selection of the first visual feedback highlighting indication and the second visual feedback highlighting indication is based upon a planar nearness determination of the object displayed in the plane of the display to the tip hover detection point on the display such that a first subset of the objects closer to the tip hover detection point have the first visual feedback highlighting indication and a second subset of the objects further from the tip hover detection point have the second visual feedback highlighting indication to indicate planar nearness of the first and second subsets of objects to tip hover detection point.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the emphasizing an object comprises the first highlighting indication is used for the object based upon a planar nearness distance of the object in the plane parallel to the touch screen being below a first threshold distance from the tip hover detection point.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the user input instrument tip comprises an active pen tip; and

the method further comprises adjusting a control on an active pen with the active pen tip, thereby setting the touch screen in an object recognition mode, wherein the touch screen provides visual feedback highlighting indications of objects having planar nearness to the tip hover detection point of the user input instrument tip when the user input instrument tip is perpendicularly near the tip hover detection point on the display and touch screen but not touching the touch screen.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user input instrument tip comprises a fingertip of a user.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the objects comprise words of text;

the first highlighting indication comprises highlighting the words in one of a plurality of colors, bold emphasis, or underlining; and

the first highlighting indication of a first subset of the words closer in the plane of the display to the tip hover detection point is a different highlighting indication from a second highlighting indication of a second subset of the words further from the tip hover detection point.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising highlighting words within a first fixed distance of the tip hover detection point, wherein the first highlighting indication is used for highlighting a word within the first fixed distance from the tip hover detection point and the second highlighting indication is used for highlighting a word within a second fixed distance but outside the first fixed distance.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising touching the touch screen with the user input instrument tip, thereby selecting a highlighted word nearest the touch.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising moving the user input instrument tip across a surface of the touch screen touch without lifting the user input instrument tip from the surface, thereby selecting further words of text based upon the movement of the user input instrument tip.

9. An information handling system comprising:

a processor to generate content for display on a touch screen, the content including objects that respond to touch input; and

the touch screen to receive the input by detecting a user input instrument tip perpendicularly near the touch screen but not touching a surface of the touch screen, wherein;

the processor, by executing an object selection assistance program, is to determine that one or more of the objects are displayed on the touch screen near a tip hover detection point corresponding to the tip and in a plane parallel to the touch screen; and

the processor, by executing the object selection assistance program, is to provide a plurality of types of visual feedback highlighting the one or more of the objects displayed on the touch screen near the tip hover detection point in the plane parallel to the touchscreen, the type of visual feedback highlighting of an object based upon distance from the displayed object in the plane parallel to the touch screen to the tip hover detection point such that a first subset of the objects closer to the tip hover detection point have a first highlighting indication and a second highlighting indication is applied to a second subset of the objects further from the tip hover detection point than the distance of the first subset of objects, wherein the first and second highlighting indications are respective alterations to how the first subset of objects and the second subset of objects originally appear.

10. The information handling system of claim 9, wherein:

the objects comprise words;

the types of visual feedback highlighting of the objects comprises highlighting the displayed objects with colors, bold, underlining, or a type of visual designation indicating the object; and

the visual feedback highlighting of the one or more objects based upon nearness of of the displayed object to the tip hover detection point comprises highlighting words within a first fixed lateral distance of the tip hover detection point at varied intensity levels, and wherein an intensity of highlighting of objects within the fixed lateral distance is increased based upon closeness of distance of the objects from the tip hover detection point in the plane parallel to the touch screen.

11. The information handling system of claim 9, wherein the user input instrument tip comprises a tip of an active pen or a tip of a finger of a user.

12. The information handling system of claim 9, wherein the processor, by executing the object selection assistance program, is to select an object nearest a touch of the user input instrument tip on a surface of the touch screen, the selection based upon the touch.

13. An information handling system comprising:

a processor to generate content for display on a display with a touch screen device, the content including objects that respond to input to the touch screen device; and

the touch screen device to receive a hover input by detecting a user input instrument tip perpendicularly near the touch screen but not touching a surface of the touch screen, wherein;

the processor, by executing an object selection assistance program, is to determine that one or more of the objects are displayed on the display near a tip hover detection point perpendicular to the detected user input instrument in a plane parallel to the touch screen; and

the processor, by executing the object selection assistance program, is to provide a plurality of types of visual feedback highlighting of a first object and a second object both displayed on the touch screen near the tip hover detection point but at different distances from the tip hover detection point, the type of visual feedback highlighting used for the first object and the second object are based upon a nearness in a plane parallel to the touch screen to the tip hover detection point at a location on the touch screen over which the user input instrument tip hovers perpendicularly such that the first object is closer to tip hover detection point and has a first highlighting indication and the second object that is further from the tip hover detection point has a second highlighting indication, wherein the first and second highlighting indications are respective alterations to how the first subset of objects and the second subset of objects originally appear.

14. The information handling system of claim 13, wherein:

the processor to provide a third visual feedback highlighting for a third object based upon distance from the tip hover detection point wherein the third visual feedback highlighting is applied to highlight the third object that is further from the tip hover detection point than the first object or the second object.

15. The information handling system of claim 13, wherein:

the objects comprise words;

the visual feedback highlighting of the objects comprises highlighting the objects with a color highlighting; and

the first or second highlighting indication of the visual feedback highlighting of the first and second objects are based upon a distance from the tip hover detection point, wherein a first intensity of highlighting of a first word within the fixed distance of the tip hover detection point is a first highlighting indication and a second intensity of highlighting of a second word within the fixed lateral distance but further from the tip hover detection point is a second highlighting indication.

16. The information handling system of claim 13, wherein:

the processor to provide a plurality of types of visual feedback highlighting of the objects based upon the distance from the tip hover detection point comprises highlighting a first word closer to the tip hover detection point with a first highlighting indication that is a first color and highlighting a second word further from the tip hover detection point with a second highlighting indication that is a second color.

17. The information handling system of claim 13, wherein the user input instrument tip comprises a tip of an active pen or a fingertip of a user.

18. The information handling system of claim 13, wherein the processor, by executing the object assistance program, is to select an object nearest a touch of the user input instrument tip on a surface of the touch screen, the selection based upon the touch point.

19. The information handling system of claim 18, wherein the processor, by executing the object assistance program, is to select a plurality of objects based on movement of the user input instrument tip across a surface of the touch screen touch without lifting the user input instrument tip from the surface.