User interface for a device

• US 10,345,967 B2
• Filed: 09/17/2014
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Vecera, Martin, Pechanec, Jiri
• Primary Examiner(s): Lao, Lunyi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Casarez, Benjamin X
• Application Number:
  US14/489,048
• Publication Number:
  US 20160077627A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,756 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0339 Touch strips, e.g. orthogonal touch strips to control cursor movement or scrolling; single touch strip to adjust parameter or to implement a row of soft keys
• 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 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A device includes a processor and a memory comprising machine readable instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the system to display information to a user through a display screen of the device, the display screen being positioned on a front side of the device, receive a first input from a first sensor placed on a left side of the device, the first input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the first sensor, receive a second input from a second sensor placed on a right side of the device, the second input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the second sensor, and execute a predefined function within an application running on the device, the predefined function being based on both the first input and the second input.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a processor; and

a memory comprising machine readable instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the device to;

display information to a user through a display screen of the device, the display screen being positioned on a front side of the device;

receive a first input from a first sensor placed on a left side of the device, the first input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the first sensor;

receive a second input from a second sensor placed on a right side of the device, the second input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the second sensor;

receive a third input from a third sensor placed on a top side of the device, the third input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the third sensor;

receive a fourth input from a fourth sensor placed on a back side of the device, the fourth input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the fourth sensor;

receive stored data corresponding to at least one past appendage position;

execute a predefined function within an application running on the device in response to determining, based on the first input, the second input, and the fourth input, that while one appendage is touching one of the first and second sensors and three appendages are touching the other of the first and second sensors, a fifth appendage moves along, in direct contact with, the fourth sensor, wherein the application running on the device is a web browsing application, wherein the predefined function comprises causing the web browsing application to scroll left and right; and

execute a different predefined function within another application running on the device in response to determining, based on the first input, the second input, and the third input, that while the one appendage is touching the one of the first and second sensors and the three appendages are touching the other of the first and second sensors, the fifth appendage moves in proximity to, not in direct contact with, the third sensor, wherein the different predefined function comprises initiating recording of a call.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is further to receive a fifth input from a fifth sensor on a bottom side of the device, the fifth input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the bottom side.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the predefined function is further based on the fifth input.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor comprise capacitive sensors.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the capacitive sensors are configured as proximity sensors.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is further to receive a fifth input from at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor, the fifth input compared with the stored data to determine that a change in appendage position has occurred, the predefined function being further based on the change.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein:

the device is a communication device; and

the another application is a communication application.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is further configured to receive a fifth input from at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor, the fifth input indicating motion of an appendage along at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor.

9. The device of claim 8, wherein the predefined function is further based on the fifth input.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the device is further configured to receive a fifth input from at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor, the fifth input indicating contact from an appendage of a user hand that is not holding the device, the predefined function being further based on the fifth input.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the third sensor detects the fifth appendage moving in proximity to the third sensor.

12. A mobile device comprising:

a display screen on a front side of the device;

a left side sensor on a left side of the device;

a right side sensor on a right side of the device;

a top side sensor on a top side of the device;

a back side sensor on a back side of the device;

a processor; and

a memory comprising machine readable instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the device to;

display information to a user through the display screen of the device;

receive a first input from the left side sensor, the first input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the left side sensor;

receive a second input from the right side sensor, the second input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the right side sensor;

receive a third input from the top side sensor, the third input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the top side sensor;

receive a fourth input from the back side sensor, the fourth input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the back side sensor;

receive stored data corresponding to at least one past appendage position;

execute a predefined function within an application running on the device in response to determining, based on the first input, second input, and fourth input, that while one appendage is touching one of the left side and right side sensors and three appendages are touching the other of the left side and right side sensors, a fifth appendage moves along, in direct contact with, the back side sensor, wherein the application running on the device is a web browsing application, wherein the predefined function comprises causing the web browsing application to scroll left and right; and

execute a different predefined function within another application running on the device in response to determining, based on the first input, the second input, and the third input, that while the one appendage is touching the one of the left side and right side sensors and the three appendages are touching the other of the left side and right side sensors, the fifth appendage moves in proximity to, not in direct contact with, the top side sensor, wherein the different predefined function comprises initiating recording of a call.

13. The device of claim 12, wherein the machine readable instructions are further to cause the device to initiate a phone call.

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the machine readable instructions are further to cause the device to:

receive a fifth input from at least one of the left side sensor and the right side sensor, the fifth input corresponding to a gesture made by a user; and

execute a second function within the application, the second function being based on the gesture.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the gesture comprises one of:

tapping the sensor with one finger, tapping the sensor with more than one finger, sliding one finger along the sensor, sliding more than one finger along the sensor, and waving a finger in proximity of the sensor.

16. A method performed by a mobile computing device, the method comprising:

receiving a first input from a first sensor placed on a left side of the device, the first input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the first sensor;

receiving a second input from a second sensor placed on a right side of the device, the second input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the second sensor;

receiving a third input from a third sensor placed on a top side of the device, the third input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the third sensor;

receiving a fourth input from a fourth sensor placed on a back side of the device, the fourth input indicating a placement of at least one appendage along the fourth sensor;

receiving stored data corresponding to at least one appendage position;

executing a predefined function within an application running on the device in response to determining that while three appendages are touching one of the first and second sensors and a fourth appendage is touching the other of the first and second sensors, a fifth appendage moves along, in direct contact with, the fourth sensor, wherein the application running on the device is a web browsing application, wherein the predefined function comprises causing the web browsing application to scroll left and right; and

executing a different predefined function within another application running on the device in response to determining that while the three appendages are touching the one of the first and second sensors and the fourth appendage is touching the other of the first and second sensors, the fifth appendage moves in proximity to, not in direct contact with, the third sensor, wherein the different predefined function comprises initiating recording of a call.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising, receiving a fifth input from at least one of the first sensor and the second sensor, the fifth input indicating a gesture made by an appendage, the predefined function being further based on the fifth input.