User interface adjustment methods and systems

• US 10,503,392 B2
• Filed: 06/25/2015
• Issued: 12/10/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/25/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Oath Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Ke, Tony
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Thanh T
• Application Number:
  US14/749,799
• Publication Number:
  US 20160378286A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,629 Days
• 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 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

One or more systems and/or methods for adjusting a user interface based upon an orientation of an input object are provided. An input provided by an input object (e.g., a hand of the user) may be received through a display of a device (e.g., a touchscreen display of a smartphone). The input may comprises gesture data corresponding to a gesture performed relative to the display. The input may be evaluated to determine an orientation, such as a hand orientation, of the input object. In an example, curvature associated with the gesture may be evaluated to determine the orientation of the input object. A user interface displayed by the device may be adjusted based upon the orientation of the input object. In an example, a location, a size, an appearance, an output, and/or a functionality of a user interface element displayed within the user interface may be adjusted.

Claims

1. A method for adjusting a user interface based upon an orientation of an input object associated with a user, comprising:

receiving an input, provided by an input object associated with a user, for a device while the device is held by the input object associated with the user with a first grip;

evaluating the input to determine a touch gesture, comprising a swipe gesture or a pan gesture, relative to a display of the device;

evaluating the touch gesture, comprising the swipe gesture or the pan gesture, to determine an orientation of the input object and a finger length of a finger of the input object;

identifying, based upon the orientation of the input object and the finger length of the finger of the input object, a primary accessibility area, associated with the first grip, corresponding to a reachable area of the display of the device that is reachable to at least part of the input object associated with the user while the input object associated with the user holds the device with the first grip, wherein the primary accessibility area is defined by at least one curved boundary, wherein the at least one curved boundary corresponds to a distance that the finger of the input object is determined to be able to access while the input object associated with the user holds the device with the first grip, wherein the identifying the primary accessibility area comprises (i) identifying a first sub-area, of the primary accessibility area, that is defined at least in part by the at least one curved boundary and (ii) identifying a second sub-area, of the primary accessibility area, that does not overlap the first sub-area and that is defined at least in part by a second curved boundary different than the at least one curved boundary; and

adjusting a user interface displayed by the device based upon the primary accessibility area, wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting the user interface to display a first user interface element in the first sub-area based upon a first rate of interaction associated with the first user interface element and display a second user interface element in the second sub-area based upon a second rate of interaction associated with the second user interface element.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the display comprises:

a touchscreen display or a motion sensing display.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the input comprises gesture data corresponding to a gesture performed by the user relative to the touchscreen display or the motion sensing display.

4. The method of claim 3, the gesture comprising at least one of:

a single touch gesture, a multi-touch gesture, or a hands-off gesture.

5. The method of claim 3, the evaluating the input comprising:

evaluating curvature associated with the gesture to determine the orientation of the input object.

6. The method of claim 3, the input object comprising a hand of the user, and the evaluating the input comprising:

evaluating the gesture to identifying at least one of a right focused curvature or a left focused curvature;

responsive to identifying the right focused curvature, determining that the user has a right hand orientation;

responsive to identifying the left focused curvature, determining that the user has a left hand orientation; and

adjusting the user interface based upon the user having either the right hand orientation or the left hand orientation.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising:

evaluating the input to determine a hand size of the user; and

adjusting the user interface based upon the hand size of the user.

8. The method of claim 1, the adjusting the user interface comprising:

adjusting at least one of a location, a size, an appearance, an output, or a functionality of a user interface element displayed within the user interface.

9. The method of claim 8, the adjusting the functionality of the user interface element comprising at least one of:

adjusting a directionality of the user interface element;

adjusting a sound associated with the user interface element;

adjusting a notification type associated with the user interface element;

or

adjusting a type of content displayed by the user interface element.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the primary accessibility area comprises a first region of a touchscreen display that is a first distance away from a corner of the touchscreen display, wherein the first distance corresponds to at least half of a height of the touchscreen display, wherein the primary accessibility area comprises a second region of the touchscreen display that is a second distance away from the corner of the touchscreen display, wherein the second distance corresponds to at least half of a width of the touchscreen display.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first distance is equal to the second distance.

12. The method of claim 1, the first sub-area having a first level of access and the second sub-area having a second level of access, the first level of access greater than the second level of access.

13. The method of claim 1, comprising:

evaluating the input to determine an emotional state of the user; and

adjusting the user interface based upon the emotional state of the user and the orientation of the input object.

14. The method of claim 13, the input corresponding to a gesture performed by the user, and the evaluating the input comprising:

evaluating a force of the gesture to determine the emotional state of the user.

15. The method of claim 1, the input comprising gesture data corresponding to a gesture performed by the user, and the method comprising:

generating calibration data for a particular orientation of the input object,

the evaluating the touch gesture comprising;

comparing the calibration data for the particular orientation to the gesture data; and

responsive to the calibration data corresponding to the gesture data, determining that the orientation of the input object corresponds to the particular orientation.

16. The method of claim 15, the generating calibration data comprising:

instructing the user to hold the device with a particular grip;

instructing the user to perform a calibration gesture utilizing the particular grip to generate the calibration data; and

evaluating the calibration data to determine curvature associated with the calibration gesture.

17. A system for adjusting a user interface based upon a hand orientation of a user, comprising:

a processor; and

memory comprising processor-executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause implementation of an adjustment component configured to;

receive an input from a user through a display of a device, the input corresponding to a gesture performed by the user while the device is held by a hand of the user with a first grip;

evaluate curvature of the gesture to determine a hand orientation of the user and a finger length of a finger of the hand;

identify, based upon the hand orientation of the user and the finger length of the finger of the hand, a primary accessibility area for a user interface associated with the first grip, wherein the primary accessibility area corresponds to a reachable area of the display of the device that is reachable to at least part of the hand of the user while the hand of the user holds the device with the first grip, wherein the identifying the primary accessibility area comprises (i) identifying a first sub-area, of the primary accessibility area, that is defined at least in part by the at least one curved boundary and (ii) identifying a second sub-area, of the primary accessibility area, that is defined at least in part by a second curved boundary different than the at least one curved boundary; and

adjust the user interface, based upon the hand orientation of the user and the primary accessibility area, wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting the user interface to display a first user interface element in the first sub-area based upon a first rate of interaction associated with the first user interface element and display a second user interface element in the second sub-area based upon a second rate of interaction associated with the second user interface element.

18. The system of claim 17, the instructions, when executed by the processor, causing implementation of:

a training component configured to;

receive feedback from the user corresponding to the adjustment of the user interface; and

responsive to the feedback indicating an incorrect orientation was identified, train the adjustment component based upon the feedback from the user.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions that when executed by a processor perform a method for adjusting a user interface, comprising:

receiving an input from a user through a touchscreen display of a device, the input comprising gesture data corresponding to a gesture performed on the touchscreen display while the device is held by a hand of the user with a first grip;

evaluating the gesture data to determine a hand orientation and a finger length of a finger of the hand;

identifying a primary accessibility area, associated with the first grip, for a user interface displayed by the touchscreen display based upon the hand orientation and the finger length of the finger of the hand, wherein the primary accessibility area corresponds to a reachable area of the touchscreen display of the device that is reachable to at least part of the hand of the user while the hand of the user holds the device with the first grip, wherein the identifying the primary accessibility area comprises (i) identifying a first sub-area, of the primary accessibility area, that is defined at least in part by at least one curved boundary and (ii) identifying a second sub-area, of the primary accessibility area, that is defined at least in part by a second curved boundary different than the at least one curved boundary; and

adjusting a user interface element within the user interface based upon the hand orientation of the user and the primary accessibility area of the user interface, wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting the user interface to display a first user interface element in the first sub-area based upon a first rate of interaction associated with the first user interface element.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, the evaluating the gesture data comprising:

evaluating curvature associated with the gesture to determine the hand orientation of the user.