Using cursor immobility to suppress selection errors

• US 20050041014A1
• Filed: 08/17/2004
• Published: 02/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/22/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Benjamin Slotznick
• Original Assignee: Benjamin Slotznick
• Inventors: Slotznick, Benjamin
• Application Number:
  US10/919,646
• Publication Number:
  US 20050041014A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/156
• 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 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence

Abstract

Detection of when a cursor on a display screen being moved by a pointing device comes to a deliberate stop is performed by detecting the position of the cursor at successive intervals of time, comparing the current cursor position to the cursor position at the previous interval of time at each interval of time, and detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value. Activation of an object on a display screen may be conditioned upon the cursor coming to a deliberate stop on the object.

Claims

1. A method of detecting when a cursor on a display screen being moved by a pointing device comes to a deliberate stop, the method comprising:

(a) detecting the position of the cursor at successive intervals of time;

(b) at each interval of time, comparing the current cursor position to the cursor position at the previous interval of time; and

(c) detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein step (c) further comprises detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value for a predefined number of successive intervals.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the predefined number of successive intervals is a time period of at least about one second.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(d) upon detection that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop, continuously generating a cursor-stop event signal as long as the cursor remains stopped.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

(e) after detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop, detecting that the cursor has been deliberately moved again by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is greater than a predetermined value; and

(f) stopping the generation of the cursor-stop event signal.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the interval is a predefined number of refresh cycles of the display screen.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the interval is a predefined number of instruction cycles.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein step (c) further comprises detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is zero.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the pointing device is a mouse.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the cursor position is the x and y coordinates on the display screen in pixel units.

11. A method of causing a predetermined action to occur upon detecting when a cursor being moved by a pointing device to a destination on a display screen comes to a deliberate stop at the destination, the method comprising:

(a) detecting the position of the cursor at successive intervals of time;

(b) at each interval of time, comparing the current cursor position to the cursor position at the previous interval of time;

(c) detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value; and

(d) initiating the predetermined action upon detection that;

(i) the cursor has come to a deliberate stop, and

(ii) the cursor is at the destination.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein step (c) further comprises detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value for a predefined number of successive intervals.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the predefined number of successive intervals is a time period of at least about one second.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

(e) upon detection that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop, continuously generating a cursor-stop event signal as long as the cursor remains stopped.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

(e) after detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop, detecting that the cursor has been deliberately moved again by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is greater than a predetermined value; and

(f) stopping the generation of the cursor-stop event signal.

16. The method of claim 11 wherein the interval is a predefined number of refresh cycles of the display screen.

17. The method of claim 11 wherein the interval is a predefined number of instruction cycles.

18. The method of claim 11 wherein step (c) further comprises detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is zero.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein the predefined number of successive intervals is a time period of at least about one second.

20. The method of claim 11 wherein the pointing device is a mouse.

21. The method of claim 11 wherein the destination is a visually discernible object on the display screen and the predetermined action is an activation of the object.

22. The method of claim 11 wherein a mouseover event is used to detect when the cursor is on or near the destination.

23. The method of claim 11 wherein the predetermined action is triggering of a link.

24. The method of claim 11 wherein the predetermined action is initiation of an application.

25. The method of claim 11 wherein the predetermined action is a function call.

26. The method of claim 11 further comprising, after step (d):

(e) detecting new cursor movement using steps (a) and (b); and

(f) allowing for the same predetermined action to occur only if;

(i) the predetermined action has occurred,

(ii) the cursor has moved a predetermined distance from the destination,

(iii) the cursor has been returned to the same destination, and

(iv) it has been detected that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop at the same destination.

27. The method of claim 11 further comprising, after step (d):

(e) detecting new cursor movement using steps (a) and (b); and

(f) allowing for the same predetermined action to occur only if;

(i) the predetermined action has occurred,

(ii) the cursor has moved and has been detected to have come to a deliberate stop at a predetermined distance from the destination,

(iii) the cursor has been returned to the same destination, and

(iv) it has been detected that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop at the same destination

28. The method of claim 11 further comprising, after step (d):

(e) detecting new cursor movement using steps (a) and (b); and

(f) allowing for the same predetermined action to occur only if;

(i) the predetermined action has occurred,

(ii) the cursor has moved to a predetermined location on the display screen,

(iii) the cursor has been returned to the same destination, and

(iv) it has been detected that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop at the same destination.

29. A method of detecting movement states of a cursor on a display screen, the movement states including (i) a cursor stop state, and (ii) a cursor moving state, the cursor being moved by a pointing device, the method comprising:

(a) detecting the position of the cursor at successive intervals of time;

(b) at each interval of time, comparing the current cursor position to the cursor position at the previous interval of time; and

(c) detecting a cursor stop state when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value, and detecting a cursor movement state when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein step (c) further comprises detecting a cursor stop state by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value for a predefined number of successive intervals, and detecting a cursor movement state by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is equal to or greater than a predetermined value for a predefined number of successive intervals.

31. The method of claim 30 wherein the predefined number of successive intervals is a time period of at least about one second.

32. The method of claim 29 further comprising:

(d) upon detecting a cursor stop state, continuously generating a cursor-stop event signal as long as the cursor remains stopped.

33. The method of claim 29 wherein the interval is a predefined number of refresh cycles of the display screen.

34. The method of claim 29 wherein the interval is a predefined number of instruction cycles.

35. The method of claim 29 wherein step (c) further comprises detecting a cursor stop state by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is zero, and detecting a cursor movement state by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is not zero.

36. The method of claim 29 wherein the pointing device is a mouse.

37. The method of claim 29 wherein the cursor position is the x and y coordinates on the display screen in pixel units.

38. An article of manufacture for detecting when a cursor on a display screen being moved by a pointing device comes to a deliberate stop, the article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising:

(a) detecting the position of the cursor at successive intervals of time;

(b) at each interval of time, comparing the current cursor position to the cursor position at the previous interval of time; and

(c) detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value.

39. The article of manufacture of claim 38 wherein step (c) further comprises detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value for a predefined number of successive intervals.

40. The article of manufacture of claim 39 wherein the predefined number of successive intervals is a time period of at least about one second.

41. The article of manufacture of claim 38 wherein the computer-executable instructions perform a method further comprising:

(d) upon detection that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop, continuously generating a cursor-stop event signal as long as the cursor remains stopped.

42. The article of manufacture of claim 39 wherein the computer-executable instructions perform a method further comprising:

(e) after detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop, detecting that the cursor has been deliberately moved again by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is greater than a predetermined value; and

(f) stopping the generation of the cursor-stop event signal.

43. The article of manufacture of claim 38 wherein the interval is a predefined number of refresh cycles of the display screen.

44. The article of manufacture of claim 38 wherein the interval is a predefined number of instruction cycles.

45. The article of manufacture of claim 38 wherein step (c) further comprises detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is zero.

46. The article of manufacture of claim 38 wherein the pointing device is a mouse.

47. The article of manufacture of claim 38 wherein the cursor position is the x and y coordinates on the display screen in pixel units.

48. An article of manufacture for causing a predetermined action to occur upon detecting when a cursor being moved by a pointing device to a destination on a display screen comes to a deliberate stop at the destination, the article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising:

(a) detecting the position of the cursor at successive intervals of time;

(b) at each interval of time, comparing the current cursor position to the cursor position at the previous interval of time;

(c) detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value; and

(d) initiating the predetermined action upon detection that;

(i) the cursor has come to a deliberate stop, and

(ii) the cursor is at the destination.

49. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein step (c) further comprises detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value for a predefined number of successive intervals.

50. The article of manufacture of claim 49 wherein the predefined number of successive intervals is a time period of at least about one second.

51. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein the computer-executable instructions perform a method further comprising:

(e) upon detection that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop, continuously generating a cursor-stop event signal as long as the cursor remains stopped.

52. The article of manufacture of claim 51 wherein the computer-executable instructions perform a method further comprising:

(e) after detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop, detecting that the cursor has been deliberately moved again by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is greater than a predetermined value; and

(f) stopping the generation of the cursor-stop event signal.

53. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein the interval is a predefined number of refresh cycles of the display screen.

54. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein the interval is a predefined number of instruction cycles.

55. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein step (c) further comprises detecting that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is zero.

56. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein the predefined number of successive intervals is a time period of at least about one second.

57. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein the pointing device is a mouse.

58. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein the destination is a visually discernible object on the display screen and the predetermined action is an activation of the object.

59. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein a mouseover event is used to detect when the cursor is on or near the destination.

60. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein the predetermined action is triggering of a link.

61. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein the predetermined action is initiation of an application.

62. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein the predetermined action is a function call.

63. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein the computer-executable instructions perform a method further comprising, after step (d):

(e) detecting new cursor movement using steps (a) and (b); and

(f) allowing for the same predetermined action to occur only if;

(i) the predetermined action has occurred,

(ii) the cursor has moved a predetermined distance from the destination,

(iii) the cursor has been returned to the same destination, and

(iv) it has been detected that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop at the same destination.

64. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein the computer-executable instructions perform a method further comprising, after step (d):

(e) detecting new cursor movement using steps (a) and (b); and

(f) allowing for the same predetermined action to occur only if;

(i) the predetermined action has occurred,

(ii) the cursor has moved and has been detected to have come to a deliberate stop at a predetermined distance from the destination,

(iii) the cursor has been returned to the same destination, and

(iv) it has been detected that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop at the same destination

65. The article of manufacture of claim 48 wherein the computer-executable instructions perform a method further comprising, after step (d):

(e) detecting new cursor movement using steps (a) and (b); and

(f) allowing for the same predetermined action to occur only if;

(i) the predetermined action has occurred,

(ii) the cursor has moved to a predetermined location on the display screen,

(iii) the cursor has been returned to the same destination, and

(iv) it has been detected that the cursor has come to a deliberate stop at the same destination.

66. An article of manufacture for detecting movement states of a cursor on a display screen, the movement states including (i) a cursor stop state, and (ii) a cursor moving state, the cursor being moved by a pointing device, the article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium holding computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising:

(a) detecting the position of the cursor at successive intervals of time;

(b) at each interval of time, comparing the current cursor position to the cursor position at the previous interval of time; and

(c) detecting a cursor stop state when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value, and detecting a cursor movement state when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

67. The article of manufacture of claim 66 wherein step (c) further comprises detecting a cursor stop state by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is less than a predetermined value for a predefined number of successive intervals, and detecting a cursor movement state by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is equal to or greater than a predetermined value for a predefined number of successive intervals.

68. The article of manufacture of claim 67 wherein the predefined number of successive intervals is a time period of at least about one second.

69. The article of manufacture of claim 66 wherein the computer-executable instructions perform a method further comprising:

(d) upon detecting a cursor stop state, continuously generating a cursor-stop event signal as long as the cursor remains stopped.

70. The article of manufacture of claim 66 wherein the interval is a predefined number of refresh cycles of the display screen.

71. The article of manufacture of claim 66 wherein the interval is a predefined number of instruction cycles.

72. The article of manufacture of claim 66 wherein step (c) further comprises detecting a cursor stop state by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is zero, and detecting a cursor movement state by detecting when the difference between the current cursor position and the cursor position at the previous interval of time is not zero.

73. The article of manufacture of claim 66 wherein the pointing device is a mouse.

74. The article of manufacture of claim 66 wherein the cursor position is the x and y coordinates on the display screen in pixel units.