Gesture inputs for a portable display device

• US 20060101354A1
• Filed: 10/20/2005
• Published: 05/11/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Nintendo Company Limited
• Inventors: Hashimoto, Hideyuki, Kitayama, Shigetoshi
• Granted Patent: US 8,169,410 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/863
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/1075 using a touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/301 using an additional display connected to the game console, e.g. on the controller
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/134 Hyperlinking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/14 Tree-structured documents parsing G06F40/205; validation G06F40/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]

Abstract

An application such as a web browser running on a portable display device is responsive to gestures to a touch-sensitive surface of the portable display device. The gestures are supplied by touching and then sliding on the touch-sensitive surface. Various operations of the application may be controlled based on the gestures.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a web browser active on a portable display device, the method comprising:

supplying gestures to a touch-sensitive surface of the portable display device, the gestures being supplied by touching and then sliding on the touch-sensitive surface; and

controlling a web browser operation based on the gestures.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gestures include a gesture formed by touching on the touch-sensitive surface and then sliding on the touch-sensitive surface in a first direction and then in a second direction.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the touch-sensitive surface is part of a display screen of the portable display device.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gestures include gestures for viewing previous and next web pages.

5. A method of controlling displays on first and second display screens of a portable display device, the method comprising:

supplying gestures to a touch-sensitive surface of the portable device, the gestures being supplied by touching and then sliding on the touch-sensitive surface; and

moving display contents from one of the first and second screens to the other of the first and second screens based on the gestures.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the gestures include a gesture formed by touching on the touch-sensitive surface and then sliding on the touch-sensitive surface in a first direction and then in a second direction.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the touch-sensitive surface is part of one of the first and second display screens.

8. The method according to claim 5, wherein the first and second screens are physically different screens.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein the first and second screens are different portions of the same physical screen.

10. A computer-readable medium storing program instructions executable by a processor of a portable display device to provide a method of controlling a web browser, the method comprising:

detecting gestures supplied to a touch-sensitive surface of the portable display device, the gestures being supplied by touching and then sliding on the touch-sensitive surface; and

controlling a web browser operation based on the gestures.

11. The computer readable medium according to claim 10, wherein the gestures include a gesture formed by touching on the touch-sensitive surface and then sliding on the touch-sensitive surface in a first direction and then in a second direction.

12. A computer-readable medium storing program instructions executable by a processor of a portable display device to provide a method of controlling displays on first and second display screens of a portable display device, the method comprising:

supplying gestures to a touch-sensitive surface of the portable device, the gestures being supplied by touching and then sliding on the touch-sensitive surface; and

interchanging the display contents of the first and second screens based on the gestures.

13. The computer-readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the gestures include a gesture formed by touching on the touch-sensitive surface and then sliding on the touch-sensitive surface in a first direction and then in a second direction.

14. The computer-readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the first and second screens are physically different screens.

15. The computer-readable medium according to claim 12, wherein the first and second screens are different portions of the same physical screen.