Method and device for browsing information on a display

• US 20060129951A1
• Filed: 06/23/2005
• Published: 06/15/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Motionip LLC
• Inventors: Vaananen, Johannes, Hannula, Manne
• Granted Patent: US 7,607,111 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/864
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1686 the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/1407 General aspects irrespective of display type, e.g. determination of decimal point position, display with fixed or driving decimal point, suppression of non-significant zeros
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2320/0261 in the context of movement of objects on the screen or movement of the observer relative to the screen

Abstract

Information is browsed on a display device of a hand-held device naturally and logically essentially in a mirror-like way when the portion of the virtual data object displayed on the display device is moved in the same direction as the hand-held device is tilted. That is, the movements of the portion of the virtual data object displayed on the display device depends on the orientation of the hand-held device. A certain orientation of the hand-held device always displays the same portion of the virtual data object on the display device. The browsing method described above is extremely logical, and the movements and responses to the movements are natural.

Claims

1. A method for browsing information on a hand-held device having a display operatively coupled to a digital processor and means for detecting the current tilting angle of said hand-held device, wherein responsive to a change in the tilting angle a portion of a page containing information shown on the display is changed, the page lying on a virtual surface in a coordinate system, wherein each point of the page has an unambiguous position in the coordinate system, the method comprising the steps of

setting beforehand the orientation of the display surface in relation to the virtual surface, said orientation being in a spatial initial state, so that a reference line perpendicular to and extending from a reference point on the display surface hits the page containing information at a predefined point,

showing on the display a portion of the page residing around the predefined point and having a shape similar to the shape of the display,

and in response to tilting of the hand-held device in relation to the spatial initial state,

generating a mirror line by mirroring the reference line in relation to a line that is perpendicular to the display surface and travels via the reference point,

defining a hit point (xn,yn) where the mirror line hits the virtual surface and the page containing said information, and

showing on the display a portion of the page around the hit point and having a shape similar to the shape of the display, the position of the hit point on the page to correspond to the position of the reference point on the display,

whereby a certain orientation of the hand-held device always displays the same portion of the current page.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the initial state is set at a certain predefined angle in relation to the earth surface.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the predefined angle is between 20-30 degrees.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the browsing speed of the information displayed depends on the location and orientation of the display surface with reference to the virtual surface.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises the step of:

filtering out unintentional movements from the coordinate axial and/or tilting movements before showing the portion of the page on the display.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises the step of:

keeping the orientation of the information displayed unchanged when rotating the hand-held device around the axis, said axis being essentially perpendicular to the display surface.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the portion of the page displayed is locked/unlocked in response to the pressing/releasing of a push button.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

setting the hand-held device to a zoom mode; and

zooming in or out the displayed information when rotating the hand-held device around the axis, said axis being essentially perpendicular to the display surface.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

setting the hand-held device into a zoom mode; and

zooming in or out the displayed information based on the tilting of the hand-held device.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

determining with a camera the distance between the display surface and a certain reference point from the user,

zooming in or out the displayed information based on the distance.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises the steps of:

measuring with a video camera the orientation and location of the hand-held device in relation to the user of the hand-held device,

seeking a certain point from the user on the video image to be set as a reference point, and

changing the size of the information according to the movements of the reference point in relation to the hand-held device.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein said step of seeking includes using at least one of a heuristic algorithm and neural network to seek and define the location of the point to be used as the reference point.

13. A hand-held device for browsing information, having a display operatively coupled to a digital processor and means for detecting the current tilting angle of the hand-held device, wherein responsive to a change in the tilting angle a portion of a page containing information shown on the display is changed, said page to lie on a virtual surface in a coordinate system, wherein each point of the page has an unambiguous position in the coordinate system,

the hand-held device being adapted to:

set beforehand for the orientation of the display surface in relation to the virtual surface, said orientation being in a spatial initial state, so that a reference line perpendicular to and extending from a reference point on the display surface hits the page containing information at a predefined point,

show on the display a portion of the page residing around the predefined point and having a shape similar to the shape of the display,

and in response to tilting of the hand-held device in relation to the spatial initial state,

generate a mirror line by mirroring the reference line in relation to a line that is perpendicular to the display surface and travels via the reference point,

define a hit point (xn,yn) where the mirror line hits the virtual surface and the page containing information, and

show on the display a portion of the page around the hit point, said portion to have a shape similar to the shape of the display, the position of the hit point on the page to correspond to the position of the reference point on the display, whereby a certain orientation of the hand-held device always displays the same portion of the current page.

14. The hand-held device according to claim 13, wherein the hand-held device is further adapted to:

set the initial state at a certain predefined angle in relation to the earth surface.

15. The hand-held device according to claim 13, wherein the predefined angle is between 20-30 degrees.

16. The hand-held device according to claim 13, wherein the hand-held device is further adapted to:

browse the information on the display at the speed which depends on the location and orientation of the display surface with reference to the virtual surface.

17. The hand-held device according to claim 13, wherein the hand-held device is further adapted to:

filter out unintentional movements from the coordinate axial and/or tilting movements before showing the portion of the page on the display.

18. The hand-held device according to claim 13, wherein the hand-held device is further adapted to:

keep the orientation of the information displayed unchanged when rotating the hand-held device around the axis being essentially perpendicular to the display surface.

19. The hand-held device according to claim 13, wherein the hand-held device is further adapted to:

lock/unlock the portion of the page displayed in response to the pressing of a push button.

20. The hand-held device according to claim 13, wherein the hand-held device is further adapted to:

set the hand-held device into a zoom mode and

zoom in or out the displayed information when rotating the hand-held device around the axis, said axis being essentially perpendicular to the display surface.

21. The hand-held device according to claim 13, wherein the hand-held device is further adapted to:

set the hand-held device to a zoom mode; and

zoom in or out the displayed information based on the tilting of the hand-held device.

22. The hand-held device according to claim 13, wherein the hand-held device is further adapted to:

determine with the camera the distance between the display surface and a certain reference point from the user and

zoom in or out the displayed information based on the distance.

23. The hand-held device according to claim 13, wherein the hand-held device is further adapted to:

measure the orientation and location of the hand-held device in relation to the user of the hand-held device with a video camera,

seek a certain point from the user on the video image to be set as a reference point, and

change the size of the information according to the movements of the reference point in relation to the hand-held device.

24. The hand-held device according to claim 23, wherein the hand-held device is further adapted to:

use heuristic algorithms and/or a neural network to seek and define the location of the point to be used as the reference point.

25. A computer program embodied on a computer-readable medium, wherein the computer program executes the program steps recorded in a computer-readable medium to perform a method for browsing information on a display of a hand-held device, having a display operatively coupled to a digital processor and means for detecting the current tilting angle of the hand-held device, wherein responsive to a change in the tilting angle a portion of a page containing information shown on the display is changed, said page to lie on a virtual surface in a coordinate system, wherein each point of the page has an unambiguous position in the coordinate system,

the computer program comprising the steps of:

setting beforehand ate the orientation of the display surface in relation to the virtual surface, said orientation being in a spatial initial state, so that a reference line perpendicular to and extending from a reference point on the display surface hits the page containing information at a predefined point,

showing on the display a portion of the page residing around the predefined point and having a shape similar to the shape of the display,

and in response to tilting of the hand-held device in relation to the spatial initial state,

generating a mirror line by mirroring the reference line in relation to a line that is perpendicular to the display surface and travels via the reference point,

defining a hit point (xn,yn) where the mirror line hits the virtual surface and the page containing information, and

showing on the display a portion of the page around the hit point and having a shape similar to the shape of the display, the position of the hit point on the page to correspond to the position of the reference point on the display,

whereby a certain orientation of the hand-held device always displays the same portion of the current page.

26. A computer program according to claim 25, wherein the computer program executes the step of:

setting the initial state in a certain predefined angle in relation to the earth surface.