TOUCH DISPLAY RUBBER-BAND GESTURE

• US 20100177051A1
• Filed: 01/14/2009
• Published: 07/15/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Bilow, Charles
• Application Number:
  US12/353,888
• Publication Number:
  US 20100177051A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/241 Touch screen
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2009/246 Computer generated or synthesized image
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 3/00643 Electric board games; Electric features of board games electric word or number games A63F3/0421; computer chess G06F; electric raffle games A63F3/081
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A rubber-band gesture begins with a source touching a touch display at a touch-down location of the touch display. The rubber-band gesture continues until the source stops touching the touch display at a lift-up location of the touch display. An action is displayed on the touch display in response to the rubber-band gesture. The action is displayed in a direction parallel to a vector pointing from the lift-up location to the touch-down location. The action is displayed with an action amplitude derived from a distance from the touch-down location to the lift-up location.

Claims

1. A gaming system, comprising:

a touch display;

a logic subsystem operatively coupled to the touch display; and

a data-holding subsystem holding instructions executable by the logic subsystem to;

recognize a rubber-band gesture on the touch display, the rubber-band gesture beginning with a source touching the touch display at a touch-down location of the touch display and continuing until the source stops touching the touch display at a lift-up location of the touch display;

determine an action vector having a vector direction pointing from the lift-up location to the touch-down location and a vector magnitude equal to a distance from the lift-up location to the touch-down location; and

display a game action on the touch display, the game action originating at a game object on the touch display and proceeding in the vector direction with an action amplitude derived from the vector magnitude.

2. The gaming system of claim 1, where the game action is the firing of a projectile from the game object in the vector direction with a range derived from the vector magnitude.

3. The gaming system of claim 1, where the game action is a moving of the game object in the vector direction with a range derived from the vector magnitude.

4. The gaming system of claim 1, where the data-holding subsystem holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to display an aimer during the rubber-band gesture, the aimer visually indicating the vector direction and the action amplitude.

5. The gaming system of claim 1, where the data-holding subsystem holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to recognize a plurality of temporally overlapping rubber-band gestures on the touch display, and for each recognized rubber-band gesture, determine a corresponding action vector and display a corresponding game action.

6. The gaming system of claim 5, where the data-holding subsystem holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to differentiate between two or more different sources performing the plurality of temporally overlapping rubber-band gestures.

7. The gaming system of claim 6, where the data-holding subsystem holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to determine a game consequence that is dependent on a source performing the rubber-band gesture.

8. The gaming system of claim 1, where the action amplitude is linearly related to the vector magnitude.

9. The gaming system of claim 1, where the action amplitude is nonlinearly related to the vector magnitude.

10. A method of operating a computing device having a touch display, the method comprising:

recognizing a gesture on the touch display, the gesture including a touch-down location and a lift-up location;

displaying an action on the touch display in response to the gesture, the action displayed in a direction parallel to a vector pointing from the lift-up location to the touch-down location and the action displayed with an action amplitude derived from a distance from the lift-up location to the touch-down location.

11. The method of claim 10, where the action is a firing of a projectile from the touch-down location in a direction parallel to a vector pointing from the lift-up location to the touch-down location with a range related to the distance from the touch-down location to the lift-up location.

12. The method of claim 10, where the action is the moving of an object from the touch-down location in a direction parallel to a vector pointing from the lift-up location to the touch-down location with a range related to the distance from the touch-down location to the lift-up location.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising displaying an aimer while the gesture is being performed, the aimer visually indicating a direction and an amplitude with which the action is to be displayed.

14. The method of claim 10, where the gesture is one of a plurality of temporally overlapping gestures, and where the method further comprises recognizing each temporally overlapping gesture and displaying a corresponding action for each temporally recognized gesture.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising differentiating between two or more different sources performing the plurality of temporally overlapping gestures.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising determining a game consequence that is dependent on a source performing the gesture.

17. The method of claim 10, where the action amplitude is linearly related to the distance from the touch-down location to the lift-up location.

18. The method of claim 10, where the action amplitude is nonlinearly related to the distance from the touch-down location to the lift-up location.

19. A method of operating a gaming device having a touch display, the method comprising:

recognizing a first rubber-band gesture on the touch display, the first rubber-band gesture beginning with a first source touching the touch display at a first touch-down location of the touch display and continuing until the first source stops touching the touch display at a first lift-up location of the touch display;

recognizing a second rubber-band gesture on the touch display, the second rubber-band gesture beginning with a second source touching the touch display at a second touch-down location of the touch display and continuing until the second source stops touching the touch display at a second lift-up location of the touch display;

determining a first action vector having a first vector direction pointing from the first lift-up location to the first touch-down location and a first vector magnitude equal to a distance from the first lift-up location to the first touch-down location;

determining a second action vector having a second vector direction pointing from the second lift-up location to the second touch-down location and a second vector magnitude equal to a distance from the second lift-up location to the second touch-down location;

displaying a first game action on the touch display, the first game action displayed in the first vector direction with a first action amplitude related to the first vector magnitude; and

displaying a second game action on the touch display, the second game action displayed in the second vector direction with a second action amplitude related to the second vector magnitude

20. The method of claim 19, where the first rubber-band gesture and the second rubber-band gesture temporally overlap.