MANIPULATION OF GRAPHICAL ELEMENTS ON GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE VIA MULTI-TOUCH GESTURES

• US 20100201634A1
• Filed: 02/09/2009
• Published: 08/12/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Coddington, Nicole
• Granted Patent: US 8,219,937 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• 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 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Embodiments related to the manipulation of objects on a multi-touch graphical user interface are disclosed. For example, in one disclosed embodiment, a method of operating a graphical user interface of a computing device comprises presenting a group of objects on the graphical user interface in a group representation, where the group of objects includes two or more objects. The method further comprises receiving a multi-touch gesture at the graphical user interface in which two or more temporally overlapping touches are moved relative to each other on the graphical user interface. The method further comprises changing an organization of the group of objects presented on the graphical user interface in response to a changing of a distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches as they are moved relative to each other on the graphical user interface.

Claims

1. A method of operating a graphical user interface of a computing device, comprising:

presenting a group of objects on the graphical user interface in a group representation, the group of objects including two or more objects;

receiving a multi-touch gesture at the graphical user interface in which two or more temporally overlapping touches are moved relative to each other on the graphical user interface; and

changing an organization of the group of objects presented on the graphical user interface in response to a changing of a distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches as they are moved relative to each other on the graphical user interface.

2. The method of claim 1, where changing the organization of the group of objects includes changing the group representation from a stacked representation to a tiled representation in response to an increase of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture.

3. The method of claim 2, where the tiled representation is a first tiled representation;

and

where changing the organization of the group of objects further includes changing the group representation from the first tiled representation to a second tiled representation in response to a further increase of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture;

wherein the second tiled representation presents a greater number of objects than the first tiled representation.

4. The method of claim 2, where presenting a group of objects on the graphical user interface in the group representation further comprises presenting the group of objects in a container, the container presented on the graphical user interface over a background canvas;

and

where changing the organization of the group of objects includes;

expanding the container over the background canvas in response to the increase of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture; and

contracting the container in response to a decrease of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture.

5. The method of claim 1, where changing the organization of the group of objects further includes changing the group representation from a tiled representation to a stacked representation in response to a decrease of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture.

6. The method of claim 1, where changing the organization of the group of objects includes changing the group representation from a tiled representation to a slide-show representation in response to an increase of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture.

7. The method of claim 1, where changing the organization of the group of objects includes changing the group representation from a slide-show representation to a tiled representation in response to a decrease of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture.

8. The method of claim 1, where the two or more temporally overlapping touches are moved relative to each other on the graphical user interface by a first touch of the two or more temporally overlapping touches being moved on the graphical user interface while a second touch of the two or more temporally overlapping touches is maintained at a substantially fixed location on the graphical user interface.

9. The method of claim 1, where the two or more temporally overlapping touches are moved relative to each other on the graphical user interface by a first touch of the two or more temporally overlapping touches being moved on the graphical user interface while a second touch of the two or more temporally overlapping touches is also moved on the graphical user interface relative to the first touch.

10. A computing device, comprising:

a display surface configured to present a graphical user interface;

a multi-touch input device configured to detect multiple temporally overlapping touches on the display;

a logic subsystem comprising a processor; and

memory comprising instructions stored thereon that are executable by the logic subsystem to operate the display surface and the multi-touch input device to;

present a group of objects on the graphical user interface in a group representation via the display surface, the group of objects including two or more objects;

receive a multi-touch gesture at the graphical user interface via the multi-touch input device in which two or more temporally overlapping touches are moved relative to each other on the graphical user interface; and

change an organization of the group of objects presented on the graphical user interface in response to a changing of a distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches as they are moved relative to each other on the graphical user interface.

11. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the instructions are executable to change the group representation from a stacked representation to a tiled representation in response to an increase of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture.

12. The computing device of claim 11, where the tiled representation is a first tiled representation;

and

wherein the instructions are further executable to further change the group representation from the first tiled representation to a second tiled representation in response to a further increase of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture, the second tiled representation presenting a greater number of objects than the first tiled representation.

13. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the instructions are further executable to:

present the group of objects in a container; and

present the container on the graphical user interface over a background canvas; and

expand the container over the background canvas in response to the increase of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture; and

contract the container in response to a decrease of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture.

14. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the instructions are executable to change the group representation from a tiled representation to a stacked representation in response to a decrease of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture.

15. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the instructions are executable to change the group representation from a tiled representation to a slide-show representation in response to an increase of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture.

16. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the instructions are executable to change the group representation from a slide-show representation to a tiled representation in response to a decrease of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture.

17. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the multi-touch input device is configured to detect that the two or more temporally overlapping touches are moved relative to each other on the graphical user interface if a first touch of the two or more temporally overlapping touches is moved on the graphical user interface while a second touch of the two or more temporally overlapping touches is maintained at a substantially fixed location on the graphical user interface.

18. The computing device of claim 10, wherein the multi-touch input device is configured to detect that two or more temporally overlapping touches are moved relative to each other on the graphical user interface if a first touch of the two or more temporally overlapping touches is moved on the graphical user interface while a second touch of the two or more temporally overlapping touches is also moved on the graphical user interface relative to the first touch.

19. On a computing device including a display surface configured to present a graphical user interface and a multi-touch input device configured to detect multiple temporally overlapping touches on the display, a method comprising:

presenting a group of objects on the graphical user interface in a group representation via the display surface, the group of objects including two or more objects presented within a container;

receiving a multi-touch gesture at the graphical user interface via the multi-touch input device in which two or more temporally overlapping touches are moved relative to each other on the graphical user interface;

changing an organization of the group of objects presented on the graphical user interface in response to a changing of a distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches as they are moved relative to each other on the graphical user interface;

expanding the container over a background canvas of the graphical user interface in response to an increase of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture; and

contracting the container in response to a decrease of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein changing the organization of the group of objects includes changing the group representation from a stacked representation to a tiled representation in response to an increase of the distance between the two or more temporally overlapping touches of the multi-touch gesture.