ACTIVATE, FILL, AND LEVEL GESTURES

• US 20110304556A1
• Filed: 06/09/2010
• Published: 12/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Harris, Jonathan R., Allen, Andrew S.
• Application Number:
  US12/797,486
• Publication Number:
  US 20110304556A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Techniques involving gestures and other functionality are described. In one or more implementations, the techniques describe gestures that are usable to provide inputs to a computing device. A variety of different gestures are contemplated, including an activate gesture, a fill gesture, a level gesture, a jump gesture, a checkmark gesture, a strikethrough gesture, an erase gesture, a circle gesture, a prioritize gesture, and an application tray gesture.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

recognizing an input as a line drawn over at least a portion of a display of a control, the control displayed in a user interface of a display device of a computing device; and

identifying an activate gesture by the computing device from the recognized input, the activate gesture effective to activate the control to perform an action by the computing device that is associated with the control.

2. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the control is displayed as a button in the user interface.

3. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the line is drawn using a stylus.

4. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising detecting the input using touchscreen functionality associated with the display device.

5. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising detecting the input using a camera that is communicatively connected with the computing device.

6. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising activating the control responsive to the identifying of the activate gesture.

7. A method as described in claim 1, further comprising removing a display of the line of the input from the user interface responsive to the identifying of the activate gesture.

8. A method comprising:

recognizing an input as filling at least a portion of a control displayed in a user interface by a display device of a computing device; and

identifying a fill gesture from the recognized input, the fill gesture effective use the filled portion of the control as a basis to perform an action associated with the control.

9. A method as described in claim 8, wherein the filled portion of the recognized input is identified as specifying an amount of the control this is filled by the input and the amount is used as the basis to perform the action associated with the control.

10. A method as described in claim 8, wherein the control is associated with a plurality of levels and the input is identified as filling the portion of the control to indicate a particular one of the levels.

11. A method as described in claim 8, further comprising performing the action in real time by the computing device as the input is recognized by the computing device as filling the portion of the control.

12. A method as described in claim 8, wherein the input is drawn as filling the portion of the control using a stylus.

13. A method as described in claim 8, further comprising detecting the input using a camera that is communicatively connected with the computing device.

14. A method comprising:

recognizing an input as a freeform line drawn in association with a control displayed in a user interface by a display device of a computing device, the control having a portion that indicates at which of a plurality of levels the control is currently set; and

identifying a level gesture from the recognized input, the level gesture effective to use the recognized freeform line of the input as a basis to set the control at a particular said level.

15. A method as described in claim 14, wherein the freeform line is written using a stylus.

16. A method as described in claim 14, wherein the freeform line is identified as a number that corresponds to the particular said level of the control.

17. A method as described in claim 14, wherein the control is a slider control.

18. A method as described in claim 14, wherein the user interface includes a plurality of said controls and the identifying includes determining which of the plurality of said controls corresponds to the input.

19. A method as described in claim 14, wherein the portion is selectable via the user interface to move between the plurality of levels and thereby set the control.

20. A method as described in claim 14, further comprising responsive to the identifying of the level gesture, setting the control at the particular said level and displaying the portion to indicate the particular said level in the user interface.