FLEXIBLE TOUCH-BASED SCROLLING

• US 20120062604A1
• Filed: 09/15/2010
• Published: 03/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Lobo, Philomena, Lim, Yu-Xi, Xu, Yang
• Granted Patent: US 9,164,670 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/684
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A flexible touch-based scrolling system receives user input comprising a gesture on a touchscreen. The system compares the gesture velocity with one or more velocity ranges. For example, the system determines whether the gesture velocity is above a threshold velocity or below a threshold velocity. The system selects between different types of movement (e.g., smooth scrolling movement, page-by-page movement) of the visual information in the user interface, based on the comparison of the gesture velocity with the velocity ranges. For example, the system selects smooth scrolling movement if the gesture velocity is below a threshold velocity, and the system selects page-by-page movement if the gesture velocity is above the threshold velocity.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving first user input comprising a gesture on a touchscreen, the gesture having a gesture velocity;

comparing the gesture velocity with a velocity range;

based on the comparing, selecting jump displacement movement of visual information in a user interface; and

rendering the jump displacement movement of the visual information for display.

2. One or more computer-readable storage devices having encoded thereon computer-executable instructions operable to cause a computer to perform the method of claim 1.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying the rendered jump displacement movement in a display area.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the display area comprises a display area of the touchscreen.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the gesture comprises a flick gesture.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the comparing comprises determining that the gesture velocity exceeds a threshold velocity.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the jump displacement movement comprises a page-by-page movement of the visual information.

8. A computing device comprising:

one or more processors;

a touchscreen having a display area; and

one or more computer readable storage media having stored therein computer-executable instructions for performing a method comprising;

receiving first user input comprising a gesture on the touchscreen, the gesture having a gesture velocity;

comparing the gesture velocity with one or more velocity ranges;

based on the comparing, selecting a first selected movement of visual information in a user interface, wherein the first selected movement is selected between smooth scrolling movement and jump displacement movement; and

displaying the first selected movement of the visual information in the display area.

9. The computing device of claim 8 wherein the comparing comprises comparing the gesture velocity with a threshold velocity.

10. The computing device of claim 9 wherein the comparing comprises determining that the gesture velocity exceeds the threshold velocity, and wherein the first selected movement comprises the jump displacement movement.

11. The computing device of claim 10 wherein the jump displacement movement comprises a page-by-page movement of the visual information, and wherein the page-by-page movement comprises movement of the visual information by a displacement equivalent to a page of the visual information.

12. The computing device of claim 11 wherein one or more dimensions of the page are based on one or more dimensions of a viewport in the display area.

13. The computing device of claim 12 wherein the visual information comprises a contact list, wherein the page comprises a number of contacts that can be displayed within the dimensions of the viewport, and wherein the page-by-page movement comprises shifting the contact list by a number of contacts equal to the number of contacts that fits within the viewport.

14. The computing device of claim 9 wherein the comparing comprises determining that the gesture velocity is less than the threshold velocity, and wherein the first selected movement comprises the smooth scrolling movement.

15. The computing device of claim 14 wherein the smooth scrolling movement comprises moving the visual information at a scrolling speed proportional to the gesture velocity.

16. The computing device of claim 15 wherein the method further comprises applying inertia movement to the smooth scrolling movement.

17. The computing device of claim 15 wherein the method further comprises:

receiving second user input comprising a second gesture on the touchscreen, the second gesture having a second gesture velocity;

comparing the second gesture velocity with the one or more velocity ranges;

based on the comparing, selecting a second selected movement of the visual information in the user interface, wherein the second selected movement is selected between the smooth scrolling movement and the jump displacement movement; and

displaying the second selected movement of the visual information in the display area;

wherein the second selected movement differs from the first selected movement.

18. The computing device of claim 17 wherein the first selected movement is the smooth scrolling movement, and wherein the second selected movement is the jump displacement movement:

19. The computing device of claim 17 wherein the first selected movement is the jump displacement movement, and wherein the second selected movement is the smooth scrolling movement:

20. One or more computer-readable storage media having encoded thereon computer-executable instructions causing a computer to perform a method comprising:

receiving user input comprising a gesture on a touchscreen having a display area, the gesture having a gesture velocity and a gesture direction;

determining whether to display smooth scrolling movement of visual information in a user interface in the display area based on whether the gesture velocity is within a first velocity range;

determining whether to display page-by-page movement of the visual information in the user interface based on whether the gesture velocity is within a second velocity range, the page-by-page movement comprising a displacement of a visual information equivalent to a page of the visual information in a direction that corresponds to the gesture direction, wherein the page is defined according to at least one dimension of a viewport in the user interface;

determining whether to display beginning-or-end movement of the visual information in the user interface based on whether the gesture velocity is within a third velocity range, the beginning-or-end movement comprising moving the visual information such that the viewport is aligned with a beginning of the visual information or an end of the visual information depending on the gesture direction;

selecting between the smooth scrolling movement, the page-by-page movement and the beginning-or-end movement based on at least one of the determining steps; and

rendering the selected movement for display in the display area.