MOTION EFFECT REDUCTION FOR DISPLAYS AND TOUCH INPUT

• US 20120306768A1
• Filed: 06/03/2011
• Published: 12/06/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Bailey, Richard St. Clair
• Granted Patent: US 9,990,003 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1643 the display being associated to a digitizer, e.g. laptops that can be used as penpads details related to the relative motion of the display enclosure with respect to the body enclosure, e.g. to move between laptop and tablet PC configuration G06F1/1615
• 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 3/0418 for error correction or compensation, e.g. based on parallax, calibration or alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/0464 Positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/14 Solving problems related to the presentation of information to be displayed
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/26 for modifying the character dimensions, e.g. double width, double height

Abstract

A movement compensation system is described herein that compensates a user interface and received touch input based on detected external motion affecting a mobile computing device. The system uses the integration of accelerometer data to either offset screen rendering or adjust screen size to improve readability. The system may also improve touch target selection by offsetting received touch coordinates to compensate for device shifting. Offsets can be applied to either the screen rendering offset or can be applied to the touch coordinate input. The system may increase font size or the size of other user interface elements in response to detecting external motion. The system may also receive tuning parameters to account for device mass, dampening filters on accelerometer integrations, latency effects, and user responsiveness to motion effects. Thus, the system allows users to continue to use devices under high motion environmental conditions.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method that compensates for detected motion that affects use of a mobile computing device, the method comprising:

loading configuration information that provides one or more parameters for determining how to compensate for detected motion of the mobile computing device;

watching for motion by reading motion information from one or more motion sensors associated with the mobile computing device;

upon detecting motion of the mobile computing device,

processing motion data from the one or more motion sensors that detected motion;

applying the loaded configuration parameters to determine a type of motion compensation to apply in response to the detected motion; and

performing a motion compensation action that modifies displayed information or received input in response to the detected motion,

wherein the preceding steps are performed by at least one processor.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein loading configuration information comprises accessing parameters that include device characteristics that affect motion compensation.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein loading configuration information comprises accessing parameters that include user characteristics including how quickly the user reacts to movement.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein loading configuration information comprises accessing parameters that include user preferences related to motion compensation.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein watching for motion comprises accessing information from sensors selected from the group consisting of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a GPS receiver, and a shock sensor.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein watching for motion comprises accessing information from sensors external to the mobile computing device.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting motion of the device comprises receiving a software event provided by motion-detecting hardware to an operating system running on the mobile computing device.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein processing read motion data comprises receiving coordinates that specify direction and distance of detected motion.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein processing read motion data comprises pre-translating received coordinates to relate the coordinates to a screen orientation.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein applying configuration parameters comprises determining a magnitude of compensation response to apply to detected motion.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein applying configuration parameters comprises determining whether the detected motion satisfies a configured motion threshold for applying motion compensation.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein performing a motion compensation action comprises translating a screen image to a new location relative to the device screen based on the detected motion.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein performing a motion compensation action comprises resizing fonts, text margins, or other user interface elements to make the elements easier for the user to see during the detected motion.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein performing a motion compensation action comprises translating a position of incoming touch input.

15. A computer system for motion effect reduction for displays and touch input on a mobile computing device, the system comprising:

a processor and memory configured to execute software instructions embodied within the following components;

a configuration component that receives one or more configuration parameters that affect motion compensation applied by the system;

a motion detection component that detects motion that affects the mobile computing device;

a motion processing component that processes the detected motion to determine an appropriate motion compensation response;

a translation component that translates a user interface of the mobile device by shifting one or more displayed user interface elements in a direction related to the detected motion;

a resizing component that resizes one or more user interface elements in response to the detected motion; and

an input adjustment component that adjusts received input in response to detected motion to correct coordinates of received input to a location where the component determines the input would have been but for the detected motion.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the motion detection component comprises one or more accelerometers, gyroscopes, or other position or motion sensors that inform the system that movement has occurred and a magnitude and direction of the detected movement.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the motion processing component enforces a threshold on the level of motion before compensation is applied.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the translation component provides a virtual screen area that is larger than the physical screen, so that translation can be performed by making some parts of the virtual screen visible on the physical screen using graphical hardware of the mobile computing device to reduce burden on the processor.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the resizing component increases a font size to make text displayed on the mobile computing device more readable during detected motion.

20. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions for controlling a computer system to receive configuration information for handling motion that affects use of a mobile computing device, wherein the instructions, upon execution, cause a processor to perform actions comprising:

receiving a request to configure handling motion detected by the mobile computing device;

determining one or more characteristics of the mobile computing device related to compensating for detected motion;

determining one or more user characteristics related to compensating for detected motion;

receiving user compensation preferences that determine how the user requests the system to respond to detected motion; and

storing the received device characteristics, user characteristics, and user compensation preferences in a data store for subsequent retrieval upon detection of motion affecting the mobile computing device.