Methods and Apparatus for Natural Media Painting Using Proximity-Based Tablet Stylus Gestures

• US 20130120463A1
• Filed: 07/08/2010
• Published: 05/16/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/10/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Harris, Jerry G.
• Granted Patent: US 8,610,744 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/661
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing a natural media painting application may receive user inputs through tablet stylus gestures. Various digital painting and image editing tasks may be invoked and/or controlled using such gesture-based inputs. The application may detect stylus gestures that mimic real-world actions of artists, and may perform appropriate painting and image editing actions in response to detecting and recognizing the stylus gestures. The system may provide an automatic zoom mode in which, as the stylus is moved into proximity of the tablet, the application zooms into a displayed image to focus on an area of interest. The system may also provide an automatic panning mode that allows the user to pan an image when the stylus is in proximity to, but not touching, the tablet. One or more thresholds for determining whether the stylus is in proximity with the tablet may be pre-defined or may be user configurable.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a position input indicating an initial position of a stylus with respect to a tablet device, the initial position above a surface of the tablet device;

determining a perpendicular motion and a parallel motion of a change in position of the stylus with respect to the tablet device above the surface of the tablet device, the perpendicular motion of the change in position of the stylus correlating to a zoom function and the parallel motion of the change in position of the stylus correlating to a pan function; and

initiating a zoom and pan display of a digital image responsive to said determining the perpendicular and parallel motions of the change in position of the stylus with respect to the tablet device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said determining the perpendicular and parallel motions of the change in position of the stylus comprises determining that the stylus moved closer to the tablet device while moving parallel to the tablet device; and

said initiating the zoom and pan display comprises zooming in on a portion of the digital image while panning the digital image in a direction of the parallel.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said initiating the zoom and pan display comprises zooming in on the portion of the digital image that was most recently edited.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein said initiating the zoom and pan display comprises zooming in on the portion of the digital image over which the stylus was positioned when the stylus was moved closer to the tablet device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said determining the perpendicular and parallel motions of the change in position of the stylus comprises determining that the stylus moved away from the tablet device while moving parallel to the tablet device; and

said initiating the zoom and pan display comprises zooming out on the digital image while panning the digital image in a direction of the parallel motion.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a speed input indicating a speed at which the stylus changed position with respect to the tablet device; and

wherein the zoom and pan display of the digital image is dependent on the speed at which the stylus changed position with respect to the tablet device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the stylus is within a given threshold distance of the surface of the tablet device; and

wherein the zoom and pan display of the digital image is dependent on whether the stylus is within the given threshold distance of the surface of the tablet device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the given threshold distance is one of a plurality of threshold distances that define parameters for work mode changes of a graphics application.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the stylus is in proximity to the surface of the tablet device within the given threshold distance; and

initiating an automatic panning mode of the graphics application based on the initial position of the stylus being within the given threshold distance.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

initiating an automatic zooming mode of the graphics application based on the initial position of the stylus being within the given threshold distance.

11-20. -20. (canceled)

21. A system, comprising:

a stylus configured for user manipulation to simulate a brush stroke of a paint brush, the stylus including an application tip formed from individual virtual bristles that simulate the paint brush;

a processing system to implement a graphics application that is configured to;

receive an input of the brush stroke;

compute an effect of each individual virtual bristle of the brush stroke to determine simulated paint application on a virtual canvas; and

initiate a display of the simulated paint application on the virtual canvas based on the computed effect of each individual virtual bristle of the brush stroke.

22. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein the graphics application is configured to simulate the change of shape of each individual virtual bristle during the brush stroke.

23. The system as recited in claim 22, wherein the graphics application is further configured to said compute the effect of each individual virtual bristle of the brush stroke based on the change of shape of each individual virtual bristle during the brush stroke.

24. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein the application tip of the stylus includes a representative number of the individual virtual bristles effective to represent the behavior of paint brush bristles.

25. The system as recited in claim 21, wherein:

a computing device that comprises the processing system to implement the graphics application;

a tablet device configured as a representation of the virtual canvas and as a stylus input interface to the computing device; and

a display device configured to display the virtual canvas and the simulated paint application, the display device configured as one of an integrated display device of the computing device, or as a peripheral display device of the computing device.

26. A system, comprising:

a stylus configured for user manipulation to simulate a brush stroke of a paint brush on a virtual canvas;

a tablet device configured as a representation of the virtual canvas and as a stylus input interface, the tablet device including a touch surface configured to detect stylus contact and user contact on the touch surface;

a processing system to implement a graphics application that is configured to;

receive the user contact on the touch surface of the tablet device;

receive the brush stroke as the stylus contact on the touch surface of the tablet device;

determine a user and stylus gesture based on a combination of the user contact and the stylus contact on the touch surface of the tablet device; and

initiate a user assist mode of the graphics application effective to assist completion of the brush stroke.

27. The system as recited in claim 26, wherein the user assist mode includes a damping factor configured to dampen user input of the brush stroke effective to assist for a steadier brush stroke input.

28. The system as recited in claim 26, wherein the graphics application is configured to:

receive the brush stroke as a line motion that corresponds to the detected stylus contact; and

initiate the user assist mode as a straight-line mode effective to assist creating a straight line with the brush stroke on the virtual canvas.

29. The system as recited in claim 26, wherein the graphics application is configured to:

receive the brush stroke as an arc motion that corresponds to the detected stylus contact; and

initiate the user assist mode as an arc mode effective to assist creating an arc with the brush stroke on the virtual canvas.

30. The system as recited in claim 26, wherein the graphics application is configured to:

receive the brush stroke as an image tracing motion that corresponds to the detected stylus contact; and

initiate the user assist mode as an edge detection mode effective to assist tracing an edge of an image with the brush stroke on the virtual canvas.