COLLABORATION SYSTEM

• US 20130227433A1
• Filed: 02/27/2013
• Published: 08/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Doray, Bernard, To, Paul, Haller, Michael, Brandl, Peter, Seifried, Thomas J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,207,833 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/753
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04807 Pen manipulated menu
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/103 Workflow collaboration or project management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/403 Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15

Abstract

A collaboration system provides enhanced user interface to enable users to interact with electronic devices. In one embodiment, users can add content to a digital system by using a pen that streams coordinates so that input to the digital system may be based on conventional pen and paper handwriting. In another embodiment, a pie-based menu system is used for input to large display area digital devices in which an occluded portion of the pie-based menu system is not used for direct input by the user. The selection of which areas of the pie-based menu system should be omitted from use is adaptive and responsive to whether the user is left-handed or right-handed, and the wrist angle defined by the user'"'"'s posture. In still another embodiment, an ergonomic open-shaped pie menu system is provided to facilitate selection of options on a digital surface.

Claims

1. A collaboration system, comprising:

an electronic pen, the electronic pen enabling a user to write on paper to enable the user to see what the user is writing while using the electronic pen, the electronic pen further being configured to record information about strokes made by the user while writing;

a collaboration server, the collaboration server containing an electronic pen input non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions and a collaboration non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions, wherein the electronic pen and collaboration non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions when executed on one or more computers cause the collaboration server to perform a method of;

establishing a collaboration session to be shown on a large digital surface;

receiving input from the electronic pen over a communication network;

processing the input from the electronic pen using the electronic pen non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing program to recreate what the user was writing while using the electronic pen;

incorporating the recreated writing into the collaboration session; and

causing the recreated writing to be shown during the collaboration session on the large digital surface.

2. The collaboration system of claim 1, further comprising storing the recreated writing and the collaboration session.

3. The collaboration system of claim 1, wherein one or more applications are able to be run on the large digital surface, and wherein users of the large digital surface are able to invoke a menu associated with the one or more applications by interacting with the large digital surface to cause the menu associated with the one or more applications to be drawn on the large digital surface.

4. The collaboration system of claim 3, wherein the user invokes the menu by using a single down action and two press actions within a defined period of time without an intermediate up action in-between the two press actions.

5. The collaboration system of claim 3, wherein the menu is a pie-shaped computer menu having an active area and a gesture area, the active area extending in a circle segment extending significantly less than 360 degrees such that no portion of the active area is disposed in an area expected to be occluded by an user'"'"'s hand when the user interacts with the pie menu.

23. The collaboration system of claim 3, wherein the menu is configured as a pie-shaped menu centered approximately at the location where the menu was invoked, the pie-shaped menu having an active region extending in an arc and an occluded area, the active region not extending into the occluded area, such that when the user interacts with the menu the user'"'"'s hand is generally placed over the occluded area and does not substantially extend over the active region.

24. The collaboration system of claim 23, wherein the occluded area extends approximately 90 degrees and wherein the active area extends approximately 270 degrees.

25. The collaboration system of claim 23, wherein an orientation of the occluded area is based on a direction vector between the location where the menu was invoked and a location of contact between the large digital surface and the user'"'"'s hand that will interact with the menu.

26. The collaboration system of claim 25, wherein the user interacts with the large digital surface using the electronic pen and wherein the location where the menu is invoked is a location where a tip of the electronic pen contacts the large digital surface.

27. The collaboration system of claim 25, wherein, if the user invokes the menu without any contact between the user'"'"'s hand and the large digital surface, the orientation of the occluded area will be established using a default value.

28. The collaboration system of claim 25, wherein, if the user invokes the menu without any contact between the user'"'"'s hand and the large digital surface, the orientation of the occluded area will be established using a previous direction vector from a previous menu invocation.

29. The collaboration system of claim 25, wherein the direction vector enables the occluded area to be adjusted based on the user'"'"'s posture.

30. The collaboration system of claim 25, wherein the direction vector enables the server to distinguish between right-handed users and left-handed users, and enables the computer to automatically generate a right-handed menu for a right-handed person and a left-handed menu for a left-handed person.

31. The collaboration system of claim 23, wherein the menu further has a gesture area, the gesture area not being usable to only one particular function, but enabling the user to provide gesture based input to the computer.

32. The collaboration system of claim 31, wherein the gesture area extends into the occluded area.

33. The collaboration system of claim 32, wherein the gesture area enables functions associated with the active area to be moved between regions of the active area.

34. The collaboration system of claim 33, wherein the gesture area enables new functions to be associated with the regions of the active area.

35. The collaboration system of claim 1, wherein the user is remotely located from the large digital surface.

36. The collaboration system of claim 1, further comprising a hardware device comprising an interactive screen and wherein users of the large digital surface are able to invoke a menu associated with the one or more applications by interacting with the interactive screen to cause the menu associated with the one or more applications to be drawn on the large digital surface.

6-22. -22. (canceled)