TOUCH BASED SELECTION OF GRAPHICAL ELEMENTS
First Claim
1. At a computing device, the computing device including a touch screen display device, a method for selecting a graphical element, the method comprising:
- presenting a data visualization on the touch screen display device, the data visualization including a plurality of graphical elements, each graphical element representing a portion of data;
detecting a touch based selection gesture on the touch screen display device, detecting the touch based selection gesture including detecting a finger touch area on the touch screen display device;
determining that there is ambiguity as to which of the plurality of graphical elements is being selected by calculating that the finger touch area covers at least a sub-plurality of the plurality of graphical elements;
in response to the determination, presenting a plurality of new corresponding graphical elements on the touch screen display device in a region of the touch screen display device that is outside the touch area, each of the plurality of new corresponding graphical elements corresponding to one of the graphical elements in the at least a sub-plurality of graphical elements;
detecting a further touch based selection gesture on the touch screen display device, detecting the further touch based selection gesture including detecting a further finger touch area on the touch screen display device;
identifying an unambiguous intent to select one of the new corresponding graphical elements by calculating that the further finger touch area primarily covers the one of the new corresponding graphical elements from among the plurality of new corresponding graphical elements; and
in response identifying the unambiguous intent to select one of the new corresponding graphical elements;
selecting the corresponding graphical element from within the sub-plurality of graphical elements; and
performing an activity related to the corresponding graphical element.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products for touch based selection of graphical elements. Embodiments of the invention improve the usability of interacting with data visualizations. When multiple graphical elements are covered by a finger touch, a gesture recognition component detects ambiguity in the selection. In response, a visualization component draws additional regions around the touched location. The additional regions correspond to the covered graphical elements covered. Thus, a user is made aware of the graphical elements covered by his or her finger. These additional regions are touch friendly and more easily selectable. A finger can be moved into one of the additional regions and released to finish the selection. The gesture recognition component interprets this gesture as if the user tapped directly and unambiguously on the corresponding graphical element.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. At a computing device, the computing device including a touch screen display device, a method for selecting a graphical element, the method comprising:
-
presenting a data visualization on the touch screen display device, the data visualization including a plurality of graphical elements, each graphical element representing a portion of data; detecting a touch based selection gesture on the touch screen display device, detecting the touch based selection gesture including detecting a finger touch area on the touch screen display device; determining that there is ambiguity as to which of the plurality of graphical elements is being selected by calculating that the finger touch area covers at least a sub-plurality of the plurality of graphical elements; in response to the determination, presenting a plurality of new corresponding graphical elements on the touch screen display device in a region of the touch screen display device that is outside the touch area, each of the plurality of new corresponding graphical elements corresponding to one of the graphical elements in the at least a sub-plurality of graphical elements; detecting a further touch based selection gesture on the touch screen display device, detecting the further touch based selection gesture including detecting a further finger touch area on the touch screen display device; identifying an unambiguous intent to select one of the new corresponding graphical elements by calculating that the further finger touch area primarily covers the one of the new corresponding graphical elements from among the plurality of new corresponding graphical elements; and in response identifying the unambiguous intent to select one of the new corresponding graphical elements; selecting the corresponding graphical element from within the sub-plurality of graphical elements; and performing an activity related to the corresponding graphical element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A computer program product for use at computing device, the computing device including a touch screen display device, the computer program product for implementing a method for selecting a graphical element, the computer program product comprising one or more computer storage devices having stored thereon computer-executable instructions that, when executed at a processor, cause the computing device to perform the method, including the following
present a data visualization on the touch screen display device, the data visualization including a plurality of graphical elements, each graphical element representing a portion of data; -
detect a touch based selection gesture on the touch screen display device, detecting the touch based selection gesture including detecting a finger touch area on the touch screen display device; determine that there is ambiguity as to which of the plurality of graphical elements is being selected by calculating that the finger touch area covers at least a sub-plurality of the plurality of graphical elements; in response to the determination, present a plurality of new corresponding graphical elements on the touch screen display device in a region of the touch screen display device that is outside the touch area, each of the plurality of new corresponding graphical elements corresponding to one of the graphical elements in the at least a sub-plurality of graphical elements; detect a further touch based selection gesture on the touch screen display device, detecting the further touch based selection gesture including detecting a further finger touch area on the touch screen display device; identify an unambiguous intent to select one of the new corresponding graphical elements by calculating that the further finger touch area primarily covers the one of the new corresponding graphical elements from among the plurality of new corresponding graphical elements; and in response identifying the unambiguous intent to select one of the new corresponding graphical elements; select the corresponding graphical element from within the sub-plurality of graphical elements; and perform an activity related to the corresponding graphical element. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A computer system, the computer system comprising:
-
one or more processors; system memory; a touch screen display device; and one or more computer storage devices having stored thereon computer-executable instructions representing rendering engine and a gesture recognition component, the rendering engine configured to; present a data visualization on the touch screen display device by rendering a scene graph, the data visualization including a plurality of graphical elements, each graphical element representing a portion of data; in response to a determination that there is ambiguity as to which of the plurality of graphical elements is being selected, present a plurality of new corresponding graphical elements on the touch screen display device by re-rendering the scene graph, the plurality of new corresponding graphical elements presented in a region of the touch screen display device that is outside the touch area, each of the plurality of new corresponding graphical elements corresponding to one of the graphical elements in the at least a sub-plurality of graphical elements; and in response identifying an unambiguous intent to select one of the new corresponding graphical elements, visually indicate that the selected corresponding graphical element is selected by again re-rendering the scene graph; and the gesture recognition component configured to; detect a touch based selection gesture on the touch screen display device, detecting the touch based selection gesture including detecting a finger touch area on the touch screen display device; determine that there is ambiguity as to which of the plurality of graphical elements is being selected by calculating that the finger touch area covers at least a sub-plurality of the plurality of graphical elements; issue an event to the scene graph, the event triggering modification of the scene graph to include nodes for the plurality of new corresponding graphical elements; detect a further touch based selection gesture on the touch screen display device, detecting the further touch based selection gesture including detecting a further finger touch area on the touch screen display device; identify the unambiguous intent to select one of the new corresponding graphical elements by calculating that the further finger touch area primarily covers the one of the new corresponding graphical elements from among the plurality of new corresponding graphical elements; and in response identifying the unambiguous intent to select one of the new corresponding graphical elements; select the corresponding graphical element from within the sub-plurality of graphical elements; and issue an further event to the scene graph, the further event triggering modification of a node corresponding to the selected graphical element to visually indicate that the selected corresponding graphical element is selected.
-
Specification