METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR OPERATING A PORTABLE DEVICE BASED ON AN ACCELEROMETER

• US 20150130719A1
• Filed: 01/26/2015
• Published: 05/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Leiba, Aaron, Williams, Richard C., Gerbarg, Louis G., Wehrenberg, Paul J., Falkenburg, David R., Chang, Ray L.
• Granted Patent: US 9,575,569 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/158
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1605 Multimedia displays, e.g. with integrated or attached speakers, cameras, microphones
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1684 Constructional details or arrangements related to integrated I/O peripherals not covered by groups G06F1/1635 - G06F1/1675
• 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 1/1698 the I/O peripheral being a sending/receiving arrangement to establish a cordless communication link, e.g. radio or infrared link, integrated cellular phone details of antennas disposed inside a computer H01Q1/2266
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1636 Sensing arrangement for detection of a tap gesture on the housing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/162 Interface to dedicated audio devices, e.g. audio drivers, interface to CODECs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/165 Management of the audio stream, e.g. setting of volume, audio stream path
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/167 Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for operating a portable device based on an accelerometer are described. According to one embodiment of the invention, an accelerometer attached to a portable device detects a movement of the portable device. In response, a machine executable code is executed within the portable device to perform one or more predetermined user configurable operations. Other methods and apparatuses are also described.

Claims

1-38. -38. (canceled)

39. A method of operating a portable device, the method comprising:

displaying a first page of a document on a display;

detecting movement of the portable device using an accelerometer attached to the portable device;

determining a direction of the movement based on movement data provided by the accelerometer; and

displaying a second page of the document on the display based on the determined direction of the movement, wherein the second pane of the document is different from the first page of the document.

40. The method as in claim 39, wherein the document comprises a text document produced by a word processing application.

41. The method as in claim 39, wherein the second page comprises a next page of the document.

42. The method as in claim 39, wherein the second page comprises a previous page of the document.

43. The method as in claim 39, further comprising:

prior to displaying a second page of the document on the display, comparing the determined direction of the movement with a predetermined direction to determine whether the determined direction matches the predetermined direction; and

displaying the second page of the document on the display only when the determined direction of the movement matches the predetermined direction.

44. The method as in claim 43, wherein the predetermined direction is user configurable using a user interface.

45. The method as in claim 43, wherein the predetermined direction is associated with a user-configured profile that associates the predetermined direction of the portable device with a given time of day.

46. The method as in claim 39, wherein the document comprises a web site presented by a browser and the first and second pages each comprise web pages on the web site.

47. The method as in claim 39, wherein the document comprises a slide presentation produced by a presentation application.

48. The method as in claim 39, wherein the movement of the portable device comprises movement that is parallel with a surface of the portable device.

49. The method as in claim 39, wherein the movement of the portable device comprises a rotation of the portable device about an axis that is parallel with an edge of the portable device.

50. The method as in claim 39, wherein the movement of the portable device comprises movement responsive to an oscillation of a surface supporting the portable device.

51. A portable device for presenting a document, comprising:

a display;

an accelerometer;

a memory having instructions stored therein; and

a processor coupled to the accelerometer, the memory, and the display, wherein the processor executes instructions from the memory to;

display a first page of the document on the display;

detect whether the portable device is moving using the accelerometer;

determine a direction of the movement based on movement data received from the accelerometer; and

display a second page of the document on the display based on the determined direction of the movement, wherein the second page of the document is different from the first page of the document.

52. The portable device as in claim 51, wherein the processor further executes instructions from the memory to:

compare the determined direction of the movement with a predetermined direction to determine whether the determined direction matches the predetermined direction prior to displaying the second page of the document on the display; and

display the second page of the document on the display only when the determined direction of the movement matches the predetermined direction.

53. The portable device as in claim 52, wherein the predetermined direction is associated with a user-configured profile that associates the predetermined direction of the portable device with a given time of day.

54. The portable device as in claim 51, wherein the document comprises at least one of a word document produced by a word processing application, a slide presentation produced by a presentation application, or a web site presented by a browser and the first and second pages each comprise web pages on the web site.

55. The portable device as in claim 51, wherein the second page comprises a next page of the document.

56. The portable device as in claim 51, wherein the second page comprises a previous page of the document.

57. The portable device as in claim 51, wherein the movement of the portable device comprises one of:

a movement that is parallel with a surface of the portable device;

a rotation of the portable device about an axis that is parallel with an edge of the portable device;

or

movement that is responsive to an oscillation of a surface supporting the portable device.

58. A method for operating a portable device placed on a supporting surface, the method comprising:

displaying a first image on a display of a portable device;

detecting movement in response to an oscillation of the supporting surface using the accelerometer attached to the portable device; and

displaying a second image on the display based on the determined direction of the movement, wherein the second image is different from the first image.