USER INTERFACES AND METHODS FOR DISPLAYING CONTENT

• US 20150286333A1
• Filed: 04/04/2014
• Published: 10/08/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Shawn Shey
• Original Assignee: Shawn Shey
• Inventors: SHEY, Shawn
• Granted Patent: US 10,474,345 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04804 Transparency, e.g. transparent or translucent windows
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/001 Texturing; Colouring; Generation of texture or colour inpainting G06T5/77
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2210/22 Cropping

Abstract

A user interface method includes: obtaining an image; obtaining a mask; receiving a user input at a device, the user input indicating that a portion of the image is desired to be viewed by a user; and in response to the user input, displaying on a screen of the device a portion of the image while covering a remaining portion of the image using at least a part of the mask.

Claims

1. A user interface method, comprising:

obtaining an image;

obtaining a mask;

receiving a user input at a device, the user input indicating that a portion of the image is desired to be viewed by a user; and

in response to the user input, displaying on a screen of the device a portion of the image while covering a remaining portion of the image using at least a part of the mask.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the screen of the device is a touchscreen; and

the user input is resulted from the user touching a portion of the screen to prescribe a reference position and a viewing window for viewing the portion of the image, wherein the viewing window has a size that is smaller than a size of the image, and the viewing window is at a pre-determined position relative to the reference position prescribed by the user touching the portion of the screen.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving an input from the user at the device resulted from the user swiping his/her finger across at least a part of the screen along a trajectory;

and

moving the viewing window in the trajectory that corresponds with the input to display different portions of the image.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an additional user input at a device, the additional user input indicating that an entirety of the image is desired to be viewed by the user of the device; and

in response to the additional user input, displaying on the screen of the device the entirety of the image.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the additional user input is resulted from the user touching a dedicated area of a masked image or making a pre-defined maneuver pattern with one or more fingers.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an additional user input at a device, wherein the additional user input is resulted from the user touching a dedicated area of a masked image or making a pre-defined maneuver pattern with one or more fingers; and

in response to the additional user input, executing a program that comprises user input instructions.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of obtaining the mask is performed by the device receiving the mask wirelessly or through a wired connection.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of obtaining the mask is performed by the device retrieving the mask from a non-transitory medium in the device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a plurality of masks for selection by the user, and wherein the act of obtaining the mask comprises receiving an input from the user for selecting one of the masks.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a transparency of the mask is configurable, and the method further comprises receiving an input from the user to configure the transparency of the mask.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein a size and/or a shape of the portion is configurable, and the method further comprises receiving an input from the user to configure the size and/or the shape of the portion.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting a signal to another device during a sync-play mode to cause an image portion that is identical to the portion of the image to be displayed on a screen of the other device.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the signal comprises the user input.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the signal comprises a screen display duplication signal.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the signal comprises instructions, which when executed by the other device, will cause the other device to create the image portion, or to copy the portion of the image as the image portion, for display at the other device.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a cell phone, a smart phone, an iPhone, a PDA, a Blackberry, an iPad, a Mini-pad, a tablet, a computer screen, a TV screen, or a digital camera.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the user is a user of the device, and the user input is from the user of the device

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting the user input to another device that is in communication with the device through a wired or wireless network.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the user is a user of another device, and the user input is from the other device that is in communication with the device through a wired or wireless network.

20. A device comprising:

a non-transitory medium storing an image and a mask;

a processing unit to receive a user input, the user input indicating that a portion of the image is desired to be viewed by a user; and

a screen operable by the processing unit to display a portion of the image in response to the user input while covering a remaining portion of the image using at least a part of the mask.

21. The device of claim 20, wherein:

the screen of the device is a touchscreen; and

the user input is resulted from the user touching a portion of the screen to prescribe a reference position and a viewing window for viewing the portion of the image, wherein the viewing window has a size that is smaller than a size of the image, and the viewing window is at a pre-determined position relative to the reference position prescribed by the user touching the portion of the screen.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein the processing unit is configured to receive an input from the user resulted from the user swiping his/her finger across at least a part of the screen along a trajectory;

and

wherein the processing unit is configured to operate the screen to move the viewing window in the trajectory that corresponds with the input to display different portions of the image.

23. The device of claim 20, wherein the processing unit is configured to receive an additional user input, the additional user input indicating that an entirety of the image is desired to be viewed by the user of the device;

and

wherein the processing unit is configured to operate the screen to display the entirety of the image in response to the additional user input.

24. The device of claim 23, wherein the additional user input is resulted from the user touching a dedicated area of a masked image or making a pre-defined maneuver pattern with one or more fingers.

25. The device of claim 20, wherein the processing unit is configured to receive an additional user input resulted from the user touching a dedicated area of a masked image or making a pre-defined maneuver pattern with one or more fingers;

and

wherein the processing unit is configured to execute a program that comprises user input instructions in response to the additional user input.

26. The device of claim 20, further comprising a wireless receiver for receiving the mask wirelessly or a connector for receiving the mask through a wired connection.

27. The device of claim 20, wherein the non-transitory medium stores a plurality of masks for selection by the user, and wherein the mask is a selected one of the plurality of masks.

28. The device of claim 20, wherein a transparency of the mask is configurable.

29. The device of claim 20, wherein a size and/or a shape of the portion is configurable.

30. The device of claim 20, wherein the processing unit is configured to generate a signal for transmission to another device during a sync-play mode to cause an image portion that is identical to the portion of the image to be displayed at the other device during the sync-play mode.

31. The device of claim 30, wherein the signal comprises the user input.

32. The device of claim 30, wherein the signal comprises a screen display duplication signal.

33. The device of claim 30, wherein the signal comprises instructions, which when executed by the other device, will cause the other device to create the image portion, or to copy the portion of the image as the image portion, for display at the other device.

34. The device of claim 20, wherein the device comprises a cell phone, a smart phone, an iPhone, a PDA, a Blackberry, an iPad, a Mini-pad, a tablet, a computer screen, a TV screen, or a digital camera.

35. The device of claim 20, wherein the user is a user of the device, and the processing unit is configured to receive the user input from the user of the device.

36. The device of claim 35, further comprising transmitting the user input to another device that is in communication with the device through a wired or wireless network.

37. The device of claim 20, wherein the user is a user of another device that is in communication with the device through a wired or wireless network, and the processing unit is configured to receive the user input from the other device through the wired or wireless network.

38. A program product that includes a non-transitory medium usable by a processing unit, the non-transitory medium having a set of stored instructions, an execution of which by the processing unit causes a process to be performed, the process comprising:

obtaining an image;

obtaining a mask;

receiving a user input at a device, the user input indicating that a portion of the image is desired to be viewed by a user; and

in response to the user input, displaying on a screen of the device a portion of the image while covering a remaining portion of the image using at least a part of the mask.