INPUT CONTROL ON A TOUCH-SENSITIVE SURFACE

• US 20170038957A1
• Filed: 08/04/2015
• Published: 02/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Yan, Wanfei, Feng, Yicheng, Liao, Jun, Wang, Dan Dan, Xu, Ming Jun, Yin, Wen Bao
• Granted Patent: US 10,168,895 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

A computer-implemented method includes detecting a gesture on a touch-sensitive surface of a device, and determining whether the gesture is performed with respect to a predefined region on the touch-sensitive surface. The computer-implemented method further includes, in response to determining that the gesture is performed with respect to the predefined region, controlling an interaction focus on the touch-sensitive surface based on the gesture. A corresponding electronic device and computer program product are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

detecting a gesture on a touch-sensitive surface of a device;

determining whether the gesture is performed with respect to a predefined region on the touch-sensitive surface; and

in response to determining that the gesture is performed with respect to the predefined region, controlling an interaction focus on the touch-sensitive surface based on the gesture.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a graphical representation of the predefined region, wherein a dimension of the predefined region is determined based on a dimension of the touch-sensitive surface.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the interaction focus is located outside the predefined region, and controlling the interaction focus on the touch-sensitive surface based on the gesture comprises at least one step selected from the group consisting of:

moving the interaction focus on the touch-sensitive surface based on the gesture; and

operating an application component based on the gesture, the interaction focus being put on the application component.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein moving the interaction focus on the touch-sensitive surface comprises at least one step selected from the group consisting of:

in response to the gesture being a swipe gesture, moving the interaction focus according to a direction of the swipe gesture; and

in response to the gesture being a tap gesture on a boundary of the predefined region, moving the interaction focus according to a direction from a center of the predefined region to a position of the tap.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein operating the application component comprises at least one step selected from the group consisting of:

in response to the gesture being a tap gesture at a center of the predefined region, launching the application component on the device; and

in response to the gesture being a circling gesture on a boundary of the predefined region in a first direction, activating the application component and deactivating another application component.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein operating the application component further comprises:

in response to the gesture being a circling gesture on the boundary of the predefined region in a second direction, activating the other application component, the second direction being different from the first direction.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein displaying the graphical representation of the predefined region comprises:

arranging the graphical representation of the predefined region within a reachable area of a finger of a user performing the gesture.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

changing a position of the graphical representation based on positions of a plurality of previous touch inputs on the touch-sensitive surface.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein the predefined region is an ellipse.

10. An electronic device comprising:

a touch-sensitive surface; and

at least one processing unit configured to;

detect a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface;

determine whether the gesture is performed with respect to a predefined region on the touch-sensitive surface; and

in response to determining that the gesture is performed with respect to the predefined region, control an interaction focus on the touch-sensitive surface based on the gesture.

11. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the at least one processing unit is further configured to display a graphical representation of the predefined region, wherein a dimension of the predefined region is determined based on a dimension of the touch-sensitive surface.

12. The electronic device of claim 10, wherein the interaction focus is located outside the predefined region, and the at least one processing unit is further configured to perform at least one step selected from the group consisting of:

moving the interaction focus on the touch-sensitive surface based on the gesture;

or

operating an application component based on the gesture, the interaction focus being put on the application component.

13. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the at least one processing unit is further configured to perform at least one step of the group consisting of:

in response to the gesture being a swipe gesture, moving the interaction focus according to a direction of the swipe gesture; and

in response to the gesture being a tap gesture on a boundary of the predefined region, moving the interaction focus according to a direction from a center of the predefined region to a position of the tap.

14. The electronic device of claim 12, wherein the at least one processing unit is further configured to perform at least one step selected from the group consisting of:

in response to the gesture being a tap gesture at a center of the predefined region, launching the application component on the device; and

in response to the gesture being a circling gesture on a boundary of the predefined region in a first direction, activating the application component and deactivate another application component.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the at least one processing unit is further configured to:

in response to the gesture being a circling gesture on the boundary of the predefined region in a second direction, activate the other application component, the second direction being different from the first direction.

16. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the at least one processing unit is further configured to:

arrange the graphical representation of the predefined region within a reachable area of a finger of a user performing the gesture.

17. The electronic device of claim 16, wherein the at least one processing unit is further configured to:

change a position of the graphical representation based on positions of a plurality of previous touch inputs on the touch-sensitive surface.

18. The electronic device of claim 17, wherein the predefined region is an ellipse.

19. A computer program product being tangibly stored on a non-transient machine-readable medium and comprising machine-executable instructions, the instructions, when executed on an electronic device, causing the electronic device to:

detect a gesture on the touch-sensitive surface;

determine whether the gesture is performed with respect to a predefined region on the touch-sensitive surface; and

in response to determining that the gesture is performed with respect to the predefined region, control an interaction focus on the touch-sensitive surface based on the gesture.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, wherein the instructions further cause the electronic device to display a graphical representation of the predefined region, wherein a dimension of the predefined region is determined based on a dimension of the touch-sensitive surface.