BANDED SLIDERS FOR OBTAINING VALUES FROM USERS

• US 20180088790A1
• Filed: 09/27/2016
• Published: 03/29/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Autodesk, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Autodesk, Inc.
• Inventors: MATEJKA, Justin Frank, GLUECK, Michael, GROSSMAN, Tovi, FITZMAURICE, George
• Granted Patent: US 10,739,973 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials

Abstract

In one embodiment, a banded slider application obtains values from users via a banded slider. In operation, the banded slider application generates a banded slider that includes multiple sections. Notably, the interior of a section included in the banded slider is visually distinguishable from an interior of another section that is adjacent to the section. Subsequently, the banded slider application performs operation(s) to display the banded slider and, in response, receives a user selection of a location along the banded slider. The banded slider application then computes a specified value based on the location. Advantageously, empirical evidence shows that the banded slider enables precise and/or repeatable specification of values without inducing bias associated with an inherent propensity for users to select locations that are at or near the decorations (e.g., tick marks) along conventional sliders.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for obtaining values from users, the method comprising:

generating a banded slider that includes a plurality of sections, wherein a first section included in the plurality of sections is adjacent to a second section included in the plurality of sections, and a first set of one or more visual attributes that characterizes an interior of the first section is visually distinguishable from a second set of one or more visual attributes that characterizes an interior of the second section;

performing one or more operations to display the banded slider on a display device;

receiving a user selection that includes a selected location along the banded slider; and

computing a specified value based on the selected location.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more visual attributes include any number of colors, shapes, patterns, and textures any combination.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the one or more visual attributes include any number of gradients, shadows, and reflections in any combination.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising performing one or more operations to display a minimum value and a maximum value on the display device.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising prompting for the user selection.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein prompting for the user selection comprises:

performing one or more operations to display a starting shape on the display device;

receiving a first user input that includes a start location within the starting shape; and

in response to receiving the first user input, performing one or more operations to display a stimulus instead of the starting shape on the display device.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising, performing one or more operations to display a slider thumb at the selected location along the banded slider on the display device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising performing one or more operations to display the specified value on the display device.

9. A computer-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing unit, cause the processing unit to obtain values from user, by performing the steps of:

generating a banded slider that includes a plurality of sections, wherein a first section included in the plurality of sections is adjacent to a second section included in the plurality of sections, and a first set of one or more visual attributes that characterizes an interior of the first section is visually distinguishable from a second set of one or more visual attributes that characterizes an interior of the second section;

performing one or more operations to display the banded slider on a display device;

receiving a user selection that includes a selected location along the banded slider; and

computing a specified value based on the selected location.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more visual attributes include any number of colors, shapes, patterns, and textures any combination.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the one or more visual attributes include any number of gradients, shadows, and reflections in any combination.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving a first user input that includes a temporary location along the banded slider; and

performing one or more operations to display a slider thumb at the temporary location along the banded slider on the display device.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, further comprising computing a temporary value based on the temporary location and performing one or more operations to display the temporary value on the display device.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the first segment comprises a first rectangle and the second segment comprises a second rectangle with the same dimensions as the first rectangle.

15. A banded slider apparatus, comprising:

a plurality of sections, wherein a first section included in the plurality of sections is adjacent to a second section included in the plurality of sections, and a first set of one or more visual attributes that characterizes an interior of the first section is visually distinguishable from a second set of one or more visual attributes that characterizes an interior of the second section; and

a slider thumb with a selection location that is adjustable to a plurality of locations along a total length that spans a least a portion of the plurality of sections.

16. The banded slider apparatus of claim 15, wherein the one or more visual attributes include any number of colors, shapes, patterns, and textures any combination.

17. The banded slider apparatus of claim 15, wherein the one or more visual attributes include any number of gradients, shadows, and reflections in any combination.

18. The banded slider apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first section comprises a first rectangle and the second section comprises a second rectangle with the same dimensions as the first rectangle.

19. The banded slider apparatus of claim 15, wherein the banded slider is integrated into a mixing board.

20. The banded slider apparatus of claim 15, wherein a third section included in the plurality of sections is not adjacent to the first section, and the first set of one or more visual attributes characterizes an interior of the third section.