User interface for electronic devices for controlling the displaying of long sorted lists

• US 8,004,496 B2
• Filed: 04/22/2002
• Issued: 08/23/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 01/08/2002
• Status: Expired

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: van Os, Marcel
• Primary Examiner(s): ABDULSELAM, ABBAS I
• Application Number:
  US10/127,855
• Publication Number:
  US 20030128192A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,410 Days
• Field of Search: 345/684, 345/973, 345/204, 345/184, 345/173, 345/163, 345/156, 345/661, 345/667, 345/668, 715/815, 715/828, 715/830, 178/18.01
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03547 Touch pads, in which fingers can move on a surface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0362 with detection of 1D translations or rotations of an operating part of the device, e.g. scroll wheels, sliders, knobs, rollers or belts
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning

Abstract

In a user-interface application, a computing apparatus has a user-interface to assist the user in searching for information from a data array. In an example embodiment according to the present invention, the data array is an ordered list of addresses. In a UI so equipped, the user experiences a particular sequence of events. The user begins at a point on a list of addresses. After the user rotates a jog/shuttle knob, the list rolls down a low rate. As the user rotates the jog/shuttle knob further the scroll accelerates. After a predetermined time or number of items, a helper character is displayed. This character may represent a first letter of a name or a first digit of a telephone number. The UI displays the helper character to the user. The user continues to hold the position of the jog/shuttle knob until a help character, corresponding to his/her desired selection, appears. The user releases the jog/shuttle knob and may step through among a smaller group of data to locate the particular selection by incrementally rotating the knob from the neutral position.

Claims

1. A consumer electronics device comprising:

an information-rendering device;

a force-sensitive interface, operative to enable a user to scroll through an ordered list of a data array that is rendered on the information rendering device; and

a helper character-generator being operative to replace a portion of an item in the list being scrolled, with an enlarged rendered helper character.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the information-rendering device is selected from at least one of the following:

visual display, audio output, tactile feedback.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the force-sensitive interface is coupled to a user interface assisting in searching for information from an ordered list in a data array, the user interface comprising,

an array scroller responsive to user actuation of the force-sensitive interface, the user actuation being a magnitude of a force applied to the force-sensitive interface, a scrolling speed of the array scroller being controlled by the magnitude of the force applied;

and

the helper character-generator, actuated by continued user actuation of the array scroller, the helper character generator being operative to render an initial character of an item in the list being scrolled, in a enlarged manner on a whole or a part of a screen of a visual display of the rendering device after being scrolled a predetermined time or a predetermined number of items.

4. The device of claim 1 wherein, the helper character generator conditionally renders a record of additional helper characters in addition to the initial character.

5. In a data processing environment, a method for enabling a user to scroll through an ordered list in a data array accessible through a data processing device, the method comprising:

enabling the user to scroll through the list at a predetermined rate, in response to the user actuating the data processing device via a force-sensitive interface, the predetermined rate being controlled by the magnitude of force the user exerts on the force sensitive interface; and

generating a portion of an item of the list being scrolled, in an enlarged manner.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the data processing environment comprises a distributed environment.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the force-sensitive interface comprises at least one of the following:

jog/shuttle dial, touch pad, drawing tablet, mouse scroll wheel, joystick.

8. A consumer electronics device comprising:

a rendering device for rendering of an ordered list representing user-selectable items;

a force-sensitive user-interface for control of a speed of scrolling through the list rendered on the rendering device; and

a helper character-generator being operative to render a character in an enlarged manner replacing any prior such character that is representative of a portion of an item in the list being scrolled.

9. Software, stored on computer-readable non-transitory media, for enabling a user to scroll through an ordered list in a data array accessible through a data processing device, the software comprising:

instructions for enabling the user to scroll through the list at a predetermined rate, in response to the user actuating the data processing device via a force-sensitive interface, the predetermined rate being controlled by the magnitude of force the user exerts on the force sensitive interface; and

instructions for generating a helper character representative of a portion of the list being scrolled, wherein the helper character is generated in an enlarged manner relative to other items of the ordered list.

10. The software of claim 9 wherein the computer-readable non-transitory media comprises at least one of the following:

semiconductor memory, optical storage, magnetic storage, client/server data storage.