Gestures for touch sensitive input devices

• US 8,479,122 B2
• Filed: 07/30/2004
• Issued: 07/02/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Hotelling, Steve, Strickon, Joshua A., Huppi, Brian Q., Chaudhri, Imran, Christie, Greg, Ording, Bas, Kerr, Duncan Robert, Ive, Jonathan P.
• Primary Examiner(s): ALVESTEFFER, STEPHEN D
• Application Number:
  US10/903,964
• Publication Number:
  US 20060026521A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,259 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173, 345/176, 345/156, 715/525, 715/701, 715/702, 715/799, 715/800, 715/863, 715/864
• US Class Current: 715/863
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04805 Virtual magnifying lens, i.e. window or frame movable on top of displayed information to enlarge it for better reading or selection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04808 Several contacts: gestures triggering a specific function, e.g. scrolling, zooming, right-click, when the user establishes several contacts with the surface simultaneously; e.g. using several fingers or a combination of fingers and pen
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0418 for error correction or compensation, e.g. based on parallax, calibration or alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• 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

Methods and systems for processing touch inputs are disclosed. The invention in one respect includes reading data from a multipoint sensing device such as a multipoint touch screen where the data pertains to touch input with respect to the multipoint sensing device, and identifying at least one multipoint gesture based on the data from the multipoint sensing device.

Claims

1. A method for manipulating graphical user interface (GUI) objects displayed on a touch sensing device, comprising:

displaying a plurality of GUI objects on a multipoint touch screen of the touch sensing device, the multipoint touch screen providing a primary display for the touch sensing device;

detecting one or more concurrent touches at different points on the multipoint touch screen, directly on or in proximity to the plurality of the displayed GUI objects;

associating the one or more touches to a first GUI object from the displayed plurality of GUI objects in response to a relevance ranking of touch data associated with the one or more touches to each of the GUI objects;

maintaining the association of the one or more touches with the first GUI object despite a presence of a second GUI object having a relevance ranking that exceeds the relevance ranking of the first GUI object if a difference between the relevance rankings of the second GUI object and the first GUI object is less than a predetermined threshold amount; and

interpreting the multiple touches as a single gesture for performing a particular operation on the associated GUI object, the operation determined based on the associated GUI object.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising interacting with the first GUI object to which the one or more touches are associated with in accordance with a function associated with the single gesture.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising interacting with the first GUI object to which the one or more touches are associated with in unison with the single gesture.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the single gesture interacts differently when associated with different types of GUI objects.

5. The method of claim 1, the relevance ranking including a proximity of a centroid of the one or more touches to each of the displayed GUI objects.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising giving a first GUI object with a highest relevance ranking sole access to the one or more touches.

7. A computer system for directly manipulating displayed graphical user interface (GUI) objects, comprising:

a touch screen configured for

displaying a plurality of GUI objects, the touch screen providing a primary display for the touch sensing device, and

detecting one or more concurrent touches at different points on the touch screen, directly on or in proximity to the plurality of the displayed GUI objects; and

a processor coupled to the touch screen and programmed for

associating the one or more touches to a first GUI object from the displayed plurality of GUI objects in response to a relevance ranking of touch data of the one or more touches to each of the GUI objects,

maintaining the association of the one or more touches with the first GUI object despite a presence of a second GUI object having a relevance ranking that exceeds the relevance ranking of the first GUI object if a difference between the relevance rankings of the second GUI object and the first GUI object is less than a predetermined threshold amount; and

interpreting the touches as a single gesture for performing a particular operation on the associated GUI object, the operation determined based on the associated GUI object.

8. The computer system of claim 7, the processor further programmed for modifying the primary display to create an interaction between one or more of the recognized gestures and the first GUI object that the touches were in accordance with a function associated with the single gesture.

9. The computer system of claim 7, the processor further programmed for modifying the primary display to create an interaction in unison between the single gesture and GUI object to which the touches are associated with.