Radial menus

• US 8,549,432 B2
• Filed: 05/29/2009
• Issued: 10/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Warner, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Abdul-Ali, Omar
• Assistant Examiner(s): BHARGAVA, ANIL K
• Application Number:
  US12/475,470
• Publication Number:
  US 20100306702A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,586 Days
• Field of Search: 715/811, 715/834
• US Class Current: 715/834
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

Some embodiments of the invention provide several novel techniques for manipulating radial menus in graphical user interfaces of an application. In some embodiments, radial menus include multiple selectable items arranged about an internal location (e.g., a center of the radial menu). The novel radial menu techniques of some embodiments include (i) non-uniform spacing of menu items, (ii) the use of shading or highlighting within a region associated with an item to indicate the present selectability of the item, and (iii) the use of radial gestures for opening sub-menus and the subsequent display of the sub-menu.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a plurality of selectable menu items, each menu item having a particular priority; and

providing a radial menu for receiving selections of the selectable menu items, the menu items for display in the radial menu as a series of separate icons arranged in a particular order at a particular distance from a central location, wherein angular distances between the displayed icons and the particular order of the displayed icons are based on the priorities;

wherein a change to the particular priority of at least one menu item causes a change to the particular order in which the icons are displayed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the plurality of selectable menu items comprises providing the priority of a particular menu item as based on a frequency with which the particular menu item is selected.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the plurality of selectable menu items comprises providing the priorities of the selectable menu items as based on frequencies with which the menu items are selected relative to one another.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the plurality of selectable menu items comprises providing the priority of a particular menu item as based on an expected frequency with which the menu item will be selected.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each particular icon of the series of separate icons is assigned a particular range of angles in the radial menu based on the particular icon'"'"'s priority.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein when a first icon has a first priority and a second icon has a second priority larger than the first priority, the first icon is assigned a smaller range of angles than the second icon.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein each particular icon is for display in the center of the particular range of angles assigned to the particular icon.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising providing a module for assigning (i) a first range of angles to a first icon and (ii) a second range of angles to a second icon that neighbors the first icon in the radial menu, wherein the angular distance between the first and second icons in the radial menu is the sum of half of the first range of angles and half of the second range of angles.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein when a first icon has a first priority and a second icon has a second priority larger than the first priority, the angular distance between the first icon and the first icon'"'"'s neighboring icons in the radial menu is smaller than the angular distance between the second icon and the second icon'"'"'s neighboring icons.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the radial menu is for display in an operating system.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the radial menu is for display in an application that runs on top of an operating system.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the application is a media-editing application and the selectable menu items are selectable media-editing tools.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the change to the particular priority of a particular menu item is based on a frequency with which the particular menu item is selected.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the change to the particular priority of a particular menu item is based on a frequency with which the particular menu item is selected relative to other menu items.

13. A method comprising:

defining a plurality of selectable menu items, each menu item having a particular priority; and

defining a radial menu for receiving selections of the selectable menu items, the menu items for display in the radial menu as a series of separate icons arranged in a particular order at a particular distance from a central location, wherein angular distances between the displayed icons and the particular order of the displayed icons are based on the priorities, wherein the radial menu is for display on a handheld device, wherein the menu items are selectable via touch input on a touchscreen of the handheld device.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein each particular icon of the series of separate icons is assigned a particular range of angles in the radial menu based on the particular icon'"'"'s priority.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein when a first icon has a first priority and a second icon has a second priority larger than the first priority, the first icon is assigned a smaller range of angles than the second icon.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein defining the plurality of selectable menu items comprises defining the priority of a particular menu item as based on a frequency with which the particular menu item is selected.

17. A computer readable medium storing a computer program which, when executed by at least one processor presents a set of selectable icons, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

displaying a radial menu as a plurality of selectable icons arranged radially about a center location;

identifying a location specified by a user input;

associating the identified location with a particular icon; and

displaying a highlight emanating from a center of the radial menu and extending beyond the particular icon, in order to indicate a selectable area for the particular icon.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the selectable area comprises a range of angles associated with the particular icon.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18, wherein the selectable area extends to an infinite radial distance.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 17 further comprising sets of instructions for:

receiving an input at the identified location for the particular icon; and

selecting the particular icon.

21. The computer readable medium of claim 17 further comprising sets of instructions for:

moving a user input to a new location;

identifying the new location;

associating the new location with a second icon from the plurality of selectable icons; and

displaying a highlight emanating from a center of the radial menu indicating a selectable area for the second icon.

22. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the computer program is an operating system.

23. The computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the computer program is an application that runs on an operating system.

24. A computer readable medium storing a computer program which when executed by at least one processor presents a set of selectable icons, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

displaying a radial menu as a plurality of selectable icons arranged radially about a center location;

identifying a location specified by a user input;

associating the identified location with a particular icon; and

displaying a highlight emanating from a center of the radial menu indicating a selectable area for the particular icon, wherein the selectable area for the particular icon is larger than the particular icon.

25. The computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the selectable area comprises a range of angles associated with the particular icon.

26. The computer readable medium of claim 24, wherein the selectable area is confined to a maximum radial distance.

27. A computer readable medium storing a computer program which when executed by at least one processor presents a set of selectable icons, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

displaying a radial menu as a plurality of selectable icons arranged radially about a center location;

identifying a location specified by a user input;

associating the identified location with a particular icon; and

displaying a highlight emanating from a center of the radial menu, at least partially intersecting the center of the radial menu, and extending beyond the particular icon, in order to indicate a selectable area for the particular icon, wherein the selectable area is confined to a maximum radial distance.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein the selectable area for the particular icon is larger than the particular icon.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein the computer program further comprises sets of instructions for:

receiving, before displaying the plurality of selectable icons, a request to open the radial menu; and

displaying an animation of the icons opening from a central location.

30. A computer readable medium storing a computer program which when executed by at least one processor presents a set of selectable icons, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

receiving a request to open a radial menu;

displaying an animation of the radial menu opening from a central location, said radial menu displayed as a plurality of selectable icons arranged radially about the central location;

identifying a location specified by a user input;

associating the identified location with a particular icon; and

displaying a highlight emanating from the central location of the radial menu to indicate a selectable area for the particular icon.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 30 further comprising sets of instructions for:

moving a user input to a new location;

identifying the new location;

associating the new location with a second icon from the plurality of selectable icons; and

displaying a highlight emanating from a center of the radial menu indicating a selectable area for the second icon.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 30, wherein the particular icon is presently selectable when a user input is located over the selectable area of the particular icon.

35. A computer readable medium storing a computer program for execution by at least one processor, the computer program comprising sets of instructions for:

displaying, at a first location in a display area, a radial menu comprising a set of menu items arranged radially about a central location;

receiving a gestural selection of a particular menu item for opening a radial sub-menu;

after the gestural selection, receiving, separate from the gestural selection, input for identifying a second location within the display area; and

displaying the radial sub-menu as a set of items arranged radially about the identified second location.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 35, wherein the gestural selection comprises a rapid movement of a user input at a particular angle.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein the particular angle is associated with the particular menu item.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 35, wherein the input is a selection of a cursor controller or a touch input on a touchscreen.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 35 further comprising sets of instructions for, after receiving the gestural selection, but before receiving the input, displaying the radial sub-menu about the central location of the radial menu.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 39, wherein the set of instructions for displaying the radial sub-menu about the identified second location comprises a set of instructions for displaying an animation of the radial menu from the central location of the radial menu to the identified second location.

41. A computer readable storage medium storing a computer program for execution by at least one processor, the computer program comprising a graphical user interface (GUI), the GUI comprising:

a display area; and

a radial menu comprising a plurality of selectable menu items, each menu item having a particular priority, the radial menu for (i) display in the display area and (ii) receiving selections of the selectable menu items, wherein the menu items are for display in the radial menu as a series of distinct icons arranged in a particular order, at a particular distance from a central location, wherein angular distances between the displayed icons and the particular order of the displayed icons are based on the priorities.

42. The computer readable storage medium of claim 41, wherein the GUI further comprises a highlight emanating from the central location, the highlight for indicating a selectable area for a particular menu item when the particular menu item is presently selectable.

43. The computer readable storage medium of claim 42, wherein the particular menu item is presently selectable when a user input is located over the selectable area of the particular menu item.

44. The computer readable storage medium of claim 41, wherein the radial menu is for receiving gestural selections, and a particular menu item is for opening a sub-menu;

and

the GUI further comprising a radial sub-menu for display about a user input after a user selects the particular menu item via a gestural selection.