Methods and systems for providing sensory information to devices to determine an orientation of a display

• US 8,619,050 B2
• Filed: 07/19/2011
• Issued: 12/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Herz, Scott, Keen, Dan, Westerman, Wayne Carl
• Primary Examiner(s): CERULLO, LILIANA P
• Application Number:
  US13/185,844
• Publication Number:
  US 20110273475A1
• Time in Patent Office: 896 Days
• Field of Search: 345156-184, 715863-866, 715788-801, 455/186.2, 178 1801- 1907
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1616 with folding flat displays, e.g. laptop computers or notebooks having a clamshell configuration, with body parts pivoting to an open position around an axis parallel to the plane they define in closed position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1647 including at least an additional display G06F1/1692 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1684 Constructional details or arrangements related to integrated I/O peripherals not covered by groups G06F1/1635 - G06F1/1675
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6058 involving the use of a headset accessory device connected to the portable telephone
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6066 including a wireless connection
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72448 with means for adapting the functionality of the device according to specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 345/901 Electronic book with display

Abstract

Peripherals and data processing systems are disclosed which can be configured to interact based upon sensor data. In at least certain embodiments, a method for sensing motion and orientation information for a device includes receiving a motion event from at least one sensor located in a device. The method further includes determining an orientation for a display of the device. The method further includes determining whether the device is currently moving. The method further includes determining whether the device moves within an angle with respect to a ground reference for a first time period. The method further includes switching the orientation of the display of the device if the device moves in excess of the angle.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a motion event from at least one sensor located in a device;

determining a current orientation of a display of the device;

determining whether the device is currently moving by comparing previous motion information to current motion information;

determining whether a default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display;

determining whether the device moved within an angle with respect to a ground reference when the default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display; and

switching the orientation of the display of the device when it is determined that the device moved within the angle with respect to the ground reference for at least a first time period.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a currently moving device moves for a second time period;

determining whether a default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display when the device moves for the second time period; and

switching the orientation of the display when the default orientation of the display does not match the current orientation of the display.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

waiting for a new motion event from at least one sensor located in a device when the device moves for less than the second time period.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein switching the orientation of the display when the default orientation of the display does not match the orientation occurs based on the motion event being determined by the device to be predictably caused by an intentional user action.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the device moves occurs based on a current position changing in comparison to a last position of the device, wherein determining whether the device is currently moving by comparing previous motion information to current motion information includes comparing the previous and current motion information to at least one threshold value, wherein the previous and current motion information include at least one of velocity and acceleration for the device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a proximity, a sound, a light, and a motion sensor.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the orientation comprises one of a portrait, landscape counterclockwise, a landscape clockwise, an upside down, a face up, a face down, and an ambiguous orientation.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein switching the orientation when the device moved within the angle with respect to the ground reference occurs based on the motion event being predictably caused by an intentional user action.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein switching the orientation of the display when it is determined that the device moved within the angle for at least the first time period occurs based on the motion event being determined by the device to be predictably caused by an intentional user action.

10. A machine readable non-transitory medium storing executable program instructions which when executed cause a data processing system to perform a method comprising:

receiving a motion event from at least one sensor located in a device;

determining a current orientation of a display of the device;

determining whether the device is currently moving by comparing previous motion information to current motion information;

determining whether a default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display;

determining whether the device moved within an angle with respect to a ground reference when the default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display; and

switching the orientation of the display of the device when it is determined that the device moved within the angle with respect to the ground reference for at least a first time period.

11. The medium of claim 10, further comprising:

determining whether the currently moving device moves for a second time period;

determining whether a default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display when the device moves for the second time period; and

switching the orientation of the display when the default orientation of the display does not match the current orientation of the display.

12. The medium of claim 11, further comprising:

waiting for a new motion event from at least one sensor located in a device when the device moves for less than the second time period.

13. The medium of claim 11, wherein switching the orientation of the display when the default orientation of the display does not match the orientation occurs based on the motion event being determined by the device to be predictably caused by an intentional user action.

14. The medium of claim 10, wherein determining whether the device moves occurs based on a current position changing in comparison to a last position of the device, wherein determining whether the device is currently moving by comparing previous motion information to current motion information includes comparing the previous and current motion information to at least one threshold value.

15. The medium of claim 10, wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a proximity, a sound, a light, and a motion sensor.

16. The medium of claim 10, wherein the orientation comprises one of a portrait, a landscape counterclockwise, a landscape clockwise, an upside down, a face up, a face down, and an ambiguous orientation.

17. The medium of claim 10, wherein switching the orientation when the device moved within the angle with respect to the ground reference occurs based on the motion event being predictably caused by an intentional user action.

18. The medium of claim 10, wherein switching the orientation of the display when it is determined that the device moved within the angle for at least the first time period occurs based on the motion event being determined by the device to be predictably caused by an intentional user action.

19. A data processing system, comprising:

at least one sensor to sense motion data in three dimensions; and

a processor coupled to the at least one sensor, the processor configured to respond to the motion data received from the at least one sensor to determine whether the data processing system is currently moving by comparing previous motion information to current motion information, to determine whether a default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display, to determine whether the device moved within an angle with respect to a ground reference when the default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display, and to switch an orientation of a display of the data processing system when it is determined that the data processing system moved within the angle with respect to the ground reference for at least a first time period.

20. The data processing system of claim 19, wherein the processor is configured in response to the motion data from the at least one sensor to determine a current orientation for the data processing system, determine whether the data processing system moves for a second time period, determine whether a default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display when the data processing system moves for at least the second time period, and switch the orientation of the display when the default orientation of the display does not match the current orientation of the display.

21. The data processing system of claim 20, wherein determining whether the data processing system moves occurs based on a current position changing in comparison to a last position of the data processing system.

22. The data processing system of claim 19, wherein the at least one sensor comprises at least one of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a proximity, a sound, a light, and a motion sensor.

23. The data processing system of claim 19, wherein the orientation comprises one of a portrait, a landscape counterclockwise, a landscape clockwise, an upside down, a face up, a face down, and an ambiguous orientation.

24. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a motion event from at least one sensor located in a device;

means for determining a current orientation of a display of the device;

means for determining whether the device is currently moving by comparing previous motion information to current motion information;

means for determining whether a default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display;

means for determining whether the device moved within an angle with respect to a ground reference when the default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display; and

means for switching the orientation of the display of the device when it is determined that the device moved within the angle with respect to the ground reference for at least a first time period.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, further comprising:

means for determining whether a currently moving device moves for a second time period;

means for determining whether a default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display when the device moves for the second time period; and

means for switching the orientation of the display when the default orientation of the display does not match the current orientation of the display.

26. A method comprising:

receiving a motion event from at least one sensor located in a device;

determining a current orientation of a display of the device;

determining whether the device is currently moving by comparing previous motion information to current motion information; and

determining whether the current orientation of the display matches a default orientation of the display;

determining whether the device moved within an angle with respect to a ground reference when the default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display;

switching the orientation of the display of the device when the device moved in excess of the angle; and

determining whether the device moved within an angle with respect to a ground reference for a first time period when the current orientation matches the default orientation.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

switching the orientation when the current orientation does not match the default orientation.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein switching the orientation when the current orientation does not match the default orientation occurs based on the motion event being predictably caused by an intentional user action.

29. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

switching the orientation when the device moved within the angle for at least the first time period.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein switching the orientation when the device moved within the angle for at least the first time period occurs based on the motion event being predictably caused by an intentional user action.

31. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

determining whether the currently moving device moves for a second time period; and

determining whether the current orientation is the same as the default orientation when the device moves for at least the second time period.

32. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

waiting for a new motion event from at least one sensor located in a device when the device moves for less than the second time period.

33. The method of claim 26, wherein determining whether the device moves occurs based on a current position changing in comparison to a last position of the device.

34. The method of claim 26, wherein the current orientation comprises one of a portrait, a landscape counterclockwise, a landscape clockwise, an upside down, a face up, a face down, and an ambiguous orientation.

35. The method of claim 26, wherein the default orientation comprises one of a portrait, a landscape counterclockwise, a landscape clockwise, an upside down, a face up, a face down, and an ambiguous orientation.

36. The method of claim 26, wherein switching the orientation when the device moved in excess of the angle occurs based on the motion event being predictably caused by an intentional user action.

37. A machine readable non-transitory medium storing executable program instructions which when executed cause a data processing system to perform a method comprising:

receiving a motion event from at least one sensor located in a device;

determining a current orientation of a display of the device;

determining whether the device is currently moving by comparing previous motion information to current motion information; and

determining whether the current orientation of the display matches a default orientation of the display;

determining whether the device moved within an angle with respect to a ground reference when the default orientation of the display matches the current orientation of the display;

switching the orientation of the display of the device when the device moved in excess of the angle; and

p1 determining whether the device moved within an angle with respect to a ground reference for a first time period when the current orientation matches the default orientation.

38. The medium of claim 37, further comprising:

switching the orientation when the current orientation does not match the default orientation.

39. The medium of claim 38, wherein switching the orientation when the current orientation does not match the default orientation occurs based on the motion event being predictably caused by an intentional user action.

40. The medium of claim 37, further comprising:

switching the orientation when the device moved within the angle for at least the first time period.

41. The medium of claim 40, wherein switching the orientation when the device moved within the angle for at least the first time period occurs based on the motion event being predictably caused by an intentional user action.

42. The medium of claim 37, further comprising:

determining whether the currently moving device moves for a second time period; and

determining whether the current orientation is the same as the default orientation when the device moves for at least the second time period.

43. The medium of claim 42, further comprising:

waiting for a new motion event from at least one sensor located in a device when the device moves for less than the second time period.

44. The medium of claim 37, wherein determining whether the device moves occurs based on a current position changing in comparison to a last position of the device.

45. The medium of claim 37, wherein the current orientation comprises one of a portrait, a landscape counterclockwise, a landscape clockwise, an upside down, a face up, a face down, and an ambiguous orientation.

46. The medium of claim 37, wherein the default orientation comprises one of a portrait, a landscape counterclockwise, a landscape clockwise, an upside down, a face up, a face down, and an ambiguous orientation.

47. The medium of claim 37, wherein switching the orientation when the device moved in excess of the angle occurs based on the motion event being predictably caused by an intentional user action.