Orientation-based touchscreen display

• US 8,659,553 B1
• Filed: 09/20/2010
• Issued: 02/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Chan, Michael, Pelly, Nicholas J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pappas, Claire X
• Assistant Examiner(s): Taylor, Jr., Duane N
• Application Number:
  US12/886,385
• Time in Patent Office: 1,254 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 345/169
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

A touchscreen device may display various graphical user interfaces (GUIs) based on a physical orientation of the touchscreen device and a context of an application executed by an external device, to control the external device. In one example, a touchscreen device includes a touchscreen, an orientation sensor to determine a physical orientation for the touchscreen device, a context determination unit to determine a context for an application, a computer-readable medium configured to store configuration data associating combinations of contexts for applications and orientations in which the touchscreen device can be physically positioned with respective GUIs, a control unit that receives the orientation in which the touchscreen device is physically positioned and the context, selects the GUI associated with the determined orientation and the context, and causes the touchscreen to display the selected GUI, and an external device interface configured to send input received via the touchscreen to an external device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by a computing device, a physical orientation of a touchscreen;

determining, by the computing device, a context for an application executed by an external device to which the computing device is communicatively coupled, wherein the context corresponds to information that is generated based on a user'"'"'s interaction with the application;

in response to a determination that the touchscreen is physically oriented in a first orientation and that the context comprises a first context,

sending, by the computing device, instructions to the touchscreen to display a first graphical user interface configured to receive a first type of user input, and

upon receiving user input of the first type, providing the received user input of the first type to the external device; and

in response to a determination that the touchscreen is physically oriented in a second orientation different from the first orientation and that the context comprises a second context,

sending, by the computing device, instructions to the touchscreen to display a second graphical user interface configured to receive a second type of user input, the second graphical user interface being different than the first graphical user interface, the second type of user input being different than the first type of user input, and

responsive to receiving user input of the second type, providing the received user input of the second type to the external device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining, by the computing device, configuration data that associates the first graphical user interface with the combination of the first orientation and the first context and that associates the second graphical user interface with the combination of the second orientation and the second context.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein displaying the first graphical user interface comprises:

querying the configuration data with a value representative of the first orientation and a value representative of the first context; and

responsive to the query, receiving an indication that the first graphical user interface is associated with the first orientation.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein displaying the second graphical user interface comprises:

querying the configuration data with a value representative of the second orientation and a value representative of the second context; and

responsive to the query, receiving an indication that the second graphical user interface is associated with the second orientation.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after sending the instructions to the touchscreen to display the first graphical user interface, determining whether the touchscreen has been physically oriented in the second orientation and whether the context for the application has changed to the second context; and

in response to a determination that the touchscreen has been physically oriented in the second orientation and that the context has changed to the second context, sending instructions to the touchscreen to display the second graphical user interface.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

after sending the instructions to the touchscreen to display the second graphical user interface, determining whether the touchscreen has been physically oriented in the first orientation and whether the context for the application has changed to the first context; and

in response to a determination that the touchscreen has been physically oriented in the first orientation and that the context has changed to the first context, sending instructions to the touchscreen to display the first graphical user interface.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first orientation comprises a portrait orientation, wherein the first context comprises a wildcard context, and wherein the first graphical user interface comprises a trackpad graphical user interface.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the second orientation comprises a landscape orientation, wherein the second context comprises selection of a text field, and wherein the second graphical user interface comprises a keyboard graphical user interface.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising synchronizing the computing device with the external device to communicatively couple the computing device to the external device in accordance with a wireless communication protocol.

10. A mobile device comprising:

a touchscreen;

an orientation sensing unit configured to determine a physical orientation of the touchscreen;

a context determination unit configured to determine a context of an application executed by an external device to which the mobile device is communicatively coupled, wherein the context corresponds to information that is generated based on a user'"'"'s interaction with the application;

a non-transitory computer-readable medium configured to store configuration data that associates a number of orientations in which the mobile device can be physically oriented and contexts for one or more applications executed by the external device with respective graphical user interfaces;

a control unit configured to receive from the orientation sensing unit the determined orientation of the touchscreen and to receive the context for the application executed by the external device, select the graphical user interface that is associated with the determined orientation and the context for the application, and instruct the touchscreen to display the selected graphical user interface associated with the determined orientation and the context for the application,

wherein in response to determining that the orientation comprises a first orientation and that the context comprises a first context, the control unit is configured to instruct the touchscreen to display a first graphical user interface configured to receive a first type of user input, and

wherein in response to determining that the orientation comprises a second orientation different from the first orientation and that the context comprises a second context, the control unit is configured to instruct the touchscreen to display a second graphical user interface configured to receive a second type of user input, the second graphical user interface being different than the first graphical user interface, and the second type of user input being different than the first type of user input; and

an external device interface configured to send input received via the selected graphical user interface displayed on the touchscreen to the external device.

11. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the orientation sensing unit is configured to determine whether the orientation in which the touchscreen is physically oriented has changed, and in response to a determination that the orientation in which the touchscreen has changed to a new orientation, to send an interrupt to the control unit indicative of the new orientation.

12. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the control unit is configured to receive the interrupt, receive a new context for the application from the context determination unit, select the graphical user interface that is associated with the new orientation and the new context, and cause the touchscreen to display the graphical user interface that is associated with the new orientation and the new context.

13. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein a first entry of the configuration data associates a combination of a landscape orientation and a context comprising a selection of a text field with a keyboard graphical user interface and wherein a second entry of the configuration data associates a portrait orientation with a trackpad graphical user interface and a wildcard value for the context.

14. The mobile device of claim 13,

wherein the control unit is configured to cause the touchscreen to display the keyboard graphical user interface when the orientation sensing unit determines that the physical orientation of the touchscreen comprises the landscape orientation and when the context determination unit determines that the context for the application comprises a selection of a text field, and

wherein the control unit is configured to cause the touchscreen to display the trackpad graphical user interface when the orientation sensing unit determines that the physical orientation of the touchscreen comprises the portrait orientation.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause at least one processor of a mobile device to:

determine a physical orientation for a touchscreen;

determine a context for an application executed by an external device to which the mobile device is communicatively coupled, wherein the context corresponds to information that is generated based on a user'"'"'s interaction with the application;

in response to a determination that the touchscreen is physically oriented in a first orientation and that the context comprises a first context, send instructions to the touchscreen to display a first graphical user interface configured to receive a first type of user input and upon receiving user input of the first type, the instructions cause the at least one processor to provide the received user input of the first type to the external device; and

in response to a determination that the touchscreen device is physically oriented in a second orientation different from the first orientation and that the context comprises a second context, send instructions to the touchscreen to display a second graphical user interface configured to receive a second type of user input, wherein the second graphical user interface is different than the first graphical user interface and wherein the second type of user input is different than the first type of user input, and upon receiving user input of the second type, the instructions cause the at least one processor to provide the received user input of the second type to the external device.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions to maintain configuration data that associates the first graphical user interface with the combination of the first orientation and the first context and that associates the second graphical user interface with the combination of the second orientation and the second context.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein a first entry of the configuration data associates a landscape orientation and a context comprising a selection of a text field with a keyboard graphical user interface and wherein a second entry of the configuration data associates a portrait orientation with a trackpad graphical user interface and a wildcard value for the context.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions to, after sending the instructions to the touchscreen to display the first graphical user interface, determine whether the touchscreen has been physically oriented in the second orientation and whether the context for the application has changed to the second context, and in response to a determination that the touchscreen has been physically oriented in the second orientation and that the context has changed to the second context, to cause the touchscreen to display the second graphical user interface.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising instructions to, after sending the instructions to the touchscreen to display the second graphical user interface, determine whether the touchscreen has been physically oriented in the first orientation and whether the context for the application has changed to the first context, and in response to a determination that the touchscreen has been physically oriented in the first orientation and that the context has changed to the first context, to cause the touchscreen to display the first graphical user interface.