Systems and methods for navigating a scene using deterministic movement of an electronic device

• US 8,890,898 B2
• Filed: 01/28/2009
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Tsai, Richard, Just, Andrew, Harris, Brandon
• Primary Examiner(s): Johnson, M Good
• Application Number:
  US12/361,331
• Publication Number:
  US 20100188432A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,120 Days
• Field of Search: 345/684, 345/158
• US Class Current: 345/684
• 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: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

Systems and methods are providing for scrolling the display of information based on the displacement of the electronic device. An electronic device can include a motion sensing component operative to detect movement of the electronic device (e.g., an accelerometer). The electronic device can display any suitable information, including information that is too large to display at a single instance on the display (e.g., a multi-page text document, or a large image). To view portions of the information that are not initially displayed (e.g., to scroll displayed information), the user can move the electronic device along the plane of the device. As the motion sensing component detects movement, the electronic device can scroll the displayed information to match the detected movement. In some embodiments, the electronic device can detect tilt movements and adjust the displayed information to reflect the tilted display.

Claims

1. A portable electronic device operative to scroll a display of information, comprising:

a display operative to display objects to a user;

a motion sensing component operative to detect movements of the portable electronic device; and

control circuitry operative to;

enable a movement based scrolling mode;

direct the display to display a first portion of a first object, wherein, when the first portion is displayed, a second portion of the first object exceeds the boundaries of the display;

receive first data from the motion sensing component that is indicative of a first movement of the portable electronic device that is detected by the motion sensing component;

decide that the detected first movement is at least partially caused by at least one movement of an environment of the portable electronic device that is distinct from the user by one of receiving movement information that corresponds to the at least one movement of the environment from a remote source and predicting the at least one movement of the environment;

in response to the decision that the detected first movement is at least partially caused by the at least one movement of the environment, determine second data that corresponds to the at least one movement of the environment;

process the received first data based on the determined second data to remove a portion of the detected first movement that is due to the at least one movement of the environment; and

direct the display to scroll the displayed first portion to display at least a portion of the second portion based on the processed first data.

2. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:

identify a representation on the display of a particular physical distance; and

direct the display to scroll the displayed first portion to display the at least a portion of the second portion based on the identified representation.

3. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:

detect a physical amount of the detected first movement;

identify a representation on the display of a particular physical distance that corresponds to the detected physical amount; and

direct the display to scroll the displayed first portion to display at least a portion of the second portion based on the identified representation.

4. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:

direct the display to display the first portion when enabling the movement based scrolling mode;

determine an initial position of the portable electronic device when enabling the movement based scrolling mode;

determine that a current position of the portable electronic device matches the initial position; and

direct the display to display the first portion in response to the determining that the current position matches the initial position.

5. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein:

the portable electronic device further comprises an input mechanism for receiving user inputs; and

the control circuitry is further operative to receive at least a first user input from the input mechanism to enable the movement based scrolling mode.

6. The portable electronic device of claim 5, wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:

while the movement based scrolling mode is enabled, receive at least a second user input from the input mechanism to disable the movement based scrolling mode;

disable the movement based scrolling mode in response to receiving the at least a second user input;

while the movement based scrolling mode is disabled, disregard any received data that is provided by the motion sensing component; and

direct the display to maintain the display of at least one of the first portion and the at least a portion of the second portion.

7. The portable electronic device of claim 6, wherein the control circuitry is further operative to:

while the movement based scrolling mode is disabled, receive at least a third user input from the input mechanism to re-enable the movement based scrolling mode;

receive third data from the motion sensing component that is indicative of a detected second movement of the portable electronic device;

determine that the detected second movement is at least partially caused by at least another movement of the environment;

determine fourth data that corresponds to the at least another movement;

process the received third data based on the determined fourth data; and

direct the display to scroll the displayed at least one of the first portion and the at least a portion of the second portion to display at least a portion of a third portion of the object based on the processed third data.

8. The portable electronic device of claim 7, wherein:

the display comprises a touch screen component;

the received at least a second user input comprises a touch of the touch screen component; and

the received at least a third user input comprises a removing of the touch from the touch screen component.

9. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is operative to process the received first data based on the determined second data by:

identifying at least one component of the received first data that is associated with movement of the portable electronic device in a plane of the display; and

define a vector based on the identified at least one component, wherein the vector comprises;

an orientation; and

a length.

10. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the motion sensing component comprises at least one of an accelerometer and a gyroscope.

11. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the environment comprises a vehicle.

12. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is operative to process the received first data based on the determined second data by subtracting the determined second data from the received first data.

13. The portable electronic device of claim 1 further comprising communications circuitry for receiving environment data comprising the movement information that is associated with the environment from the remote source, wherein the control circuitry is operative to decide that the detected first movement is at least partially caused by the at least one movement of the environment by determining that first environment data that corresponds to the at least one movement is received by the communications circuitry.

14. The portable electronic device of claim 13, wherein the control circuitry is operative to determine the second data by processing the received first environment data.

15. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein:

the received first data comprises at least a first acceleration value; and

the determined second data comprises at least a second acceleration value.

16. The portable electronic device of claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is operative to decide that the detected first movement is at least partially caused by the at least one movement of the environment by determining that the second data is predictable.

17. The portable electronic device of claim 16 further comprising a user input mechanism for receiving user inputs that are associated with movements of the environment, wherein the control circuitry is operative to determine that the second data is predictable by determining that at least one user input is received from the user input mechanism.

18. The portable electronic device of claim 17, wherein the received at least one user input comprises at least one of an indication of a route and a mode of transportation.

19. The portable electronic device of claim 17, wherein the control circuitry is operative to determine that the second data is predictable based on the received at least one user input.

20. The portable electronic device of claim 16, wherein the control circuitry is operative to determine that the second data is predictable based on a current location of the portable electronic device.

21. The portable electronic device of claim 20, wherein the current location comprises at least one of a road and train tracks.

22. The portable electronic device of claim 20, wherein the control circuitry is operative to determine the second data based on the current location.

23. A method for scrolling a display of information using a portable electronic device, comprising:

displaying with a display of the portable electronic device a first portion of an object, wherein, when the first portion is displayed, a second portion of the object extends beyond the periphery of the display;

outputting with a motion sensing component of the portable electronic device first data that is indicative of a first movement of the portable electronic device that is detected by the motion sensing component;

deciding with the portable electronic device that the detected first movement is at least partially caused by at least one movement of an environment of the portable electronic device that is distinct from a user of the portable electronic device, wherein the deciding comprises one of receiving movement information that corresponds to the at least one movement of the environment from a source remote from the portable electronic device and predicting the at least one movement of the environment;

in response to the deciding that the detected first movement is at least partially caused by the at least one movement of the environment, determining with the portable electronic device second data that corresponds to the at least one movement of the environment;

processing with the portable electronic device the received first data based on the determined second data to remove a portion of the detected first movement that is due to the at least one movement of the environment; and

scrolling with the display the displayed first portion to display at least a portion of the second portion based on the processed first data.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the processing comprises subtracting the determined second data from the received first data.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein:

the deciding comprises receiving with the portable electronic device the movement information that corresponds to the at least one movement of the environment from a sensor that is embedded in the environment; and

the determining the second data comprises processing with the portable electronic device the received movement information to correlate the received movement information with the detected first movement.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the processing the received movement information comprises at least one of:

converting the received movement information to a different unit; and

adjusting a reference frame that is associated with the received movement information.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein:

the deciding comprises determining that an indication from a user of a path that the environment follows is received by the portable electronic device; and

the determining the second data comprises predicting movement information that is associated with the path.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the predicting comprises predicting an output of the motion sensing component based on at least one characteristic of the path.

29. The method of claim 23, wherein the deciding comprises:

identifying a current location of the portable electronic device;

recognizing that only one path is available for the at least one movement of the environment over a particular distance; and

the determining the second data comprises predicting movement information that is associated with the recognized one path over the particular distance.

30. The method of claim 23, wherein the environment comprises a vehicle.

31. The method of claim 23, wherein the object comprises at least one of a document and an image.

32. A method for scrolling a display of information using a portable electronic device, comprising:

displaying an object on a display, wherein at least a portion of the object extends beyond a periphery of the display;

detecting a movement of the portable electronic device in a plane of the display using a motion sensing component;

determining a movement of an environment of the portable electronic device;

isolating the detected movement of the portable electronic device from the determined movement of the environment, wherein the determining comprises;

identifying a current location of the portable electronic device;

recognizing that only one path is available for the determined movement of the environment of the portable electronic device over a particular distance; and

predicting movement information associated with the only one path over the particular distance in response to the recognizing, wherein the recognizing further comprises;

identifying a transportation infrastructure of the identified current location;

determining an orientation of the identified transportation infrastructure; and

determining the direction along the determined orientation of the determined movement of the environment; and

scrolling the displayed object based on the isolated detected movement to display the at least a portion of the object.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the identified transportation infrastructure comprises at least one of a road, a path, and a railroad track.

34. An electronic device for displaying information, comprising:

a display operative to display an object;

a motion sensing component operative to provide an output reflecting a motion of the electronic device, wherein the motion comprises a tilt of the display from within a first plane to within a second plane, and wherein the tilt comprises a rotation of the display about an axis that lies within both the first plane and the second plane; and

control circuitry operative to;

receive the provided output of the motion sensing component;

process the received output to determine at least one value that corresponds to the motion; and

direct the display to adjust a display size of at least a portion of the displayed object based on the determined at least one value such that a perception of the displayed object from a first angle is maintained between the first plane and the second plane.

35. The electronic device of claim 34, wherein the adjusting the display size comprises at least one of zooming into and zooming out of the at least a portion of the displayed object.

36. The electronic device of claim 34, wherein the adjusting the display size comprises stretching the at least a portion of the displayed object such that the perception of the displayed object from the first angle is maintained between the first plane and the second plane.

37. The electronic device of claim 36, wherein the first angle comprises an angle from which the displayed object is viewable by a user.

38. Non-transitory computer readable media for scrolling a display of information using a portable electronic device, comprising computer-readable instructions for:

displaying with a display of the portable electronic device a first portion of an object, wherein, when the first portion is displayed, a second portion of the object extends beyond the periphery of the display;

outputting with a motion sensing component of the portable electronic device first data that is indicative of a first movement of the portable electronic device that is detected by the motion sensing component;

deciding with the portable electronic device that the detected first movement is at least partially caused by at least one movement of an environment of the portable electronic device that is distinct from a user of the portable electronic device, wherein the deciding comprises one of receiving movement information that corresponds to the at least one movement of the environment from a source remote from the portable electronic device and predicting the at least one movement of the environment;

in response to the deciding that the detected first movement is at least partially caused by the at least one movement of the environment, determining with the portable electronic device second data that corresponds to the at least one movement of the environment;

processing with the portable electronic device the received first data based on the determined second data to remove a portion of the detected first movement that is due to the at least one movement of the environment; and

scrolling with the display the displayed first portion to display at least a portion of the second portion based on the processed first data.

39. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 38, wherein the processing comprises subtracting the determined second data from the received first data.