Touch interaction with a curved display

• US 9,218,116 B2
• Filed: 12/26/2008
• Issued: 12/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Benko, Hrvoje, Wilson, Andrew D., Chen, Billy, Balakrishnan, Ravin, Baudisch, Patrick M.
• Primary Examiner(s): LOWENBERGER, AARON J
• Application Number:
  US12/344,377
• Publication Number:
  US 20100020026A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,552 Days
• Field of Search: 715/834, 715/863, 715/764, 345/678, 345/679
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/042 by opto-electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• 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

Abstract

Touch interaction with a curved display (e.g., a sphere, a hemisphere, a cylinder, etc.) is enabled through various user interface (UI) features. In an example embodiment, a curved display is monitored to detect a touch input. If a touch input is detected based on the act of monitoring, then one or more locations of the touch input are determined. Responsive to the determined one or more locations of the touch input, at least one user UI feature is implemented. Example UI features include an orb-like invocation gesture feature, a rotation-based dragging feature, a send-to-dark-side interaction feature, and an object representation and manipulation by proxy representation feature.

Claims

1. A device comprising:

a curved display;

a hardware processor; and

processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the hardware processor, configure the hardware processor to implement a detection unit and an interaction unit, wherein;

the detection unit is adapted to;

monitor the curved display to detect a touch input on an exterior of the curved display, the curved display displaying an object for manipulation on the curved display, and

detect a location of the touch input on the curved display, the touch input identifying the object displayed on the curved display; and

the interaction unit is adapted to warp the object from one side of the curved display to another side of the curved display that is opposite from the one side of the curved display and is at least partially out-of-sight of a user providing the touch input,

the interaction unit being adapted to warp the object responsive to detection that the touch input meets at least one of a predefined size threshold or a predefined temporal threshold.

2. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the curved display is spherical, cylindrical, or hemispherical.

3. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the interaction unit is adapted to warp the object responsive to detection that the touch input meets both the predefined size threshold and the predefined temporal threshold.

4. The device as recited in claim 3, wherein the predefined size threshold is sufficiently large such that the interaction unit is adapted to warp the object in instances when the touch input is from a palm of a user'"'"'s hand and to not warp the object when the touch input is from a finger of the user'"'"'s hand.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the interaction unit is adapted to warp the object from a first latitude on the one side of the curved display to a different latitude on the another side of the curved display.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the curved display comprises at least part of a sphere having an upper hemisphere and a lower hemisphere and the interaction unit is adapted to warp the object so that the object switches from the upper hemisphere to the lower hemisphere.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the interaction unit is adapted to warp the object from the one side of the curved display to the another side of the curved display without changing a latitude of the object.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the interaction unit is adapted to automatically reorient the object on the another side of the curved display to maintain a predetermined orientation of the object.

9. The at least one memory device or storage device according to claim 1, wherein the object is warped 180 degrees from the one side of the curved display.

10. A device comprising:

a curved display;

a hardware processor; and

processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the hardware processor, configure the hardware processor to implement a detection unit and an interaction unit, wherein;

the detection unit is adapted to monitor the curved display to detect locations of touch inputs on an exterior of the curved display, and

the interaction unit is adapted to;

detect that the touch inputs include two contacts placed substantially symmetrically around a fixed point on the curved display by determining that the two contacts are within an angular threshold, wherein the angular threshold constrains the two contacts to no more than a certain number of degrees off of 180 degrees around the fixed point on the curved display; and

responsive to the detecting the two contacts have been placed substantially symmetrically around the fixed point on the curved display, invoke a menu on the curved display.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the curved display is a sphere and the fixed point is a top of the sphere.

12. The device according to claim 11, wherein the interaction unit is adapted to determine whether the two contacts are sufficiently large to meet a predefined size threshold and invoke the menu when:

the two contacts are sufficiently large; and

the two contacts are within the angular threshold of 180 degrees around the fixed point.

13. The device according to claim 11, wherein the interaction unit is adapted to determine that the two contacts are placed substantially symmetrically around the top of the sphere by applying a radius threshold in addition to the angular threshold.

14. The device according to claim 13, wherein the interaction unit is adapted to apply the radius threshold by determining that the two contacts are within a threshold distance from the top of the sphere.

15. The device according to claim 14, wherein the interaction unit is adapted to determine whether the two contacts are sufficiently large to meet a predefined size threshold and invoke the menu when:

the two contacts are sufficiently large;

the two contacts are within the radius threshold from the top of the sphere; and

the two contacts are within the angular threshold of 180 degrees around the top of the sphere.

16. A device comprising:

a curved display;

a hardware processor; and

processor-readable instructions which, when executed by the hardware processor, configure the hardware processor to implement a detection unit and an interaction unit, wherein;

the detection unit is adapted to monitor the curved display to detect locations of touch inputs on an exterior of the curved display, and

the interaction unit is adapted to;

detect that the touch inputs include two contacts placed substantially symmetrically around a fixed point on the curved display by determining that the two contacts are within a radius threshold, wherein the radius threshold constrains the two contacts to no more than a certain distance from the fixed point on the curved display; and

responsive to the detecting the two contacts have been placed substantially symmetrically around the fixed point on the curved display, invoke a menu on the curved display.

17. The device according to claim 16, wherein the curved display is a sphere and the fixed point is a top of the sphere.

18. The device according to claim 16, wherein the interaction unit is adapted to determine that the two contacts are placed substantially symmetrically around the fixed point by applying an angular threshold in addition to the radius threshold.

19. The device according to claim 18, wherein applying the angular threshold comprises determining that the two contacts are not more than a certain number of degrees off of 180 degrees around the fixed point on the curved display.

20. The device according to claim 16, wherein the menu is circular and includes at least one menu option corresponding to an application.