Control of search results with multipoint pinch gestures

• US 9,256,361 B2
• Filed: 08/03/2011
• Issued: 02/09/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Yuan, Han-Shen, Melcher, Ryan, Yankovich, Steve
• Primary Examiner(s): Levy, Amy M
• Application Number:
  US13/197,668
• Publication Number:
  US 20130036382A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,651 Days
• Field of Search: 715/815
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• 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

A device incorporates a touch-enabled screen configured to accept a user'"'"'s interaction with the touch screen to control display of the results of online searches for information and ecommerce listings. A user'"'"'s interaction with the touch screen of the device with multipoint pinch gestures facilitates navigation through large volumes of search results. Touch-enabled navigation with pinch gestures to elaborate or contract the results of a given search may present a more definitive view of those results or present a better indication of the requirement for a further search by the user. Listings of item data with elaborated or contracted details are produced through corresponding scaling processes which are in turn controlled through associated multipoint pinch gestures.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

identifying search results based on a search, the search results including a plurality of items, each respective item including item data including image data and metadata, the item data including initial item data;

causing an item listing to be displayed on a display of a device having a touch-enabled screen, the item listing including, for each respective listed item, the initial item data including a concurrent display of an initial image of the item and corresponding initial metadata describing the item;

receiving an indication of a pinch-out gesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen of the device;

in response to the indication of the pinch-out gesture, scaling the item listing to produce a scaled-in listing including fewer of the items and an increased amount of the image data causing a more detailed refinement of the initial image and an increased amount of the corresponding metadata causing a more detailed refinement of the initial metadata for each remaining listed item;

in response to the production of the scaled-in listing, causing the scaled-in listing to be displayed as a concurrent presentation of the increased amount of the image data causing a more detailed refinement of the initial image and the increased amount of the metadata causing a more detailed refinement of the initial metadata on the display of the device;

receiving an indication of a further pinch-out gesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen at a location on the display directly above and corresponding to a particular aspect of the initial item data in the item listing;

in response to the indication of the further pinch-out gesture, scaling the listing to produce a further scaled-in listing including an increased amount of item data for the initial item data and corresponding to the particular aspect of the initial item data for each remaining listed item;

in response to the production of the further scaled-in listing, causing the further scaled-in listing to be displayed on the display of the device, the scaling the listing to produce the further scaled-in listing further includes;

further elaborating a particular aspect of one of the initial image data and the initial metadata for each remaining listed item responsive to identifying the further pinch-out gesture corresponds to the particular aspect of the respective one of the initial image data and the initial metadata in the item listing; and

causing the further elaborated particular aspect of one of the initial image data and the initial metadata to be displayed on the display of the device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication of a pinch-out gesture includes a pinch-out velocity, a pinch-out magnitude, and a pinch-out orientation being a velocity, a distance, and an angle respectively, according to which the distance between the first touch point and the second touch point increases and further including at least one of:

scaling the listing to produce the scaled-in listing at a rate corresponding to the pinch-out velocity; and

scaling the listing to produce the scaled-in listing by an amount corresponding to the pinch-out magnitude,

the at least one of scaling the listing to produce the scaled-in listing at a rate and scaling the listing to produce the scaled-in listing by an amount, indicated by a particular pinch-out orientation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein scaling the listing to produce the scaled-in listing for each remaining listed item further includes:

increasing the amount of the image data by replacing previous image data with at least one of a photograph, a thumbnail, a stylization, a characterization, and a symbolic image data, each initial image being more refined; and

increasing the amount of the metadata by replacing previous metadata with at least one of a paragraph, a selection of sentences, a select phrase, a selection of words, or a heading, each initial metadata being more refined.

4. The method of claim 1,

wherein the particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing is further indicated by at least one of:

the indication of the further pinch-out gesture including a pinch-out orientation being within a range of fifteen to thirty degrees of vertical; and

further comprising receiving an indication of a single touch directly above and corresponding to the particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication of a pinch-in gesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen of the device;

in response to the indication of the pinch-in gesture, scaling the item listing to produce a scaled-out listing including more of the items, the scaled-out listing including representing the initial image with a decreased amount of image data and representing the initial metadata with a decreased amount of corresponding metadata for each listed item; and

in response to the production of the scaled-out listing, causing the scaled-out listing to be displayed as a concurrent presentation of the decreased amount of item image data and the decreased amount of corresponding metadata on the display of the device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the indication of a pinch-in gesture includes a pinch-in velocity, a pinch-in magnitude, and a pinch-in orientation being a velocity, a distance, and an angle respectively, according to which the distance between the first touch point and the second touch point decreases and further including at least one of:

scaling the listing to produce the scaled-out listing at a rate corresponding to the pinch-in velocity; and

scaling the listing to produce the scaled-out listing by an amount corresponding to the pinch-in magnitude,

the at least one of scaling the listing to produce the scaled-out listing at a rate and scaling the listing to produce the scaled-out listing by an amount, indicated by a particular pinch-in orientation.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein scaling the listing to produce the scaled-out listing for each listed item further includes:

decreasing the amount of image data by replacing previous image data by representing the initial image with at least one of a thumbnail, a stylization, a characterization, symbolic image data, or a bullet point; and

decreasing the amount of metadata by replacing the initial metadata with at least one of a selection of sentences, a select phrase, a selection of words, a heading, or a subject.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving an indication of a further pinch-in gesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen at a location on the display of the device directly above and corresponding to a particular aspect of the initial item data in the item listing;

in response to the indication of the further pinch-in gesture, scaling the listing to produce a further scaled-out listing including representing the initial item data with a decreased amount of item data corresponding to the particular aspect of the initial item data for each listed item; and

in response to the production of the further scaled-out listing, causing the further scaled-out listing to be displayed on the display of the device,

wherein the particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing is further indicated by at least one of;

the indication of the further pinch-in gesture including a pinch-in orientation being within a range of fifteen to thirty degrees of vertical; and

receiving an indication of a single touch directly above and corresponding to the particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein scaling the listing to produce the further scaled-out listing further includes:

further decreasing a particular aspect of one of the initial image data and the initial metadata for each remaining listed item when the further pinch-in gesture corresponds to the particular aspect of the respective one of the initial image data and the initial metadata in the item listing; and

causing the further decreased particular aspect of one of the initial image data and the initial metadata to be displayed on the display of the device.

10. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving an indication of a further pinch-in gesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen, the indication having the particular orientation and the particular location on the display directly above and corresponding to a particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing;

in response to the indication of the further pinch-in gesture, scaling the listing to produce a further scaled-out listing including a further amount of scaled-out item data corresponding to a facet of the particular aspect of the initial item data for each listed item; and

in response to the production of the further scaled-out listing, displaying the further scaled-out listing on the display of the device,

wherein the particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing is further indicated by at least one of;

the indication of the further the further pinch-in gesture including a pinch-in orientation being within a range of fifteen to thirty degrees of horizontal; and

receiving an indication of a single touch directly above and corresponding to the particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the particular aspect includes the initial metadata including an initial temporal indicator.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

scaling the initial temporal indicator of the metadata for the specific item in the item listing to show metadata extending backward in time in relation to the initial temporal indicator of the specific item without changing the image data for the specific item.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the metadata is extending backward in time by an amount that is proportional to a magnitude of the pinch-out gesture.

14. A machine-readable medium not comprising transitory propagating signals and embodying a set of instructions, that when executed by at least one processor of a device having a touch-enabled screen, causes the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

identifying search results based on a search, the search results including a plurality of items, each respective item including item data including image data and metadata, the item data including initial item data;

causing an item listing to be displayed on a display of the device, the item listing including, for each respective listed item, initial item data including a concurrent display of an initial image of the item and corresponding initial metadata describing the item;

receiving an indication of a pinch-out gesture having been detected by the ouch-enabled screen of the device;

in response to the indication of the pinch-out gesture, scaling the item listing to produce a scaled-in listing including fewer of the items and an increased amount of image data causing a more detailed refinement of the initial image and an increased amount of corresponding metadata causing a more detailed refinement of the initial metadata for each remaining listed item;

in response to the production of the scaled-in listing, causing the scaled-in listing to be displayed as a concurrent presentation of the increased amount of the image data causing a more detailed refinement of the initial image and the increased amount of the metadata causing a more detailed refinement of the initial metadata on the display of the device;

receiving an indication of a further pinch-out gesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen at a location on the display directly above and corresponding to a particular aspect of the initial item data in the item listing;

in response to the indication of the further pinch-out gesture, scaling the listing to produce a further scaled-in listing including an increased amount of item data for the initial item data and corresponding to the particular aspect of the initial item data for each remaining listed item;

in response to the production of the further scaled-in listing, causing the further scaled-in listing to be displayed on the display of the device, the scaling the listing to produce the further scaled-in listing further includes;

further elaborating a particular aspect of one of the initial image data and the initial metadata for each remaining listed item responsive to identifying the further pinch-out gesture corresponds to the particular aspect of the respective one of the initial image data and the initial metadata in the item listing; and

causing the further elaborated particular aspect of one of the initial image data and the initial metadata to be displayed on the display of the device.

15. The machine-readable medium not comprising transitory propagating signals of claim 14, wherein the indication of a pinch-out gesture includes a pinch-out velocity, a pinch-out magnitude, and a pinch-out orientation being a velocity, a distance, and an angle respectively, according to which the distance between the first touch point and the second touch point increases and further including at least one of:

scaling the listing to produce the scaled-in listing at a rate corresponding to the pinch-out velocity; and

scaling the listing to produce the scaled-in listing by an amount corresponding to the pinch-out magnitude,

the at least one of scaling the listing to produce the scaled-in listing at a rate and scaling the listing to produce the scaled-in listing by an amount, indicated by a particular pinch-out orientation.

16. The machine-readable medium not comprising transitory propagating signals of claim 14, wherein scaling the listing to produce the scaled-in listing for each remaining listed item further includes:

increasing the amount of the image data by replacing previous image data with at least one of a photograph, a thumbnail, a stylization, a characterization, and a symbolic image data, each initial image is more refined; and

increasing the amount of metadata by replacing previous metadata with at least one of a paragraph, a selection of sentences, a select phrase, a selection of words, or a heading, each initial metadata is more refined.

17. The machine-readable medium not comprising transitory propagating signals of claim 14, wherein

the particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing is further indicated by at least one of:

the indication of the further pinch-out gesture including a pinch-out orientation being within a range of fifteen to thirty degrees of vertical; and

receiving an indication of a single touch directly above and corresponding to the particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing.

18. The machine-readable medium not comprising transitory propagating signals of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving an indication of a pinch-in gesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen of the device;

in response to the indication of the pinch-in gesture, scaling the item listing to produce a scaled-out listing including more of the items, the scaled-out listing including representing the initial image with a decreased amount of image data and representing the initial metadata with a decreased amount of corresponding metadata for each listed item; and

in response to the production of the scaled-out listing, causing the scaled-out listing to be displayed as a concurrent presentation of the decreased amount of item image data and the decreased amount of corresponding metadata on the display of the device.

19. The machine-readable medium not comprising transitory propagating signals of claim 18, wherein the indication of a pinch-in gesture includes a pinch-in velocity, a pinch-in magnitude, and a pinch-in orientation being a velocity, a distance, and an angle respectively, according to which the distance between the first touch point and the second touch point decreases and further including at least one of:

scaling the listing to produce the scaled-out listing at a rate corresponding to the pinch-in velocity; and

scaling the listing to produce the scaled-out listing by an amount corresponding to the pinch-in magnitude,

the at least one of scaling the listing to produce the scaled-out listing at a rate and scaling the listing to produce the scaled-out listing by an amount, indicated by a particular pinch-in orientation.

20. The machine-readable medium not comprising transitory propagating signals of claim 18, wherein scaling the listing to produce the scaled-out listing for each listed item further includes:

decreasing the amount of image data by replacing previous image data by representing the initial image with at least one of a thumbnail, a stylization, a characterization, symbolic image data, or a bullet point; and

decreasing the amount of metadata by replacing the initial metadata with at least one of a selection of sentences, a select phrase, a selection of words, a heading, or a subject.

21. The machine-readable medium not comprising transitory propagating signals of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving an indication of a further pinch-in gesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen at a location on the display of the device directly above and corresponding to a particular aspect of the initial item data in the item listing;

in response to the indication of the further pinch-in gesture, scaling the listing to produce a further scaled-out listing including representing the initial item data with a decreased amount of item data corresponding to the particular aspect of the initial item data for each listed item; and

in response to the production of the further scaled-out listing, causing the further scaled-out listing to be displayed on the display of the device,

wherein the particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing is further indicated by at least one of;

the indication of the further pinch-in gesture including a pinch-in orientation being within a range of fifteen to thirty degrees of vertical; and

receiving an indication of a single touch directly above and corresponding to the particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing.

22. The machine-readable medium not comprising transitory propagating signals of claim 21, wherein scaling the listing to produce the further scaled-out listing further includes:

further decreasing a particular aspect of one of the initial image data and the initial metadata for each remaining listed item when the further pinch-in gesture corresponds to the particular aspect of the respective one of the initial image data and the initial metadata in the item listing; and

causing the further decreased particular aspect of one of the initial image data and the initial metadata to be displayed on the display of the device.

23. The machine-readable medium not comprising transitory propagating signals of claim 18, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving an indication of a further pinch-in gesture having been detected by the touch-enabled screen, the indication having the particular orientation and the particular location on the display directly above and corresponding to a particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing;

in response to the indication of the further pinch-in gesture, scaling the listing to produce a further scaled-out listing including a further amount of scaled-out item data corresponding to a facet of the particular aspect of the initial item data for each listed item; and

in response to the production of the further scaled-out listing, displaying the further scaled-out listing on the display of the device,

wherein the particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing is further indicated by at least one of;

the indication of the further the further pinch-in gesture including a pinch-in orientation being within a range of fifteen to thirty degrees of horizontal; and

receiving an indication of a single touch directly above and corresponding to the particular aspect of the initial item data for the item listing.

24. A system comprising:

a processor configured to identify search results based on a search, the search results including a plurality of items, each respective item including item data including image data and metadata, the item data including initial item data;

a display including a touch-enabled screen transparently overlaying at least a portion of the display, a processor configured to cause an item listing to be displayed on a display of a device that has a touch-enabled screen, the item listing including, for each respective listed item, the initial item data including a concurrent display of an initial image of the item and that corresponds to initial metadata that describes the item;

a touch-sensitive module communicatively coupled to the touch-enabled screen and configured to receive an indication of the pinch-out gesture that has been detected by the touch-enabled screen;

a storage module to store the item listing; and

a scaling module configured to scale the item listing in response to the pinch-out gesture and produce a scaled-in listing including fewer of the items and an increased amount of the image data to cause a more detailed refinement of the initial image and an increased amount of the corresponding metadata to cause a more detailed refinement of the initial metadata for each remaining listed item, the scaling module is further configured to display a concurrent presentation of the increased amount of the image data causing a more detailed refinement of the initial image and the increased amount of the corresponding metadata to cause a more detailed refinement of the initial metadata on the display for each item listed, the scaling module is further configured to receive an indication of a further pinch-out gesture that has been detected by the touch enabled screen at a location on the display directly above and corresponds to a particular aspect of the initial item data in the item listing,

in response to the indication of the further pinch-out gesture, the scaling module is further configured to scale the listing to produce a further scaled-in listing including an increased amount of item data for the initial item data and corresponding to the particular aspect of the initial item data for each remaining listed item,

in response to the production of the further scaled-in listing, the scaling module is further configured to cause the further scaled-in listing to be displayed on the display of the device, the scaling module is further configured to further elaborate a particular aspect of one of the initial image data and the initial metadata for each remaining listed item responsive to an identification that the further pinch-out gesture corresponds to the particular aspect of the respective one of the initial image data and the initial metadata in the item listing, the scaling module is further configured to cause the further elaborated particular aspect of one of the initial image data and the initial metadata to be displayed on the display of the device.