Thumb touch interface

• US 9,389,718 B1
• Filed: 04/04/2013
• Issued: 07/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Letourneur, Herve Jacques Clement
• Primary Examiner(s): Wang, Quan-Zhen
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lee, David
• Application Number:
  US13/857,043
• Time in Patent Office: 1,195 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0414 using force sensing means to determine a position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

In some examples, an electronic device may present a user interface that is configured to be controlled using a thumb of a single hand that is holding the device. For instance, the interface may present a plurality of selectable items, each of which may correspond to a respective one of a plurality of touch input areas on the display. In some cases, the touch input areas are within reach of the thumb, while the selectable items may be displayed on an area of the display that is not within reach of the thumb. The thumb may be pressed against the display surface with a force greater than a force threshold to select one of the selectable items. Thus, the thumb may be used to interact with the interface while remaining in contact with the display surface, enabling the user to maintain a grip on the device.

Claims

1. A portable electronic device comprising:

a display panel having a display surface;

a first layer positioned adjacent to the display surface, the first layer to receive physical contact with a thumb of a hand;

a touch location sensor associated with the display panel for detecting a touch input location on the display surface;

a second layer positioned on a side of the display panel opposite the display surface, the second layer comprising a touch force sensor associated with the display panel for detecting a touch input force applied to the first layer;

one or more processors;

one or more computer-readable media; and

one or more modules maintained on the one or more computer-readable media which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations that include;

determining, based at least in part on data from the touch location sensor, a location of a touch input on the display surface;

determining that the touch input is indicative that the thumb of the hand holding the device is in contact with the first layer;

based at least in part on the location of the touch input, rearranging textual content displayed on the display surface to provide a content-free buffer area around a portion of the display surface obstructed by the thumb in contact with the first layer;

determining, based at least in part on data from the touch force sensor, that a first force applied by the thumb exceeds a force threshold;

in response to determining that the first force exceeds the force threshold, presenting a user interface on the display surface, the user interface controllable using the thumb of the hand holding the device, the user interface including a plurality of selectable items presented on the display surface;

visually distinguishing a first selectable item of the plurality of selectable items from other selectable items of the plurality of selectable items based at least in part on the location of the touch input indicative of the thumb, wherein the first selectable item is associated with a first touch input area within the display surface, the first touch input area being different from an area of the display surface where the first selectable item is presented;

determining, based at least in part on the data from the touch force sensor, that a second force applied by the thumb is greater than the force threshold; and

determining, based at least in part on the second force being greater than the force threshold, that the selectable item visually distinguished from the other selectable items is selected.

2. The portable electronic device as recited in claim 1, the operations further comprising, based at least in part on the determining that the first selectable item is selected, presenting in the user interface another plurality of selectable items.

3. The portable electronic device as recited in claim 1, wherein one or more of the plurality of selectable items are presented on an area of the display surface that is outside of a reach of the thumb in a currently determined position.

4. The portable electronic device as recited in claim 1, the operations further comprising:

prior to the presenting the user interface on the display surface, determining a prior force applied by the thumb contacting the first layer; and

presenting a next page or a previous page of a digital content item presented on the display surface based at least in part on determining that the prior force applied by the thumb exceeded the force threshold for a length of time less than a time threshold.

5. The portable electronic device as recited in claim 1, wherein the force threshold is determined by the portable electronic device based at least in part on a current user of the portable electronic device, and wherein the presenting the user interface on the display surface is further based at least in part on determining that the first force applied by the thumb exceeds the force threshold for a length of time greater than a time threshold.

6. The portable electronic device as recited in claim 1, wherein the touch location sensor comprises at least one of conductive lines and conductive elements, and wherein the first layer comprises at least a portion of the touch location sensor.

7. The portable electronic device as recited in claim 1, wherein the touch location sensor is a capacitive sensor, and wherein the first layer comprises at least a first portion of the touch location sensor.

8. A method comprising:

presenting a plurality of selectable items on a display surface of a display panel of a device based at least in part on receiving a first touch input to a first layer positioned adjacent to the display surface;

associating a first selectable item of the plurality of selectable items with a first touch input area of the display surface, the first touch input area being different from an area of the display surface where the first selectable item is presented;

receiving, by a processor of the device, sensor data indicating a location of a second touch input to the first layer;

visually distinguishing the first selectable item based at least in part on a proximity of the first selectable item to the location of the second touch input; and

determining that an input for selecting the first selectable item has been received based at least in part on a force associated with the second touch input exceeding a force threshold, the force being detected by a touch force sensor positioned a side of the display panel opposite the display surface.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein:

the first selectable item is associated with the first touch input area of the display surface based at least in part upon a proximity of the first touch input area to the first selectable item; and

a size and location of the first touch input area of the display surface being determined based at least in part upon the first touch input to the first layer.

10. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein:

the first selectable item is associated with the first touch input area within a determined radius of a thumb of a hand holding the device; and

the first selectable item is presented on the display surface of the device at an area of the display surface that is outside of the determined radius of the thumb while the hand is holding the device.

11. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the first selectable item is associated with the first touch input area within a determined radius of a thumb of a hand holding the device, the method further comprising presenting, on the display surface, a respective graphic element at the first touch input area to visually indicate locations of the first touch input area.

12. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the plurality of selectable items presented on the display surface are a first subset of a total number of the plurality of selectable items, the method further comprising:

presenting the first subset of the total number of the plurality of selectable items on the display surface as a portion of a carousel comprised of the total number of the plurality of selectable items; and

rotating the carousel in response to the second touch input by replacing the first subset of the total number of the plurality of selectable items with a different subset of the total number of the plurality of selectable items.

13. The method as recited in claim 8, further comprising:

sensing a size of a thumb; and

configuring, based at least in part on the size of the thumb, at least one of a size of the first touch input area or a distance of the first touch input area from an edge of the device.

14. A device comprising:

a display panel comprising a display surface;

a first layer positioned adjacent to the display surface, the first layer to receive physical contact with a thumb of a hand;

a second layer positioned on a side of the display panel opposite the display surface, the second layer comprising at least a touch force sensor associated with the display panel for detecting a touch input force applied to the display surface;

one or more processors;

one or more computer-readable media; and

one or more modules maintained on the one or more computer-readable media and executed by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

presenting a first subset of a plurality of selectable items on the display surface;

rotating the plurality of selectable items as part of a carousel based at least in part on detecting, at a first touch input area of the display surface, a touch input from the thumb of the hand holding the device, wherein the first input area of the display surface is separate from an area of the display surface in which the plurality of selectable items are presented;

based at least in part on the plurality of selectable items being rotated, presenting on the display surface a second subset of the plurality of selectable items; and

visually distinguishing successive selectable items of the plurality of selectable items while the plurality of selectable items are being rotated to indicate that a visually distinguished selectable item is currently selectable.

15. The device as recited in claim 14, the operations further comprising:

determining movement of the thumb from the first touch input area toward a second touch input area; and

changing a speed in which the plurality of selectable items are being rotated based at least in part on the proximity of the thumb to the second touch input area.

16. The device as recited in claim 14, the operations further comprising:

determining movement of the thumb from the first touch input area through a second touch input area of the display surface and toward a third touch input area of the display surface; and

changing a direction in which the plurality of selectable items are being rotated based at least in part on the movement of the thumb.

17. The device as recited in claim 14, the operations further comprising:

determining, by the touch force sensor, a force applied by the thumb to the first layer; and

determining that the visually distinguished one of the plurality of selectable items is selected based at least in part on the force exceeding a force threshold.

18. The device as recited in claim 14, the operations further comprising:

determining at least one of a position or a size of the thumb; and

configuring at least one of a location or a size of the first touch input area based at least in part on at least one of the position or the size of the thumb.

19. The device as recited in claim 14, wherein the first layer comprises a transparent touch location sensor positioned adjacent to the display surface.

20. One or more computer-readable media comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

presenting a plurality of selectable items on a display surface of a display panel of a device;

associating a first selectable item of the plurality of selectable items with a first touch input area of the display surface, the first touch input area being different from an area of the display surface where the first selectable item is presented;

receiving sensor information from a touch force sensor positioned on a side of the display panel opposite the display surface;

determining, based at least in part on the sensor information, that a thumb of a hand holding the device is in contact with the display at the first touch input area;

visually distinguishing, from other selectable items of the plurality of selectable items, the first selectable item associated with the first touch input area;

determining movement of the thumb from the first touch input area to a second touch input area;

ceasing visually distinguishing the first selectable item; and

visually distinguishing a second selectable item associated with the second touch input area.

21. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 20, the operations further comprising:

determining a force applied by the thumb in the second touch input area; and

determining that the second selectable item is selected based at least in part on the force exceeding a force threshold.

22. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 20, wherein the thumb remains in contact with a layer positioned adjacent to the display surface during movement from the first touch input area to the second touch input area.

23. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 20, the operations further comprising presenting a digital content item on the display surface contemporaneously with the presenting the plurality of selectable items on the display surface, wherein the digital content item comprises at least one of:

a movie, a television show, an electronic book, an image associated with a music recording, or a slideshow.

24. The one or more computer-readable media as recited in claim 20, wherein:

the plurality of selectable items are presented on an area of the display surface that is separate from the first touch input area and the second touch input area; and

each touch input area is more proximate to an associated one of the selectable items than others of the touch input areas.