Touch prediction for visual displays

• US 9,406,025 B2
• Filed: 06/04/2014
• Issued: 08/02/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2014
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hewitt, Trudy L., McKinney, Debra J., Wetli, Christina L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Kent
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lu, William
• Application Number:
  US14/295,401
• Publication Number:
  US 20150355772A1
• Time in Patent Office: 790 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04104 Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger
• 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 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/04 Inference or reasoning models
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 7/01 Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16Z 99/00 Subject matter not provided for in other main groups of this subclass

Abstract

Touch events can be predicted relative to a visual display by maintaining a database of aggregated touch event history data relative to the visual display and from a plurality of touch screen devices. The database can be queried according to a set of input parameters defining an environment for use of the visual display. The results from the querying of the database can be analyzed to predict a set of touch events within the environment and based upon inferences obtained from the results. A representation of the set of touch events can be displayed along with the visual display.

Claims

1. A method for tracking touch events relating to a visual display on a first electronic device, wherein the visual display comprises medical information and lacks an interactive component, the method comprising:

identifying a set of environmental parameters, wherein the environmental parameters provide information regarding an environment in which the visual display is used on the first electronic device by a user and comprise a level of medical experience of the user and a type of medical specialty of the user;

accessing a plurality of touch event data sets for the visual display, the plurality of touch event data sets corresponding to the environmental parameters and associated with the visual display as used on at least a second electronic device;

identifying touch patterns from the plurality of touch event data sets, wherein the touch patterns comprise other users of the visual display moving the medical information into a field of view on their respective electronic devices after performing a preceding touch event on their respective electronic devices, wherein each of the other users has a level of medical experience and a type of medical specialty that are similar to that of the user;

monitoring subsequent touch events by the user of the visual display, wherein the subsequent touch events by the user comprise the preceding touch event;

detecting a match between the touch patterns and the subsequent touch events of the user;

predicting, in response to detecting the match, a possible touch event for the user; and

modifying, in response to the possible touch event, the visual display on the first electronic device for the user, wherein modifying the visual display comprises moving the medical information into the field of view on the first electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the touch event data sets include touch coordinates defined relative to the first visual display and timing data for touch events that are described in the touch event data sets.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising training a machine learning algorithm using data in the touch event data sets.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein identifying touch patterns from the plurality of touch event data sets includes applying the machine learning algorithm to the touch event data sets.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first visual display is a website and the touch patterns indicate how individuals would be expected to use the website.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the touch event data sets specify sequences of touch events, touch coordinates relative to the visual display and different types of touch events.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying the visual display includes displaying the touch patterns from the plurality of touch event data sets.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

displaying a representation of the set of the touch patterns from the plurality of touch event data sets on a second visual display.

9. The system method of claim 8,

wherein the second visual display is displayed to an administrator of the first visual display.