Method and apparatus for precision measurements on a touch screen

• US 9,928,570 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2014
• Issued: 03/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Calgary Scientific Inc.
• Original Assignee: Calgary Scientific Inc.
• Inventors: Reed, Kenneth Todd, Draper, Jonathan Neil
• Primary Examiner(s): Bukowski, Kenneth
• Application Number:
  US14/554,549
• Publication Number:
  US 20160098818A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,217 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/40 Scaling of whole images or parts thereof, e.g. expanding or contracting

Abstract

A measurement method and apparatus to make precise measurements on a touch screen device, such as a mobile device. A measuring tool is provided that that measures a quantity associated with an image being displayed on the touch screen. In response to a user selection, the measuring tool may be activated. A magnified view is presented that shows a position associated with a touch of, e.g., a user'"'"'s finger so the user may fine-tune a start position of a measurement. The user'"'"'s touch may be tracked from the start position to a current position during which time a dynamically updated display of the quantity being measured is presented. An ending measurement of the quantity is displayed in accordance with a removal of the touch at an end position.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a measurement tool in a client-server architecture, the measurement tool for measuring a quantity associated with a displayed image and including a magnified view of the image;

rendering the image and the magnified view at the server;

communicating the image and the magnified view to the client computing device;

displaying the image and the magnified view on a client display;

detecting a touch input on the client display;

communicating, in response to the touch input, metadata from the server to the client computing device that contains information about the quantity; and

rendering a dynamically updated display of the quantity at the client computing device using updated metadata received from the server via a data transfer loop between the client computing device and the server, wherein the data transfer loop provides the server with dynamic position information regarding the touch input on the client display and returns respectively updated meta data to the client computing device until the loop terminates upon detecting a removal of the touch input.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating information about the quantity in a state model that is communicated between the client computing device and the server.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising communicating position information associated with a user touch at the computing device in the state model.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising rendering a geometric identifier associated with the quantity at the server.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the geometric identifier comprises one of a line segment, an oval, a square or a rectangle.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising providing the dynamically updated display as a numeric measurement associated with the geometric identifier.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamically updated display of the quantity is displayed proximate to the magnified view.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein dynamically updated display of the quantity is a numeric measurement.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting the touch input on the client display comprises identifying the touch input as a start position for measuring the quantity.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising setting an initial position of the touch input as the start position after the touch input is associated with the initial position for a predetermined period.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising providing a visual indication that the start position has been set.