Motion-based view scrolling with augmented tilt control

• US 10,126,839 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2016
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Innoventions Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Innoventions Incorporated
• Inventors: Feinstein, David Y.
• Primary Examiner(s): Shankar, Vijay
• Application Number:
  US15/394,643
• Publication Number:
  US 20170108936A1
• Time in Patent Office: 684 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

Systems and methods for motion-based scrolling of contents view on a display with a screen view that is smaller than the contents view are described. During an augmented tilt control mode, scrolling follows changes in a primary tilt direction aligned with the scrolling direction, while a secondary tilt along a direction perpendicular to the scrolling direction is used to modify at least one scrolling control parameter. The scrolling control may follow a Proportional Scroll mode, where the primary tilt directly controls the screen view position over the contents view, or follow a Dynamic Scroll mode, where the primary tilt controls the scrolling speed. In some implementations, the scroll mode is determined automatically based on the magnification of the contents view. A predefined gestured in the secondary tilt may temporarily override the scroll mode selection. In some implementations with multi-directional scrolling, the current scrolling direction may be temporarily captured during the augmented tilt control mode so that tilt gestures along the direction perpendicular to the captured scrolling direction may be used to modify at least one scrolling control parameters.

Claims

1. A mobile system comprising:

one or more processors;

a screen view;

a motion sensor coupled to said one or more processors and configured to generate horizontal and vertical tilt signals, said horizontal tilt signal is indicative of the tilt angle of said mobile system corresponding to the horizontal direction along said screen view, said vertical tilt signal is indicative of the tilt angle of said mobile system corresponding to the vertical direction along said screen view;

memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for;

acquiring a contents view having a single scrolling direction, wherein the dimension of said contents view along said scrolling direction is larger than the corresponding dimension of the screen view, and wherein the other dimension of said contents view does not exceed the corresponding dimension of said screen view, said scrolling direction aligns with either said vertical direction or said horizontal direction;

displaying at least a portion of said contents view on said screen view;

capturing, when scrolling is initiated, the current vertical and horizontal tilt signals as a vertical baseline tilt and horizontal baseline tilt, respectively;

computing the relative vertical tilt as the difference between said vertical tilt signal and said vertical baseline tilt, and computing the relative horizontal tilt as the difference between said horizontal tilt signal and said horizontal baseline tilt;

if said scrolling direction is horizontal, designating said relative horizontal tilt as a primary relative tilt and said relative vertical tilt as a secondary relative tilt;

if said scrolling direction is vertical, designating said relative vertical tilt as said primary relative tilt and said relative horizontal tilt as said secondary relative tilt;

performing a constrained unidirectional scrolling of said contents view along said scrolling direction in response to said primary relative tilt; and

modifying at least one scrolling control parameter of said constrained unidirectional scrolling in response to said secondary relative tilt.

2. The mobile system of claim 1, wherein said constrained unidirectional scrolling follows a proportional scroll mode, said proportional scroll mode maps the entire scrolling range from one edge of said contents view to the other edge onto a predefined rotation range of said primary relative tilt, wherein the position of the screen view over said contents view along said scrolling direction is proportional to said primary relative tilt relative to said rotation range, and wherein said at least one scrolling control parameter is said rotation range.

3. The mobile system of claim 2, wherein said scrolling direction is horizontal, and wherein the relative vertical tilt modifies the rotation range, said rotation range is decreased when the vertical direction of the device is tilted upwards, and said rotation range is increased when the vertical direction of the device is tilted downwards.

4. The mobile system of claim 1, wherein said constrained unidirectional scrolling follows a dynamic scroll mode, said dynamic scroll mode computes the current scrolling rate of the screen view along said scrolling direction from said primary relative tilt, and wherein said at least one scrolling control parameter is a scaling factor that further multiplies said computed scrolling rate to obtain the current scrolling speed.

5. The mobile system of claim 1, wherein said constrained unidirectional scrolling follows a dynamic scroll mode, said dynamic scroll mode uses a stored response curve to determine the scrolling speed of the screen view along said scrolling direction from the primary relative tilt, and wherein said at least one scrolling control parameter selects a different response curve based on the secondary relative tilt.

6. The mobile system of claim 1, wherein the one or more programs further comprising instructions for:

activating and deactivating an augmented tilt control mode;

allowing said modifying at least one scrolling control parameter when said augmented tilt control mode is active; and

ceasing to modify said at least one scrolling control parameter when said augmented tilt control mode is inactive.

7. The mobile system of claim 6, wherein said augmented tilt control mode is activated or deactivated when a predefined rotation gesture of said secondary relative tilt is detected.

8. The mobile system of claim 1, wherein said at least one scrolling control parameter is not modified by said secondary relative tilt when said secondary relative tilt is bounded between a positive and a negative threshold values.

9. The mobile system of claim 1, wherein the one or more programs further comprising instructions for:

performing a proportional scroll, when a proportional scroll mode is selected, wherein the position of the screen view along said scrolling direction over said contents view is directly related to said primary relative tilt;

performing a dynamic scroll, when a dynamic scroll mode is selected, wherein the scrolling speed of the screen view along the scrolling direction over said contents view is computed from said primary relative tilt;

determining a magnification value equals to the length of said contents view divided by the length of said screen view along said scrolling direction;

selecting said proportional scroll mode when said magnification value is below a predefined value; and

selecting said dynamic scroll mode when said magnification value is above or equal to said predefined value.

10. The mobile system of claim 9, wherein the one or more programs further comprising instructions for:

activating and deactivating a scroll mode override flag when a predefined rotation gesture of said secondary relative tilt is detected;

replacing said selected proportional scroll mode with a temporary dynamic scroll mode, or replacing said selected dynamic scroll mode with a temporary proportional scroll mode, when said scroll mode override flag is activated; and

restoring said selected proportional or dynamic scroll mode when said scroll mode override flag is deactivated.

11. The mobile system of claim 10, wherein said scroll mode override flag is deactivated after a predefined time period expires from the time said flag was activated.

12. The mobile system of claim 9, wherein said computing of a magnification value and said selection of a proportional scroll mode or a dynamic scroll mode is repeated when the dimensions of said contents view have changed.

13. The mobile system of claim 1, wherein the one or more programs further comprising instructions for outputting a visual or audio indication when said at least one scrolling parameter of said constrained unidirectional scrolling is being modified.

14. A computer-implemented method comprising:

acquiring a contents view for an application executing on a device with a screen view, wherein only one large dimension, either the width or the height of said contents view exceeds the corresponding dimension of said screen view;

determining a vertical or a horizontal single scrolling direction based on said one large dimension;

displaying a portion of said contents view on said screen view;

measuring the vertical and the horizontal tilt angles of said screen view;

designating one of said tilt angles that matches said scrolling direction as a primary tilt angle;

designating the other tilt angle as a secondary tilt angle;

performing a constrained unidirectional scrolling of said contents view along said scrolling direction in response to changes in said primary tilt angle; and

modifying at least one scrolling control parameter of said constrained unidirectional scrolling in response to changes in said secondary tilt angle.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein acquiring said contents view downloads said contents view from one or more servers accessed via an internet network connection.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of modifying at least one scrolling control parameter directly translates the current value of said secondary tilt angle to a modified value of said scrolling control parameter.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of modifying at least one scrolling control parameter iteratively increments or decrements the value of said scrolling control parameter in response to changes in the current value of said secondary tilt angle.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

activating and deactivating an augmented tilt control mode;

allowing said modifying at least one scrolling control parameter when said augmented tilt control mode is active;

ceasing to modify said at least one scrolling control parameter when said augmented tilt control mode is inactive.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said augmented tilt control mode is activated or deactivated when a predefined rotation gesture of said secondary relative tilt is detected.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

performing a proportional scroll, when a proportional scroll mode is selected, wherein the position of the screen view along said scrolling direction over said contents view is directly related to said primary tilt angle;

performing a dynamic scroll, when a dynamic scroll mode is selected, wherein the scrolling rate of the screen view along said scrolling direction over said contents view is computed from changes in said primary tilt angle;

determining a magnification value equals to the length of said contents view divided by the length of said screen view along said scrolling direction;

selecting said proportional scroll mode when said magnification value is below a predefined value; and

selecting said dynamic scroll mode when said magnification value is above or equal to said predefined value.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

activating and deactivating a scroll mode override flag when a predefined rotation gesture of said secondary relative tilt is detected;

replacing the selected scroll mode from proportional scroll mode to dynamic scroll mode or from dynamic scroll mode to proportional scroll mode while said scroll mode override flag is activated; and

restoring the selected scroll mode when said scroll mode override flag is deactivated.

22. A system for motion-based view scrolling of a contents view of a device, comprising:

a screen view displaying at least a portion of said contents view;

a motion sensor configured to sense a first tilt angle of said device along a first direction and to sense a second tilt angle of said device along a second direction;

one or more processors;

memory; and

one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising;

instructions for generating a first and second tilt signals, said first tilt signal is indicative of said first tilt angle and said second tilt signal is indicative of said second tilt angle;

instructions for activating and deactivating an augmented tilt control mode;

instructions for multi-directional scrolling of said contents view in response to changes in said first and second tilt signals when said augmented tilt control mode is inactive;

instructions for capturing the direction of said multi-directional scrolling, at the time said augmented tilt control mode is activated, as a locked scrolling direction;

instructions for modifying at least one scrolling control parameter while said augmented tilt control mode is activated, comprising;

instructions for mapping said first and second tilt signals onto an axis orthogonal to said locked scrolling direction to obtain a primary tilt signal;

instructions for mapping said first and second tilt signals onto an axis aligned with said locked scrolling direction to obtain a secondary tilt signal;

instructions for constrained unidirectional scrolling of said contents view along said locked scrolling direction in response to changes in said primary tilt signal; and

instructions for modifying said at least one scrolling control parameter in response to changes in said secondary tilt signal;

wherein said modified scrolling control parameter is applied to said multi-directional scrolling when said augmented tilt control mode is deactivated.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein said first tilt angle aligns with the horizontal direction of said contents view and said second tilt angle aligns with the vertical direction of said contents view, the first and second tilt angles being orthogonal.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein said augmented tilt control mode is activated automatically at the start of said multi-directional scrolling once the total scrolling distance of said screen view along said contents view exceeds a predefined length.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein said augmented tilt control mode remains activated for a predefined time period.

26. The system of claim 22, wherein the one or more programs further comprising instructions for outputting a visual or audio indication when said augmented tilt control mode is active.

27. The system of claim 22, further comprising a sensor for measuring the distance between said screen view and the user'"'"'s eyes, and wherein the one or more programs further comprising instructions for monitoring changes in said distance and activating or deactivating said augmented tilt control mode when said changes exceed a predefined limit.