Systems and methods for transferring application state between devices based on gestural input

• US 10,630,795 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2012
• Issued: 04/21/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Oath Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Aoki, Norihiro Edwin, Wick, Christina, Brannam, Todd, Givens, Jr., Leotis
• Primary Examiner(s): Celani, Nicholas P
• Application Number:
  US13/436,171
• Publication Number:
  US 20130080525A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,944 Days
• Field of Search: 709204
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4856 resumption being on a different machine, e.g. task migration, virtual machine migration G06F9/5088 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for transferring state between devices. In one implementation, a gestural input is detected, and a state of a source application is transferred from a first device to a second device in response to the gestural input. The second device may then generate an instance of a target application that corresponds to a representation of the state of the source application received from the first device. In an additional implementation, a state of the target application is transferred from the second device to the first device. The first device then updates a state of the source application to correspond to a representation of the state of the target application received from the second device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for transferring the configurational state of an application, comprising:

detecting, using a sensor associated with a first device, a gestural input by a user of the first device, the gestural input being detected at a first point in time;

based on the gestural input, identifying a source application with which the user of the first device interacts at the first point in time, the source application being associated with a class of data and comprising a first web browser executed by the first device to present, to the user through a first interface, a first viewing window portion of a web page at the first point in time, the source application being one of a plurality of applications executed at the first device;

generating a representation of a state of the source application, wherein the representation includes information specifying a configurational state of the source application and information indicative of the gestural input associated with the source application;

determining data indicative of a position of the first viewing window portion within the web page;

detecting a gestural input by the user at a second device and wherein the gestural input transitions the second device to an active state;

receiving, at the first device, a request to validate a transfer of the representation of the state of the source application to the second device;

validating the transfer of the representation of the state of the source application by verifying header information received from the second device and determining that a data size of the request is within a predetermined range;

transmitting to the second device, the generated representation of the state of the source application, information identifying a user of the first device, the first web browser, and the first viewing window portion, wherein the information identifying the first viewing window portion comprises an identifier of the web page, a location of the web page, and determined position data, the determined position data being indicative of a position of the first viewing window portion within the web page at the first point in time; and

receiving a visual notification corresponding to whether the transmission of the generated representation of the state of the source application to the second device was successful;

wherein the generated representation of the state of the source application transmitted with the information identifying the user of the first device, the first web browser, authentication credentials corresponding to the first user, and the first viewing window portion causes the second device to execute a second web browser that presents at least the first viewing window portion of the web page to the user through a second viewing window.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the method further comprises establishing a peer-to-peer communications session between the first and second devices; and

wherein transmitting comprises transmitting the information identifying a user of the first device, the first web browser, and the first viewing window portion, being transmitted directly from the first device to the second device, using the peer-to-peer communications session.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a motion of the first device;

determining that an acceleration associated with the detected motion exceeds a threshold value; and

when the determined acceleration exceeds the threshold value, identifying the source application executed by the first device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein the representation further comprises at least one of information identifying the first device or information identifying the class of data associated with the source application.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

deactivating the source application at the first device and terminating the peer-to-peer communications session, in response to receiving a notification that the transmission was successful.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, further comprising:

generating an instruction to display, at the first device, an indication of the successful transfer.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, to the second device, a request that a state of a target application being associated with a class of data and comprising a second web browser and executing at the second device be transferred to the first device;

receiving, in response to the request, information identifying the target application and information associated with a portion of electronic content presented to the user by the target application through a second interface at a second point in time, the second point in time being associated with the request, and the information including the identifier of the class of data associated with a source application comprising a second web browser and identifier of the class of application associated with the source application, data specifying the location of the electronic content, and data indicative of a temporal position of the presented portion within the electronic content; and

executing, using the at least one processor, an instance of an application that corresponds to the target application state based on at least the information identifying the target application and information associated with a portion of electronic content presented to the user by the target application through a second interface at a second point in time.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7,

wherein the target application is associated with a class of applications that includes the source application.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, further comprising:

receiving information associated with a configuration of the target application at a particular point in time; and

executing the instance of the target application based at least one of information identifying the first device, information identifying the target application, the identifier of the class of data associated with the source application, data specifying the location of the electronic content, and data indicative of a position of the presented portion within the electronic content.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

receiving an confirmation from the second device that the request for transfer is unsuccessful; and

generating an instruction to display, at the first device, an indication of an unsuccessful transfer.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting information identifying a class of applications associated with the identified source application.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein executing the instance comprises:

obtaining the electronic content from the specified location based on the identifier; and

generating an electronic command to present at least a second portion of the electronic content to the user through a corresponding second interface, the presented second portion being disposed at the specified position within the electronic content.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein:

the electronic content further comprises streaming video content;

the position data further indicates a temporal position of the presented first portion within the streaming video content.

11. An apparatus for transferring the configurational state of a application, comprising:

a storage device; and

at least one processor coupled to the storage device, wherein the storage device stores a set of instructions that are executable by the at least one processor to configure the at least one processor to;

detect, using a sensor associated with a first device, a gestural input by a user of the first device, the gestural input being detected at a first point in time;

based on the gestural input, identify a source application with which the user of the first device interacts at the first point in time, the source application being associated with a class of applications and comprising a first web browser executed by the first device to present, to the user through a first interface, a first viewing window portion of a web page at the first point in time, the source application being one of a plurality of applications executed at the first device;

generate a representation of a state of the source application, wherein the representation includes information specifying a configurational state of the source application and information indicative of the gestural input associated with the source application;

determine data indicative of a position of the first viewing window portion within the web page;

detect a gestural input by the user at a second device and wherein the gestural input transitions the second device to an active state;

receive, at the first device, a request to validate a transfer of the representation of the state of the source application to the second device;

validate the transfer of the representation of the state of the source application by verifying header information received from the second device and determine that a data size of the request is within a predetermined;

transmit to the second device, the generated representation of the state of the source application, information identifying a user of the first device, the first web browser, the first viewing window portion, an identifier of the web page, a location of the web page, and determined position data, the determined position data being indicative of a position of the first viewing window portion within the web page at the first point in time; and

receive a visual notification corresponding to whether the transmission of the representation of the state of the source application to the second device was successful;

wherein the generated representation of the state of the source application, transmitted with the information identifying the user of the first device, the first web browser, the first viewing window portion, authentication credentials corresponding to the first user, and the identifier of the web page causes the second device to execute a second web browser that presents at least the first viewing window portion of the web page to the user through a second viewing window.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured by the set of instructions to:

transmit, to the second device, a request that a state of a target application comprising a second web browser executing at the second device be transferred to the first device;

receive, in response to the request information identifying the target application comprising a second web browser and information associated with a second portion of electronic content presented to the user by the target application comprising a second web browser through a second interface at a second point in time, the second point in time being associated with the request, and the information comprising the identifier of the electronic content, data specifying the location of the electronic content, and data indicative of a temporal position of the presented second portion within the electronic content; and

execute an instance of an application that corresponds to a state of the target application comprising a second web browser based on at least the information identifying the target application comprising a second web browser and information associated with a second portion of electronic content presented to the user by the target application comprising a second web browser through a second interface at a second point in time, the second point in time being associated with the request, and the information comprising the identifier of the electronic content.

13. A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions for transferring the configurational state of a application that, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to perform a method comprising the steps of:

detecting, using a sensor associated with a first device, a gestural input by a user of the first device, the gestural input being detected at a first point in time;

based on the gestural input, identifying a source application with which the user of the first device interacts at the first point in time, the source application being associated with a class of applications and comprising a first web browser executed by the first device to present, to the user through a first interface, a first viewing window portion of a web page at the first point in time, the source application being one of a plurality of applications executed at the first device;

generating a representation of a state of the source application, wherein the representation includes information specifying a configurational state of the source application and information indicative of the gestural input associated with the source application;

determining data indicative of a position of the first viewing window portion within the web page;

detecting a gestural input by the user at a second device and wherein the gestural input transitions the second device to an active state;

receiving, at the first device, a request to validate a transfer of the representation of the state of the source application to the second device;

validating the transfer of the representation of the state of the source application by verifying header information received from the second device and determining that a data size of the request is within a predetermined range;

transmitting to the second device, the generated representation of the state of the source application, information identifying a user of the first device, the first web browser, the first viewing window portion, an identifier of the web page, a location of the web page, and determined position data, the determined position data being indicative of a position of the first viewing window portion within the web page at the first point in time; and

receiving a visual notification corresponding to whether the transmission of the generated representation of the state of the source application to the second device was successful;

wherein the generated representation of the state of the source application transmitted with the information identifying the user of the first device, the first web browser, the first viewing window portion, the identifier of the web page, authentication credentials corresponding to the first user, and the location of the web page causes the second device to execute a second web browser that presents at least the first viewing window portion of the web page to the user through a second viewing window.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

transmitting, to the second device, a request that a state of a target application comprising a second web browser executing at the second device be transferred to the first device;

receiving, in response to the request, information identifying the target application and information associated with a portion of the electronic content presented to the user by the target application through a second interface at a second point in time, the second point in time being associated with the request, and the information comprising the identifier of the electronic content, data specifying the location of the electronic content, and data indicative of a temporal position of the presented portion within the electronic content; and

executing, using the at least one processor, an instance of an application that corresponds to the target application state based on at least the information identifying the target application and information associated with a portion of the electronic content presented to the user by the target application through a second interface at a second point in time.

15. A computer-implemented method for transferring the configurational state of an application, comprising the following operations performed by at least processor:

receiving, from a first device, a request to transfer a state of a source application executed by the first device to a second device, wherein;

the request is responsive to a gestural input by a user of the first device detected at a first point in time by a sensor associated with the first device;

the request identifies the source application based on the gestural input, the source application comprising a first web browser executed by the first device to present, to the user through a first interface, a first viewing window portion of a web page at the first point in time associated with the detection of the gestural input, the source application being one of a plurality of applications executed at the first device;

the request generates a representation of a state of the source application, wherein the representation includes information specifying a configurational state of the source application and information indicative of the gestural input associated with the source application; and

the request comprises information identifying a user of the first device, the first web browser, the first viewing window portion of the web page, an identifier of the web page, data specifying a location of the web page, and position data indicative of a position of the first viewing window portion within the web page, the position data being indicative of a position of at least a portion of the first viewing window portion within the first web page at the first point in time;

determining that the received request is valid by verifying header information received from the second device and determining that a data size of the request is within a predetermined range;

executing, in response to the determination that the received request is valid, an instance of a target application at a second device that corresponds to the generated representation of the state of the source application, and the information identifying the user of the first device, the first web browser, and the first viewing window portion of the web page, the target application comprising a second web browser that presents at least the first viewing window portion of the web page to the user through a second viewing window executed by the second device; and

transmitting information associated with the second web browser to the first device.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the information associated with the target application instance comprises information associated with the target application at the particular point in time.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the determining comprises determining that the received request is valid based on at least information identifying a direction of the requested transfer.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the information associated with the target application instance is transmitted using a peer-to-peer communications session established between the first device and the second device.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein the source application is associated with a class of applications that includes the web-based target application.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising:

generating a confirmation of a successful transfer of the source application state; and

transmitting the confirmation to the first device.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein:

the request further comprises information identifying a class of applications that includes the source application and at least one alternate application; and

the method further comprises;

determining whether the second device is capable of executing the source application; and

when the second device is incapable of executing the source application establishing the alternate application as the target application.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, wherein executing the instance comprises:

obtaining content associated with the web page from the specified location based on the identifier; and

generating an electronic command to present at least a second portion of the web page to the user through a corresponding second interface, the presented second portion being disposed at the specified position within the web page.