System, apparatus, and method for facilitating link selection on electronic devices

• US 20040204128A1
• Filed: 07/17/2002
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Eiden, Niko, Zakharia, Sany
• Granted Patent: US 7,305,242 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/566
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications

Abstract

A system, apparatus, and method for facilitating selection of selectable links presented on a display using an enhanced hovering technique. At least one snap area associated with a link is defined, where the snap area includes a region extending beyond the boundaries of the particular link. Movement of a cursor is facilitated to allow a user to move the cursor over the snap area of the particular link when presented on the display. One or more characteristics of the particular link are modified when the cursor is hovering within the snap area of the particular link, thereby indicating that the link may be selected by the user.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating user selection of links presented on a display, comprising:

defining at least one snap area associated with one or more links, wherein the snap area includes a region extending beyond the boundaries of the link;

facilitating movement of a graphical selection tool over the snap area of a target link; and

modifying one or more characteristics of the target link when the graphical selection tool is hovering within the snap area of the target link, thereby indicating that the target link may be selected.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein defining at least one snap area comprises defining a plurality of snap areas for a particular link, and wherein the snap area regions extending beyond the boundaries of the particular link are of different sizes for each of the plurality of snap areas.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising activating one of the plurality of snap areas based on predetermined parameters.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein activating one of the plurality of snap areas based on predetermined parameters comprises activating one of the plurality of snap areas based on a number of times in which the particular link has been selected by a user.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising deactivating a currently-activated snap area and activating a different one of the snap areas, in response to the user selecting the particular link at least one additional time.

6. The method of claim 2, further comprising facilitating configuration of the plurality of snap areas, including at least one of configuring a minimum snap area, a maximum snap area, and an intermediary snap area.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising providing feedback perceivable by user, wherein the feedback indicates that the link has been identified and is available for selection by the user, and wherein a type of feedback provided depends on which of the at least one defined snap areas is currently activated.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein defining at least one snap area associated with one or more links comprises defining at least a minimum snap area and a maximum snap area associated with a particular link.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein defining at least one snap area associated with one or more links comprises defining a minimum snap area as a current snap area associated with a particular link.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising defining at least one snap step size, and redefining the current snap area based on the snap step size relative to the minimum snap area.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein redefining the current snap area comprises repeatedly redefining the current snap area based on the snap step size relative to a previous snap area.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein repeatedly redefining the current snap area based on the snap step size relative to a previous snap area comprises increasing the current snap area based at least in part on an increasing number of times in which the particular link has been previously selected.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising changing the current snap area based at least in part on a link selection count corresponding to a number of times in which the particular link has been previously selected.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising defining a maximum snap area that restricts the current snap area to a maximum size.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing feedback perceivable by user, wherein the feedback indicates that the link has been identified and is available for selection by a user.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein providing feedback comprises providing tactile feedback on a terminal used by the user.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein providing tactile feedback comprises providing a vibration via the terminal.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein providing feedback comprises providing an audio alert presented on a terminal used by the user.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein providing feedback comprises providing a visual alert presented on the display.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein providing the visual alert comprises providing a pop-up visual indication.

21. The method of claim 15, further comprising facilitating user definition of a desired feedback type.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising allowing selection of the target link once the one or more characteristics of the target link have been modified to indicate that the target link may be selected.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein modifying the characteristics of the target link when the graphical selection tool is hovering within the snap area comprises modifying at least one of a color, link size, and text characteristic of the target link on the display.

24. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically moving the graphical selection tool to the target link when the graphical selection tool is hovering within the snap area of the target link, to position the graphical selection tool in a link selection position.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein defining at least one snap area comprises facilitating user definition of the snap area.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein defining at least one snap area further comprises facilitating user definition of at least one snap step size relative to a defined snap area.

27. The method of claim 1, wherein defining at least one snap area comprises pre-configuring at least one of the snap area, and a snap step size relative to a defined snap area.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein defining at least one snap area comprises defining at least one of a region surrounding the links, and a region adjacent to the links, as the snap area.

29. An apparatus for facilitating user selection of links presented on a display, comprising:

a memory to store at least a hover application and at least one snap area associated with one or more links, wherein the snap area is larger than an area occupied by the link;

a display to display the one or more links; and

a processor coupled to the memory and to the display, wherein the processor is configured to execute the hover application to facilitate movement of a graphical selection tool over the snap area of a target link on the display, to modify at least one characteristic of the target link when the graphical selection tool has hovered within the snap area of the target link, and to enable user selection of the target link in response thereto.

30. The apparatus as in claim 29, wherein:

the memory stores a plurality of snap areas for the target link, wherein each of the plurality of snap areas are of different sizes relative to each other; and

the processor is further configured to activate one of the plurality of snap areas based on a number of times in which the target link has been selected by a user.

31. The apparatus as in claim 29, wherein the processor is further configured to automatically increase a size of the snap area associated with the target link each time the target link has been selected a predetermined number of times.

32. The apparatus as in claim 29, wherein the processor is further configured to automatically increase a size of the snap area associated with the target link by a predetermined step size each time the target link has been selected a predetermined number of times.

33. The apparatus as in claim 29, wherein the processor is further configured to automatically decrease a size of the snap area associated with the target link if the target link has not been selected for a predetermined duration.

34. The apparatus as in claim 29, wherein the processor is further configured to initiate feedback perceivable by the user via the apparatus, wherein the feedback indicates that the target link has been identified and is available for selection by a user.

35. The apparatus as in claim 34, wherein the apparatus comprises a vibration generator to generate a vibration alert in response to the processor initiating the feedback.

36. The apparatus as in claim 34, wherein the apparatus comprises a speaker to generate an audio alert in response to the processor initiating the feedback.

37. The apparatus as in claim 34, wherein the display presents a visual alert in response to the processor initiating the feedback.

38. The apparatus as in claim 34, further comprising a user interface to facilitate configuration of at least one of snap area parameters and feedback types.

39. The apparatus as in claim 29, wherein the hover application is implemented cooperatively with a software application capable of presenting selectable links.

40. The apparatus as in claim 29, wherein the hover application is implemented cooperatively with a browser application.

41. The apparatus as in claim 29, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one of a wireline computing device, a wireless computing device, and a wireless communication device.

42. A system for facilitating user selection of Internet links on electronic devices, comprising:

(a) a server to generate at least one web page for transmission via a network, wherein the web page includes at least one selectable link;

(b) an electronic device coupled to the network, comprising;

(1) a memory to store at least a hover application and at least one snap area associated with the at least one selectable link, wherein the snap area is larger than an area occupied by the selectable link;

(2) a display to display the selectable link; and

(3) a processor coupled to the memory and to the display, wherein the processor is configured to execute the hover application to facilitate movement of a graphical selection tool over the snap area of the selectable link on the display, to modify at least one characteristic of the selectable link when the graphical selection tool has hovered within the snap area of the selectable link, and to enable user selection of the selectable link in response thereto.

43. The system as in claim 42, wherein the network comprises the Internet, and wherein the electronic device comprises a wireline computing system.

44. The system as in claim 42, wherein the network comprises the Internet and the electronic device comprises a wireless terminal, and further comprising at least one wireless network cooperatively coupled to the Internet to facilitate communication of the web page from the server to the wireless terminal.

45. The system as in claim 44, wherein the wireless terminal comprises a mobile communication terminal capable of engaging in at least one of wireless voice communication and wireless data communication.

46. A computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon and executable by a computing arrangement in an electronic device for facilitating user selection of links presented on a display by performing steps comprising:

defining at least one snap area associated with one or more links, wherein the snap area includes a region extending beyond the boundaries of the link;

facilitating movement of a graphical selection tool over the snap area of a target link; and

modifying one or more characteristics of the target link when the graphical selection tool is hovering within the snap area of the target link, thereby indicating that the target link may be selected.