PRECISE SELECTION TECHNIQUES FOR MULTI-TOUCH SCREENS

• US 20070247435A1
• Filed: 04/19/2006
• Published: 10/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/19/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Wilson, Andrew, Baudisch, Patrick, Benko, Hrvoje
• Granted Patent: US 8,077,153 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/173
• 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 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

A unique system and method is provided that facilitates pixel-accurate targeting with respect to multi-touch sensitive displays when selecting or viewing content with a cursor. In particular, the system and method can track dual inputs from a primary finger and a secondary finger, for example. The primary finger can control movement of the cursor while the secondary finger can adjust a control-display ratio of the screen. As a result, cursor steering and selection of an assistance mode can be performed at about the same time or concurrently. In addition, the system and method can stabilize a cursor position at a top middle point of a user'"'"'s finger in order to mitigate clicking errors when making a selection.

Claims

1. A system that facilitates pixel-accurate targeting with respect to a multi-touch sensitive screen comprising:

a multi-touch tracking component that tracks multi-touch input comprising input from at least a primary member and a secondary member and that disambiguates between the input from the primary and secondary members; and

a cursor control component that concurrently controls cursor movement while adjusting at least one of speed, scale, or position of the cursor according to steering input from the primary member and at least one of speed, scale, or position input from the secondary member.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the multi-touch tracking component comprises:

a primary touch detection component that senses and tracks cursor movements made by the primary member; and

a secondary touch detection component that senses and tracks a secondary touch which triggers invocation of one or more modes for assisting with the cursor movement.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the secondary touch triggers an offset of the cursor by a fixed amount from its original location.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the secondary touch triggers a menu to appear on-screen, the menu comprising a plurality of selection areas for adjusting the speed of the cursor.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the speed of the cursor is adjusted to zero, thereby temporarily disabling any cursor movement to facilitate successful target selection.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the secondary touch comprises movement of the secondary member a distance to or from the primary member'"'"'s location on the screen to adjust the speed of the cursor an amount based on the distance moved.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the secondary touch identifies a corner of a stretch area centered at the primary member'"'"'s location whereby the secondary member drags the corner a distance closer to or farther away from the primary member'"'"'s location to temporarily alter a scale of content included in the stretch area.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the primary member comprises a primary finger and the secondary member comprises a secondary finger.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the secondary member adjusts a control-display ratio of the screen at about the same time as the primary member controls cursor movement and steering to facilitate more precise cursor movements and more accurate target selection.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the cursor control component comprises:

a mapping component that maps changes in the primary member'"'"'s contact area to changes in pressure states;

a cursor stabilization component that stabilizes a position of the cursor to a top middle point of the contact area in order to mitigate cursor noise during changes in the pressure states; and

an analysis component that analyzes threshold activities of the contact area to distinguish between on or off click states.

11. A method that facilitates pixel-accurate targeting with respect to a multi-touch sensitive screen comprising:

tracking multi-touch input from a primary member and a secondary member and disambiguating between the input from the primary and secondary members; and

concurrently controlling cursor movement and steering while adjusting at least one of speed, scale, or position of the cursor according to the input received from the primary and secondary members, respectively.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein adjusting the scale of the cursor comprises stretching at least a portion of content displayed around the cursor to magnify such content and improve selection success.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein stretching comprises:

setting an anchor location based on a current location of the primary member;

using the secondary member'"'"'s position to identify a corner of an area to be stretched; and

adaptively scaling the content in the area based on movement of the secondary member relative to the primary member.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein adjusting the speed of the cursor comprises triggering a menu to appear on-screen where contact by the secondary member is established and selecting a speed reduction factor from the menu.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein selecting the speed reduction factor is performed by crossing over the option with the secondary member.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein adjusting the speed of the cursor comprises freezing the cursor and temporarily disabling cursor movement.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein adjusting the speed of the cursor comprises sliding the secondary member a distance relative to the primary member such that the distance of the slide determines at least one of a speed increase or a speed reduction.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein adjusting the position of the cursor comprises triggering an offset of the cursor a distance relative to the primary member location when the secondary member contacts the multi-touch screen.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the offset is a midpoint between the primary member and the secondary member and when both members are in contact with the screen, at least one of the primary and secondary members controls cursor movement.

20. A method that facilitates improved selection of an intended target via a cursor on a multi-touch screen comprising:

mapping changes in a primary member'"'"'s contact area to changes in pressure states;

stabilizing a position of the cursor to a top middle point of the contact area in order to mitigate cursor noise during changes in pressure states; and

analyzing threshold activities of the contact area to distinguish between on or off click states.