SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DISPLAYING VISUAL INFORMATION ON A DEVICE

• US 20110273479A1
• Filed: 05/07/2010
• Published: 11/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Ingrassia, Michael Ignazio JR., Rottler, Benjamin Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 8,773,470 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/666
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

Systems, methods, and devices for displaying visual information on an electronic display are provided. For example, rather than requiring a user to manually pan and zoom across visual information displayed on an electronic display, an electronic device may automatically display certain details of the visual information that are of interest to the user. One such method may include defining objects in visual information and detecting certain specific touch input gestures entered on the electronic display while the electronic display is displaying the visual information. When the touch input gestures are detected, the electronic device may automatically display a sequence of the objects of the visual information on the electronic display.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

defining one or more objects in visual information;

detecting one or more touch input gestures entered on an electronic display while the electronic display is displaying the visual information; and

when the one or more touch input gestures are detected, displaying a sequence of the objects in the visual information on the electronic display generally along a path of one of the one or more touch input gestures.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more touch input gestures comprises a “

swipe then hold”

touch input gesture, wherein the “

swipe”

generally defines the path.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a speed at which the sequence of the objects in the visual information are displayed varies with the location of the “

hold”

portion of the touch input gesture.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more touch input gestures comprises a “

hold then swipe”

touch input gesture, wherein the “

swipe”

generally defines the path.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sequence of objects of the visual information comprises details of the visual information that intersect with the path.

6. An electronic device comprising:

memory configured to store data associated with visual information, wherein the visual information includes a plurality of objects identified in the visual information;

a display configured to display the visual information at varying levels of detail and to detect a touch input gesture; and

a processor configured to control the display such that, when the display detects the touch input gesture, the display displays a sequence of the plurality of objects in greater detail.

7. The electronic display of claim 6, wherein the plurality of objects comprise defined areas of the visual information.

8. The electronic display of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to control the display such that, when the display displays the sequence of the plurality of identifiable details, the display zooms in sequence to the defined areas of the visual information.

9. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the plurality of objects comprises a face, an edge-defined item, a word, or a combination thereof.

10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the processor is configured to control the display such that, when the display displays the sequence of the plurality of objects, the display only displays faces or only displays edge-defined items or only displays words based on the touch input gesture.

11. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to identify the plurality of objects in the visual information and to store information identifying the plurality of objects in the data in the memory.

12. The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to determine the sequence of the plurality of objects based on which of the plurality of objects are intersected by a path, wherein the processor is configured to determine the path based at least in part on the touch input gesture.

13. An article of manufacture comprising:

one or more tangible, machine-readable storage media having instructions encoded thereon for execution by a processor, the instructions comprising;

instructions for identifying objects in visual information;

instructions for causing the visual information to be displayed on a display;

instructions for determining at least one touch input gesture on the display while the visual information is being displayed, wherein the at least one touch input gesture comprises a swipe;

instructions for determining a directional path of the swipe;

instructions for determining which of the objects are intersected by the directional path; and

instructions for causing the identified objects that are intersected by the directional path to be displayed on the display in sequence and in greater detail.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein the instructions for determining the at least one touch input gesture comprise determining when a “

hold”

touch input gesture follows the swipe.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein the instructions for determining the at least one touch input gesture comprise determining when a “

hold”

touch input gesture precedes the swipe.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein the instructions for determining the directional path comprise determining the directional path as starting at a point where the touch input gesture is initially detected on the display.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 13, wherein the instructions for determining the directional path comprise determining the directional path as starting at a point along an edge of the visual information.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 13, comprising instructions for identifying a cluster of two or more of the identified objects.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 18, wherein the cluster is identified based on whether the two or more identified objects have overlapping boundaries, whether a boundary of one of the two or more identified objects is located within a boundary of another of the two or more identified objects, or whether the two or more identified objects are located within a certain distance of each other, or any combination thereof.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 18, comprising instructions for, when at least one of the two or more identified objects of the cluster is intersected by the directional path, comprehensively displaying the cluster in greater detail before or after individually displaying the two or more identified objects of the cluster in greater detail.

21. An electronic device comprising:

a display configured to display an image and to detect a touch input gesture that includes a directional swipe gesture across the image, wherein metadata associated with the image identifies a plurality of objects located within the image; and

a processor configured to determine a direction vector across the image based at least in part on the directional swipe gesture, to compare the metadata to the direction vector to determine which of the plurality of objects that are intersected by the direction vector, and to cause the display to pan across the image and to zoom in on each of the plurality of objects that are intersected by the direction vector.

22. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the touch input gesture comprises a “

swipe”

touch input gesture, a “

hold”

touch input gesture, a “

swipe then hold”

touch input gesture, a “

hold then swipe”

touch input gesture, or a multiple simultaneous touch input gesture, or any combination thereof.

23. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the processor is configured to determine a continuation of the direction vector where the direction vector reaches an edge of the image.

24. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the processor is configured to determine the continuation of the direction vector by returning to a starting point of the direction vector, by reflecting the direction vector off of the edge of the image at an angle, by wrapping the direction vector around the image to begin at another edge of the image, or by following the edge of the image upward or downward when the direction vector reaches the edge of the image, or any combination thereof.

25. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the processor is configured to cause the display to pan across the image and to zoom in on each of the plurality of objects that are intersected by the direction vector until the direction vector reaches an edge of the image.

26. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the processor is configured to cause the display to pan across the image and to zoom in on each of the plurality of objects that are intersected by the direction vector sequentially in an order of intersection from a starting point of the direction vector.

27. A method comprising:

detecting a user selection of an object identified in an image on an electronic display; and

when the user selection of the object is detected, displaying a sequence of other images that also include the object on the electronic display.

28. The method of claim 27, comprising displaying a collection of thumbnails of the other images on the electronic display when the user selection of the object is detected.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the other images are displayed in sequence through panning and zooming across the thumbnails of the other images.

30. The method of claim 27, comprising displaying the object in greater detail in each of the other images when the other images are displayed in sequence.