VIRTUAL OBJECT ADJUSTMENT VIA PHYSICAL OBJECT DETECTION

• US 20130002591A1
• Filed: 09/12/2012
• Published: 01/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/15/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Whytock, Chris, Pessoa, Carlos, Hoover, Paul Armistead
• Granted Patent: US 8,587,549 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 3/0416 Control or interface arrangements specially adapted for digitisers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects

Abstract

Various embodiments related to the location and adjustment of a virtual object on a display in response to a detected physical object are disclosed. One disclosed embodiment provides a computing device comprising a multi-touch display, a processor and memory comprising instructions executable by the processor to display on the display a virtual object, to detect a change in relative location between the virtual object and a physical object that constrains a viewable area of the display, and to adjust a location of the virtual object on the display in response to detecting the change in relative location between the virtual object and the physical object.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions stored thereon that are executable by a computing device to perform a method of adjusting a location of a virtual object displayed on a multi-touch display in response to a physical object located on the multi-touch display, the method comprising:

detecting a touch of a first physical object on the display;

detecting a touch of a second physical object on the display;

determining a relative location between the first physical object on the display and the second physical object on the display; and

displaying on the display a virtual object associated with one of the first physical object and the second physical object on the display at a location on the display based upon the relative location between the first physical object on the display and second physical object on the display.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the instructions are further executable to assign a default orientation vector configured to stabilize the location of the virtual object in a preselected direction based upon a magnitude of a distance between the first physical object and the second physical object.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the instructions are executable to adjust the location of the virtual object by assigning a first virtual charge value associated with the first physical object, assigning a second virtual charge value associated with the second physical object, determining an interaction force between the first virtual charge value and the second virtual charge value, and adjusting the location of the virtual object based upon the interaction force determined.

4. In a multi-touch display device comprising a touch-sensitive surface configured to detect a plurality of physical objects located on the surface, a method of adjusting a location of one or more user interfaces displayed on the surface, each user interface corresponding to a different physical object located on the surface, the method comprising:

detecting a touch of a first physical object on the display;

detecting a touch of a second physical object on the display;

assigning a first virtual charge value associated with the first physical object and a second virtual charge value associated with the second physical object;

determining a virtual force vector based on an interaction force between the first virtual charge value and the second virtual charge value;

displaying a first user interface associated with the first physical object at a location on the display based upon the virtual force vector;

detecting a change in relative location between the first physical object on the display and the second physical object on the display;

determining a changed virtual force vector based upon the change in relative location; and

adjusting a location of the first user interface based upon the changed virtual force vector.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the instructions are further executable to assign the first physical object a default orientation vector configured to stabilize the location of the first user interface in a preselected direction based upon a magnitude of a distance between the first physical object and the second physical object.

6. The device of claim 4, wherein the instructions are further executable to determine if the first physical object and the second physical object should repel, wherein if the first physical object and the second physical object should repel the instructions are further executable to assign the first virtual charge value associated with the first physical object and the second virtual charge value associated with the second physical object to be of a same polarity.