NAVIGATING DIGITAL CONTENT BY TILT GESTURES

• US 20160034143A1
• Filed: 07/29/2014
• Published: 02/04/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Flipboard Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Flipboard Incorporated
• Inventors: Sharma, Vaibhav
• Application Number:
  US14/445,487
• Publication Number:
  US 20160034143A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning

Abstract

A digital magazine application executing on a client device enables a user of the client device to view and navigate digital content. The digital magazine application detects tilt gestures based on changes in orientation of the client device detected by an orientation sensor of the client device. When a tilt gesture is detected, the digital magazine application identifies a direction of the tilt gesture and selects content for presentation based on the tilt gesture and its direction. Hence, the digital magazine application simplifies navigation between content presented by the client device, allowing a user of the client device to navigate among content by changing the orientation of the client device.

Claims

1. A method for navigating digital content, the method comprising:

displaying content items on a display device of a client device;

detecting a change in orientation of the client device based on data captured from an orientation sensor included in the client device;

determining a direction associated with the change in orientation of the client device;

selecting one or more additional content items based at least in part on the detected change in orientation of the client device and the direction associated with the change in orientation of the client device; and

displaying the one or more additional content items on the display device of the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the change in orientation of the client device based on data captured from the orientation sensor included in the client device comprises:

receiving a signal from the orientation sensor indicating an acceleration of the client device along an axis; and

detecting the change in orientation of the client device if the acceleration of the client device is greater than a threshold acceleration.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the change in orientation of the client device based on data captured from the orientation sensor included in the client device comprises:

receiving a signal from the orientation sensor indicating a change in orientation of the mobile device relative to an axis; and

detecting the change in orientation of the client device if the change in orientation equals or exceeds a threshold angle.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the threshold angle is specified by a user of the client device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the change in orientation of the client device based on data captured from the orientation sensor included in the client device comprises:

receiving a signal from the orientation sensor indicating a change in orientation of the client device relative to an axis; and

detecting the change in orientation of the client device if a rate of the change in orientation of the client device relative to the axis is greater than a threshold rate of change.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the content items and the additional content items are organized hierarchically, and wherein the additional content items have a lower level in a hierarchy than the content items.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the content items and the additional content items are organized hierarchically, and wherein the additional content items have a higher level in a hierarchy than the content items.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the content items and the additional content items are organized hierarchically, and wherein the additional content items and the content items have a common level within a hierarchy.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting one or more additional content items based at least in part on the detected change in orientation of the client device and the direction associated with the change in orientation of the client device comprises:

identifying a navigation rule associated with the detected change in orientation of the client device and the direction associated with the change in orientation; and

selecting the one or more additional content items using the identified navigation rule corresponding to the identified tilt direction.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting one or more additional content items based at least in part on the detected change in orientation of the client device and the direction associated with the change in orientation of the client device comprises:

communicating a request for content to a content sever, the request including information describing the detected change in orientation of the client device and the direction associated with the change in orientation of the client device; and

receiving the one or more additional content items from the content server, the one or more additional content items determined based at least in part the detected change in orientation of the client device and the direction associated with the change in orientation of the client device.

11. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

display content items on a display device of a client device;

detect a change in orientation of the client device based on data captured from an orientation sensor included in the client device;

determine a direction associated with the change in orientation of the client device;

select one or more additional content items based at least in part on the detected change in orientation of the client device and the direction associated with the change in orientation of the client device; and

display the one or more additional content items on the display device of the client device.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein detect the change in orientation of the client device based on data captured from the orientation sensor included in the client device comprises:

receive a signal from the orientation sensor indicating an acceleration of the client device along an axis; and

detect the change in orientation of the client device if the acceleration of the client device is greater than a threshold acceleration.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein detect the change in orientation of the client device based on data captured from the orientation sensor included in the client device comprises:

receive a signal from the orientation sensor indicating a change in orientation of the mobile device relative to an axis; and

detect the change in orientation of the client device if the change in orientation equals or exceeds a threshold angle.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the threshold angle is specified by a user of the client device.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein detect the change in orientation of the client device based on data captured from the orientation sensor included in the client device comprises:

receive a signal from the orientation sensor indicating a change in orientation of the client device relative to an axis; and

detect the change in orientation of the client device if a rate of the change in orientation of the client device relative to the axis is greater than a threshold rate of change.

16. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the content items and the additional content items are organized hierarchically, and wherein the additional content items have a lower level in a hierarchy than the content items.

17. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the content items and the additional content items are organized hierarchically, and wherein the additional content items have a higher level in a hierarchy than the content items.

18. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the content items and the additional content items are organized hierarchically, and wherein the additional content items and the content items have a common level within a hierarchy.

19. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein select one or more additional content items based at least in part on the detected change in orientation of the client device and the direction associated with the change in orientation of the client device comprises:

identify a navigation rule associated with the detected change in orientation of the client device and the direction associated with the change in orientation; and

select the one or more additional content items using the identified navigation rule corresponding to the identified tilt direction.

20. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein select one or more additional content items based at least in part on the detected change in orientation of the client device and the direction associated with the change in orientation of the client device comprises:

communicate a request for content to a content sever, the request including information describing the detected change in orientation of the client device and the direction associated with the change in orientation of the client device; and

receive the one or more additional content items from the content server, the one or more additional content items determined based at least in part the detected change in orientation of the client device and the direction associated with the change in orientation of the client device.