Edge gestures

• US 8,239,785 B2
• Filed: 01/27/2010
• Issued: 08/07/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Hinckley, Kenneth P., Petschnigg, Georg F., Yatani, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Pesin, Boris
• Assistant Examiner(s): SONG, DAEHO D
• Application Number:
  US12/695,064
• Publication Number:
  US 20110185318A1
• Time in Patent Office: 923 Days
• Field of Search: 715/863, 345/173, 345/179
• US Class Current: 715/863
• 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 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

Techniques involving gestures and other functionality are described. In one or more implementations, the techniques describe gestures that are usable to provide inputs to a computing device. A variety of different gestures are contemplated, including bimodal gestures (e.g., using more than one type of input) and single modal gestures. Additionally, the gesture techniques may be configured to leverage these different input types to increase the amount of gestures that are made available to initiate operations of a computing device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

recognizing a first input, by a computing device, as selecting an object displayed by a display device using a plurality of touch inputs;

recognizing a second input, by the computing device, as movement of a stylus along an edge of the object, the movement recognized as occurring while the object is selected; and

identifying a gesture, by the computing device, from the recognized first and second inputs, the gesture effective to;

cause display of a line by the display device as drawn proximal to the edge and as following movement described by the second input that follows the edge of the object and continues on past another edge of the object; and

indicate that the object as selected using partial transparency.

2. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the first input is recognized as selecting two points of the object.

3. A method as described in claim 1, wherein:

the edge of the object is displayed as appearing over a second object and a background; and

the line appears as being drawn over the second object and the background.

4. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the first input and the second input are detected using a camera.

5. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the first input is further recognized as movement of the object within an image displayed by the display device before the recognizing of the second input.

6. A method as described in claim 1, wherein the gesture is further effective to cause display of the line to continue to follow subsequent movement of the stylus that has passed the edge of the object.

8. A method as described in claim 5, wherein the first input is further recognized as movement of the object within an image displayed by the display device to be placed over a second object, the movement of the object recognized as occurring before the recognizing of the second input.

9. A method as described in claim 5, wherein the first input is recognized as selecting two points of the object.

7. A method comprising:

recognizing a first input as selecting an object displayed by a display device using one or more touch inputs;

recognizing a second input as movement of a stylus along an edge of the object, the movement recognized as occurring while the object is selected; and

identifying a gesture from the recognized first and second inputs, the gesture effective to;

indicate selection of the object using partial transparency; and

cause display of a second object that is displayed beneath the object as being cut proximal to the edge and as following movement described by the second input, the cut continuing to follow subsequent movement of the stylus that has passed the edge of the object.

10. A computing device comprising one or more modules implemented at least partially in hardware, the one or more modules configured to cause operations to be performed comprising:

recognizing a first input as selecting an object displayed by a display device of the computing device using a plurality of touch inputs;

recognizing a stylus input as describing movement of a stylus along an edge of the object displayed by the display device, the movement recognized as occurring while the object is selected; and

identifying a gesture from the recognized first input and the stylus input, the gesture effective to;

indicate selection of the object using partial transparency; and

cause the edge of the selected object to act as a template such that a line drawn proximal to the edge as indicated by the stylus input is displayed by the display device as following the edge of the object and continues to follow subsequent movement of a source of the second input that has passed the edge of the object.