Restricted carousel with built-in gesture customization

• US 8,610,682 B1
• Filed: 02/17/2011
• Issued: 12/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Fulcher, Richard, Cohen, Gabriel, Westbrook, Paul, Flynn, Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Mengistu, Amare
• Assistant Examiner(s): ZUBAJLO, JENNIFER L
• Application Number:
  US13/029,813
• Time in Patent Office: 1,034 Days
• Field of Search: 345170-173
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/51 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• 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

A method, computer program product, and system are provided for defining a touch gesture on a touch sensing device. The method can include receiving a touch gesture at the touch sensing device, determining that the touch gesture is not associated with any operations, and providing an indication of one or more operations the touch sensing device can perform in response to the touch gesture. The method can also include receiving a selection of an operation, and associating the touch gesture with the selected operation.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

outputting, by a computing device, for display, a graphical user interface of an application, wherein the application is capable of performing a plurality of operations;

receiving, at the computing device, at a first time, an indication of a first touch gesture;

determining that the first touch gesture is not associated with any of the plurality of operations of the application;

in response to determining that the first touch gesture is not associated with any of the plurality of operations of the application, determining one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application and outputting, for display, a menu of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

receiving, at the computing device an indication of a selection of a first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

associating the first touch gesture with the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

receiving, at the computing device, at a second time later than the first time, an indication of a second touch gesture; and

performing, in response to determining that the second touch gesture is substantially similar to the first touch gesture, the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the application is an email application.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application include at least one of switching between one or more email accounts, switching between one or more labels associated with one email account, switching between one or more folders associated with one email account, or taking no action.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein performing the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application comprises:

hiding, by the computing device, from display, a first email account; and

outputting, by the computing device, for display, a second email account.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the computing device, an indication to disassociate the first touch gesture from the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

disassociating, in response to receiving the indication to disassociate, the first touch gesture from the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

receiving, at the computing device, an indication of a second selection of a second operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application; and

associating, in response to receiving the second selection, the first touch gesture with the second operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a second gesture that is substantially opposite to the first gesture;

determining a second operation of the plurality of operations of the application that is substantially opposite to the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application; and

associating the second gesture with the second operation of the plurality of operations of the application.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer program logic recorded thereon for enabling a processor to execute operations, the computer program logic configured to:

output, by a computing device, for display, a graphical user interface of an application, wherein the application is capable of performing a plurality of operations;

receive, at a computing device, at a first time, an indication of a first touch gesture;

determine that the first touch gesture is not associated with any of the plurality of operations of the application;

in response to determining that the first touch gesture is not associated with any of the plurality of operations of the application, determine one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application and output, for display, a menu of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

receive, at the computing device, an indication of a selection of a first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

associate the first touch gesture with the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

receive, at the computing device, at a second time later than the first time, an indication of a second touch gesture; and

perform, in response to determining that the second touch gesture is substantially similar to the first touch gesture, the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application.

8. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the application is an email application.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application include at least one of switching between one or more email accounts, switching between one or more labels associated with one email account, switching between one or more folders associated with one email account, or taking no action.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the computer program logic to perform the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application is configured to:

output, by the computing device, for display, one or more emails associated with a label of an email account.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the computer program logic is further configured to:

receive, at the computing device, an indication to disassociate the first touch gesture from the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

disassociate, in response to receiving the indication to disassociate, the first touch gesture from the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

receive, at the computing device, an indication of a second selection of a second operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application; and

associate, in response to receiving the second selection, the first touch gesture with the second operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the computer program logic is further configured to:

determine a second gesture that is substantially opposite to the first gesture;

determine a second operation of the plurality of operations of the application that is substantially opposite to the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

associate the second gesture with the second operation of the plurality of operations of the application.

13. A system, comprising:

a display device;

a touch sensing device;

a memory configured to store data and computer-executable instructions; and

a computing device operatively coupled to the display device, the touch sensing device and the memory, wherein the computing device and memory are configured to;

output, for display, a graphical user interface of an application, wherein the application is capable of performing a plurality of operations;

receive, at a first time, an indication of a first touch gesture;

determine that the first touch gesture is not associated with any operations of the application;

in response to determining that the first touch gesture is not associated with any operations of the application, determine one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application and output, for display, a menu of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

receive an indication of a selection of a first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

associate the first touch gesture with the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

receive, at a second time later than the first time, an indication of a second touch gesture; and

performing, in response to determining that the second touch gesture is substantially similar to the first touch gesture, the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the application is an email application.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the computing device is further configured to perform the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application to:

output, for display, one or more emails associated with a folder associated with an email account of the email application.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application include at least one of switching between one or more email accounts, switching between one or more labels associated with one email account, switching between one or more folders associated with one email account, or taking no action.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the computing device is further configured to:

receive an indication to disassociate the first touch gesture from the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

disassociate, in response to receiving the indication to disassociate, the first touch gesture from the first operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application;

receive an indication of a second selection of a second operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application; and

associate the first touch gesture with the second operation of the one or more operations of the plurality of operations of the application.