Methods, systems and apparatus for digital-marking-surface space and display management

• US 9,400,592 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2012
• Issued: 07/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Laboratories of America Incorporated (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Dolan, John E., Smith, Dana S., Ellis, Stephen W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Kumar
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sadio, Insa
• Application Number:
  US13/430,582
• Publication Number:
  US 20130249815A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,583 Days
• Field of Search: 345173-184
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• 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

Aspects of the present invention are related to systems, methods and apparatus for digital-marking-surface spatial management of content units and display of content units. Some aspects relate to diagrammatic gestures that invoke content-unit spatial separation on a digital marking surface. Some aspects relate to the generation and display of a transformed view of content units on a digital marking surface.

Claims

1. A method, said method comprising:

in a digital-marking-surface system;

storing a keyhole gesture description associated with a content-unit spatial separation function for creating a blank space on a digital marking surface, wherein said keyhole gesture description includes a circle defining a center of expansion and a tail defining an extent of expansion;

in response to detecting a digital mark on said digital marking surface, automatically performing the following functions;

analyzing said digital mark to determine whether said digital mark conforms to said keyhole gesture description; and

performing said content-unit spatial separation function when said digital mark conforms to said keyhole gesture description, wherein said content-unit spatial separation function comprises creating a new blank space, on said digital marking surface, proximal to a location, on said digital marking surface, associated with said keyhole digital mark, wherein said creating a new blank space comprises moving a plurality of content units away from a center of expansion indicated by said keyhole center, a distance indicated by said keyhole tail.

2. A method as described in claim 1 further comprising converting said detected digital mark to a persistent ink unit if said detected digital mark does not conform to said keyhole gesture description.

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

said creating a new blank space comprises separating a plurality of content units relative to said keyhole digital mark location, on said digital marking surface; and

said content-unit spatial separation function further comprises displaying said spatially separated content units in a transformed view, wherein said transformed view comprises one or more view modifications selected from the group consisting of perspective distortion, warping, stretching, spatial compression, angling and shading.

4. A method as described in claim 1, wherein said creating a blank space comprises separating, in two dimensions, said plurality of content units relative to said location, on said digital marking surface, of said keyhole digital mark.

5. A method as described in claim 4, further comprising displaying said spatially separated content units in a transformed view, wherein said transformed view comprises one or more view modifications selected from the group consisting of perspective distortion, warping, stretching, spatial compression, angling and shading.

6. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising instructions instructing a processor in a digital-marking-surface system to:

store, in a memory, a keyhole gesture description associated with a content-unit spatial separation function for creating a blank space on a digital marking surface, wherein said keyhole gesture description includes a circle defining a center of expansion and a tail defining an extent of expansion;

detect a keyhole digital mark on said digital marking surface;

in response to detecting said keyhole digital mark on said digital marking surface, automatically perform the following functions;

analyze said keyhole digital mark to determine whether said keyhole digital mark conforms to said keyhole gesture description; and

perform said content-unit spatial separation function when said keyhole digital mark conforms to said keyhole gesture description, wherein said content-unit spatial separation function comprises creating a new blank space, on said digital marking surface, proximal to a location, on said digital marking surface, associated with said keyhole digital mark, wherein said creating a new blank space comprises moving a plurality of content units away from a center of expansion indicated by keyhole center, at a distance indicated by said keyhole tail.

7. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium as described in claim 6, wherein said creating a blank space comprises separating, in two dimensions, a plurality of content units relative to said location, on said digital marking surface, of said keyhole digital mark.

8. A method, said method comprising:

in a digital-marking-surface system;

storing a keyhole gesture description associated with a content-unit spatial separation function for creating a blank space on a digital marking surface, wherein said keyhole gesture description includes a circle defining a center of expansion and a tail defining an extent of expansion;

detecting a keyhole digital mark on said digital marking surface;

automatically analyzing said keyhole digital mark to determine whether said keyhole digital mark conforms to said keyhole gesture description; and

automatically performing said content-unit separation function when said keyhole digital mark conforms to said keyhole gesture description, wherein said content-unit spatial separation function causes spatial separation, of a plurality of content units, in two dimensions away from a location, on said digital marking surface, corresponding to a center of expansion indicated by said keyhole circle, and a distance indicated by said keyhole tail.

9. A method as described in claim 8 wherein said content-unit separation function further causes said plurality of spatially separated content units to be displayed with a transformed view, wherein said transformed view comprises one or more view modifications selected from the group consisting of perspective distortion, warping, stretching, spatial compression, angling and shading.