US 10,592,095 B2 · Instantaneous speaking of content on touch devices

Abstract

Systems and processes are disclosed for initiating and controlling content speaking on touch-sensitive devices. A gesture can be detected on a touchscreen for causing text to be spoken. Displayed content can be analyzed, and a determination can be made based on size, position, and other attributes as to which portion of displayed text should be spoken. In response to detecting the gesture, the identified portion of text can be spoken using a text-to-speech process. A menu of controls can be displayed for controlling the speaking. The menu can automatically be hidden and a persistent virtual button can be displayed that can remain available on the touchscreen despite the user navigating to another view. Selecting the persistent virtual button can restore the full menu of controls, thereby allowing the user to continue to control the speaking even after navigating away from the content being spoken.

Claims48

Dependent claims

A method for speaking touchscreen content, the method comprising:

at an electronic device having a processor, memory, and a touchscreen:
displaying, on the touchscreen, a content container containing a plurality of portions of text,
wherein the content container is one of a plurality of content containers displayed on the touchscreen, and
wherein each portion of text of the plurality of portions of text occupies a respective area and a respective position in the content container;
detecting a gesture on the touchscreen, wherein the gesture does not identify a first portion of text of the plurality of portions of text;
in response to detecting the gesture:
determining the first portion of text to be spoken based on:
comparing an attribute of the content container relative to an attribute of at least one other content container of the plurality of content containers;
comparing a size of the respective area occupied by the first portion of text relative to a size of the respective area occupied by a second portion of text of the plurality of portions of text;
and
the respective position occupied by the first portion of text in the content container;
and
speaking the determined first portion of text using a text-to-speech process.

10 more elements

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured to be executed by an electronic device having a processor, memory, and a touchscreen, the one or more programs including instructions for:

displaying, on the touchscreen, a content container containing a plurality of portions of text,
wherein the content container is one of a plurality of content containers displayed on the touchscreen, and
wherein each portion of text of the plurality of portions of text occupies a respective area and a respective position in the content container;
detecting a gesture on the touchscreen, wherein the gesture does not identify a first portion of text of the plurality of portions of text;
in response to detecting the gesture:
determining the first portion of text to be spoken based on:
comparing an attribute of the content container relative to an attribute of at least one other content container of the plurality of content containers;
comparing a size of the respective area occupied by the first portion of text relative to a size of the respective area occupied by a second portion of text of the plurality of portions of text;
and
the respective position occupied by the first portion of text in the content container;
and
speaking the determined first portion of text using a text-to-speech process.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Instantaneous speaking of content on touch devices

Life of this patent

Instantaneous speaking of content on touch devices

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims48