# US 2008/0189650 A1 · Method and system for cueing panning

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- Number: US 2008/0189650 A1
- Document ID: US20080189650A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 11/671,014
- Filed: 2007-02-05
- Published: 2008-08-07
- Earliest claimed: 2007-02-05
- Inventors: Sherryl Lee Lorraine Scott; Alen Mujkic
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20080189650A1

## CPC

- G06F 3/0485: Scrolling or panning
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

Panning the display of content on a computing device, particularly a handheld device, can be awkward using incorporated track wheels or track balls especially when walking and operating the device. A graphical user interface displays panning cues for directions associated with the content to be panned to instruct a user how to pan using at least one input device of the computing device. During a panning operation, a respective panning cues is displayed to reinforce the selected operation.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of viewing content displayed in a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display screen of a computing device, said method comprising:
displaying a plurality of panning cues for panning directions associated with the content to instruct a user how to pan using at least one input device of the computing device; and
panning the content in response to user input via the at least one input device indicating a direction to pan and, in association with the panning, displaying a respective panning cue associated with the direction to pan thereby to acknowledge the user input.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of displaying a respective panning cue comprises, at least temporarily, displaying only the respective panning cue associated with the direction to pan.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2 comprising re-displaying the panning cues following a temporary display of the respective panning cue.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of displaying a respective panning cue comprises moving the display of the respective panning cue about the display screen to indicate the direction to pan.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the step of displaying a respective panning cue associated with the direction to pan comprises displaying a trail of panning cues providing a history of recent panning operations.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein said content comprises a map and the step of displaying a respective panning cue comprises displaying a compass direction associated with the respective panning cue.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one input device comprises a plurality of hardware or software keys and the method comprises associating the keys to respective panning directions whereby an input from one of the keys signals the GUI to pan the content in the associated respective direction.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method according to claim 7 wherein the panning cues comprise key labels indicating which respective keys are enabled for panning the content.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7 wherein the plurality keys are also associated for telephone number input in a telephone GUI for the computing device.

### Claim 10 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7 comprising associating the plurality of keys to a like plurality of portions of the content located about a central portion of the content and wherein a user input using a one of the keys pans the respective associated portion of the content to the centre of the display screen.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 comprising providing a user interface element for a user to initiate panning of the content and wherein the step of displaying a plurality of panning cues is performed in response to an invocation of the user interface element to initiate panning.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 comprising displaying user instructions in association with the panning cues.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 comprising displaying the plurality of the panning cues over the content.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the content is at least one image defining a map and the computing device comprises a handheld communication device.

### Claim 15

A handheld device having a display screen and a plurality of keys for receiving user input, said handheld device comprising:
an application for viewing content, said application having a graphical user interface (GUI) configured for:
displaying the content on the display screen;
displaying a plurality of panning cues for panning directions associated with the content to instruct a user how to pan using at least some of the keys of the computing device; and
panning the content in response to user input via one of the keys indicating a direction to pan and, in association with the panning, displaying a respective panning cue associated with the direction to pan thereby to acknowledge the user input.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The handheld device of claim 15 wherein when displaying a respective panning cue associated with the direction to pan, the GUI displays, at least temporarily, only the respective panning cue associated with the direction to pan.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The handheld device of claim 16 wherein the GUI is configured for re-displaying the panning cues following a temporary display of the respective panning cue.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The handheld device of claim 16 wherein when displaying a respective panning cue associated with the direction to pan, the GUI moves the display of the respective panning cue about the display screen to indicate the direction to pan.

### Claim 19 (depends on 16)

The handheld device of claim 16 wherein when displaying a respective panning cue associated with the direction to pan, the GUI displays a trail of panning cues providing a history of recent panning operations.

### Claim 20 (depends on 16)

The handheld device of claim 16 wherein said content comprises a map and wherein when displaying a respective panning cue associated with the direction to pan, the GUI displays a compass direction associated with the respective panning cue.

### Claim 21 (depends on 16)

The handheld device of claim 16 wherein the at least one input device comprises a plurality of hardware or software keys and the GUI associates the keys to respective panning directions whereby an input from one of the keys signals the GUI to pan the content in the associated respective direction.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The handheld device according to claim 21 wherein the panning cues comprise key labels indicating which respective keys are enabled for panning the content.

### Claim 23 (depends on 21)

The handheld device of claim 21 wherein the plurality keys are also associated for telephone number input in a telephone GUI for the handheld device.

### Claim 24 (depends on 21)

The handheld device of claim 21 wherein the GUI associates the plurality of keys to a like plurality of portions of the content located about a central portion of the content and wherein a user input using a one of the keys pans the respective associated portion of the content to the centre of the display screen.

### Claim 25 (depends on 15)

The handheld device of claim 15 wherein the GUI provides a user interface element for a user to initiate panning of the content and wherein the GUI displays the plurality of panning cues in response to an invocation of the user interface element to initiate panning.

### Claim 26 (depends on 15)

The handheld device of claim 15 wherein the GUI displays user instructions in association with the panning cues.

### Claim 27 (depends on 15)

The handheld device of claim 15 wherein the GUI displays the plurality of the panning cues over the content.

### Claim 28 (depends on 15)

The handheld device of claim 15 wherein the content is at least one image defining a map.

### Claim 29 (depends on 1)

A computer program product having computer readable code embodied therein, for execution by a processor for configuring a computing device to view content in a graphical user interface on a display screen, said computer program product comprising instructions and data for configuring a processor of the computing device to perform the method of claim 1.