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US 6,310,610 B1Granted
Intelligent touch display
AssigneeNortel Networks Limited
InventorsBrian Finlay Beaton, Colin Donald Smith, Francois Blouin, Guillaume Comeau, Arthur Julian Patterson Craddock
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The system and method consistent with the present invention provides a touch-responsive graphical user interface for electronic devices. The graphical user interface determines a pointer size of the object making contact with a display and activates a function corresponding to the pointer size. The graphical user interface may invoke a wide array of functions such as a navigation tool, draw function, an erase function, or a drag function. The graphical user interface of the present invention may be especially useful in portable electronic devices with small displays.
Claims31
A method of providing a touch-responsive user interface comprising the steps of:
- detecting an object making contact with a physical viewing area;
- determining a pointer size of the object, based on a rate of change in the amount of pressure imposed by the object on the physical viewing area;
- and
- activating a function corresponding to the pointer size,
- wherein the determining step includes the substep of:
- <determining the pointer size corresponding to a finger;
- and
- wherein the activating step includes the substep of:
- activating a navigation tool in response to the determined pointer size.
6 more elements
A method of providing a touch-responsive user interface comprising the steps of:
- detecting an object making contact with a physical viewing area;
- determining a pointer size of the object, based on a rate of change in the amount of pressure imposed by the object on the physical viewing area;
- and
- activating a function corresponding to the pointer size,
- wherein the determining step includes the substep of:
- determining the pointer size corresponding to a pencil eraser;
- and
- wherein the activating step includes the substep of:
- activating an erase function in response to the determined pointer size.
6 more elements
An apparatus for providing a touch-responsive user interface comprising:
- means for detecting an object making contact with a physical viewing area;
- means for determining a pointer size of the object, based on a rate of change in the amount of pressure imposed by the object on the physical viewing area;
- and
- means for activating a function corresponding to the pointer size,
- wherein the means for determining includes:
- means for determining the pointer size corresponding to a finger;
- and
- wherein the means for activating includes:
- means for activating a navigation tool in response to the determined pointer size.
6 more elements
An apparatus for providing a touch-responsive user interface comprising:
- means for detecting an object making contact with a physical viewing area;
- means for determining a pointer size of the object, based on a rate of change in the amount of pressure imposed by the object on the physical viewing area;
- and
- means for activating a function corresponding to the pointer size,
- wherein the means for determining includes:
- means for determining the pointer size corresponding to a pencil eraser;
- and
- wherein the means for activating includes:
- means for activating an erase function in response to the determined pointer size.
6 more elements
A method of providing a touch-responsive user interface comprising the steps of:
- detecting an object making contact with a physical viewing area;
- determining a pointer size of the object;
- and
- activating a function corresponding to the pointer size,
- wherein the determining step includes the substeps of:
- determining points of contact of the object, by using points of contact data, wherein the points of contact data is generated by an analog controller that generates at least 150 points of contact per second based on the contact made by the object on the physical viewing area,
- computing a centroid of the points of contact,
- computing a standard deviation of the centroid, and
- computing the pointer size based on the centroid and the standard deviation.
6 more elements
An apparatus for providing a touch-responsive user interface comprising:
- means for detecting an object making contact with a physical viewing area;
- means for determining a pointer size of the object;
- and
- means for activating a function corresponding to the pointer size,
- wherein the determining means includes:
- means for determining points of contact of the object, by using points of contact data, wherein the points of contact data is generated by an analog controller that generates at least 150 points of contact per second based on the contact made by the object on the physical viewing area,
- means for computing a centroid of the points of contact,
- means for computing a standard deviation of the centroid, and
- means for computing the pointer size based on the centroid and the standard deviation.
6 more elements
A method of providing a touch-responsive user interface comprising the steps of:
- detecting an object making contact with a physical viewing area;
- determining a pointer size of the object, based on the amount of change in the pressure imposed by the object on the physical viewing area as a function of time;
- and
- activating a function corresponding to the pointer size,
- wherein the determining step includes the substeps of:
- determining points of contact of the object, by using points of contact data, wherein the points of contact data is generated by an analog controller that generates at least 150 points of contact per second based on the contact made by the object on the physical viewing area.
3 more elements
An apparatus for providing a touch-responsive user interface comprising:
- means for detecting an object making contact with a physical viewing area;
- means for determining a pointer size of the object, based on the amount of change in the pressure imposed by the object on the physical viewing area as a function of time;
- and
- means for activating a function corresponding to the pointer size,
- wherein the means for determining includes:
- means for determining points of contact of the object, by using points of contact data, wherein the points of contact data is generated by an analog controller that generates at least 150 points of contact per second based on the contact made by the object on the physical viewing area.
3 more elements
A system for providing a touch-responsive user interface comprising:
- a touch screen device having a viewable area for receiving an object that makes contact with the viewable area;
- a controller device connected to the touch screen device for detecting contact by the object on the viewable area and for generating at least 150 points of contact per second based on the detected contact;
- a computer-readable medium storing a touch screen program;
- and
- a processor connected to the controller device and computer-readable medium, for executing the touch screen program, wherein the touch screen program is configured, when executed by the processor, to perform the steps of:
- determining points of contact of the object, using the points of contact generated by the controller device;
- determining a rate of change in the amount of pressure imposed by the object on the physical viewing area;
- computing a pointer size based on the rate of change in the amount of pressure.
5 more elements
A computer-readable medium containing instructions for providing a touch-responsive user interface, the instructions when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising the steps:
- detecting an object making contact with a physical viewing area;
- determining points of contact of the object, by using points of contact data, wherein the points of contact data are generated by an analog controller that generates at least 150 points of contact per second based on the contact made by the object on the physical viewing area;
- determining a rate of change in the amount of pressure imposed by the object on the physical viewing area;
- computing a pointer size based on the rate of change in the amount of pressure;
- and
- activating a specific function corresponding to the pointer size.
3 more elements
A method for providing a touch-responsive user interface comprising:
- scanning a physical viewing area for contact by an object;
- detecting an object making contact with a physical viewing area;
- generating contact points associated with the contact made by the object on the physical viewing area at a rate of 150 points per second;
- determining points of contact of the object, using the generated contact points;
- determining the amount of pressure imposed by the object on the viewable area;
- determining the amount of time the object makes contact with the viewable area;
- and
- determining a pointer size based on the determined amount of pressure as a function of the determined time.
5 more elements
A method for providing a touch-responsive user interface including a touch screen device comprising a physical viewing area, the method comprising the steps of:
- presenting a first application tool on the physical viewing area;
- presenting a second application tool on the physical viewing area, wherein the second application tool is superimposed on top of the first application tool;
- detecting an object making contact on the physical viewing area, wherein the contact is located on the second application tool superimposed on top of the first application tool;
- determining the pointer size of the object making contact on the physical viewing area;
- activating either the first application tool or the second application tool, based on the determined pointer size of the object.
2 more elements
A method for providing a touch-responsive user interface including a touch screen device comprising a physical viewing area, the method comprising the steps of:
- presenting a first application tool on the physical viewing area;
- presenting a second application tool on the physical viewing area, wherein the second application tool is superimposed on top of the first application tool;
- detecting an object making contact on the physical viewing area, wherein the contact is located on the second application tool superimposed on top of the first application tool;
- determining points of contact of the object, by using points of contact data, wherein the points of contact data is generated by an analog controller that generates at least 150 points of contact per second based on the contact made by the object on the physical viewing area;
- determining the amount of pressure imposed by the object on the physical viewable area;
- determining the amount of time the object makes contact with the physical viewable area;
- determining a pointer size of the object based on the determined amount of pressure as a function of the determined time;
- and
- activating either the first application tool or the second application tool, based on the determined pointer size of the object.
6 more elements
A method of providing a touch-responsive user interface comprising the steps of:
- detecting an object making contact with a physical viewing area;
- determining a pointer size of the object;
- and
- activating an application tool corresponding to the pointer size,
- wherein the determining step includes the substeps of:
- determining a rate of change in the amount of pressure imposed by the object on the physical viewing area;
- computing a pointer size based on the rate of change in the amount of pressure.
4 more elements
An apparatus for providing a touch-responsive user interface comprising:
- means for detecting an object making contact with a physical viewing area;
- means for determining a pointer size of the object;
- and
- means for activating an application tool corresponding to the pointer size,
- wherein the means for determining includes:
- means for determining a rate of change in the amount of pressure imposed by the object on the physical viewing area;
- means for computing a pointer size based on the rate of change in the amount of pressure.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.