Multi-touch gesture dictionary

A method of providing to a user a dictionary of multi-touch gestures, each of the gestures comprising a chord and a motion associated with the chord, the method comprising:

• identifying a chord presented to a multi-touch interface by the user to begin a gesture, the identified chord comprising a combination of hand parts associated with the gesture but distinct from motion associated with the identified chord to complete the gesture, wherein the identified chord is presented during use of a non-dictionary application;
• detecting an absence of motion associated with the identified chord to complete the gesture for a predetermined period of time after the identifying of the chord presented to begin the gesture;
• and
• in response to the detecting of the absence of motion for the predetermined period of time, displaying a dictionary entry for the identified chord, the displayed dictionary entry comprising a visual depiction of multiple motions associated with the identified chord and, for each of the multiple motions associated with the identified chord, a meaning of a gesture comprising the identified chord and the corresponding motion.

A computer system capable of providing a dictionary of multi-touch gestures, the computer system having a multi-touch interface, a graphical user interface, and a computer memory encoded with executable instructions causing the computer system to:

• identify a chord presented to the multi-touch interface by a user to begin a gesture, the identified chord comprising a combination of hand parts associated with the gesture but distinct from motion associated with the identified chord to complete the gesture, wherein the identified chord is presented during use of a non-dictionary application;
• detect an absence of motion associated with the identified chord to complete the gesture for a predetermined period of time after the identifying of the chord presented to begin the gesture;
• and
• in response to the detecting of the absence of motion for the predetermined period of time, display a dictionary entry for the identified chord, the displayed dictionary entry comprising a visual depiction of multiple motions associated with the identified chord and, for each of the multiple motions associated with the identified chord, a meaning of a gesture comprising the identified chord and the corresponding motion.