Apple files patent for ‘Visual expander’
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Feb 6, 2006 at 5:56am
On Feb. 2, the US Patent & Trademark Office revealed an Apple patent titled “Visual expander,” filed originally on August 26, 2004.
Abstract
A computer implemented method for a touchscreen display is disclosed. The method includes presenting graphical information on the touchscreen display. The method further includes detecting a touch over the touchscreen display. The method also includes expanding an area of the touch screen display proximate the location of the touch.
Overview: Description of the related art
There exist today many styles of input devices for performing operations in a computer system. The operations generally correspond to moving a cursor and/or making selections on a display screen. By way of example, the input devices may include buttons or keys, mice, trackballs, touch pads, joy sticks, touch screens and the like. Each of these devices has advantages and disadvantages that are taken into account when designing or configuring a computer system.
Touch screens, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular because of their ease and versatility of operation as well as to their declining price. Touch screens allow a user to make selections and move a cursor by simply touching the display screen via a finger or stylus. For example, a user may make a selection by pointing directly to a graphical object displayed on the display screen. The graphical object may for example correspond to an on-screen button for performing specific actions in the computer system. In general, the touch screen recognizes the touch and position of the touch on the display screen and the computer system interprets the touch and thereafter performs an action based on the touch event. There are several types of touch screen technologies including resistive, capacitive, infrared and surface acoustic wave.
While touchscreens generally work well, they are difficult to use when features such as buttons, web page links, or UI controls presented on the touch screen display are too small for finger activation, i.e., the finger is too large relative to the button, link or UI controls. Even if these features could be enlarged to meet minimum human factors requirements, they would adversely reduce the amount of space available for displaying other information to the user. In fact, in most cases the features are made small due to the limited amount of screen space (especially in handheld devices). Furthermore, the features typically do not provide the user with any feedback indicating that a finger is located on the feature. This may make it difficult to determine what feature is being selected. As a result, the user may incorrectly select a feature. Moreover, once the size of the features are set, they typically cannot be changed. For example, in web browsing users have no control over the size of the link or button presented by a web site.
In most small touchscreens such as those used in personal digital assistants, styli are used to help pin point areas for selection and to perform gestures such as those used to enter characters or symbols. While this generally provides a solution to activating small features, the styli has its own drawbacks. For example, the user still has to manipulate the stylus over the feature. This may be difficult for some users such as those who are visually impaired or those with limited coordination. In addition, the stylus can be lost and it can be aesthetically unpleasing. For example, the stylus is typically separate from the computing device in which it is used and therefore the stylus can be easily misplaced by the user. With regards to being aesthetically unpleasing, the computing device typically includes a receptacle, which receives the stylus and which produces unwanted breaks and cracks in the external surface of the computing device. Moreover, the stylus is less intuitive than using a finger.
Recently, several software products have come on the market that help visually impaired individuals see objects displayed on the screen. These software products are typically implemented in traditional computer systems such as those that include a desktop and a CRT monitor. The software products typically include magnifiers that magnify a portion of the screen. The magnifiers may for example be implemented with a virtual magnifying glass. The virtual magnifying glass magnifies the GUI in the area of the magnifying glass, i.e. similarly to moving a magnifying glass over a printed piece of paper. The magnifying glass allows the user to traverse through the GUI so that the user can read small text. In most cases, the virtual magnifying glass is controlled by moving a cursor such as for example via a remote mouse, or trackball. While virtual magnifying glasses work well, they are limited. For example, they typically do not allow features to be manipulated or selected inside the magnified area. Furthermore, they may not allow text editing therein.
Some operating systems such as
Summary of the invention
The invention relates, in one embodiment, to a computer implemented method for a touchscreen display. The method includes presenting graphical information on the touchscreen display. The method further includes detecting a touch over the touchscreen display. The method also includes expanding an area of the touch screen display proximate the location of the touch.
The invention relates, in another embodiment, to a computer implemented method. The method includes presenting a graphical user interface (GUI). The method also includes sensing an object over the graphical user interface. The method further includes visually expanding an area of GUI near the sensed object. The method additionally includes if the expanded area includes a selectable feature, performing an action associated with the feature when the feature is selected.
The method further includes if the sensed object is moving over the GUI, moving the expanded area in accordance with the moving object. Moreover, the method includes if the object is no longer sensed, maintaining the expansion of the expanded area in the last sensed location for a predetermined amount of time.
The invention relates, in another embodiment, to a computer implemented method. The method includes displaying graphical information. The method also includes detecting an object over the graphical information. The method further includes visually expanding portions of the graphical information in close proximity and underneath the detected object.
About visual expansion
The expanded portion may be a localized area, which can be any portion of the graphical information. The localized area may include any portion of the graphical information including but not limited to background (e.g., wall paper), windows, fields, text, dialog boxes, menus, icons, buttons, cursors, UI controls or any combination thereof.
The expanded portion may also be linked to a particular object of the graphical information. For example, a particular window, field, dialog box, menu, icon, button, tool bar, user interface element (e.g., scroll bar, scroll wheel, slider bar, and dial), control box, footnote and the like. In some case, the entire object is expanded. For example, when the finger is placed over a window, the entire window is expanded. In other cases, only a portion of the object is expanded. For example, when the finger is placed over a tool bar, only the selectable items are expanded. As should be appreciated, these objects may need to be expanded so that they can be easily used by a human hand.
The time when expansion takes place can be widely varied. In one embodiment, expansion is activated immediately after the touch is detected. In another embodiment, expansion is activated after the touch is detected for a predetermined amount of time. In cases such as this, the user may have to hover their finger over the area desired to be expanded for the predetermined amount of time in order to initiate the expansion. By way of example, the dwell time may be between about 0.5 to about 5 seconds, and more particularly about 1 second. This embodiment may be employed to prevent inadvertent expansion. That is, the time delay may be used to avoid implementing expansion with casual contact not intended for expansion.
About speed rate
Once expansion is activated, the speed or rate at which the expanded area expands may be widely varied. The growth can happen quickly or slowly. In one embodiment, the expanded area grows from its normal state to the expanded state almost instantaneously. In another embodiment, the expanded area grows over some predetermined amount of time, i.e., the area expands gradually over time. The rate may be preset or it may be based on some external factor. For example, the rate of growth may be based on the touch pressure, i.e., the greater the touch pressure, the greater the rate of change. Alternatively, the rate of growth may be based on multiple taps, i.e., each tap causes incremental expansion.
About visual expander deactivation
Although not shown in FIG. 1, the method may include additional steps such as reverting back to a non-expanded state when the touch is no longer detected. In one embodiment, the expansion is deactivated immediately after the touch is no longer detected thereby causing the expanded portion to revert back to its normal state. In another embodiment, expansion is deactivated after a predetermined amount of time, i.e., there is a lag time. The lag time may be preset (e.g., user settable) or it may be based on external factors such as the amount of information located in the expanded area and human factors such as how long the user would take to read or grasp this particular amount of information. The lag time may allow the user to establish if the expanded area is the desired target. If it’s not the desired target, the user can move their finger to a new target. If it is the desired target, the user may perform additionally steps within the expanded area. By way of example, and not by way of limitation, the lag time may be between about 0.5 to about five seconds, and more particularly one second.
The speed or rate at which the expanded area reverts back to its normal state may be widely varied. The atrophy can happen quickly or slowly. In one embodiment, the expanded area atrophies from its expanded state to the normal state almost instantaneously. In another embodiment, the expanded area atrophies over some predetermined amount of time, i.e., the area atrophies gradually over time.
Other points
The patent states that the operating system may correspond to Mac OS, OS/2, DOS, UNIX, Linux, Palm OS, and the like. The operating system can also be a special purpose operating system, such as may be used for limited purpose appliance-type computing devices.
The computer system may correspond to a personal computer, such as a desktop, laptop, tablet or handheld computer. The computer system may also correspond to other types of computing devices such as cell phones, PDAs, media players, consumer electronic devices, and/or the like.
Cross-reference to related applications: [0001] This application is claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.: 60/592,483, filed Jul. 30, 2004, entitled “TOUCH SENSITIVE TECHNIQUES AND INPUT DEVICES,” which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The sole inventor listed on the patent is Peter Kennedy.
NOTICE
Macsimum News presents only a brief summary of patents with associated graphic(s) for journalistic news purposes as each such patent application and/or grant is revealed by the U.S. Patent & Trade Office. Readers are cautioned that the full text of any patent applications and/or grants should be read in its entirety for further details.
Patent: Visual expander
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Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
