Apple’s ‘proximity detector’ patent application Part 3: Mac OS on devices

Posted by Dennis Sellers Jul 20, 2006 at 11:20am

On July 20, the US Patent & Trademark Office published Apple’s patent application titled “Proximity detector in handheld device,” originally filed in September 2005. In part three of this report, you’ll read about UI methods and a wide variety of virtual elements, and more importantly, that these new portable devices will use the Mac OS.

The UI method

FIG. 10 is user interface method 400, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The user interface method 400 may for example be performed on a computing device having a display, a touch sensitive input device such as a touch screen and a proximity detector. The user interface method 400 begins at block 402 where an object such as a finger or stylus is detected above and spaced away from the display. This may be accomplished with the proximity detector when the finger crosses into the sensing field of the proximity detector. In some cases, the touch screen may act as a proximity detector as for example in cases where the touch screen is based on capacitance. The controller can be configured to monitor changes in capacitance even when there is no touch. The object however typically has to be fairly close to the touch surface of the touch screen.

Once the object is detected, the user interface method 400 proceeds to block 404 where a user interface (UI) mode is determined. The user interface mode may be widely varied. The user interface mode may include scroll modes, data entry modes, edit modes, control modes, information modes, etc. Each mode typically has one or more GUI interface elements associated therewith. By way of example, a virtual scroll wheel or slider bar may be associated with a scroll mode, a keyboard or keypad may be associated with data entry mode, a tool bar such as a formatting tool bar or drawing tool bar may be associated with an edit mode, a control panel including buttons may be associated with a control mode, a window may be associated with an information mode, etc.

The user interface mode may be determined at block 404 based on one or more conditions including for example, one or more applications currently running on the computing device, the current state or mode of the one or more applications and/or the proximity characteristics (e.g., location). In fact, determining the user interface mode at block 404 may involve monitoring and analyzing one or more conditions.

Touch display devices using Mac OS

In context with using a virtual keyboard and scroll wheel, as noted above, the patent goes on to describe real world applications that will run on these new mobile devices:

The current applications may for example include operating systems (e.g., Mac OS), word processing programs, spreadsheet programs, draw editing programs, image editing programs, gaming programs, photo management programs (e.g., iPhoto), music management programs (e.g., iTunes), video editing programs (e.g., iMovie), movie management programs (e.g., QuickTime), music editing programs (e.g., GarageBand), Internet interface programs and/or the like.

The current state or mode of the applications may correspond to an active portion of the application (e.g., current window or windows within windows). For example, the active portion of a music management program may correspond to a music control mode, a playlist select mode, a menu mode, and/or the like. Further, the active portion of a photo management program may correspond to photo browsing mode or photo editing mode. Further still, the active portion of an Internet interface program may correspond to a web mode or an email mode.

To cite a few examples, if the application is a word processing or spreadsheet program then the mode may be determined to be a data entry mode so that data can be entered into the spreadsheet (e.g., keyboard). If the application is a music management program and a playlist is currently showing (active portion), the mode may be determined to be a scroll mode so that the items in the list may be scrolled through in order to find a desired item (e.g., scroll wheel). Alternatively, if a song is playing (active portion), the mode may be determined to be a control mode so that the manner in which songs are played can be controlled (e.g., play, stop, seek and volume control options). Further, if the application is a photo management program and a particular photo is displayed (active portion), the mode may be determined to be a control mode so that the photo can be modified (e.g., converting to black and white, removing red eye, and rotate options).

After determining the user interface mode 404, the user interface method 400 proceeds to block 406 where one or more GUI elements are displayed based on the user interface mode. This may be accomplished with the display device. In some cases, only one GUI element is displayed and in other cases multiple GUI elements are displayed. The GUI element is typically associated with a particular mode. For example, a slider bar or scroll wheel may be displayed in a scroll mode, a keyboard or keypad may be displayed in a data entry mode, a tool bar may be displayed in an edit mode, various buttons or a control panel may be displayed in a control mode, and information windows may be displayed in an information mode.

A wide variety of GUI elements

The GUI element may be displayed in a variety of ways. For example, it can be positioned over the currently displayed graphical images, or it can displace the currently displayed graphical images (e.g., minimize, shift, etc.). In some cases, the GUI element is made semi transparent so that the current graphical image disposed below the GUI element can be seen (thereby eliminating minimizing and shifting). This may be helpful when using a scroll wheel to traverse through a list disposed below the scroll wheel. Furthermore, the GUI element can be placed in the vicinity of the touch or it can be placed in some predetermined location. The predetermined location may be based on ergonomics, i.e., what is the best location for the user.

In addition to the above, the GUI element may be displayed using a transition effect such as growing, fading in, popping up, and in some cases may even pulsate, throb, etc. If the effect is popping up, the GUI element is immediately brought into view. If the effect is growing, a small GUI element (e.g., scroll wheel) is initially displayed, and thereafter the GUI element continuously enlarges through various sizes until it reaches its desired size. In addition, the final size of the GUI element may be based on the length of time the object is detected. For example, the GUI element stops growing when the touch is no longer detected. Alternatively, the speed and size may be user adjustable as for example through a control panel. If the effect is fading, the GUI element is slowly brought into view from nothing, through various levels of distortion or transparency, to a final complete image. The fading can be controlled similarly to growth. For example, the level of fade may be controlled by the length of time the object is detected.

The transition effect may even carry over to the currently displayed images, i.e., the images currently displayed before the object was detected. In one embodiment, the opposite effect happens to the currently displayed images. For example, the currently displayed graphical images are minimized smaller and smaller as the GUI element grows larger and larger. Alternatively, if the GUI element immediately pops in, the currently displayed graphical images can immediately pop out or be immediately minimized.

In block 408, the functionality of the GUI element is enabled. When enabled, the GUI element is readied for receiving inputs. In the case of a touch screen, for example, touch events are monitored relative to the GUI element and actions associated with the touch event are performed. The enablement may occur simultaneously with the display of the GUI element so that a user can immediately start using the GUI element once displayed. By way of example, in a scroll mode, a virtual scroll wheel may be displayed and when enabled, the touch events are monitored relative to the scroll wheel. During monitoring, control signals associated with the position of the finger on the scroll wheel are generated as the finger swirls around the virtual scroll wheel. These signals can be used to perform scrolling. For example, the number, combination and frequency of the signals may be converted into distance, direction and speed necessary for moving a selection bar through a list. Examples of virtual scroll wheels and their operations may be found in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/903,964 and 11/038,590, both of which are herein incorporated by reference.

At some point after enabling and displaying the GUI element, a determination 412 is made as to whether or not to deactivate the GUI element. The determination 412 can be made in a variety of ways including, for example: 1) the object is no longer detected, 2) an object has not been detected for a preset amount of time, 3) a time out occurs (a preset amount of time has gone by since the GUI element was first displayed/enabled), or 4) a user selection (e.g., a user selects a button that closes the GUI element).

If the determination indicates deactivation, then the method proceeds to block 414 where the GUI element is disabled and removed from display. Once disabled, actions will no longer be performed when a touch event occurs. The removal of the GUI element from display may function similar to displaying the GUI element in that it can be removed using a transition effect such as slowly fading out, shrinking or immediately disappearing (popping out). The removal transition effect may work opposite the displaying transitioning effect. For example, the GUI element fades out similarly to fading in, shrinks similarly to growth or pops out similarly to popping in Further, the GUI element can slowly recess and disappear from view while the displaced or shrunken current graphical images can slowly grow back to their original size and shape. If the determination does not indicate deactivation, then the method maintains the display of the GUI element as well as the enablement thereof.

Other patent figures

Other patent figures
This is an extraordinarily “loooooong” patent filled with great detail that would really take six parts to do it justice. However, the three parts provided for cover the overview. If you want to read the entire patent, I’ve provided other illustrations below so that you could match the text with the figures. For those of you that are brave enough to tackle the entire patent: enjoy.

FIG. 12 is a user interface method, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a user interface method, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram of a GUI operational method, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is an expansion method, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a proximity method, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a proximity gesture method, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

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.

The inventors listed on patent application number 20060161871 are Steven P. Hotelling, Robert Duncan Kerr, Bas Ording, Jonathan P. Ive, Peter J. Kennedy, Anthony M. Fadell and Jeffrey L. Robbin.

The inventors listed on patent application number 20060161871 are Steven P. Hotelling, Robert Duncan Kerr, Bas Ording, Jonathan P. Ive, Peter J. Kennedy, Anthony M. Fadell and Jeffrey L. Robbin.

Note: there’s a second patent on this title under 20060161870.

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