Control-article-based control of a user interface

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11003345-B2
Application number	US-201616080293-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 7, 2016
Priority date	May 16, 2016
Publication date	May 11, 2021
Grant date	May 11, 2021

Abstract

Systems and methods of providing control-article-based control of a user interface are provided. For instance, a presence of a control article can be detected in a first proximity zone proximate a user device. Responsive to detecting the presence of the control article, presentation data corresponding to a presentation mode of a user interface associated with the user computing device can be provided for display. A presence of the control article can be detected in a second proximity zone proximate the user computing device. The second proximity zone can define a separate physical area than the first proximity zone. Responsive to detecting the presence of the control article in the second proximity zone, interactive data corresponding to an interactive mode of the user interface can be provided for display.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
detecting, via a radar module of a computing device, a presence of a control article in a first proximity zone proximate the computing device;
responsive to detecting the presence of the control article in the first proximity zone, causing display, by the computing device, of a presentation mode of a user interface, the presentation mode comprising one or more non-interactive user interface elements;
detecting, via the radar module of the computing device, a presence of the control article in a second proximity zone proximate the computing device, the second proximity zone defining a separate physical area than the first proximity zone, the first proximity zone being adjacent to the second proximity zone and the second proximity zone separating the first proximity zone and the computing device;
responsive to detecting the presence of the control article in the second proximity zone, switching display, by the computing device, from the presentation mode to an interactive mode of the user interface, the interactive mode comprising one or more interactive user interface elements and removing at least one of the non-interactive user interface elements; and
responsive to ceasing to detect the presence of the control article in the first proximity zone or the second proximity zone, switching display, by the computing device, from either the presentation mode or the interactive mode to a standby mode of the user interface, the standby mode comprising one or more standby user interface elements and removing at least one of the non-interactive user interface elements or at least one of the interactive user interface elements.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, via the radar module of the computing device, a control gesture performed by the control article while the control article is located in the second proximity zone; and
performing, by the computing device, at least one action based at least in part on the determined control gesture.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one action comprises a control action associated with at least one of the interactive user interface elements.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein:
the at least one interactive user interface element is one of a plurality of interactive user interface elements corresponding to respective applications; and
the control action scrolls through the interactive user interface elements.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the non-interactive user interface elements are determined based on a location of the control article within the first proximity zone.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the non-interactive user interface elements comprise:
a first non-interactive user interface element based on a presence of the control article in a first subzone within the first proximity zone; and
a second non-interactive user interface element based on a presence of the control article in a second subzone within the first proximity zone.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the non-interactive user interface elements are determined based at least in part on a currently running application associated with the computing device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the standby user interface elements show temporal data.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the standby user interface elements is a clock face or time display.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising, responsive to detecting the presence of the control article in the second proximity zone, monitoring, via the radar module of the computing device, for a performance of a control gesture by the control article.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10 , wherein the monitoring comprises:
determining, via the radar module of the computing device, movement patterns associated with the control article; and
comparing, by the computing device, the movement patterns to one or more predetermined control gestures.

12. A computing system, comprising:
a radar module;
one or more processors; and
one or more memory devices, the one or more memory devices storing computer-readable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
detecting, via the radar module, a presence of a control article in a first proximity zone proximate the computing system;
responsive to detecting the presence of the control article in the first proximity zone, causing display of a presentation mode of a user interface associated with the computing system, the presentation mode comprising one or more non-interactive user interface elements;

detecting, via the radar module, a presence of the control article in a second proximity zone proximate the computing system, the second proximity zone defining a separate physical area than the first proximity zone, the first proximity zone being adjacent to the second proximity zone and the second proximity zone separating the first proximity zone and the computing system;
responsive to detecting the presence of the control article in the second proximity zone, switching display from the presentation mode to an interactive mode of the user interface, the interactive mode comprising one or more interactive user interface elements and removing at least one of the non-interactive user interface elements; and
responsive to ceasing to detect the presence of the control article in the first proximity zone or the second proximity zone, switching display from either the presentation mode or the interactive mode to a standby mode of the user interface, the standby mode comprising one or more standby user interface elements and removing at least one of the non-interactive user interface elements or at least one of the interactive user interface elements.

13. The computing system of claim 12 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining, via the radar module, a control gesture performed by the control article while the control article is located in the second proximity zone; and
performing at least one action based on the determined control gesture.

14. The computing system of claim 13 , wherein the non-interactive user interface elements comprise:
a first non-interactive user interface element based on a presence of the control article in a first subzone within the first proximity zone; and
a second non-interactive user interface element based on a presence of the control article in a second subzone within the first proximity zone.

15. The computing system of claim 12 , wherein at least one of the standby user interface elements is a clock face or time display.

16. The computing system of claim 12 , wherein at least one of the interactive user interface elements corresponds to at least one of the non-interactive user interface elements.

17. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storage devices comprising computer-readable instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
detecting, based on information received from a radar module of a user computing device, a presence of a control article in a first proximity zone proximate the user computing device;
responsive to detecting the presence of the control article in the first proximity zone, causing display of a presentation mode

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Poupyrev Ivan
• Schwesig Carsten C
• Schulze Jack
• Arnall Timo

Classifications

• G06F3/04883

  for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text · CPC title

• G06F3/0485

  Scrolling or panning · CPC title

• G06F3/04817 Primary

  using icons (graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34) · CPC title

• G06F3/017 Primary

  Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures (interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883) · CPC title

• G06F3/04886

  by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus · CPC title