Methods and systems for replicating content and graphical user interfaces on external electronic devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11216233-B2
Application number	US-201916533627-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 6, 2019
Priority date	Aug 6, 2019
Publication date	Jan 4, 2022
Grant date	Jan 4, 2022

Abstract

An electronic device includes a physical user interface, a wireless communication device, and one or more processors. The one or more processors identify one or more external electronic devices operating within an environment of the electronic device. The one or more processors cause the wireless communication device to transmit content and one or more control commands causing an external electronic device to present a graphical user interface depicting the physical user interface of the electronic device. The wireless communication device then receives one or more other control commands identifying user inputs interacting with the graphical user interface at the external electronic device. The one or more processors perform one or more control operations in response to the one or more other control commands.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method in an electronic device, the method comprising:
detecting, with one or more sensors of the electronic device, that a user interface of the electronic device is unavailable for user interaction and, in response to detecting that the user interface is unavailable for user interaction, initiating a detection, with a wireless communication device of the electronic device, of at least one external electronic device operating within an environment of the electronic device;
causing, by one or more processors of the electronic device, the wireless communication device to transmit content and one or more control commands from the electronic device to the at least one external electronic device, the one or more control commands causing the at least one external electronic device to output the content to the environment;
receiving, with the wireless communication device, one or more other control commands identifying one or more user inputs occurring at a user interface of the at least one external electronic device in response to presentation of the content to the environment; and
performing, with the one or more processors at the electronic device, one or more control operations on the content as a function of the one or more user inputs.

2. The method of claim 1 , the detecting that the user interface is unavailable for user interaction comprising detecting that the user interface is covered by clothing.

3. The method of claim 1 , the detecting that the user interface is unavailable for user interaction comprising detecting that the electronic device is in a purse.

4. The method of claim 1 , the detecting that the user interface is unavailable for user interaction comprising detecting that the electronic device is in a pocket.

5. The method of claim 1 , the initiating the detecting of the at least one external electronic device occurring only when the user interface of the electronic device has been unavailable for user interaction for at least a predefined period of time.

6. The method of claim 1 , the detecting that the user interface is unavailable for user interaction comprising detecting that the electronic device is rotationally stable one or more user inputs comprising one or more user interactions with a depiction of the user interface of the electronic device.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, confirming, with at least one additional sensor of the electronic device, that the user interface of the electronic device is covered prior to initiating the detecting of the at least one external electronic device.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising audibly prompting for permission to transmit content to the at least one external electronic device and receiving, with a user interface of the electronic device, an audible user input command requesting the presentation of the content on the at least one external electronic device.

9. The method of claim 8 , the audibly prompting comprising delivering an audible output in the form of a question.

10. The method of claim 9 , the question consisting of “can I throw that on a local display for you.”

11. The method of claim 10 , the audible user input command and the question each having a verb in common.

12. An electronic device, comprising:
a physical user interface;
a wireless communication device; and
one or more processors operable with the physical user interface and the wireless communication device;
the one or more processors causing the wireless communication device to identify one or more external electronic devices operating within an environment of the electronic device when the physical user interface is unavailable for user interaction;
the one or more processors prompting, in response to identifying one or more electronic devices operating within the environment of the electronic device, for permission to transmit content to an electronic device of the one or more electronic devices;
the one or more processors causing, in response to receiving the permission, the wireless communication device to transmit content and one or more control commands causing an external electronic device of the one or more external electronic devices to present a graphical user interface depicting the physical user interface of the electronic device to the environment;
the wireless communication device receiving one or more other control commands identifying user inputs interacting with the graphical user interface at the external electronic device; and
the one or more processors performing one or more control operations in response to the one or more other control commands.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 , the physical user interface receiving a user input requesting presentation of the graphical user interface on the external electronic device.

14. The electronic device of claim 13 , the wireless communication device identifying a plurality of external electronic devices operating within the environment, the one or more processors prompt, at the physical user interface, for a selection of the external electronic device from the plurality of external electronic devices.

15. The electronic device of claim 14 , the electronic device comprising a wearable electronic device, the graphical user interface comprising a depiction of the wearable electronic device.

16. The electronic device of claim 12 , the one or more electronic devices comprising a plurality of electronic devices each visibly presenting a unique identifier to an environment of the electronic device, wherein the permission includes a selected unique identifier identifying the electronic device of the plurality of electronic devices.

17. A method in an electronic device, the method comprising:
receiving, with a wireless communication device of the electronic device, one or more first control commands from a covered external electronic device operating within an environment of the electronic device, the one or more first control commands requesting a user interface of the electronic device to display a unique identifier, and presenting, with the user interface, the unique identifier in response to the one or more first control commands; and thereafter
receiving, with the wireless communication device of the electronic device, content and one or more second control commands from the covered external electronic device;
presenting, at a user interface of the electronic device, the content to the environment in response to the one or more second control commands;
receiving, with the user interface, one or more user inputs in response to presentation of the content to the environment; and
transmitting, with the wireless communication device, one or more third control commands identifying the one or more user inputs to the covered external electronic device.

18. The method of claim 17 , the content comprising a graphical user interface depicting a physical user interface of the covered external electronic device.

19. The method of claim 18 , the one or more user inputs comprising one or more user interactions with a depiction of the physical user interface of the electronic device.

20. The method of claim 18 , the unique identifier being audibly announced to the environment of the electronic device.

Assignees

• Motorola Mobility Llc

Inventors

• Alameh Rachid
• Simerson Jarrett
• Gorsica John

Classifications

• G06F3/1423 Primary

  controlling a plurality of local displays, e.g. CRT and flat panel display · CPC title

• G06F3/167 Primary

  Audio in a user interface, e.g. using voice commands for navigating, audio feedback · CPC title