Simulating physical materials and light interaction in a user interface of a resource-constrained device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12112008-B2
Application number	US-202117385770-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 26, 2021
Priority date	Jun 8, 2012
Publication date	Oct 8, 2024
Grant date	Oct 8, 2024

Abstract

Methods and systems for simulating light interaction and physical materials in a graphical user interface (GUI) of a resource-constrained device are provided. Simulating physical materials, such as glass and metal, in a GUI can allow a user to feel more natural in interacting with the GUI. The user experience can be further enhanced if the simulated physical materials in the GUI can interact with the device's environment in a manner similar to how the actual physical materials would interact. However, continually polling various sensors can be resource-intensive, especially for resource-constrained mobile devices. Accordingly, a mobile device can intelligently determine whether to begin a reduced detail mode, and then render user interface objects in the reduced detail mode to conserve resources.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
at a computer system that is in communication with a display device and one or more input devices:
displaying, via the display device, a user interface object corresponding to a first control configured to adjust a first operation of a software application, wherein:
the user interface object is displayed as part of an application user interface for the software application that includes a second control configured to adjust a second operation of the software application and a third control configured to adjust a third operation of the software application;
the second control and the third control are displayed concurrently with the first control; and

the user interface object is made of a simulated physical material and the third control is not made of the simulated physical material;
while the computer system is being used in a first environment:
while displaying the user interface object, detecting, via the one or more input devices, a first movement; and
in response to detecting the first movement, changing an appearance of the user interface object based on the first movement and a first set of one or more simulated light sources selected based on the first environment and maintaining an appearance of the third control; and

while the computer system is being used in a second environment different from the first environment:
while displaying the user interface object, detecting, via the one or more input devices, a second movement; and
in response to detecting the second movement, changing the appearance of the user interface object based on the second movement and a second set of one or more simulated light sources selected based on the second environment that are different from the first set of one or more simulated light sources and maintaining the appearance of the third control.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the simulated physical material is glass.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the simulated physical material is metal.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a color temperature of the first set of one or more simulated light sources is different from a color temperature of the second set of one or more simulated light sources.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein an intensity of light of the first set of one or more simulated light sources is different from an intensity of light of the second set of one or more light sources.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a sharpness of shadows cast by the first set of one or more simulated light sources is different from a sharpness of shadows cast by the second set of one or more light sources.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first environment is outdoors and the second environment is indoors.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first environment is at a first time of day and the second environment is at a second time of day, different from the first time of day.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first environment is in first weather conditions and the second environment is in second weather conditions, different from the first weather conditions.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more simulated light sources includes multiple light sources pointed at the user interface object from different simulated directions.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user interface object has a color based on content associated with the user interface object.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
detecting a change in the content associated with the user interface object; and
in response to detecting the change in the content associated with the user interface object, changing the color of the user interface object.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein detecting movement comprises detecting movement of the display device, the method further comprising:
in response to detecting the movement of the display device, moving the user interface object to indicate that the movement of the user interface object is independent of movement of the display device.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the simulated physical material includes a texture.

15. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
while the computer system is being used in the first environment:
while displaying the second control that is made of a second simulated physical material, detecting, via the one or more input devices, the first movement; and
in response to detecting the first movement, changing an appearance of the second control based on the first movement and the first set of one or more simulated light sources selected based on the first environment; and

while the computer system is being used in the second environment:
while displaying the second control, detecting, via the one or more input devices, the second movement; and
in response to detecting the second movement, changing the appearance of the second control based on the second movement and the second set of one or more simulated light sources selected based on the second environment.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured to be executed by one or more processors of a computer system that is in communication with a display device and one or more input devices, the one or more programs including instructions for:
displaying, via the display device, a user interface object corresponding to a first control configured to adjust a first operation of a software application, wherein:
the user interface object is displayed as part of an application user interface for the software application that includes a second control configured to adjust a second operation of the software application and a third control configured to adjust a third operation of the software application;
the second control and the third control are displayed concurrently with the first control; and
the user interface object is made of a simulated physical material and the third control is not made of the simulated physical material;

while the computer system is being used in a first environment:
while displaying the user interface object, detecting, via the one or more input devices, a first movement; and
in response to detecting the first movement, changing an appearance of the user interface object based on the first movement and a first set of one or more simulated light sources selected based on the first environment and maintaining an appearance of the third control; and

while the computer system is being used in a second environment, different from the first environment:
while displaying the user interface object, detecting, via the one or more input devices, a second movement; and
in response to detecting the second movement, changing the appearance of the user interface object based on the second movement and a second set of one or more simulated light sources selected based on the second environment that are different from the first set of one or more simulated light sources and maintaining the appearance of the third control.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the simulated physical material is glass.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the simulated physical material is metal.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein a color temperature of the first set of one or more simulated light sources is different from a color temperature of the second set of one or more simulated light sources.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Boettcher Jesse W
• Ingrassia Jr Michael I
• Mason Jeri C
• Davydov Anton M
• Rempel David J
• Chaudhri Imran

Classifications

• G06F3/0481 Primary

  based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance · CPC title