Method and apparatus for displaying navigational views on a portable device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9285970-B2
Application number	US-200913002675-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 22, 2009
Priority date	Jul 25, 2008
Publication date	Mar 15, 2016
Grant date	Mar 15, 2016

Abstract

A portable device ( 100 ) includes an orientation engine ( 118 ) and a display controller ( 106 ). The display controller displays a navigational view on a first display ( 102 ). Upon detecting a reorientation of the device ( 610 ), the display control displays a second navigational view ( 204 ). The second navigational view is related to the first navigational view by a relationship dictated by the direction of orientation change, and may be displayed on the first display or on a second display ( 104 ), depending on the manner of reorientation.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
a first external surface comprising a first display;
a second external surface that is opposite the first external surface, the second external surface comprising a second display;
an orientation engine configured to:
determine an orientation of the electronic device relative to a user of the electronic device, wherein the first display faces towards the user while the electronic device is oriented in a first orientation and the second display faces towards the user while the electronic device is oriented in a second orientation; and
in response to detecting a change in orientation of the electronic device, generate an orientation change parameter indicative of the orientation of the electronic device and

a direction of rotation during the change; and
a display controller operably coupled to the orientation engine and configured to:
output, for display at the first display, a first navigational view of a navigable media source when the orientation change parameter indicates that the electronic device is orientated in the first orientation;
after outputting the first navigational view for display, output, for display at the second display, a second navigational view of the navigable media source when the orientation change parameter indicates that the electronic device is orientated in the second orientation after rotating about a first axis of the electronic device in a first rotational direction; and
after outputting the second navigational view, output, for display at the first display, a third navigational view of the navigable media source when the orientation change parameter indicates that the electronic device is orientated in the first orientation after rotating about a second axis of the electronic device in a second rotational direction, wherein:
the first and second navigational views are related at least in part by the first rotational direction;
the second and third navigational views are related based at least in part by the second rotational direction; and
the third navigational view is different from the first navigational view and the first and third navigational views are related based at least in part by a combination of the first and second rotational directions.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the orientation engine comprises a plurality of accelerometers configured to sense an amount of acceleration in each of three orthogonal dimensions and the orientation engine is further configured to detect the change in the orientation of the electronic device based on the amount of acceleration in each of the three orthogonal dimensions.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first and second navigational views comprise respective navigational views of consecutively ordered files in a file directory.

4. The electronic device of claim 3 , wherein the second navigational view is a first scrolled view of the first navigational view and the third navigational view is second scrolled view of the first navigational view.

5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first and second navigational views comprise respective views of consecutive pages of an electronic document.

6. The electronic device of claim 5 , wherein the third navigational view is a zoomed view of the second navigational view.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first navigational view comprises a first perspective of the navigable media source and the second navigational view comprises a second perspective of the navigable media source, the first perspective being different from the second perspective.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first navigational view comprises a first portion of the navigable media source and the second navigational view comprises a second portion of the navigable media source, the first portion being different from the second portion.

9. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the first navigational view comprises a first zoom level of the navigable media source and the second navigational view comprises a second zoom level of the navigable media source, the first zoom level being different from the second zoom level.

10. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first and second navigational views comprise navigational views of respective sections of an electronic map;
the first and second navigational views comprise a first zoom level of the respective sections of the electronic map; and
the third navigational view comprises a second zoom level of the respective section of the electronic map associated with the first navigational view or the second navigational view.

11. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein:
the first, second, and third navigational views each comprise a respective section of an electronic map;
the respective section of the electronic map of the second view is west or east of the respective section of the electronic map of the first view; and
the respective section of the electronic map of the third view is north or south of the respective section of the electronic map of the second view.

12. A method comprising:
while an electronic device is oriented in a first orientation, outputting, for display at a first display of the electronic device, a first navigational view of a navigable media source, wherein the first display is disposed on a first external surface of the electronic device and faces towards a user while the electronic device is oriented in the first orientation;
after outputting the first navigational view for display, detecting a first change in orientation of the electronic device from the first orientation to a second orientation, wherein:
a second display is disposed on a second external surface of the electronic device and faces towards the user while the electronic device is oriented in the second orientation;
the first display faces away from the user while the electronic device is oriented in the second orientation; and,
detecting the first change in the orientation comprises detecting a first rotational direction of the change in the orientation;

responsive to detecting the first change in the orientation, outputting, for display at the second display, a second navigational view of the navigable media source, wherein the second navigational view and the first navigational view are related based at least in part on the first rotational direction;
after outputting the second navigational view for display, detecting a second change in the orientation of the electronic device from the second orientation to the first orientation, wherein detecting the second change in the orientation comprises detecting a second rotational direction of the change in the orientation, and
responsive to detecting the second change in the orientation, outputting, for display at the first display, a third navigational view of the navigable media source, wherein the second and third navigational views are related based at least in part by the second rotational direction, the third navigational view is different from the first navigational view, and the first and third navigational views are related based at least in part by a combination of the first and second rotational directions.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein detecting the first and second changes in the orientation comprise detecting, by a plurality of accelerometers of the electronic device, an acceleration of the electronic device in each of three orthogonal dimensions.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first and second navigational views comprise respective navigational views of consecutively

Assignees

• Das Sujoy
• Patil Vishal Shashikant
• Google Technology Holdings LLC

Inventors

• Das Sujoy
• Patil Vishal Shashikant

Classifications

• G06F3/0483

  Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor · CPC title

• G06F1/1626

  with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs] · CPC title

• G06F3/04845 Primary

  for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour · CPC title

• G06F1/1647

  including at least an additional display (G06F1/1692 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G06F2203/04806

  Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation · CPC title