Touchscreen gestures for selecting a graphical object

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9524097-B2
Application number	US-201113334369-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 22, 2011
Priority date	Dec 22, 2011
Publication date	Dec 20, 2016
Grant date	Dec 20, 2016

Abstract

A two-finger selection method is implemented on a touchscreen of an electronic device. One embodiment involves sensing the touch positions of two fingers on the touchscreen. In response to sensing the two simultaneous touch positions, a selection graphic is displayed and dynamically positioned on the touchscreen as a function of the two touch positions. A specific graphical object, such as a command button having an associated function, is selected in response to a separate selection input received while the selection graphic is positioned on the specific graphical object.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
sensing a simultaneous touching of a touchscreen by first and second fingers and dynamically determining touch positions of the two fingers;
displaying a selection graphic on the touchscreen and dynamically positioning the selection graphic as a function of the two touch positions in response to a movement of one or both touch positions;
interpreting a movement of the two fingers toward one another to less than a threshold distance apart as a separate selection input; and
automatically selecting a specific graphical object in response to the separate selection input received while the selection graphic is positioned on the specific graphical object.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
executing a command function associated with the specific graphical object in response to selecting the specific graphical object.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of dynamically positioning the selection graphic as a function of the two touch positions comprises:
positioning the selection graphic on the touchscreen equidistant from the two touch positions.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
positioning the selection graphic on the touchscreen at a midpoint between the two touch positions.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
positioning the selection graphic on the touchscreen at a position offset from a midpoint between the two touch positions.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
interpreting a movement of the two fingers toward one another above a threshold speed as the separate selection input.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
interpreting a removal of the first finger from the touchscreen and another touch within a predefined radius of the second finger while the second finger remains in contact with the touchscreen as the separate selection input.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
performing the step of displaying the selection graphic on the touchscreen only during periods when a pre-specified dot display precondition is present; and
during periods when the pre-specified dot display precondition is not present, performing a zoom function in response to the movement of one or both touch positions.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the specified dot display precondition comprises the pressing of a keyboard button prior to sensing the simultaneous touching of the touchscreen by the first and second fingers.

10. A computer program product including computer usable program code embodied on a non-transitory computer usable storage medium, the computer program product comprising:
computer usable program code for sensing a simultaneous touching of a touchscreen by first and second fingers and dynamically determining touch positions of the two fingers;
computer usable program code for displaying a selection graphic on the touchscreen and dynamically positioning the selection graphic as a function of the two touch positions in response to a movement of one or both touch positions;
computer usable program code for interpreting a movement of the two fingers toward one another to less than a threshold distance apart as the separate selection input; and
computer usable program code for automatically selecting a specific graphical object in response to the separate selection input received while the selection graphic is positioned on the specific graphical object.

11. The computer program product of claim 10 , further comprising:
computer usable program code for executing a command function associated with the specific graphical object in response to selecting the specific graphical object.

12. The computer program product of claim 10 , wherein the computer usable program code for dynamically positioning the selection graphic as a function of the two touch positions comprises:
computer usable program code for positioning the selection graphic on the touchscreen equidistant from the two touch positions.

13. The computer program product of claim 12 , further comprising:
computer usable program code for positioning the selection graphic on the touchscreen at a midpoint between the two touch positions.

14. The computer program product of claim 12 , further comprising:
computer usable program code for positioning the selection graphic on the touchscreen at a position offset from a midpoint between the two touch positions.

15. The computer program product of claim 10 , further comprising:
computer usable program code for interpreting a movement of the two fingers toward one another above a threshold speed as the separate selection input.

16. The computer program product of claim 10 , further comprising:
computer usable program code for interpreting a removal of the first finger from the touchscreen and another touch within a predefined radius of the second finger while the second finger remains in contact with the touchscreen as the separate selection input.

17. The computer program product of claim 10 , further comprising:
computer usable program code for performing the step of displaying the selection graphic on the touchscreen only during periods when a pre-specified dot display precondition is present; and
computer usable program code for performing a zoom function in response to the movement of one or both touch positions during periods when the pre-specified dot display precondition is not present.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the specified dot display precondition comprises the pressing of a keyboard button prior to sensing the simultaneous touching of the touchscreen by the first and second fingers.

Assignees

• Herring Dean F
• Johnson Brad M
• Rodriguez Adrian X
• Smith Jeffrey J
• IBM

Inventors

• Herring Dean F
• Johnson Brad M
• Rodriguez Adrian X
• Smith Jeffrey J

Classifications

• G06F2203/04806

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

• G06F3/04883 Primary

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