Abstract:
A system and method for the detection and interpretation of unique and distinctive gestures by extending the input sensor area to a perimeter area beyond the display area. In systems that have more flexible requirements, an additional gesture band can be located within the display area. The extended input sensor area allows for new gestures that are facilitated by the expanded sensor area. One gesture initiated around the corner of the device is most useful as ‘next’ and ‘previous’ navigation gestures found in traditional electronic publication reader applications, but can be overloaded or repurposed to serve different functions depending on the context. An gesture is used to initiate screen capture process. A third gesture is a corner-fold bookmark gesture and is used to bookmark a page by ‘dog earing’ the corner of the page electronically. An additional gesture, also initiated at the corner of the device launches selectable icons for the most frequently used applications.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present invention generally relates to the operation of mobile devices, and more particularly to devices that detect and interpret a user&#39;s gestures. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    A touchscreen is an electronic visual display that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the display area. The term generally refers to touching the display of the device with a finger or hand. Touchscreens can also sense other passive objects, such as a stylus. Touchscreens are common in devices such as game consoles, all-in-one computers, tablet computers, electronic readers (e-readers), and smartphones. 
         [0003]    A touchscreen has two main attributes. First, it enables a user to interact directly with what is displayed, rather than indirectly with a pointer controlled by a mouse or touchpad. Secondly, it lets a user do so without requiring any intermediate device that would need to be held in the hand (other than a stylus, which is optional for most modern touchscreens). 
         [0004]    Until recently, most consumer touchscreens could only sense one point of contact at a time, and few have had the capability to sense how hard one is touching. This is starting to change with the commercialization of multi-touch technology. 
         [0005]    The popularity of smart phones, tablets, portable video game consoles and many types of information appliances is driving the demand and acceptance of common touchscreens, for portable and functional electronics. With a display of a simple smooth surface, and direct interaction without any hardware, e.g., a keyboard or mouse) between the user and content, fewer accessories are required. 
         [0006]    Touchscreens are popular in the hospitality field, and in heavy industry, as well as kiosks such as museum displays or room automation, where keyboard and mouse systems do not allow a suitably intuitive, rapid, or accurate interaction by the user with the display&#39;s content. 
         [0007]    Historically, the touchscreen sensor and its accompanying controller-based firmware have been made available by a wide array of after-market system integrators, and not by display, chip, or motherboard manufacturers. Display manufacturers and chip manufacturers worldwide have acknowledged the trend toward acceptance of touchscreens as a highly desirable user interface component and have begun to integrate touchscreens into the fundamental design of their products. 
         [0008]    Although there a many technologies used to enable touch screens, the most common are Resistive, Capacitive and Infrared 
         [0009]    A resistive touchscreen panel comprises several layers, the most important of which are two thin, transparent, electrically-resistive layers separated by a thin space. These layers face each other, with a thin gap between. One resistive layer is a coating on the underside of the top surface of the screen. Just beneath it is a similar resistive layer on top of its substrate. One layer has conductive connections along its sides, the other along top and bottom. 
         [0010]    When an object, such as a fingertip or stylus tip, presses down on the outer surface, the two layers touch to become connected at that point. The panel then behaves as a pair of voltage dividers, one axis at a time. For a short time, the associated electronics (device controller) applies a voltage to the opposite sides of one layer, while the other layer senses the proportion of voltage at the contact point. That provides the horizontal [x] position. Then, the controller applies a voltage to the top and bottom edges of the other layer (the one that just sensed the amount of voltage) and the first layer now senses height [y]. The controller rapidly alternates between these two modes. The controller sends the sensed position data to the CPU in the device, where it is interpreted according to what the user is doing. 
         [0011]    Resistive touchscreens are typically used in restaurants, factories and hospitals due to their high resistance to liquids and contaminants. A major benefit of resistive touch technology is its low cost. Disadvantages include the need to press down, and a risk of damage by sharp objects. Resistive touchscreens also suffer from poorer contrast, due to having additional reflections from the extra layer of material placed over the screen. 
         [0012]    A capacitive touchscreen panel consists of an insulator such as glass, coated with a transparent conductor such as indium tin oxide (ITO). As the human body is also an electrical conductor, touching the surface of the screen results in a distortion of the screen&#39;s electrostatic field, measurable as a change in capacitance. Different technologies may be used to determine the location of the touch. The location is then sent to the controller for processing. Unlike a resistive touchscreen, one cannot use a capacitive touchscreen through most types of electrically insulating material, such as gloves. A special capacitive stylus, or a special-application glove with an embroidered patch of conductive thread passing through it and contacting the user&#39;s fingertip. This disadvantage especially affects usability in consumer electronics, such as touch tablet PCs and capacitive smartphones in cold weather. 
         [0013]    In surface capacitance technology, only one side of the insulator is coated with a conductive layer. A small voltage is applied to the layer, resulting in a uniform electrostatic field. When a conductor, such as a human finger, touches the uncoated surface, a capacitor is dynamically formed. The sensor&#39;s controller can determine the location of the touch indirectly from the change in the capacitance as measured from the four corners of the panel. As it has no moving parts, it is moderately durable but has limited resolution, is prone to false signals from parasitic capacitive coupling, and needs calibration during manufacture. 
         [0014]    Projected Capacitive Touch (PCT) technology is a capacitive technology which permits more accurate and flexible operation. An X-Y grid is formed either by etching a single conductive layer to form a grid pattern of electrodes, or by etching two separate, perpendicular layers of conductive material with parallel lines or tracks to form the grid (comparable to the pixel grid found in many LCD displays) that the conducting layers can be coated with further protective insulating layers, and operate even under screen protectors, or behind weather- and vandal-proof glass. Due to the top layer of a PCT being glass, it is a more robust solution than resistive touch technology. Depending on the implementation, an active or passive stylus can be used instead of or in addition to a finger. This is common with point of sale devices that require signature capture. Gloved fingers may or may not be sensed, depending on the implementation and gain settings. Conductive smudges and similar interference on the panel surface can interfere with the performance. Such conductive smudges come mostly from sticky or sweaty finger tips, especially in high humidity environments. Collected dust, which adheres to the screen due to the moisture from fingertips can also be a problem. There are two types of PCT: Self Capacitance and Mutual Capacitance. 
         [0015]    A PCT screen consists of an insulator such as glass or foil, coated with a transparent conductor (Copper, ATO, Nanocarbon or ITO). As the human finger, which is a conductor, touches the surface of the screen a distortion of the local electrostatic field results, measurable as a change in capacitance. Newer PCT technology uses mutual capacitance, which is the more common projected capacitive approach and makes use of the fact that most conductive objects are able to hold a charge if they are very close together. If another conductive object, in this case a finger, bridges the gap, the charge field is interrupted and detected by the controller. An PCT touch screens are made up of an electrode matrix of rows and columns. The capacitance can be changed at every individual point on the grid (intersection). It can be measured to accurately determine the exact touch location. All projected capacitive touch (PCT) solutions have three key features in common: the sensor as matrix of rows and columns; the sensor lies behind the touch surface; and the sensor does not use any moving parts. 
         [0016]    In mutual capacitive sensors, there is a capacitor at every intersection of each row and each column. A 16-by-14 array, for example, would have 224 independent capacitors. A voltage is applied to the rows or columns. Bringing a finger or conductive stylus close to the surface of the sensor changes the local electrostatic field which reduces the mutual capacitance. The capacitance change at every individual point on the grid can be measured to accurately determine the touch location by measuring the voltage in the other axis. Mutual capacitance allows multi-touch operation where multiple fingers, palms or styli can be accurately tracked at the same time. 
         [0017]    Self-capacitance sensors can have the same X-Y grid as mutual capacitance sensors, but the columns and rows operate independently. With self-capacitance, the capacitive load of a finger is measured on each column or row electrode by a current meter. This method produces a stronger signal than mutual capacitance, but it is unable to resolve accurately more than one finger, which results in “ghosting”, or misplaced location sensing. 
         [0018]    An infrared touchscreen uses an array of X-Y infrared LED and photodetector pairs around the edges of the screen to detect a disruption in the pattern of LED beams. These LED beams cross each other in vertical and horizontal patterns. This helps the sensors pick up the exact location of the touch. A major benefit of such a system is that it can detect essentially any input including a finger, gloved finger, stylus or pen. IR sensors are generally used in outdoor applications and point of sale systems which can&#39;t rely on a conductor (such as a bare finger) to activate the touchscreen. Unlike capacitive touchscreens, infrared touchscreens do not require any patterning on the glass which increases durability and optical clarity of the overall system. 
         [0019]    There are several principal ways to build a touchscreen. The key goals are to recognize one or more fingers touching a display, to interpret the command that this represents, and to communicate the command to the appropriate application. 
         [0020]    In the most popular construction techniques, the capacitive or resistive approach, there are typically four layers: 1. a top polyester coated with a transparent metallic conductive coating on the bottom; 2. an adhesive spacer; 3. a glass layer coated with a transparent metallic conductive coating on the top; and 4. an adhesive layer on the backside of the glass for mounting. There are two infrared-based approaches. In one, an array of sensors detects a finger touching or almost touching the display, thereby interrupting light beams projected over the screen. In the other, bottom-mounted infrared cameras record screen touches. In each case, the system determines the intended command based on the controls showing on the screen at the time and the location of the touch. 
         [0021]    The development of multipoint touchscreens facilitated the tracking of more than one finger on the screen. Thus, operations that require more than one finger are possible. These devices also allow multiple users to interact with the touchscreen simultaneously. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0022]    The present invention improves the experience of a user of a touchscreen device, e.g., a computer tablet, by providing an ergonomic navigation and function gestures that are both unique and consistent in portrait and landscape orientation. 
         [0023]    The detection and interpretation of unique and distinctive gestures is important in the operation of a touch input device as it avoids confusion with existing system gestures and functions, in order to provide superior performance with respect prior art systems, the present invention provides this capability by extending the input sensor area to a perimeter area beyond the active display area. Optionally, in systems that have more flexible requirements, an additional gesture band can be located within the active display area. 
         [0024]    In a preferred embodiment, there are three new gestures that are facilitated by the expanded sensor area. The first involves gestures around the corner of the device. This gesture is most useful as ‘next’ and ‘previous’ navigation gestures found in traditional electronic publication reader applications, but can be overloaded or repurposed to serve different functions depending on the context. A second gesture is used to initiate screen capture process. The third gesture is a corner-fold bookmark gesture and is used to bookmark a page by folding the corner the page electronically (dog-earing). 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0025]    For the purposes of illustrating the present invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred, it being understood however, that the invention is not limited to the precise form shown by the drawing in which: 
           [0026]      FIG. 1  illustrates a device and gestures in a landscape mode, according to the present invention; 
           [0027]      FIG. 2  depicts a device and gestures in a portrait mode, according to the present invention; 
           [0028]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate a corner gesture in the portrait and landscape modes respectively; 
           [0029]      FIGS. 4A ,  4 B and  4 C depict the operation of a screen capture gesture; 
           [0030]      FIG. 5  illustrated a further embodiment of the present invention that has an on-screen gesture band in addition to the off-screen gesture band; 
           [0031]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  respectively illustrate the subcomponents/regions of each gesture for off-screen and on-screen gesture band systems; 
           [0032]      FIGS. 7 and 8  illustrate the corner launcher gesture of the present invention; and 
           [0033]      FIG. 9  illustrates the components of an exemplary device. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0034]      FIG. 1  illustrates a device  130 , depicted in a landscape mode, according to the present invention. During investigation into ways to improves touch and pen accuracy along the edges of the active display area  106  where the touch accuracy is significant lower compared to the center of the active display area  106 , it was determined that the best way to accomplish this is to extend the touch/pen input sensor beyond the outer limits of the display  106 . The present invention thus creates an extra touch and/or stylus sensor band  105  around the active display  106  as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0035]    Although the extra sensor band or off-screen input area  105  does not determine touch locations as accurately as the sensors located in the center of the active display are  106 , off-screen input area  105  is fully capable of supporting the edge gesture detection described herein. In the preferred embodiment, the off-screen gestures described herein require the detection of at least one input within the off-screen input band  105  that surrounds the display area  106 . In the preferred embodiment, the off-screen input band  105  starts at the display perimeter and continues, for example, for 2 mm or more, creating the area  105  that is able to detect inputs including inputs from touch and/or pen. 
         [0036]    For a capacitive touch panel, a touch sensor sheet (not shown), typically made from glass or optically clear plastic film, goes on top of the display. The touch sensor sheet is typically larger than display visible area  106  as extra space is need route the invisible trace or wires. On top of the touch sensor sheet is the cover glass which is what the user physically touches. The cover glass is typically larger than the touch sensor sheet and the display  106 . A first array of touch sensors is registered, aligned, with the active display. A second set of sensors, that comprise the off screen band  105  are adjacent to the first set of touch sensors, but are not in registration with the active display  106 . In the preferred embodiment, the first and second arrays of touch sensors are integrally formed. Although the term ‘array’ is used herein, one skilled in the appreciates that this term also includes other types of capacitive and/or resistive touch sensors. 
         [0037]    The off-screen touch area  105  allows new gestures to be recognized and interpreted as unique and therefore does not interfere with existing user input infrastructures (i.e., established gestures). The uniqueness of these new gestures allow the gestures to be deployed system-wide without interfering function of existing applications. For example, the screen capture gesture described herein can be thought of as the touch equivalent of print-screen hot-keys in personal computers. 
         [0038]      FIG. 1  illustrates the device  130  of the present invention in a landscape orientation. In the lower left hand corner  109  there is a vertical gesture area  112  and a horizontal gesture area  111  in the off screen band  105 . These two areas  111  and  112  are used to detect a user&#39;s gestures at the corner  109 . Note that the vertical area  112  extends approximately half way up the vertical side of device  130  from corner  109 . Similarly, area  111  extends approximately half way along the horizontal side of device  130  from corner  109 . The extent of the length of these areas  111 ,  112  can be varied. Although not illustrated in  FIG. 1 , corresponding vertical and horizontal areas exist around the lower right hand corner  110 . 
         [0039]    The establishment of these gesture detection areas, e.g.,  111 ,  112 , allows the device  130  to detect and interpret the user&#39;s gestures in the corners  109 ,  110  of the device  130 . As described above, in a preferred embodiment, these corner gestures are used to generate navigational commands to an application running on the device  130 . 
         [0040]    Illustrated in  FIG. 1  are two pairs of corner gestures  103 . Turning first to the left hand corner  109 , illustrated are a ‘back’ gesture  107  and a ‘next’ gesture  108 . The main difference between the next  108  and previous  107  gestures are their directionality as show in  FIG. 1 . The next gesture  108  is clockwise motion while the back gesture  107  is counter-clockwise. As previously described, these gestures  103  are preferable interpreted by the device  130  as commanding, for example, a reading application to turn to the previous or next page in the electronic publication being viewed on the device  130 . 
         [0041]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , for the back gesture  107 , the user performs an arc-shaped swipe, starting at point 1 in horizontal detection area  111  of off screen band  105 , proceeds to point 2 on the display area  106  and ends at point 3 in the vertical detection area  112  of off screen band  105 . Although there may, and typically would be, many additionally detected points in each of these areas,  111 ,  112  and  106 , in order to properly detect and interpret the user&#39;s gesture, there should be at least one detected point in each of these areas  111 ,  112  and  106 . 
         [0042]    When the device  130  detects this type of swipe  107  through these three areas, it interprets that the user intended to perform a ‘hack’ function and sends this command to the reader application. In a similar, but opposite motion  108 , if the user performs a swipe through point 3 in the vertical detection area  112  of off screen band  105 , proceeds through point 2 on the display  106  and ends at point 1 in horizontal detection area  111  of off screen hand  105 , the device  130  detects this gesture and interprets that the user&#39;s intent is to perform a ‘next’ operation. 
         [0043]    As further shown in  FIG. 1 , the same types of gestures  103  can be detected, interpreted and commanded at the right hand corner  110  A back gesture is initiated with counter clockwise motion with the first input point(s) landing on the right vertical gesture area in off screen band  105 , followed by input point(s) landing on the display  106  and finally input point(s) landing on the horizontal gesture area of off screen band  105 . A next gesture, a clockwise motion, has its first input point(s) landing on the right horizontal gesture area of off screen band  105 , followed by input point(s) landing on the display  106  and finally input point(s) landing on the vertical gesture area of off screen band  105 . 
         [0044]    The corner (navigation) gestures  103  have two main advantages over the existing tablet form factor navigation schemes, namely ergonomics and consistency that is independent of device orientation and dimension. The consistency comes from the fact that the gestures  103  are executed in the corners  109 ,  110  of the device  130  and that tablet devices  130  are typically held with two hands with at least one on the corner for navigation. 
         [0045]      FIG. 1  further illustrates the screen capture circle gesture  101  of the present invention. As described above, in the preferred embodiment, the detected gesture  101  is mapped to the screen capture function. Even though this circle motion gesture  101  is preferably used for initiating a screen capture, it can easily be repurposed to perform another function when it is deem appropriate. 
         [0046]    Unlike the corner gestures  103  which involves using both the horizontal and vertical gesture areas of band  105 , the circle gesture  101  uses only one gesture area, either the vertical or horizontal but not both. Although shown as only being performed on the upper horizontal and right hand vertical side of device  130 , the circle gesture  101  can be performed on any side of device  130 . Further, although preferably performed in the center of a side of device  130  (as illustrated in  FIG. 1 ) the circle gesture  101  can be performed anywhere along the selected side. 
         [0047]    The sequence for the circle gesture  101  is fairly simple. The first input point lands on a gesture area of off screen band  105 , for example top-horizontal gesture area. This is followed by one or more input point(s) on the display area  106 . Finally, one or more input point(s) land on the same gesture area of off screen band  105  as the first point. For the gesture to be valid, the first point and the last point, e.g. points 1 and 5 in gesture  101  are preferably a safe distance (d 1 ) apart in order to suppress faults or unintended triggers. In addition, the time stamp difference between the first and last point is preferably less 1 second, again, to avoid false detections. The radius of the circle of gesture  101  is preferably more than half of d 1 . 
         [0048]      FIG. 2  illustrates the use of the off screen sensor band  105  as used in the portrait mode of device  130 . As seen in this Figure, both the circular gesture  101 , preferably used for screen capture, and the corner gestures  103 , preferably used for back and next navigation, operates substantially the same when the device  130  is in the landscape mode as described above with respect to  FIG. 1 . As in the landscape orientation, the corner gestures  103  are performed on the lower corners of the device  130  and the circular screen capture gestures  101  can be performed on any side of the device  130 . 
         [0049]      FIG. 2  further illustrates an additional off-screen gesture  102 , preferably used to bookmark a particular page in the electronic publication being viewed on device  130 . Preferably, this gesture  102  is only valid on the top right corner of device  130  when used in the portrait orientation. One reason for this preference is that this bookmark gesture intuitively follows the physical act of dog-earing a page in a paper copy of a book. Further, it is preferable to use the upper right hand corner of the device  130  to avoid any confusion with the navigation gestures  103 . 
         [0050]    The bookmark gesture  102  starts at the top horizontal gesture area of off screen sensor band  105 , then hits the display area  106  and finally lands on the right vertical gesture area off screen sensor band  105 . Once detected, the application running on device  130  interprets gesture  102  as a bookmarking gesture and inserts the appropriate bookmark in association with the page being viewed in the electronic publication being displayed. 
         [0051]      FIGS. 3A and 3B  illustrate how the mechanics of the corner gestures  103  stays the same in portrait ( FIG. 3A ) and landscape ( FIG. 3B ) mode. In addition, the corner gestures  103  can be performed with minimum grip change because the windshield-wiper like movement is a more natural movement than a direct vertical or horizontal movement. As shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B , the user employs her thumb or other finger  203  to perform the gesture  103 . As described above, in the preferred embodiment, a clockwise gesture  103  performs a next operation in the electronic publication being read, while a counterclockwise gesture  103  causes a back navigational function to be executed. 
         [0052]      FIGS. 4A-4C  illustrate the process of using circular gesture  101  to capture a screen shot. Using this gesture  101 , the user can select and adjust the area of the screen to capture. As shown in  FIG. 4A , the screen shot process is initiated with screen capture gesture  101 . A capture selection box  200  is displayed along with controls, such as buttons  205  to capture and cancel the selection. As shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B , the user can drag the selection box  200  to the area of the screen she wishes to capture. When the box  200  is in the area she wishes to capture, the user can double tap the box  200  to fix it in place. Further, as shown in  FIG. 4B , the user can use traditional gestures to resize the size of box  200  to encompass the parts of the screen she wants to capture. As shown in  FIG. 4C , the user can either use the control  205  to capture the portion of the screen enclosed by box  200 , or she can simply tap on the area within the box  200  to capture the image. Alternatively, she can tap the cancel button  205  to cancel the screen capture process. 
         [0053]      FIG. 5  illustrates a further embodiment of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 5 , this embodiment of an electronic device  130  has the off screen gesture band  105  has described above, but also has an onscreen gesture band  121  defined in the active display area  120 . The on-screen gesture band  121  does not require additional hardware support as the case with off-screen gesture band  105 . On-screen gesture band  121  has constraints, including additional delays and operating system dependencies. For example, the Android operating system requires that all touches detected on the display active area  120  need to be reported and that all touch point are available for fair use by all applications. This means that in an Android device, the on-screen gestures system wide gestures may not be implementable as the gestures may not be unique across applications. 
         [0054]    The 1-2-3 gesture detection points, as described above with respect to  FIGS. 1 and 2  can all be located on the active screen area  120 . All of the gestures described above can be implemented with on-screen gesture area/band  121  which lies just within, e.g., 2 mm to 3 mm, the boarder of the display active screen area  120  as shown in  FIG. 5 . It is further possible to also have hybrid gesture areas: part off-screen gesture area and part on-screen gesture area. For example, in a system that can only support off-screen gesture area  105  on the long-side of the device, on-screen gesture bands  121  can be use on the short side of the device. The 1-2-3 points would as such: point 1 is in the off-screen band  105 , point-2 is unchanged in the active display area  120 , and point-3 can be in the on-screen band  121 . 
         [0055]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  illustrate the subcomponents/regions of each gesture for off-screen and on-screen gesture band system respectively, including invalid regions. 
         [0056]    Table 1 details the sequencing of the subcomponents/region for each gesture as shown in  FIGS. 6A and 6B . 
         [0000]    
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Gesture Name 
                 Sequence 
                 Comment 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 Next (103) 
                 A-B-C 
                 Region “D” is the invalid 
               
               
                   
                   
                 zone which means that if the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 gesture path enters the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 region it will invalid the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 gesture immediately 
               
               
                 Previous (103) 
                 C-B-A 
                 Region “D” is the invalid 
               
               
                   
                   
                 zone which means that if the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 gesture path enters the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 region it will invalid the 
               
               
                   
                   
                 gesture immediately 
               
               
                 Capture Screen 
                 M/H-I-J-K-L-M or 
                 Region “N” is the invalidate 
               
               
                 Gesture (101) 
                 M/L-K-J-I-H-M 
                 zone. 
               
               
                 Bookmark 
                 O-P-Q 
                 Region “R” is the invalidate 
               
               
                 Gesture (102) 
                   
                 zone. 
               
               
                 Corner Launcher 
                 E-F-G 
               
               
                 Gesture (113) 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
         [0057]      FIGS. 7 and 8  illustrate the corner launcher gesture  113  of the present invention. The Corner launcher is an extremely ergonomic gesture. As shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 , the gesture  113  starts in a corner of device  130  at point 1. The launcher gesture  113  works in embodiments of the present invention with the off-screen band  105  and the with the on-screen hand  121 . Point 1 can start in either band. Further, the gesture  113  can start in any corner and works in both the landscape and portrait modes of the device  130 . 
         [0058]    As shown in these Figures, the launcher gestures  113  is a diagonal upward motion through points 1-2-3 that can be executed easily by flicking the thumb, while the user is holding the device  130 . The launcher gesture  113  has all the advantage as the other gestures as it is consistent for portrait or landscape orientation, as well as for left-handed and right handed users. 
         [0059]    As shown in  FIG. 8 , although the gesture  113  can be used for any number of functions, in a preferred embodiment, the launcher gesture is best used as “quick dial” for the “home” button or key on the device  130  that typically brings together the collection of most often used applications  140 . Icons for the most used applications  140  are brought up in the corner where the launcher gesture  113  was invoked. This brings the most frequently used applications  140  to the corner where it is most convenient to reach and execute, “launch.” 
         [0060]    The launcher gesture  113  is preferably implemented with a toggle function. The first time the gesture is executed, the home screen is displayed. The execution of a subsequent launcher gesture dismisses the home screen. The toggle feature is very user friendly because no repositioning of the hand is required to perform a different gesture. 
         [0061]      FIG. 9  illustrates an exemplary device  130 . As appreciated by those skilled the art, the device  130  can take many forms capable of operating the present invention. As previously described, in a preferred embodiment the device  130  is a mobile electronic device, and in an even more preferred embodiment device  130  is an electronic reader device. Electronic device  130  can include control circuitry  500 , storage  510 , memory  520 , input/output (“I/O”) circuitry  530 , communications circuitry  540 , and display  550 . In some embodiments, one or more of the components of electronic device  130  can be combined or omitted, e.g., storage  510  and memory  520  may be combined. As appreciated by those skilled in the art, electronic device  130  can include other components not combined or included in those shown in this Figure, e.g., a power supply such as a battery, an input mechanism, etc. 
         [0062]    Electronic device  130  can include any suitable type of electronic device. For example, electronic device  130  can include a portable electronic device that the user may hold in his or her hand, such as a digital media player, a personal email device, a personal data assistant (“PDA”), a cellular telephone, a handheld gaining device, a tablet device or an eBook reader. As another example, electronic device  130  can include a larger portable electronic device, such as a laptop computer. As yet another example, electronic device  130  can include a substantially fixed electronic device, such as a desktop computer. 
         [0063]    Control circuitry  500  can include any processing circuitry or processor operative to control the operations and performance of electronic device  130 . For example, control circuitry  500  can be used to run operating system applications, firmware applications, media playback applications, media editing applications, or any other application. Control circuitry  500  can drive the display  550  and process inputs received from a user interface, e.g., the display  550  if it is a touch screen. 
         [0064]    Orientation sensing component  505  include orientation hardware such as, but not limited to, an accelerometer or a gyroscopic device and the software operable to communicate the sensed orientation to the control circuitry  500 . The orientation sensing component  505  is coupled to control circuitry  500  that controls the various input and output to and from the other various components. The orientation sensing component  505  is configured to sense the current orientation of the portable mobile device  130  as a whole. The orientation data is then fed to the control circuitry  500  which control an orientation sensing application. The orientation sensing application controls the graphical user interface (GUI), which drives the display  550  to present the GUI for the desired mode. 
         [0065]    Storage  510  can include, for example, one or more tangible computer storage mediums including a hard-drive, solid state drive, flash memory, permanent memory such as ROM, magnetic, optical, semiconductor, paper, or any other suitable type of storage component, or any combination thereof. Storage  510  can store, for example, media content, e.g., eBooks, music and video files, application data, e.g., software for implementing functions on electronic device  130 , firmware, user preference information data, e.g., content preferences, authentication information, e.g., libraries of data associated with authorized users, transaction information data, e.g., information such as credit card information, wireless connection information data, e.g., information that can enable electronic device  430  to establish a wireless connection), subscription information data, e.g., information that keeps track of podcasts or television shows or other media a user subscribes to, contact information data, e.g., telephone numbers and email addresses, calendar information data, and any other suitable data or any combination thereof. The instructions for implementing the functions of the present invention may, as non-limiting examples, comprise non transient software and/or scripts stored in the computer-readable media  510 . 
         [0066]    Memory  520  can include cache memory, semi-permanent memory such as RAM, and/or one or more different types of memory used for temporarily storing data. In some embodiments, memory  520  can also be used for storing data used to operate electronic device applications, or any other type of data that can be stored in storage  510 . In some embodiments, memory  520  and storage  510  can be combined as a single storage medium. 
         [0067]    I/O circuitry  530  can be operative to convert, and encode/decode, if necessary analog signals and other signals into digital data. In some embodiments, I/O circuitry  530  can also convert digital data into any other type of signal, and vice-versa. For example, I/O circuitry  530  can receive and convert physical contact inputs, e.g., from a multi-touch screen, i.e., display  550 , physical movements, e.g., from a mouse or sensor, analog audio signals, e.g., from a microphone, or any other input. The digital data can be provided to and received from control circuitry  500 , storage  510 , and memory  520 , or any other component of electronic device  130 . Although I/O circuitry  530  is illustrated in this Figure as a single component of electronic device  130 , several instances of  170  circuitry  530  can be included in electronic device  130 . 
         [0068]    Electronic device  130  can include any suitable interface or component for allowing a user to provide inputs to I/O circuitry  530 . For example, electronic device  130  can include any suitable input mechanism, such as a button, keypad, dial, a click wheel, or a touch screen, e.g., display  550 . In some embodiments, electronic device  130  can include a capacitive sensing mechanism, or a multi-touch capacitive sensing mechanism. 
         [0069]    As described above, for a capacitive touch panel, a touch sensor sheet, typically made from glass or optically clear plastic film, goes on top of the display  550 . The touch sensor sheet is typically larger than display visible area as extra space is need route the invisible trace or wires. On top of the touch sensor sheet is the cover glass which is what the user physically touches. The cover glass is typically larger than the touch sensor sheet and the display. The off-screen gesture band/area described herein requires only enlarging the sensor area by, for example 3 mm, beyond the display visible area. This typically requires the mechanical design to make allowance for the extra space. 
         [0070]    in some embodiments, electronic device  130  can include specialized output circuitry associated with output devices such as, for example, one or more audio outputs. The audio output can include one or more speakers, e.g., mono or stereo speakers, built into electronic device  130 , or an audio component that is remotely coupled to electronic device  130 , e.g., a headset, headphones or earbuds that can be coupled to device  130  with a wire or wirelessly. 
         [0071]    Display  550  includes the display and display circuitry for providing a display visible to the user. For example, the display circuitry can include a screen, e.g., an LCD screen, that is incorporated in electronics device  130 . In some embodiments, the display circuitry can include a coder/decoder (Codec) to convert digital media, data into analog signals. For example, the display circuitry or other appropriate circuitry within electronic device  1  can include video Codecs, audio Codecs, or any other suitable type of Codec. 
         [0072]    The display circuitry also can include display driver circuitry, circuitry for driving display drivers, or both. The display circuitry can be operative to display content, e.g., media playback information, application screens for applications implemented on the electronic device  130 , information regarding ongoing communications operations, information regarding incoming communications requests, or device operation screens, under the direction of control circuitry  500 . Alternatively, the display circuitry can be operative to provide instructions to a remote display. 
         [0073]    Communications circuitry  540  can include any suitable communications circuitry operative to connect to a communications network and to transmit communications, e.g., data from electronic device  130  to other devices within the communications network. Communications circuitry  540  can be operative to interface with the communications network using any suitable communications protocol such as, for example, WiFi, e.g., a 802.11 protocol, Bluetooth, radio frequency systems, e.g., 900 MHz, 1.4 GHz, and 5.6 GHz communication systems, infrared, GSM, GSM plus EDGE, CDMA, quadband, and other cellular protocols, VOW, or any other suitable protocol. 
         [0074]    Electronic device  130  can include one more instances of communications circuitry  540  for simultaneously performing several communications operations using different communications networks, although only one is shown in  FIG. 5  to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. For example, electronic device  130  can include a first instance of communications circuitry  540  for communicating over a cellular network, and a second instance of communications circuitry  540  for communicating over or using Bluetooth. In some embodiments, the same instance of communications circuitry  540  can be operative to provide for communications over several communications networks. 
         [0075]    In some embodiments, electronic device  130  can be coupled to a host device such as a digital content control server for data transfers, synching the communications device, software or firmware updates, providing performance information to a remote source, e.g., providing riding characteristics to a remote server, or performing any other suitable operation that can require electronic device  130  to be coupled to a host device. Several electronic devices  130  can be coupled to a single host device using the host device as a server. Alternatively or additionally, electronic device  130  can be coupled to several host devices, e.g., for each of the plurality of the host devices to serve as a backup for data stored in electronic device  130 . 
         [0076]    Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and other uses will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the gist and scope of the disclosure.