Techniques for adjusting a drying time of digital ink

A technique that facilitates modifying (e.g., erasing or smudging) digital ink includes selecting a digital ink drying time based on a selected digital ink type. An ink stroke associated with the selected digital ink type is then tracked. The ink stroke may then be modified, prior to an end of the digital ink drying time, without using a dedicated tool.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates generally to digital ink and, more specifically to techniques for adjusting a drying time of digital ink.

2. Related Art

Digital ink refers to technology that facilitates digital representation of handwriting, drawing, sketching, and painting (among other inputs) in their natural form. In a typical digital ink system, a digitizer is laid under (or over) a display screen, e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), to capture movement of a special-purpose pen (or stylus) and record the movement on the screen. Visually, moving a stylus across a screen is similar to writing or drawing on paper with liquid ink. When the movement corresponds to handwriting, the recorded handwriting can then be saved as digitized handwriting or converted to typewritten text using handwriting recognition technology.

Digital ink also allows users to, for example, create a sketch, a painting, or a drawing, take free-hand notes, and annotate existing documents (e.g., visual presentation documents, spreadsheet documents, and text documents). In many applications, using a pen to input information into a tablet personal computer (PC) is quicker and easier than using a keyboard or mouse. For example, free-form notes created with digital ink may be readily emailed to other individuals for review. Motion of a pen across a surface of a screen is reflected on the screen as a series of data points. As the pen is moved across the screen, information from the pen movement is collected in a process known as sampling and save in a memory.

A typical tablet PC is capable of sampling about one-hundred thirty pen events (units of motion that correspond to data points) per second. The pen events are then represented visually on the screen as pen strokes. Employing a relatively high sampling rate allows digital ink to be displayed and stored with relatively high graphical resolution, which is desirable for visual legibility on a screen and for maximizing accuracy during a handwriting recognition process. In handwriting recognition applications, a greater number of collected data points usually equates to greater accuracy when the collected data points (are passed through a recognizer and) associated with words. Digital ink systems may be incorporated within a wide variety of devices, e.g., tablet PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs), smart phones, etc. Tablet PCs are often used where normal notebook computer systems (notebooks) are impractical, unwieldy, or do not provide a needed functionality. Today, digital ink (of conventional digital ink systems) is permanent unless an erase command is employed to erase the digital ink and a specific tool is required to smudge digital ink.

SUMMARY

According to one or more embodiments of the present invention, a technique that facilitates modifying (e.g., erasing or smudging) digital ink includes selecting a digital ink drying time based on a selected digital ink type. An ink stroke associated with the selected digital ink type is then tracked. The ink stroke may then be modified (prior to an end of the digital ink drying time) without using a dedicated tool.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may be written in an object oriented programming language, such as Java, Smalltalk, C++, etc. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present invention may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on a single processor, on multiple processors that may be remote from each other, or as a stand-alone software package. When multiple processors are employed, one processor may be connected to another processor through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be, for example, through the Internet using an Internet service provider (ISP).

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. As used herein, the term “coupled” includes both a direct electrical connection between blocks or components and an indirect electrical connection between blocks or components achieved using intervening blocks or components.

According to various aspects of the present disclosure, techniques are employed that facilitate modifying (e.g., erasing or smudging) digital ink based upon a digital ink drying time (i.e., a time in which the digital ink has been in place). Implementing a drying time for digital ink is particularly advantageous in painting applications where the ability to manipulate wet digital ink for a period of time may improve an overall painting experience (as various regular inks, paints, etc., typically have varying drying times).

With reference toFIG. 1, an example device100is illustrated that includes a display106that is configured to receive input from a user via instruments108and110. The display106may correspond to, for example, a touchscreen or a liquid crystal display (LCD) with an associated digitizer. The instrument108may correspond to, for example, an active stylus. In at least one embodiment, one end of an active stylus may be utilized by a user to write digital ink and an opposite end of the active stylus may be utilized by the user to erase digital ink.

The instrument110may correspond to, for example, an eraser of a pencil or a finger of a user. According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, a finger of a user (or other object) may utilized to modify (e.g., smudge or erase) digital ink prior to the digital ink drying. According to this embodiment, after the digital ink has dried, the digital ink may only be modified through the use of a tool (e.g., an active stylus). A digital ink may correspond to a paint (e.g., an oil-based paint or a water-based paint), a pencil lead, or a pen. According to this embodiment, a user may select a different type of digital ink to work with.

In a typical application, a pencil lead never dries (i.e., digital ink associated with a pencil lead can be erased at any time) and a pen (i.e., digital ink associated with a pen) dries in a relatively short period of time (e.g., fifteen minutes). As another example, a water-based paint (i.e., digital ink associated with water-based paint) may dry in thirty minutes and an oil-based paint (i.e., digital ink associated with an oil-based paint) may dry in a couple of hours. In at least one embodiment, a user defined digital ink may have a user defined drying time. In a typical implementation, digital ink is configured to be more difficult to modify (i.e., more pressure is required) as the digital ink dries.

As is shown, the display106is coupled to a processor102(that includes one or more central processing units (CPUs)), which is coupled to a memory subsystem104(which includes an application appropriate amount of volatile and non-volatile memory). In various embodiments, the memory subsystem104is configured to store ink strokes. The device100may also include, for example, a video card, a hard disk drive (HDD), a network interface card (NIC), a compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) drive, among other components not shown inFIG. 1. The device100may be, for example, a tablet PC, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, or virtually any other device.

Moving toFIG. 2, an example process200for adjusting a drying time of digital ink displayed on a screen (e.g., the display106ofFIG. 1) is illustrated. In block202, the process200is initiated at which point control transfers to block204, where a processor selects a digital ink drying time based on a selected digital ink type. It should be appreciated that the selected digital ink type may be user selected or correspond to a default digital ink type. The processor may correspond to a general purpose processor (e.g., the processor102of the device100) or a graphics processor that may be located on a video card or integrated on a mother board with the processor102. Next, in block206, the processor tracks an ink stroke associated with the selected digital ink type. Then, in block208, the ink stroke is modified (e.g., smudged or erased) prior to an end of the digital ink drying time by a user (e.g., using a finger of the user). As noted above, subsequent to the end of the digital ink drying time, the digital ink typically requires a dedicated tool to modify. Following block208, control transfers to block210where the process200terminates.

Accordingly, techniques have been described herein that facilitate modifying (e.g., erasing or smudging) digital ink based upon a digital ink drying time.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims below, if any, are intended to include any structure, material, or act for performing the function in combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. For example, the present techniques can be implemented in any kind of system that includes a hard disk drive. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.