Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/EP2067094B1/en
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 15:36:41+00:00

Document:
A portable device with a touch screen display detects a contact area of a finger with the touch screen display and then determines a first position associated with the contact area. The cursor position of the finger contact is determined, at least in part, based on: the first position, one or more distances between the first position and one or more of the user interface objects; and one or more activation susceptibility numbers, each associated with a respective user interface object in the plurality of user interface objects. If the cursor position falls into the hidden hit region of a virtual push button on the touch screen display, the portable device is activated to perform operations associated with the virtual push button.
The disclosed embodiments relate generally to portable electronic devices, and more particularly, to portable devices that adaptively determine a cursor position from a finger contact with a touch screen display and then perform operations according to the cursor position.
To improve usability, some portable devices use a touch screen to render virtual push buttons such as soft keyboards and dial pads. From a user's finger contact with the virtual push buttons, a portable device determines the service(s) requested by the user and takes actions accordingly. But because different users often have different shapes of fingerprints, it has been a challenge for these portable devices to accurately and adaptively identify a user-desired virtual push button based on the different shapes of fingerprints and different contexts associated with different services supported by a portable device.
One method for determining a cursor position on a touch screen display of a device is described in the UK patent application GB 2 351 639 A which is concerned with selection of an intended one of multiple hyperlinks shown on a touch screen in the form of navigation buttons. When a plurality of links are present, prioritization of navigation buttons displayed is contemplated, based on those closest to the area touched, and on a maximum allowable number of navigation buttons. Accordingly, the selection is made based on the distance between the respective buttons and the touch location.
A similar method, used in connection with a conventional computer screen and a pointing device such as a mouse is disclosed in US Patent 6,049, 326 issued to Beyda et a1. If the distances are determined to be within a predetermined range of one another, the hyperlinks are not activated. Instead, the user positions the cursor such that it is relatively closer to one of the two or more relatively equidistant hyperlinks and clicks again.
Accordingly, there is a need for portable multifunction devices that are configured to adaptively determine a cursor position from a finger contact with a touch screen and then perform operations according to the cursor position. Such configuration increases the effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction with portable multifunction devices.
One aspect of the invention involves a computer-implemented method performed by a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display. The portable device detects a contact area of a finger with the touch screen display and then determines a first position associated with the contact area. The cursor position of the finger contact is determined, at least in part, based on: the first position, one or more distances between the first position and one or more of the user interface objects; and one or more activation susceptibility numbers, each associated with a respective user interface object in the plurality of user interface objects.
Another aspect of the invention involves a graphical user interface on a portable multifunction device with a touch screen display. The graphical user interface includes a cursor and a plurality of user interface objects. The cursor's position is determined, at least in part, based on: a first position associated with a contact area of a finger with the touch screen display, one or more distances between the first position and one or more of the user interface objects, and one or more activation susceptibility numbers, each associated with a respective user interface object in the plurality of user interface objects.
Another aspect of the invention involves a portable electronic device with a touch screen display with a plurality of user interface objects. The device includes one or more processors, memory, and a program stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors. The program includes: instructions for detecting a contact area of a finger with the touch screen display, instructions for determining a first position associated with the contact area, and instructions for determining a cursor position, at least in part, based on: the first position, one or more distances between the first position and one or more of the user interface objects, and one or more activation susceptibility numbers, each associated with a respective user interface object in the plurality of user interface objects.
Another aspect of the invention involves a computer-program product that includes a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism (e.g., one or more computer programs) embedded therein. The computer program mechanism includes instructions that, when executed by a portable electronic device, cause the device to: detect a contact area of a finger with the touch screen display; determine a first position associated with the contact area; and determine a cursor position, at least in part, based on: the first position, one or more distances between the first position and one or more of the user interface objects, and one or more activation susceptibility numbers, each associated with a respective user interface object in the plurality of user interface objects.
Another aspect of the invention involves a portable electronic device with a touch screen display. The device includes: means for detecting a contact area of a finger with the touch screen display; means for determining a first position associated with the contact area; and means for determining a cursor position, at least in part, based on: the first position, one or more distances between the first position and one or more of the user interface objects, and one or more activation susceptibility numbers, each associated with a respective user interface object in the plurality of user interface objects.
Figure 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a process for determining a cursor position from a finger contact with a touch screen in accordance with some embodiments.
Figures 6A-6L illustrate exemplary methods for determining a cursor position on a touch screen display in accordance with some embodiments.
Figures 6M-6O illustrate an exemplary method for dynamically adjusting susceptibility numbers associated with soft keyboard keys as a word is typed with the soft keyboard keys in accordance with some embodiments.
The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used in the description of the invention and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
The user interfaces may include one or more soft keyboard embodiments. The soft keyboard embodiments may include standard (QWERTY) and/or non-standard configurations of symbols on the displayed icons of the keyboard, such as those described in U.S. Patent Applications 11/459,606 , "Keyboards For Portable Electronic Devices," filed July 24, 2006, and 11/459,615 , "Touch Screen Keyboards For Portable Electronic Devices," filed July 24, 2006, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. The keyboard embodiments may include a reduced number of icons (or soft keys) relative to the number of keys in existing physical keyboards, such as that for a typewriter. This may make it easier for users to select one or more icons in the keyboard, and thus, one or more corresponding symbols. The keyboard embodiments may be adaptive. For example, displayed icons may be modified in accordance with user actions, such as selecting one or more icons and/or one or more corresponding symbols. One or more applications on the portable device may utilize common and/or different keyboard embodiments. Thus, the keyboard embodiment used may be tailored to at least some of the applications. In some embodiments, one or more keyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective user. For example, one or more keyboard embodiments may be tailored to a respective user based on a word usage history (lexicography, slang, individual usage) of the respective user. Some of the keyboard embodiments may be adjusted to reduce a probability of a user error when selecting one or more icons, and thus one or more symbols, when using the soft keyboard embodiments.
Attention is now directed towards embodiments of the device. Figures 1A and 1B are block diagrams illustrating portable multifunction devices 100 with touch-sensitive displays 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch-sensitive display 112 is sometimes called a "touch screen" for convenience, and may also be known as or called a touch-sensitive display system. The device 100 may include a memory 102 (which may include one or more computer readable storage mediums), a memory controller 122, one or more processing units (CPU's) 120, a peripherals interface 118, RF circuitry 108, audio circuitry 110, a speaker 111, a microphone 113, an input/output (I/O) subsystem 106, other input or control devices 116, and an external port 124. The device 100 may include one or more optical sensors 164. These components may communicate over one or more communication buses or signal lines 103.
It should be appreciated that the device 100 is only one example of a portable multifunction device 100, and that the device 100 may have more or fewer components than shown, may combine two or more components, or a may have a different configuration or arrangement of the components. The various components shown in Figures 1A and 1B may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits.
The I/O subsystem 106 couples input/output peripherals on the device 100, such as the touch screen 112 and other input/control devices 116, to the peripherals interface 118. The I/O subsystem 106 may include a display controller 156 and one or more input controllers 160 for other input or control devices. The one or more input controllers 160 receive/send electrical signals from/to other input or control devices 116. The other input/control devices 116 may include physical buttons (e.g., push buttons, rocker buttons, etc.), dials, slider switches, joysticks, click wheels, and so forth. In some alternate embodiments, input controller(s) 160 may be coupled to any (or none) of the following: a keyboard, infrared port, USB port, and a pointer device such as a mouse. The one or more buttons (e.g., 208, Figure 2) may include an up/down button for volume control of the speaker 111 and/or the microphone 113. The one or more buttons may include a push button (e.g., 206, Figure 2). A quick press of the push button may disengage a lock of the touch screen 112 or begin a process that uses gestures on the touch screen to unlock the device, as described in U.S. Patent Application 11/322,549 , "Unlocking a Device by Performing Gestures on an Unlock Image," filed December 23, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference. A longer press of the push button (e.g., 206) may turn power to the device 100 on or off. The user may be able to customize a functionality of one or more of the buttons. The touch screen 112 is used to implement virtual or soft buttons and one or more soft keyboards.
A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of the touch screen 112 may be analogous to the multi-touch sensitive tablets described in the following U.S. Patents: 6,323,846 (Westerman et al. ), 6,570,557 (Westerman et al. ), and/or 6,677,932 (Westerman ), and/or U.S. Patent Publication 2002/0015024A1 , each of which is hereby incorporated by reference. However, a touch screen 112 displays visual output from the portable device 100, whereas touch sensitive tablets do not provide visual output.
A touch-sensitive display in some embodiments of the touch screen 112 may be as described in the following applications: (1) U.S. Patent Application No. 11/381,313 , "Multipoint Touch Surface Controller," filed May 2, 2006; (2) U.S. Patent Application No. 10/840,862 , "Multipoint Touchscreen," filed May 6, 2004; (3) U.S. Patent Application No. 10/903,964 , "Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices," filed July 30, 2004; (4) U.S. Patent Application No. 11/048,264 , "Gestures For Touch Sensitive Input Devices," filed January 31, 2005; (5) U.S. Patent Application No. 11/038,590 , "Mode-Based Graphical User Interfaces For Touch Sensitive Input Devices," filed January 18, 2005; (6) U.S. Patent Application No. 11/228,758 , "Virtual Input Device Placement On A Touch Screen User Interface," filed September 16, 2005; (7) U.S. Patent Application No. 11/228,700 , "Operation Of A Computer With A Touch Screen Interface," filed September 16, 2005; (8) U.S. Patent Application No. 11/228,737 , "Activating Virtual Keys Of A Touch-Screen Virtual Keyboard," filed September 16, 2005; and (9) U.S. Patent Application No. 11/367,749 , "Multi-Functional Hand-Held Device," filed March 3, 2006. All of these applications are incorporated by reference herein.
The device 100 may also include one or more optical sensors 164. Figures 1A and 1B show an optical sensor coupled to an optical sensor controller 158 in I/O subsystem 106. The optical sensor 164 may include charge-coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) phototransistors. The optical sensor 164 receives light from the environment, projected through one or more lens, and converts the light to data representing an image. In conjunction with an imaging module 143 (also called a camera module), the optical sensor 164 may capture still images or video. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the back of the device 100, opposite the touch screen display 112 on the front of the device, so that the touch screen display may be used as a viewfinder for either still and/or video image acquisition. In some embodiments, an optical sensor is located on the front of the device so that the user's image may be obtained for videoconferencing while the user views the other video conference participants on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, the position of the optical sensor 164 can be changed by the user (e.g., by rotating the lens and the sensor in the device housing) so that a single optical sensor 164 may be used along with the touch screen display for both video conferencing and still and/or video image acquisition.
The device 100 may also include one or more proximity sensors 166. Figures 1A and 1B show a proximity sensor 166 coupled to the peripherals interface 118. Alternately, the proximity sensor 166 may be coupled to an input controller 160 in the I/O subsystem 106. The proximity sensor 166 may perform as described in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 11/241,839 , "Proximity Detector In Handheld Device," filed September 30, 2005; Serial No. 11/240,788 , "Proximity Detector In Handheld Device," filed September 30, 2005; serial number to be assigned, filed January 7, 2007, "Using Ambient Light Sensor To Augment Proximity Sensor Output," attorney docket no. 04860.P4851US1; serial number to be assigned, filed October 24, 2006, "Automated Response To And Sensing Of User Activity In Portable Devices," attorney docket no. 04860.P4293; and serial number to be assigned, filed December 12, 2006, "Methods And Systems For Automatic Configuration Of Peripherals," attorney docket # 04860.P4634, which are hereby incorporated by reference. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor turns off and disables the touch screen 112 when the multifunction device is placed near the user's ear (e.g., when the user is making a phone call). In some embodiments, the proximity sensor keeps the screen off when the device is in the user's pocket, purse, or other dark area to prevent unnecessary battery drainage when the device is a locked state.
The device 100 may also include one or more accelerometers 168. Figures 1A and 1B show an accelerometer 168 coupled to the peripherals interface 118. Alternately, the accelerometer 168 may be coupled to an input controller 160 in the I/O subsystem 106. The accelerometer 168 may perform as described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 20050190059 , "Acceleration-based Theft Detection System for Portable Electronic Devices," and U.S. Patent Publication No. 20060017692 , "Methods And Apparatuses For Operating A Portable Device Based On An Accelerometer," both of which are which are incorporated herein by reference. In some embodiments, information is displayed on the touch screen display in a portrait view or a landscape view based on an analysis of data received from the one or more accelerometers.
The graphics module 132 includes various known software components for rendering and displaying graphics on the touch screen 112, including components for changing the intensity of graphics that are displayed. As used herein, the term "graphics" includes any object that can be displayed to a user, including without limitation text, web pages, icons (such as user-interface objects including soft keys), digital images, videos, animations and the like.
The text input module 134, which may be a component of graphics module 132, provides soft keyboards for entering text in various applications (e.g., contacts 137, email 140, IM 141, blogging 142, browser 147, and any other application that needs text input).
In conjunction with RF circuitry 108, touch screen 112, display controller 156, contract module 130, graphics module 132, and text input module 134, the e-mail client module 140 may be used to create, send, receive, and manage e-mail. In conjunction with image management module 144, the e-mail module 140 makes it very easy to create and send e-mails with still or video images taken with camera module 143.
Each of the above identified modules and applications correspond to a set of instructions for performing one or more functions described above. These modules (i.e., sets of instructions) need not be implemented as separate software programs, procedures or modules, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwise rearranged in various embodiments. For example, video player module 145 may be combined with music player module 146 into a single module (e.g., video and music player module 152, Figure 1B). In some embodiments, memory 102 may store a subset of the modules and data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory 102 may store additional modules and data structures not described above.
Figure 2 illustrates a portable multifunction device 100 having a touch screen 112 in accordance with some embodiments. The touch screen may display one or more graphics within user interface (UI) 200. In this embodiment, as well as others described below, a user may select one or more of the graphics by making contact or touching the graphics, for example, with one or more fingers 202 (not drawn to scale in the figure). In some embodiments, selection of one or more graphics occurs when the user breaks contact with the one or more graphics. In some embodiments, the contact may include a gesture, such as one or more taps, one or more swipes (from left to right, right to left, upward and/or downward) and/or a rolling of a finger (from right to left, left to right, upward and/or downward) that has made contact with the device 100. In some embodiments, inadvertent contact with a graphic may not select the graphic. For example, a swipe gesture that sweeps over an application icon may not select the corresponding application when the gesture corresponding to selection is a tap.
In some embodiments, the device detects contact with the touch-sensitive display (e.g., a user's finger making contact on or near the unlock image 302) while the device is in a user-interface lock state. The device moves the unlock image 302 in accordance with the contact. The device transitions to a user-interface unlock state if the detected contact corresponds to a predefined gesture, such as moving the unlock image across channel 306. Conversely, the device maintains the user-interface lock state if the detected contact does not correspond to the predefined gesture. As noted above, processes that use gestures on the touch screen to unlock the device are described in U.S. Patent Applications 11/322,549 , "Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image," filed December 23, 2005, and 11/322,550 , "Indication Of Progress Towards Satisfaction Of A User Input Condition," filed December 23, 2005, which are hereby incorporated by reference.
In some embodiments, UI 400A or 400B provides integrated access to both widget-based applications and non-widget-based applications. In some embodiments, all of the widgets, whether user-created or not, are displayed in Ul 400A or 400B. In other embodiments, activating the icon for user-created widget 149-6 may lead to another UI that contains the user-created widgets or icons corresponding to the user-created widgets.
In some embodiments, a user may rearrange the icons in UI 400A or 400B, e.g., using processes described in U.S. Patent Application No. 11/459,602 , "Portable Electronic Device With Interface Reconfiguration Mode," filed July 24, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference. For example, a user may move application icons in and out of tray 408 using finger gestures.
In some embodiments, UI 400A or 400B includes a gauge (not shown) that displays an updated account usage metric for an account associated with usage of the device (e.g., a cellular phone account), as described in U.S. Patent Application 11/322,552 , "Account Information Display For Portable Communication Device," filed December 23, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
As noted above in the background section, a challenge for a portable device with a touch screen is how to accurately translate a 2-D finger contact area on the touch screen information a unique 1-D cursor position.
A finger contact with the touch screen display (e.g., a finger tap) is a process involving multiple actions including the finger approaching the display, the finger being in contact with the display, and the finger leaving the display. During this process, the finger's contact area increases from zero to a maximum contact area and then reduces to zero. In some embodiments, for a stationary finger contact with the display, its finger contact area is defined as the maximum contact area of the finger with the touch screen display during a time period corresponding to the stationary contact.
Figures 5 and 6A-6L illustrate exemplary methods for determining a cursor position from a finger contact with a touch screen in accordance with some embodiments.
As shown in Figure 6A, the touch screen display displays multiple user interface objects 5602-5608. Exemplary user interface objects include an open icon, a close icon, a delete icon, an exit icon, or soft key icons. Some of these icons may be deployed within a small region on the touch screen display such that one icon is very close to another icon.
When there is a finger contact with the touch screen display, unlike the conventional mouse click, the finger has a certain contact area (e.g., 5610 in Figure 6A) on the touch screen display. In some embodiments, a cursor position corresponding to the finger's contact area 5610 with the touch screen display needs to be determined before any user interface object can be activated to perform a predefined operation.
After determining a finger contact area (501), the portable device determines a first position associated with the contact area 5610 (503). As will be explained below, the first position may or may not be the cursor position corresponding to the finger contact. But the first position will be used to determine the cursor position. In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 6B, the first position P1 is the centroid of the contact area 5610.
In some other embodiments (Figure 6H), when a finger is in physical contact with the touch screen display, the finger has to press the display with the pressure varying from one position to another position within the contact area. Sometimes, the position P2 at which a user applies the maximum pressure may not be the centroid P1 of the contact area, although the maximum pressure position P2 may be closer to the object that the user would like to select.
As shown in Figure 6H, the contact area 5610 is deemed to be elliptical with a major axis and a minor axis perpendicular to the major axis. It is assumed that there is a fixed distance Δnd' between the centroid P1 of the contact area 5610 and the corresponding maximum pressure position P2. In this case, the first position or the maximum pressure position P2 can be determined from P1 and Δnd'.
The cursor position P of the finger contact is determined based on one or more parameters (505), including the location of the first position, i.e., P1 in Figure 6B or P2 in Figure 6H, one or more distances between the first position and one or more user interface objects near the first position, and, in some embodiments, one or more activation susceptibility numbers associated with the user interface objects (e.g., W1-W4 in Figure 6C or Figure 6I).
In some embodiments, as shown in Figures 6C and 6I, the distance between the first position (P1 in Figure 6C or P2 in Figure 6I) and a respective user interface object (5602, 5604, 5606, or 5608) is the distance between the first position and a point on the user interface object that is closest to the first position.
In some other embodiments, as shown in Figures 6D and 6J, the distance between the first position (P1 in Figure 6D or P2 in Figure 6J) and a user interface object (5602, 5604, 5606, or 5608) is the distance between the first position and the center of the user interface object.
u i is a unit vector along the direction of Δ d i .
If the determined cursor position P is on a particular user interface object (e.g., 5602 in Figure 6E), the user interface object is activated to perform a predefined operation such as playing a song, deleting an email message, or entering a character to an input field.
In some embodiments, the activation susceptibility numbers assigned to different user interface objects have different values and signs depending on the operation associated with each object.
For example, as shown in Figure 6E, if the operation associated with the user interface object 5602 is reversible or otherwise non-destructive (e.g., the user interface object 5602 is the play icon of the music and video player module 146), an activation susceptibility number W1' having a first sign (e.g., "+") is assigned to the object 5602 such that the determined cursor position P is drawn closer to the object 5602 than the first position P1, rendering the object 5602 easier to be activated. In this context, "non-destructive" is defined to mean an action that will not cause a permanent loss of information.
In contrast, as shown in Figure 6F, if the operation associated with the user interface object 5602 is irreversible or destructive of user information (e.g., the user interface object 5602 is the delete icon of the mail module 140), an activation susceptibility number W1 having a second sign (e.g., "-") opposite to the first sign is assigned to the object 5602 such that the determined cursor position P may be further away from the object 5602 than the first position P1, rendering the object 5602 harder to activate. Thus, when an object's associated activation susceptibility number has the second sign, the contact must be relatively precisely positioned over the object in order to activate it, with larger values of the activation susceptibility number corresponding to higher degrees of precision.
In some embodiments, the cursor position P is determined based on the first position, the activation susceptibility number associated with a user interface object that is closest to the first position, and the distance between the first position and the user interface object that is closest to the first position. In these embodiments, the cursor position P is not affected by the parameters associated with other neighboring user interface objects. For example, as shown in Figure 6K, the first position P1 is closest to the user interface object 5602 that has an associated activation susceptibility number W1. The distance between the first position P1 and the object 5602 is d1. The cursor position P to be determined is only affected by these parameters, not by other neighboring user interface objects 5604, 5606 or 5608.
In some embodiments, when one or more user interface objects fall within a predefined distance of the first position, the cursor position P is determined based on the first position, and the activation susceptibility numbers associated with each user interface object falls within the predefined distance, and the distance between the first position and each of those user interface objects. Alternately, in some embodiments, when one or more user interface objects fall within the contact area of the user's finger contact with the touch screen display (or within a predefined distance of the contact area), the cursor position P is determined based on the first position, and the activation susceptibility numbers associated with each user interface object that falls within the contact area (or with the predefined distance of the contact area), and the distance between the first position and each of those user interface objects.
In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 6L, the cursor position is the same as the first position, which may be P1 in Figure 6B or P2 in Figure 6H, if the first position is within a particular user interface object (e.g., 5604) on the display. In this case, there is no need to further offset the cursor position from the first position.
In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 6E, a finger contact does not have to occur exactly at an object to activate the object. Rather, the user interface object is activated as long as the determined cursor position falls within the user interface object. In some embodiments, a user interface object is activated if the determined cursor position falls within a user interface object's "hit region." The hit region of a user interface object may be the same size as, or larger, or smaller, than the user interface object itself. User interface objects that cause irreversible or destructive changes to data will typically have a hit region that is the same size as, or smaller than, the user interface object itself. In some embodiments, at least some user interface objects that do not cause irreversible or destructive changes to data have a hit region that is larger than those user interface objects. For such objects, the portion of the hit region that is larger than the corresponding user interface object may be called a hidden hit region.
In some embodiments, at least some of the user interface objects involved in determining the cursor position in the formula above are visible on the touch screen display.
In some embodiments, the activation susceptibility numbers associated with the user interface objects (e.g., W1-W4) are context-dependent in a specific application module and change from one context to another context within the specific application module. For example, an object may have a first activation susceptibility number that is attractive to a cursor position at a first moment (in a first context of a specific application module), but a second activation susceptibility number that is less attractive or even repulsive (e.g., if the second activation susceptibility number has an opposite sign) to the cursor position at a second moment (in a second context of the specific application module).
Figures 6M-6O illustrate an exemplary method for dynamically adjusting activation susceptibility numbers associated with soft keyboard keys as a word is typed with the soft keyboard keys in accordance with some embodiments. The user interface includes an input field 5620 and a soft keyboard 5640. A user selection of any key icon of the soft keyboard 5640 enters a corresponding user-selected character in the input field 5620. For illustrative purposes, as shown in Figure 6M, all the key icons initially have the same activation susceptibility number, 5.
Figure 6N depicts the activation susceptibility numbers associated with different key icons after two characters "Go" are entered into the input field 5620. The activation susceptibility numbers associated with the key icons have been adjusted in accordance with the previously entered characters. For example, the activation susceptibility number of key icon "D" changes from 5 to 10 because "God" is a common English word. Thus, the key icon "D" may be activated even if the next finger contact is closer to the key icon "F" than to the key icon "D" itself. Similarly, the activation susceptibility numbers associated with key icons "A" and "O" are also increased because each of the strings "Goa" and "Goo" leads to one or more legitimate English words such as "Goal", "Good", or "Goad." In contrast, the activation susceptibility number of key icon "K" drops to 3 because the string "Gok" is not found at the beginning of any common English words.
Figure 6O depicts the updated activation susceptibility numbers associated with different key icons after another character "a" is entered into the input field 5620. Given the string "Goa" that has been entered, the user may be typing the word "Goal." Accordingly, the activation susceptibility number associated with the key icon "L" increases to 9 whereas the activation susceptibility number associated with the key icon "O" drops to 2 because the string "Goao" is not found at the beginning of any common English words.
In sum, a cursor position for a finger contact with the touch screen display is adjusted at least in part based on the activation susceptibility numbers (or weights) assigned to user interface objects. Such cursor position adjustment helps to reduce the chance of selecting a user interface object by mistake.
- one or more activation susceptibility numbers (W1, W2, W3, W4), each associated with a respective user interface object in the plurality of user interface objects (5602, 5604, 5606, 5608).
The method of claim 1, wherein, for a stationary contact of a finger with the display (112), the detected contact area (5610) corresponds to the maximum contact area of the finger with the display (112) during a time period corresponding to the stationary contact.
The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first position (P1) is the centroid of the contact area (5610).
The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the contact area (5610) is elliptical with a major axis and the first position (P2) is offset from the centroid of the contact area (5610) along the major axis.
The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein a user interface object (5602) associated with an activation susceptibility number (W1) is easier to activate, if the activation susceptibility number (W1') has a first sign and is harder to activate, if the activation susceptibility number (W1") has a second sign opposite to the first sign.
The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the distance (di) between the first position (P1, P2) and a user interface object (5602, 5604, 5606, 5608) is the distance between the first position (P1, P2) and a point on the user interface object (5602, 5604, 5606, 5608) that is closest to the first position (P1, P2).
The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the distance (di) between the first position (P1, P2) and a user interface object (5602, 5604, 5606, 5608) is the distance between the first position (P1, P2) and the center of the user interface object (5602, 5604, 5606, 5608).
The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein determining the cursor position (P) is based on: the first position (P1, P2), the activation susceptibility number (W1, W2, W3, W4) associated with a user interface object (5602, 5604, 5606, 5608) that is closest to the first position (P1, P2), and the distance (di) between the first position (P1, P2) and the user interface object (5602, 5604, 5606, 5608) that is closest to the first position.
The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cursor position (P) is the first position (Pi, P2), if the first position (P1, P2) is within one of the plurality of user interface objects (5602, 5604, 5606, 5608) on the display (112).
The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising activating a user interface object (5602, 5604, 5606, 5608) at the cursor position (P).
The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the activation susceptibility numbers (W1, W2, W3, W4) are context dependent in an application.
The method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein activation susceptibility numbers (W1, W2, W3, W4) associated with soft keyboard (5640) keys change as a word is typed with the soft keyboard keys.
A portable electronic device with a touch screen display (112), the portable electronic device (100) adapted to implement the method of any one of claims 1 to 13.
A computer program product with instructions configured for execution by one or more processors (120) which, when executed by a portable device (100) with a touch-screen display (112), cause the device to perform the method of claim 1.
CH705918A2 (en) * 2011-12-19 2013-06-28 Ralf Trachte Field analyzes for flexible computer input.

References: Application No. 11
 Application No. 10
 Application No. 10
 Application No. 11
 Application No. 11
 Application No. 11
 Application No. 11
 Application No. 11
 Application No. 11
 Application No. 11