Patent Description:
With the recent development of touch screen technology, touch screens are widely used in user devices. Displays of many touch screen devices, such as smart phones and tablet devices, are so large that it is sometimes difficult for users to consistently handle the devices, particularly when holding and manipulating the devices with one hand. For example, in existing smart phone operating systems, notifications are displayed near an upper edge of the screen. Therefore, when a user holds and operates the smart phone with one hand, the user may experience difficulty in reaching the notifications displayed near the upper edge of the display.

To solve this problem, an interface in which icons are displayed according to a curved surface near a corner of a screen has been developed. According to biomechanics, when the relative positions of a user's hand and a screen are fixed, a thumb or another finger of the user draws an arc on the screen, and thus a curved path is selected. A system designer defines the radius of curvature suitable for the average finger shape and length of a large population.

<CIT> discloses a touch method for reconfiguring icons displayed on an electronic device including a touch screen. The method includes determining which hand the user is using to operate the electronic device if the user operates the electronic device in a one-handed manner. Determining which icons displayed on the touch screen are preferred by the user. Moving the determined icons to a first area of the touch screen if the user operates the electronic device using a left hand. Moving the determined icons to a second area of the touch screen if the user operates the electronic device using a right hand.

<CIT> discloses a user interface display method and apparatus of a touch-enabled device is provided. The user interface display method includes detecting a touch gesture; analyzing at least one of a contact position, a movement direction, a contact area size, a contact area shape, and an occurrence frequency of the touch gesture; determining one of a left hand grip state and a right hand grip state of the device based on a result of the analysis; and displaying a user interface corresponding to the determined one of the left hand grip state and the right hand grip state.

Therefore, an individual user whose features are considerably different from population averages may still be inconvenienced when using the interface.

Exemplary embodiments relate to an electronic device capable of displaying a graphical user interface (GUI) element in a display region that is easily manipulated with a hand of a user and a corresponding method of operating the electronic device.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided an electronic device as set out in claim <NUM>.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an operating method of an electronic device as set out in claim <NUM>.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a computer-program product a set out in claim <NUM>.

According to exemplary embodiments, by displaying a GUI element in a region that is easily manipulated with a hand of a user or a preferred region that is frequently used by the user, simple manipulation of the displayed GUI element is possible even when the user manipulates an electronic device in a limited environment, such as with one hand.

The above and other aspects will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Throughout the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts or elements which perform substantially the same functions.

Terms including ordinal numbers, such as "first," "second," etc., may be used to represent various elements, but do not limit the corresponding elements. The terms are only used for distinguishing one element from another element. For example, a first element may also be called a second element, and similarly, the second element may also be called the first element without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The term "and/or" includes any or all combinations of a plurality of associated items.

Content may include a video, an image, text, or a web document.

A portion of a display in which content is actually output in an electronic device may be referred to as a screen.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "include," "including," "have," and/or "having" when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts, and/or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts, and/or combinations thereof.

Exemplary embodiments will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<FIG> is a reference view illustrating a concept of the present disclosure according to an exemplary embodiment.

<FIG> schematically illustrates a preferred region <NUM> within a display region <NUM> of an electronic device <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment when the electronic device <NUM> is operated with one hand. In <FIG>, the preferred region <NUM> is shown as a shaded region in the display region <NUM>.

In an exemplary embodiment, when a user operates the electronic device <NUM> with one hand <NUM> as shown in <FIG>, the preferred region <NUM> may be a region preferred by the user.

In an exemplary embodiment, the preferred region <NUM> may be a region within a range in which the user may operate the electronic device <NUM> with one hand. Thus, preferred region <NUM> may approximate the reach of the thumb of the hand <NUM> of the user on the display region <NUM> based on the physical dimensions (e.g., thumb length, thumbprint surface size, etc.) and characteristics (e.g., flexibility, dexterity, etc.) of the hand <NUM>.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device <NUM> may display a graphical user interface (GUI) element in a user-preferred region adaptively determined according to a preference of the user. Thereby, the display of the GUI element may not be fixed to a single location on the display region <NUM>.

The embodiment in <FIG> is described with regard to operation with one hand, but the same principle may be applied to operation with both hands in other embodiments. For example, while holding one side of a tablet or other device having a display of relatively large size with one hand, the user may swipe the touch screen with both thumbs. In this case, a region that each thumb of the user reaches may be determined as a preferred region.

An electronic device according to exemplary embodiments may be a device having a wired or wireless communication function. For example, the electronic device may include at least one of a smart phone, a tablet PC, a mobile phone, a video phone, an e-book reader, a desktop PC, a laptop PC, a netbook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), an MP3 player, a mobile medical device, a camera, and a wearable device (e.g., a head-mounted device (HMD) like electronic glasses, electronic clothing, an electronic bracelet, an electronic necklace, an electronic accessory, an electronic tattoo, or a smart watch).

According to exemplary embodiments, an electronic device may be a smart home appliance having a wired or wireless communication function. The smart home appliance may include at least one of, for example, a TV, a DVD player, an audio system, a refrigerator, an air conditioner, a vacuum cleaner, an oven, a microwave, a washing machine, an air cleaner, a set-top box, a TV box (e.g., Samsung HomeSyncTM, Apple TVTM, or GoogleTVTM), a game console, an electronic dictionary, an electronic key, a camcorder, and an electronic frame.

According to exemplary embodiments, an electronic device may include at least one of various medical devices (e.g., a magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) system, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, a computed tomography (CT) system, a scanning machine, a sonograph, etc.), a navigation device, a global positioning system (GPS) receiver, an event data recorder (EDR), a flight data recorder (FDR), a vehicle infotainment device, electronic equipment for a ship (e.g., a navigation device for a ship, a gyrocompass, etc.), avionics, a security device, a head unit for a vehicle, an industrial or household robot, an automatic teller machine (ATM) of a financial company, and a point of sale (POS) terminal of a store.

An electronic device according to exemplary embodiments may be one of the aforementioned devices or a combination thereof. Also, the electronic device may be a flexible device. It will be understood to those of ordinary skill that the electronic device is not limited to the aforementioned devices, but may include any electronic device having a touch screen accessed by a user grasping the electronic device and manipulating the touch screen. It will also be understood to those of ordinary skill that the preferred region <NUM> may be any region accessed by a user grasping the electronic device and manipulating the touch screen with any combination of fingers and thumbs of one or more hands.

<FIG> shows a schematic block diagram illustrating of an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> may include a bus <NUM>, a processor <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, an input/output (I/O) interface <NUM>, a display <NUM>, a communication interface <NUM>, and a module <NUM>.

The bus <NUM> may be communication circuitry that connects the elements of the electronic device <NUM> to each other and enables communication transfer (e.g., a control message) between the elements of the electronic device <NUM>.

The memory <NUM> may store computer-readable instructions or data, for example received from the processor <NUM> or other elements (e.g., the I/O interface <NUM>, the display <NUM>, the communication interface <NUM>, the module <NUM>, etc.) or generated by the processor <NUM> or the other elements. The memory <NUM> may include software programming modules, for example, a kernel, middleware, an application programming interface (API), an application, and so on. Each of the aforementioned software programming modules may be implemented by software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof.

According to exemplary embodiments, the application may include a short message service (SMS)/multimedia message service (MMS) application, an e-mail application, a calendar application, an alarm application, a health care application (e.g., an application for measuring an amount of exercise, blood sugar, etc.), an environmental information application (e.g., an application for providing atmospheric pressure, humidity, temperature information, etc.), and so on. Additionally or alternatively, the application may be an application associated with information exchange between the electronic device <NUM> and an external electronic device (e.g., an electronic device <NUM>). The application associated with information exchange may include, for example, a notification relay application for transferring particular information to the external electronic device or a device management application for managing the external electronic device.

The I/O interface <NUM> may transfer an instruction or data input from the user through an I/O device (e.g., a sensor, a keyboard, or a touch screen) to the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the communication interface <NUM>, or the module <NUM> through, for example, the bus <NUM>. For example, the I/O interface <NUM> may provide data of a touch of the user input through the touch screen to the processor <NUM>. Also, the I/O interface <NUM> may output an instruction or data received from the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the communication interface <NUM>, or the module <NUM> through, for example, the bus <NUM> to the I/O device (e.g., a speaker or a display). For example, the I/O interface <NUM> may output voice data processed through the processor <NUM> to the user through the speaker.

The display <NUM> may display various types of information (e.g., multimedia data, text data, etc.) to the user.

The communication interface <NUM> may connect communication between the electronic device <NUM> and an external device (e.g., the electronic device <NUM> or a server <NUM>). For example, the communication interface <NUM> may be connected to a network <NUM> through wireless communication or wired communication and communicate with the (external) electronic device <NUM>. The wireless communication may include at least one of, for example, wireless fidelity (WiFi), Bluetooth (BT), near field communication (NFC), the global positioning system (GPS), or cellular communication (e.g., Long-Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), code division multiple access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), wireless broadband (WiBro), global system for mobile communications (GSM), etc.). The wired communication may include at least one of, for example, universal serial bus (USB) communication, high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) communication, recommended standard <NUM> (RS-<NUM>) communication, and plain old telephone service (POTS) communication.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the network <NUM> may be a telecommunications network. The telecommunications network <NUM> may include at least one of a computer network, the Internet, the Internet of things (IOT), and a telephone network. According to an exemplary embodiment, a protocol (e.g., a transport layer protocol, a data link layer protocol, or a physical layer protocol) for communication between the electronic device <NUM> and the (external) electronic device <NUM> may be supported by at least one of the application, the API, the middleware, the kernel, and the communication interface <NUM>.

The processor <NUM> may receive an instruction from the aforementioned elements (e.g., the memory <NUM>, the I/O interface <NUM>, the display <NUM>, the communication interface <NUM>, the module <NUM>, etc.) through, for example, the bus <NUM>, interpret the received instruction, and perform calculation or data processing according to the interpreted instruction.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the processor <NUM> may identify a user-preferred region preferred by the user, and control the display <NUM> to display at least one GUI element in the identified user-preferred region. The user-preferred region may be within a range in which the electronic device <NUM> may be operated with one hand of the user. The at least one GUI element displayed in the user-preferred region may include an application or an event icon or event message for event notification.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the processor <NUM> may detect an orientation (e.g., horizontal, vertical) of the electronic device <NUM>, and identify the user-preferred region in consideration of the detected orientation.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the processor <NUM> may detect a hand of the user with which the electronic device <NUM> is used, and identify the user-preferred region in consideration of the detected hand.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the processor <NUM> may monitor an interaction between the user and the electronic device <NUM>, and identify the user-preferred region based on at least one display region determined according to interaction between the display region and the hand or finger of the user.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the processor <NUM> may determine the user-preferred region for particular applications executed on the electronic device <NUM> by monitoring the interaction between the user and the electronic device <NUM> executing the application.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the processor <NUM> may identify and configure the user-preferred region based on a user preference.

According to an exemplary embodiment, when a size of the identified user-preferred region is insufficient to display the at least one GUI element, the processor <NUM> may display a group object corresponding to the at least one GUI element in the user-preferred region, and display the at least one GUI element corresponding to the group object in response to an input of selecting the group object.

According to an exemplary embodiment, when the display <NUM> extends to one or more edges of the electronic device <NUM>, the processor <NUM> may identify the user-preferred region including a display region arranged at the one or more edges of the display <NUM>.

The module <NUM> may process at least a part of information acquired from the other elements (e.g., the processor <NUM>, the memory <NUM>, the I/O interface <NUM>, the communication interface <NUM>, etc.) and provide the processed information to the user in various ways. For example, the module <NUM> may control at least some functions of the electronic device <NUM> using the processor <NUM> or execute additional functions independently from the processor <NUM>. For example, the module <NUM> may be an audio processor, a video processor (e.g., graphics processing unit), or an audio/video encoder/decoder.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the module <NUM> may include a user interaction monitoring module <NUM>, a user-preferred region identification module <NUM>, and a GUI element display module <NUM>.

The user interaction monitoring module <NUM> may monitor interactions between the user and the electronic device <NUM>, determine display regions in the electronic device <NUM> in which many interactions occur between the user and the electronic device <NUM>, and determine one or more of the display regions as the user-preferred region.

The user interaction monitoring module <NUM> may monitor only interactions for an application with a high degree of freedom in the user's input (i.e., high input flexibility). For example, an interaction between the user and the electronic device <NUM> for an application with no degree of freedom in user input may be excluded from monitoring (i.e., low input flexibility).

The user-preferred region identification module <NUM> determines the user-preferred region in the electronic device <NUM> in which a GUI element will be displayed. The user-preferred region identification module <NUM> may determine the user-preferred region by considering at least one of an orientation of the electronic device <NUM>, a hand of the user with which the electronic device <NUM> is used, a user preference, the frequency of use of the display region determined by the user interaction monitoring module <NUM>, and a position of a finger or thumb of the user that interacts with the electronic device <NUM>.

The GUI element display module <NUM> may display a GUI element in the identified user-preferred region.

<FIG> is a schematic block diagram illustrating an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.

The electronic device <NUM> displays a GUI element on a touch screen display.

The electronic device <NUM> includes a processor <NUM> and a memory <NUM> having the form of a computer-readable storage medium.

The memory <NUM> stores computer-executable program codes for a user-preferred region identification module <NUM> and a user interaction monitoring module <NUM>. The user-preferred region identification module <NUM> may be configured to identify a preferred region using a method described herein (e.g., identify the preferred region based on a machine learning algorithm or user preference).

The electronic device <NUM> further includes a GUI controller <NUM>, an orientation detection sensor <NUM> that detects an orientation of the electronic device <NUM>, and a touch screen display <NUM>. The GUI controller <NUM> may control the touch screen display <NUM> to display various GUI elements.

In the exemplary embodiment, the user interaction monitoring module <NUM> is configured to monitor interactions between a current user and the touch screen, and store information that defines one or more screen regions with which the user frequently interacts during an operation. The user interaction monitoring module <NUM> may monitor interactions when the electronic device <NUM> executes an application having at least one degree of freedom with respect to user input.

The user-preferred region identification module <NUM> is configured to identify the user-preferred region based on the information stored in the user interaction monitoring module <NUM>. In exemplary embodiments, the user interaction monitoring module <NUM> may store coordinates of a touch event during a particular time period (e.g., one day, one week, one month, etc.) or coordinates of a particular number of touch events, for example, the most recent touch events.

Subsequently, the user-preferred region identification module <NUM> may identify the preferred region in various ways, such as determining a boundary of a region covering a certain percentage of the stored touch events. Alternatively, a machine learning algorithm may be used. The machine learning algorithm may receive various inputs (e.g., a contact area between the user's finger and the touch screen, a duration of a particular touch event, a speed of a particular gesture, an entire display region, a region preferred as an arbitrary initial default, etc., but inputs are not limited thereto).

In another approach, in some implementation examples, coordinates of individual touch events may not be stored, but an interaction history of the current user may be stored as a hit map or a density map. In such maps, when there are many interactions of the user, scores indicating large numbers of touch events in regions are allocated to different regions in the touch screen.

In some implementation examples, the user interaction monitoring module <NUM> is configured to monitor only interactions with the touch screen display <NUM> for one or more applications. For example, only interactions during execution of an application with a high degree of freedom may be taken into consideration when the boundary of the preferred region is determined. In this way, for example, because touch of a particular icon is necessary to launch execution of a particular application, distortion of the preferred region by a touch event, in which an interaction between the user and the display screen is limited to a particular region, may be prevented. An example of an application with a high degree of freedom of user input is a photo gallery application in which the user may swipe to the left or right to see an image other than a current image in a photo column, and in which a height on a screen at which a swipe gesture is made and a start point and an end point of the gesture are freely selectable. Other types of interactions allowing a high degree of freedom are a pinch-to-zoom function, scrolling up/down in a document or a web page, and up/down/left/right swiping for access from an application menu to an adjustment screen.

In an exemplary embodiment, the user interaction monitoring module <NUM> may be omitted, for example, when the preferred region is identified based on user preference, and not based on previous interactions between the touch screen display <NUM> and the user.

Electronic device <NUM> may constitute, for example, a whole or a part of the electronic device of <FIG> or <FIG>.

Referring to <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> may include at least one application processor (AP) <NUM>, a communication module <NUM>, a subscriber identification module (SIM) card <NUM>, a memory <NUM>, a sensor module <NUM>, an input device <NUM>, a display <NUM>, an interface <NUM>, an audio module <NUM>, a camera module <NUM>, a power management module <NUM>, a battery <NUM>, and a motor <NUM>.

By executing, for example, an operating system (OS) or an application program, the AP <NUM> may control hardware or software elements of the electronic device <NUM> and process and calculate various types of data including multimedia data. The AP <NUM> may be implemented as, for example, a system on chip (SoC). According to an exemplary embodiment, the AP <NUM> may further include a graphics processing unit (GPU).

The communication module <NUM> (e.g., the communication interface <NUM>) may perform data transmission and reception over a communication network to which the electronic device <NUM> and other electronic devices are connected. According to an exemplary embodiment, the communication module <NUM> may include a cellular module <NUM>, a WiFi module <NUM>, a BT module <NUM>, a GPS module <NUM>, an NFC module <NUM>, and a radio frequency (RF) module <NUM>.

The cellular module <NUM> may provide a voice call service, a video call service, an SMS, an Internet service, etc. through a communication network (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, CDMA, WCDMA, UMTS, WiBro, GSM, etc.). Also, the cellular module <NUM> may identify and authenticate the electronic device <NUM> using, for example, a SIM (e.g., the SIM card <NUM>) in the communication network. According to an exemplary embodiment, the cellular module <NUM> may perform at least some of functions provided by the AP <NUM>. For example, the cellular module <NUM> may perform at least some multimedia control functions.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the cellular module <NUM> may include a communication processor (CP). Also, the cellular module <NUM> may be implemented as, for example, an SoC. In <FIG>, the cellular module <NUM> (e.g., the CP), the memory <NUM>, the power management module <NUM>, etc. are shown as elements separate from the AP <NUM>. However, according to an exemplary embodiment, the AP <NUM> may be implemented to include at least some (e.g., the cellular module <NUM>) of the aforementioned elements.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the AP <NUM> or the cellular module <NUM> (e.g., the CP) may load an instruction or data received from a non-volatile memory connected thereto or at least one of other elements into a volatile memory and process the loaded instruction or data. Also, the AP <NUM> or the cellular module <NUM> may store data received from at least one of the other elements or generated by at least one of the other elements in a non-volatile memory.

Each of the WiFi module <NUM>, the BT module <NUM>, the GPS module <NUM>, and the NFC module <NUM> may include, for example, a processor for processing data transceived through the corresponding module. In <FIG>, the cellular module <NUM>, the WiFi module <NUM>, the BT module <NUM>, the GPS module <NUM>, and the NFC module <NUM> are shown as separate blocks, but according to an exemplary embodiment, at least some (e.g., two or more) of the cellular module <NUM>, the WiFi module <NUM>, the BT module <NUM>, the GPS module <NUM>, and the NFC module <NUM> may be included in one integrated chip (IC) or IC package. For example, at least some of the processors (e.g., a communication processor corresponding to the cellular module <NUM> and a WiFi processor corresponding to the WiFi module <NUM>) corresponding to the cellular module <NUM>, the WiFi module <NUM>, the BT module <NUM>, the GPS module <NUM>, and the NFC module <NUM> may be implemented as one SoC.

The RF module <NUM> may transceive data, for example, RF signals. The RF module <NUM> may include, for example, a transceiver, a power amp module (PAM), a frequency filter, a low noise amplifier (LNA), and so on. Also, the RF module <NUM> may further include a part for transceiving electromagnetic waves for wireless communication in free space, for example, a conductor, a conducting wire, and so on. In <FIG>, the cellular module <NUM>, the WiFi module <NUM>, the BT module <NUM>, the GPS module <NUM>, and the NFC module <NUM> share the RF module <NUM> with each other, but according to one embodiment, at least one of the cellular module <NUM>, the WiFi module <NUM>, the BT module <NUM>, the GPS module <NUM>, and the NFC module <NUM> may transceive RF signals through a separate RF module.

The SIM card <NUM> may be a card including a SIM and inserted in a slot on the electronic device <NUM> that is configured to receive the SIM card <NUM> and access the SIM card <NUM>. The SIM card <NUM> may include unique identification information (e.g., an integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID)) or subscriber information (e.g., international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI)).

The memory <NUM> (e.g., the memory <NUM>) may include an internal memory <NUM> or an external memory <NUM>. The internal memory <NUM> may include at least one of, for example, a volatile memory (e.g., a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a static RAM (SRAM), a synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), etc.), and a non-volatile memory (e.g., a one-time programmable read-only memory (OTPROM), a programmable ROM (PROM), an erasable and programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable and programmable ROM (EEPROM), a mask ROM, a flash ROM, a NAND flash memory, a NOR flash memory, etc.).

According to an exemplary embodiment, the internal memory <NUM> may be a solid state drive (SSD). The external memory <NUM> may further include a flash drive, for example, a compact flash (CF) memory card, a secure digital (SD) memory card, a micro-SD memory card, a mini-SD memory card, an extreme digital (XD) memory card, a memory stick, or so on. Through various interfaces, the external memory <NUM> may be functionally connected to the electronic device <NUM>. According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device <NUM> may further include a storage device (or a storage medium) such as a hard disk drive.

The sensor module <NUM> may measure a physical quantity or sense an operational state of the electronic device <NUM> and convert the measured or sensed information into an electric signal. The sensor module <NUM> may include at least one of, for example, a gesture sensor 440A, a gyro sensor 440B, an atmospheric pressure sensor 440C, a magnetic sensor 440D, an acceleration sensor 440E, a grip sensor 440F, a proximity sensor <NUM>, a color sensor <NUM> (e.g., a red, green, blue (RGB) sensor), a biosensor 440I, a temperature/humidity sensor 440J, an illumination sensor <NUM>, and an ultraviolet (UV) sensor <NUM>. Additionally or alternatively, the sensor module <NUM> may include, for example, an e-nose sensor, an electromyography (EMG) sensor, an electroencephalogram (EEG) sensor, an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor, an infrared (IR) sensor, an iris sensor, a fingerprint sensor, and so on. The sensor module <NUM> may further include a control circuit for controlling at least one sensor included therein.

The input device <NUM> may include a touch panel <NUM>, a (digital) pen sensor <NUM>, a key <NUM>, or an ultrasonic input device <NUM>. The touch panel <NUM> may recognize a touch input using at least one of, for example, capacitive, resistive, IR, and ultrasonic techniques. Also, the touch panel <NUM> may further include a control circuit. In the case of a capacitive type touch panel <NUM>, a physical contact or proximity recognition is possible. The touch panel <NUM> may further include a tactile layer. In this case, the touch panel <NUM> may provide a tactile reaction to the user.

The (digital) pen sensor <NUM> may be implemented, for example, using a method identical or similar to receiving of a touch input of the user or using a separate recognition sheet. The key <NUM> may include, for example, physical buttons, optical keys, or a keypad. The ultrasonic input device <NUM> is a device which may sense a sonic wave generated by an input tool for generating an ultrasonic signal through a microphone (e.g., a microphone <NUM>) and check data in the electronic device <NUM>, and is capable of wireless recognition. According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device <NUM> may receive a user input from an external device (e.g., a computer or a server) connected thereto using the communication module <NUM>.

The display <NUM> may include a panel <NUM>, a hologram device <NUM>, or a projector <NUM>. The panel <NUM> may be, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), an active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display, and so on. The panel <NUM> may be implemented to be, for example, flexible, transparent, or wearable. The panel <NUM> may constitute one module with the touch panel <NUM>. The hologram device <NUM> may show a three-dimensional (3D) image in the air using the interference of light. The projector <NUM> may display an image by projecting light to a screen. The screen may be, for example, located inside or outside the electronic device <NUM>. According to an exemplary embodiment, the display <NUM> may further include a control circuit for controlling the panel <NUM>, the hologram device <NUM>, or the projector <NUM>.

The interface <NUM> may include, for example, an HDMI <NUM>, a USB interface <NUM>, an optical interface <NUM>, or a D-subminiature (D-sub) <NUM>. The interface <NUM> may be included in, for example, the communication interface <NUM> shown in <FIG>. Additionally or alternatively, the interface <NUM> may include, for example, a mobile high-definition link (MHL) interface, an SD card/multimedia card (MMC) interface, or an infrared data association (IrDA) standard interface.

The audio module <NUM> may convert sound into an electric signal and vice versa. At least some elements of the audio module <NUM> may be included in, for example, the I/O interface <NUM> in <FIG>. The audio module <NUM> may process sound information input or output through, for example, a speaker <NUM>, a receiver <NUM>, an earphone <NUM>, the microphone <NUM>, and so on.

The camera module <NUM> is a device capable of capturing a still image or a video. According to an exemplary embodiment, the camera module <NUM> may include one or more image sensors (e.g., a front sensor and a rear sensor), a lens, an image signal processor (ISP), or a flash (e.g., an LED or a xenon lamp).

The power management module <NUM> may manage the power of the electronic device <NUM>. The power management module <NUM> may include, for example, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC), a charger IC, or a battery or fuel gauge.

The PMIC may be included in, for example, an IC or an SoC semiconductor device. Charging methods may be classified into wired charging and wireless charging. The charger IC may charge a battery and prevent inflow of an overvoltage or overcurrent from a charger. According to an exemplary embodiment, the charger IC may include a charger IC for at least one of wired charging and wireless charging. Example of wireless charging include magnetic resonance charging, magnetic induction charging, electromagnetic charging, etc., and an additional circuit, for example, a coil loop, a resonance circuit, a rectifier, etc., for wireless charging may be added.

The battery gauge may measure, for example, the residual power, charging voltage, current, or temperature of the battery <NUM>. The battery <NUM> may store or generate electricity and supply power to the electronic device <NUM> using the stored or generated electricity. The battery <NUM> may include a rechargeable battery or a solar battery.

The indicator <NUM> may display a particular state, for example, a booting state, a message state, a charging state, etc., of the electronic device <NUM> or a part (e.g., the AP <NUM>) of the electronic device <NUM>. The motor <NUM> may convert an electric signal into mechanical vibration.

The electronic device <NUM> may include a processing device (e.g., a GPU) for supporting a mobile TV. The processing device for supporting a mobile TV may process media data conforming to a standard, such as digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), digital video broadcasting (DVB), media flow, and so on.

Each of the above-described elements of the electronic device <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may be formed of one or more components, and the name of the corresponding element may vary according to the type of the electronic device. The electronic device <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may include at least one of the elements described above, and may exclude some of the elements or further include other additional elements. Some of the elements of the electronic device <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> may be combined into one entity and perform the same functions as those of the elements before the combination.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of operating an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, in operation <NUM>, an electronic device identifies a user-preferred region on a display thereof that is preferred by a user.

The user-preferred region may refer to a region one or more of the user's hands engage when the user interfaces with the electronic device with one hand or both hands. For example, when the user performs an action other than manipulation of the electronic device with his or her left hand and manipulates the electronic device with his or her right hand, it may be necessary for the user to manipulate a display region of the electronic device with fingers of his or her right hand while holding the electronic device with his or her right hand. To this end, at least one GUI element that involves an interaction, such as a touch of the user's hand, etc., for manipulation of the electronic device may be arranged in a region within a range touchable with a finger of the user's right hand. In this way, the electronic device may determine, for example, a region in a range touchable with a finger of the user's right hand as the user-preferred region.

The user-preferred region may be determined according to various methods.

The user-preferred region refers to a part of the display region currently preferred by the user of the electronic device, and may include one or more regions separated from each other. For example, when the user uses the electronic device with both hands, two or more user-preferred regions may be identified.

The user-preferred region may be flexibly changed according to a form in which the user of the electronic device uses the electronic device. For example, when the user uses the electronic device vertically and then horizontally, the electronic device may selectively determine a user-preferred region for vertical orientation use and a user-preferred region for horizontal orientation use, and such user-preferred regions may be different.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device may detect an orientation, and identify or select the user-preferred region in consideration of the detected orientation.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device may detect a hand of the user with which the electronic device is used, and identify the user-preferred region in consideration of the detected hand of the user.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device may monitor interaction between the user and the electronic device, and identify the user-preferred region based on at least one display region determined to correspond to the monitored interaction.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device may identify the user-preferred region based on user preference.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device displays at least one GUI element in the user-preferred region.

The GUI element may be an icon, an item, etc. displayed on a display of the electronic device and activated by the user's selection thereof. The GUI element displayed in the user-preferred region may include a notification icon that notifies the user, for example that a new e-mail or message has been received, an application icon, a menu icon that makes a change of a setting of the electronic device, a character input icon, and so on.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device may display a group object corresponding to the at least one GUI element in the user-preferred region. Displaying the group object is preferable when a size of the identified user-preferred region is insufficient to display the at least one GUI element.

According to an exemplary embodiment, in response to an input of selecting the group object, the electronic device may display the at least one GUI element corresponding to the group object.

Accordingly, a user interface that enables the user to select an option of a function of displaying the GUI element in the user-preferred region of the electronic device may be provided.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a user interface to configure the user interface for receiving input according to a particular hand of a user according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> (or <NUM>, <NUM>) outputs a user interface <NUM> for configuring a user-preferred region on the display. The user interface <NUM> may include a message <NUM> asking the user to select the hand the user prefers as the basis for a user-preferred region, an input item <NUM> indicating "LEFT HAND," an input item <NUM> indicating "RIGHT HAND," an input item <NUM> indicating "BOTH HANDS," and an input item <NUM> indicating "NONE.

The user may select the input item <NUM> indicating "LEFT HAND" to configure the user-preferred region to be disposed for the left hand, select the input item <NUM> indicating "RIGHT HAND" to configure the user-preferred region to be disposed for the right hand, select the input item <NUM> indicating "BOTH HANDS" to configure the user-preferred region to be disposed for both hands, or select the input item <NUM> indicating "NONE" to configure the user-preferred region to be adaptively determined by the electronic device.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a user interface to configure the user interface to display selectable items in a user-preferred region according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> (or <NUM>, <NUM>) outputs a user interface <NUM> for selecting an item to be displayed in a user-preferred region. The user interface <NUM> may include a message <NUM> asking the user which item the user wants to display in the user-preferred region, an input item <NUM> indicating "NOTIFICATION MESSAGE," an input item <NUM> indicating "APPLICATION ICON," an input item <NUM> indicating "ON-SCREEN MENU," and an input item <NUM> indicating "CHARACTER INPUT BOX.

Items to be displayed in the user-preferred region are not limited to those shown in <FIG>, and the user may select one or more of the input items shown in the user interface <NUM>. To configure that all of the items displayed in the user interface <NUM> shown in <FIG> to be displayed in the user-preferred region, the user may select all of the input items <NUM> to <NUM> displayed in the user interface <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates examples of an electronic device configured to display selectable items in a user-preferred region according to an exemplary embodiment.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a user-preferred region may have a simple geometric shape, such as a square, a rectangle, a circle, and so on. In <FIG>, example <NUM> shows that a user-preferred region <NUM> has a rectangular shape, and example <NUM> shows that a user-preferred region <NUM> has a circular shape.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a user-preferred region may have an irregular shape. In <FIG>, example <NUM> shows that a user-preferred region <NUM> has an irregular shape.

According to an exemplary embodiment, one or more user-preferred regions may be disposed on a display of an electronic device.

<FIG> illustrates an example configuration of two user-preferred regions configured in an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, a user holds and operates an electronic device <NUM> with both hands. For example, when the electronic device <NUM> is a large-sized electronic device such as a tablet, the user frequently manipulates the electronic device <NUM> with both hands because of the difficulty to simultaneously hold and manipulate the electronic device <NUM> with one hand. Therefore, in this case, the electronic device <NUM> may arrange a first user-preferred region <NUM> in a display region close to a left hand <NUM> of the user and arrange a second user-preferred region <NUM> in a display region close to a right hand <NUM> of the user. The electronic device <NUM> may arrange the first user-preferred region <NUM> and the second user-preferred region <NUM> as shown in <FIG> and display one or more GUI elements in the arranged first and second user-preferred regions <NUM> and <NUM>, thereby enabling the user to conveniently select the one or more displayed GUI elements without minimal effort.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a user-preferred region may include an edge region of an electronic device including an edge display.

<FIG> is a diagram illustrating a method of operating an electronic device including an edge display according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, the user-preferred region may also be implemented in an electronic device <NUM> having a curved touch screen, such as a device having a touch screen bent around an edge of the device. In this case of a touch screen <NUM> extending to one or more edges of the electronic device <NUM> as shown in <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> may configure a user-preferred region <NUM> to include a region <NUM> of the touch screen <NUM> arranged at one edge <NUM> when identifying the user-preferred region <NUM>.

In other words, according to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device <NUM> may extend the user-preferred region <NUM> to the edge region <NUM> thereof on the edge <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>.

In an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device <NUM> may consider a main surface and the curved edge <NUM> of the touch screen <NUM> as separate display regions, and identify one of the main surface and the curved edge <NUM> as a user-preferred region.

According to exemplary embodiments, various items may be displayed in a user-preferred region arranged in an electronic device.

<FIG> are diagrams illustrating selectable items displayed in a user-preferred region according to an exemplary embodiment.

<FIG> shows GUI elements which represent event notifications and are displayed in an identified user-preferred region <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, two event notifications, that is, a GUI element <NUM> representing an event notification indicating reception of a new e-mail and a GUI element <NUM> representing an event notification indicating reception of a new message, are displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM>.

Event notifications may concern various events (e.g., an alarm or other messages generated by an application, reception of a new mail or text message, or a reminder of a calendar event). To execute an application associated with a particular type of event, the user may select the GUI element <NUM> or <NUM>.

<FIG> shows only GUI elements associated with particular event notifications. However, for example, when a particular message is received, a part of content included in the newly received message may be displayed together with a GUI element corresponding to reception of the new message in the user-preferred region.

<FIG> shows GUI elements of applications or widgets displayed in an identified user-preferred region <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, four application GUI elements <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM>.

<FIG> shows GUI elements of on-screen menus displayed in an identified user-preferred region <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, GUI elements <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> representing five on-screen menus are displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM>. The on-screen menus refer to menus, etc. for changing settings of the electronic device <NUM>, and may include, for example, a volume adjustment menu <NUM>, a screen brightness adjustment menu <NUM>, a WiFi setting menu <NUM>, a BT setting menu <NUM>, and a mute setting <NUM>.

<FIG> shows GUI elements of a character input box displayed in an identified user-preferred region <NUM> according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, GUI elements <NUM> representing a character input box are displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM>. For example, when a user holds a cellular phone with one hand and executes a telephone call application to make a phone call with the same hand, a character input box may be arranged within a range touchable with the hand of the user, as shown in <FIG>, so the user may easily input numbers for making a phone call with only one hand.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a method of identifying a user-preferred region according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, in operation <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> detects a current orientation thereof. For example, the electronic device <NUM> may detect a current orientation thereof using the orientation detection sensor <NUM>, or the electronic device <NUM> may detect a current orientation thereof using the gyro sensor 440B. The current orientation represents whether the electronic device is oriented horizontally or vertically.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may identify a user-preferred region in consideration of the detected orientation thereof.

When the electronic device <NUM> is disposed in different orientations, the electronic device <NUM> may use different user-preferred regions.

For example, a preferred region may vary according to whether the user holds the electronic device <NUM> with the longer sides of the electronic device placed in a vertical or horizontal direction.

<FIG> is a reference view illustrating user-preferred regions selectively arranged in an electronic device depending on an orientation of the electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, 1200a shows a user-preferred region <NUM> when the electronic device <NUM> is horizontally oriented, and 1200b shows a user-preferred region <NUM> when the electronic device <NUM> is vertically oriented. The electronic device <NUM> detects whether the electronic device <NUM> is oriented horizontally or vertically and may change the position and size of a user-preferred region while maintaining the shape of the user-preferred region. Alternatively, the position, size, and shape, or any combination thereof, of the user-preferred region may be adjusted based on the orientation of the electronic device <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, 1300a shows a user-preferred region <NUM> when the electronic device <NUM> is vertically oriented, and 1300b shows a user-preferred region <NUM> when the electronic device <NUM> is horizontally oriented. The electronic device <NUM> detects whether the electronic device <NUM> is oriented horizontally or vertically and may change the position or size of a user-preferred region, as well as the shape of the user-preferred region. In this way, by adaptively changing the shape, size, or position of a user-preferred region according to whether the electronic device <NUM> is horizontally or vertically oriented, it is possible to adaptively provide a user-preferred region according to the user's preference for grasping the electronic device <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, in operation <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> detects a hand, thumb, or fingers of the user with which the electronic device <NUM> is being used. For example, the electronic device <NUM> may detect with which hand the user is grasping the electronic device <NUM> using the grip sensor 440F, the proximity sensor <NUM>, and the temperature/humidity sensor 440J of the sensor module <NUM>, the touch panel <NUM>, and so on.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> identifies a user-preferred region in consideration of the detected hand.

The user may hold and manipulate the electronic device <NUM> with his or her left hand or right hand. By identifying a user-preferred region according to a hand of the user holding the electronic device <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may provide an effective user-preferred region.

<FIG> is a reference view illustrating user-preferred regions selectively arranged in an electronic device depending on a hand of a user with which the electronic device is used according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, 1500a shows a user-preferred region <NUM> when the user holds and manipulates the electronic device <NUM> with the left hand, and 1500b shows a user-preferred region <NUM> when the user holds and manipulates the electronic device <NUM> with the right hand. For example, when detecting in 1500a that the user holds and manipulates the electronic device <NUM> with the left hand, the electronic device <NUM> may identify the user-preferred region <NUM> at a position close to the left thumb. Also, when detecting in 1500b that the user holds and manipulates the electronic device <NUM> with the right hand, the electronic device <NUM> may identify the user-preferred region <NUM> at a position close to the right thumb. For example, when the user manipulates the electronic device <NUM> with the left hand, a GUI element <NUM> may be displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM> arranged on the left side of the electronic device <NUM>, and when the user changes hands and manipulates the electronic device <NUM> with the right hand, the GUI element <NUM> may be displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM> arranged on the right side of the electronic device <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, in operation <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> monitors interactions between the user and the electronic device <NUM>. The interactions between the user and the electronic device <NUM> refer to motions made by the user on the display of the electronic device <NUM> to manipulate the electronic device <NUM>, and may include user inputs, for example, a touch, a swipe, a drag, a pinch, and a gesture. For example, the electronic device <NUM> may monitor interactions between the user and the electronic device <NUM> using the touch panel <NUM>, the pen sensor <NUM>, the gesture sensor 440A, and so on.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> identifies a user-preferred region in consideration of at least one display region corresponding to the monitored interactions.

The electronic device <NUM> may identify the user-preferred region by considering at least one display region in which the monitored interactions occur.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device <NUM> determines a display region frequently used by the user as a user-preferred region by determining the user-preferred region in consideration of a display region most frequently used for the monitored interactions, and may help the user in easily selecting a GUI element by displaying GUI elements in the determined user-preferred region.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device <NUM> may monitor user interactions and store user-preferred regions depending on a form in which the user uses the electronic device <NUM>. In other words, by separately monitoring a user interaction when the user grasps and uses the electronic device <NUM> with his or her left hand, a user interaction when the user grasps and uses the electronic device <NUM> with his or her right hand, a user interaction when the user horizontally orients the electronic device <NUM>, and a user interaction when the user uses vertically orients the electronic device <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may separately store a user-preferred region when the user graphs and uses the electronic device <NUM> with the left hand, a user-preferred region when the user graphs and uses the electronic device <NUM> with the right hand, a user-preferred region when the user uses the electronic device <NUM> when horizontally oriented, and a user-preferred region when the user uses the electronic device <NUM> when vertically oriented.

According to an exemplary embodiment, when the electronic device <NUM> monitors interactions between the user and the electronic device <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may monitor interactions made in one or more preselected applications.

According to an exemplary embodiment, only user interactions made when an application with a high degree of input flexibility is executed may be monitoring targets which are used by the electronic device <NUM> to determine the preferred region. In other words, only interactions with an application with a high degree of input flexibility may be considered when determining the boundary of the preferred region.

An application with a low degree of input flexibility and an application with a high degree of input flexibility will be described with reference to <FIG> and <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates an example of an application with a low degree of input flexibility.

Referring to <FIG>, an application <NUM> for capturing a photo is activated in the electronic device <NUM>. In the application <NUM> for capturing a photo, the user may focus the electronic device <NUM> on an object whose photo will be captured and touch a photography button <NUM> arranged on the right side of the screen of the electronic device <NUM>, thereby causing the electronic device <NUM> to perform a photography operation. However, in such a photo capture application, a region for receiving a user's input to capture a photo is limited to a particular region of the screen, and thus the user has no degree of freedom in selecting a region to touch when capturing a photo. Such an application is an application with a low or no degree of input flexibility because the range of input on the display of the electronic device <NUM> is limited to a small portion of the display. In such an application with a low or no degree of input flexibility, there is no probability that a user's preference will be involved in a user interaction. Therefore, by excluding interactions in such an application with a low or no degree of input flexibility from monitoring, it is possible to prevent distortion of a user-preferred region.

<FIG> is an example of an application with a high degree of input flexibility.

Referring to <FIG>, a photo gallery application <NUM> is activated. In the photo gallery application <NUM>, the user may freely select a height on the screen, for example, H1 or H2, at which a swipe gesture will be made, and may also select a start point and an end point of the gesture. Therefore, the user may swipe to the left or right to see other images in a photo column. In the photo gallery application <NUM>, the user may swipe to see another photo column at any height H1 or H2 with no problem, and thus there is a high degree of freedom in a height at which the user swipes. Since the user may swipe in his or her preferred region, user interactions in the application <NUM> with a high degree of input flexibility may faithfully reflect the user's preference. Therefore, when user interactions in an application with a high degree of input flexibility are monitored in the user's history and used to determine a user-preferred region, it is possible to accurately reflect the user's preference. Other types of interactions allowing a high degree of input flexibility are those applications supporting a pinch-to-zoom function, scrolling up/down in a document or a web page, and up/down/left/right swiping for access from an application menu to an adjustment screen.

Such screen interaction monitoring may be omitted when the preferred region is identified not based on previous interactions between the touch screen and the user but based on a user preference.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a process of determining a user-preferred region based on a user interaction according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, in operation <NUM>, an electronic device detects angular coordinates or sub regions in a display region at which an interaction between a user and the electronic device occurs. At this time, as mentioned above, only user interactions in an application with at least one degree of input flexibility rather than user interactions in all applications may be monitoring targets.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device monitors the numbers of user interactions at the detected angular coordinates or sub regions.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device determines angular coordinates or sub regions whose numbers of monitored interactions exceed a threshold value.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device determines a user-preferred region based on determined angular coordinates or sub regions.

For example, the electronic device may monitor user interactions using the user interaction monitoring module <NUM> or <NUM>.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the user interaction monitoring module <NUM> or <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> or <NUM> may store coordinates of touch events during a particular time period (e.g., one day/one week/one month, etc.) or store coordinates of a particular number of touch events, for example, the most recent touch events.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the user-preferred region identification module <NUM> or <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> may variously identify the user-preferred region, such as determining a boundary of a region covering a certain percentage of the stored touch events. As another method, a machine learning algorithm may be used. For example, the machine learning algorithm may receive various inputs (e.g., a contact area between the user's finger and the touch screen, a duration of a particular touch event, a speed of a particular gesture, an entire display region, a region preferred as an arbitrary initial default, etc., but inputs are not limited thereto).

According to an exemplary embodiment, the user interaction monitoring module <NUM> or <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM> or <NUM> may store an interaction history of the current user as a heat map or a density map instead of storing coordinates of each touch event. In these maps, a higher score is allocated to a region or coordinates corresponding to a larger number of touch events.

<FIG> is a reference view illustrating an example of determining a user-preferred region based on user interactions according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> may detect the quantity of interactions at angular coordinates or sub regions in a display region <NUM> as a result of monitoring user interactions in predetermined applications, for example, applications with a high degree of input flexibility. The electronic device <NUM> may detect angular coordinates or sub regions whose quantity of interactions exceed a threshold value among angular coordinates or sub regions whose quantity of interactions have been detected. For example, in 1900a, angular coordinates or sub regions whose quantity of interactions exceed the threshold value are indicated by points <NUM>, and angular coordinates or sub regions whose quantity of interactions do not exceed the threshold value are indicated by empty circles <NUM>.

According to an exemplary embodiment, as shown in 1900b, the electronic device <NUM> may determine a region covering angular coordinates or small regions whose quantities of interactions exceed the threshold value as a user-preferred region <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> calculates an average of angular coordinates whose quantities of interactions exceed a threshold value or an average of angular coordinates of sub regions whose quantities of interactions exceed the threshold value, and determines a center position <NUM> according to the average, as shown in 1900c. The center position <NUM> may be coordinates of an average contact point.

According to an exemplary embodiment, as shown in 1900d, the electronic device <NUM> may determine a circle <NUM> having a radius r from the determined center position <NUM> as a user-preferred region.

Referring to <FIG>, in operation <NUM>, an electronic device outputs a user interface for receiving an input of a user setting.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device receives a user setting through the user interface.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device identifies a user-preferred region based on the received user setting.

The user interface for receiving an input of a user setting may include, for example, the user interface shown in <FIG>. Through the user interface shown in <FIG>, a user may select left or right handed operation. In such an exemplary embodiment, a preferred region may be identified by checking whether the user has selected left or right handed operation. When left handed operation is selected in the user interface, a preferred region may be identified on the left side of the touch screen close to the user's left thumb. Likewise, when right handed operation is selected, a preferred region may be identified on the right side of the touch screen. However, in another embodiment, a machine learning algorithm may be used to adjust a preferred region based on previous interactions between the touch screen and the user.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the user may personally set a display region for displaying GUI elements on a display.

<FIG> is a reference view illustrating a method of configuring a user-preferred region according to an exemplary embodiment.

In 2100a of <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> may output a user interface <NUM> for setting a user-preferred region. In the user interface <NUM>, a message <NUM> "draw a desired user-preferred region with your finger" may be displayed. The user may draw a user-preferred region <NUM> by touching with a finger or thumb <NUM>.

The electronic device <NUM> receives a trace of the touch with the finger <NUM> of the user, and may store information on the trace as a user-preferred region <NUM>. When it is necessary to display GUI elements thereafter, the electronic device <NUM> identifies the stored user-preferred region <NUM> and displays the GUI elements in the identified user-preferred region <NUM>, so that the GUI elements may be displayed in a display region wanted by the user.

<FIG>, <FIG> are diagrams illustrating GUI elements displayed in a user-preferred region of an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.

<FIG> shows an example in which each of one or more GUI elements are displayed in a user-preferred region of an electronic device. Referring to <FIG>, a GUI element <NUM> indicating reception of a new e-mail, a GUI element <NUM> indicating that there is a missed call, and a GUI element <NUM> indicating reception of a new message are displayed in a user-preferred region <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>. Each GUI element may be displayed in various shapes. Each GUI element in <FIG> are displayed in the shape of a bubble.

<FIG> shows an example in which one group object corresponding to one or more GUI elements is displayed in a user-preferred region of an electronic device. Referring to <FIG>, in the user-preferred region <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>, a GUI element indicating reception of a new e-mail, a GUI element indicating that there is a missed call, a GUI element indicating reception of a new message, etc. all are displayed in an image <NUM> representing one large group object.

For example, when there are too many GUI elements to be displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM>, the electronic device <NUM> may group several GUI elements together and display the GUI elements as one group object.

<FIG> shows an example in which one or more GUI elements are displayed in a user-preferred region of an electronic device by scrolling. Referring to <FIG>, only some of GUI elements to be displayed may be displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>, and other GUI elements may be revealed by scrolling. In other words, in the user-preferred region <NUM>, only a GUI element <NUM> indicating reception of a new e-mail and a GUI element <NUM> indicating reception of a new message are displayed, and an arrow element <NUM> which enables upward scrolling to display other GUI elements and an arrow element <NUM> which enables downward scrolling to display other GUI elements may be additionally displayed. The electronic device <NUM> may display GUI elements hidden above when the user selects the arrow element <NUM>, and may display GUI elements hidden below when the user selects the arrow element <NUM>.

<FIG> shows an example in which one or more GUI elements and a group object are displayed together in a user-preferred region. Referring to <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> displays individual GUI elements <NUM> and <NUM> and a group object <NUM> together in the user-preferred region <NUM>.

According to an exemplary embodiment, an electronic device may display a GUI element representing an event notification in a user-preferred region thereof. The electronic device may display the GUI element representing an event notification in a lock screen thereof or when a user manipulates the electronic device.

<FIG>, <FIG> illustrate GUI elements displayed in a user-preferred region on a lock screen when an event notification is generated in the lock screen of the electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.

<FIG> shows an example in which one or more GUI elements all may be displayed in a user-preferred region in a lock screen state according to an exemplary embodiment.

In <FIG>, view 2300a shows the lock screen state of an electronic device. When a new e-mail is received in the lock screen state, the electronic device may identify a user-preferred region <NUM> first, and display a GUI element <NUM> for an event notification indicating that a new e-mail has been received in the identified user-preferred region <NUM>. View 2300b shows a state in which the GUI element <NUM> is displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM>.

When a new message is received in the state of 2300b before a user selects and checks the GUI element <NUM> indicating the reception of a new e-mail, the electronic device may further display a GUI element <NUM> indicating the reception of a new message in the user-preferred region <NUM> as shown in view 2300c.

In this way, every time a GUI element to be displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM> is newly generated, the electronic device may additionally display the newly generated GUI element in the user-preferred region <NUM>.

<FIG> shows an example in which all of one or more GUI elements may not be displayed in a user-preferred region in the lock screen state according to an exemplary embodiment.

View 2300d of <FIG> shows the lock screen state of an electronic device in which no GUI element is displayed. In the lock screen state, a plurality of new notifications may be generated at the same time, and there may be space insufficient to display GUI elements corresponding to the plurality of new notifications together in the user-preferred region <NUM>. In this case, the electronic device may display one group object <NUM> corresponding to the plurality of GUI elements in the user-preferred region <NUM>. The group object <NUM> may be displayed as an image for indicating that a plurality of GUI elements corresponding to a plurality of notification events are contained in the group object <NUM>. For example, as shown in 2300e, the group object <NUM> may have one large bubble shape which contains images of a plurality of GUI elements in small size.

<FIG> shows another example in which all of one or more GUI elements may not be displayed in a user-preferred region in the lock screen state according to an exemplary embodiment.

View 2300f of <FIG> shows the lock screen state of an electronic device in which no GUI element is displayed. In the lock screen state, when there is insufficient space to display together GUI elements corresponding to a plurality of new notifications generated at the same time in a user-preferred region, the electronic device may display the GUI elements by scrolling.

Referring to view <NUM>, the electronic device may display two GUI elements <NUM> and <NUM>, an arrow element <NUM> that enables upward scrolling, and an arrow element <NUM> that enables downward scrolling in the user-preferred region <NUM>. The user may scroll using the arrow icon <NUM> or <NUM> to reveal GUI elements previously concealed in the user-preferred region <NUM>.

<FIG> is a flowchart of a method of displaying at least one GUI element in a user-preferred region according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, in operation <NUM>, an electronic device determines whether display of all GUI elements in an identified user-preferred region is possible. Regardless of the number of GUI elements displayed in the user-preferred region, the electronic device may determine whether display of a newly generated GUI element is possible in view of the current state of the user-preferred region. For example, when display of a maximum of four GUI elements in the user-preferred region is possible, a new GUI element may be generated while four GUI elements are currently being displayed in the user-preferred region. At this time, the electronic device may determine that display of all the GUI elements in the identified user-preferred region is impossible.

When the electronic device determines that display of all the GUI elements in the identified user-preferred region is possible, the electronic device may display a newly generated GUI element in the user-preferred region in operation <NUM>.

When the electronic device determines that display of all the GUI elements in the identified user-preferred region is impossible, the electronic device may display a group object corresponding to one or more GUI elements in the user-preferred region in operation <NUM>.

When a user selects the group object displayed in the user-preferred region in operation <NUM>, the electronic device may separately display the one or more GUI elements corresponding to the group object in operation <NUM>.

<FIG> is a reference view illustrating a group object according to an exemplary embodiment.

In <FIG>, view 2500a shows a state in which three GUI elements <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are displayed in a user-preferred region <NUM> of an electronic device. When two GUI elements to be displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM> are newly generated while the three GUI elements <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM>, the electronic device may determine whether there is additional display space for the two GUI elements in the user-preferred region <NUM>. When the space of the user-preferred region <NUM> is insufficient to display the two additional GUI elements, the electronic device may display one group object <NUM> corresponding to a total of five GUI elements to be displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM>. View 2500b shows a state in which the group object <NUM> is displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates an example of a user interface when a group object is selected according to an exemplary embodiment when a group object is selected.

Referring to <FIG>, view 2600a shows a state in which one group object <NUM> corresponding to a plurality of GUI elements is displayed in a bubble shape in a user-preferred region <NUM>.

View 2600b shows the result obtained when a user selects the group object <NUM> in the bubble shape. When the user selects the group object <NUM>, an electronic device may display individual GUI elements <NUM> to <NUM> related to the group object <NUM> using animations that show the individual GUI elements <NUM> to <NUM> as additional bubbles splattering out of the group object <NUM> or moving out of the group object <NUM>. The individual GUI elements <NUM> to <NUM> in bubble shapes separated from the group object <NUM> in the bubble shape are reduced in size, so that all the GUI elements <NUM> to <NUM> may be displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a user interface when a group object is selected according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, view 2600c shows the same state as in <FIG>, and view 2600d shows the result obtained when the user selects the group object <NUM> in the bubble shape. When the user selects the group object <NUM>, the electronic device may display the individual GUI elements <NUM> to <NUM> related to the group object <NUM> using animations that show the individual GUI elements <NUM> to <NUM> as additional bubbles separated from the group object <NUM>. The individual GUI elements <NUM> to <NUM> in bubble shapes separated from the group object <NUM> in the bubble shape are displayed to overlap each other, so that all the GUI elements <NUM> to <NUM> may be displayed in the user-preferred region <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, view 2600e shows the same state as in <FIG>, and view 2600f shows the result obtained when the user selects the group object <NUM> in the bubble shape.

In view 2600f, a subset of individual GUI elements <NUM> to <NUM> may be displayed to be scrollable when there is insufficient space to display all the individual GUI elements <NUM> to <NUM> of the group object <NUM>. An upward arrow icon <NUM> and a downward arrow icon <NUM> may be displayed to indicate that other GUI elements may be accessed by scrolling up/down (e.g., swiping a displayed GUI element <NUM> or <NUM> up or down or touching the upward or downward arrow icon <NUM> or <NUM>). In this way, the user may scroll through all of the GUI elements within the user-preferred region <NUM>.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying a GUI element in a user-preferred region according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, in operation <NUM>, an electronic device determines whether display of all GUI elements in an identified user-preferred region is possible.

When it is determined that display of all the GUI elements in the identified user-preferred region is possible, the electronic device may display a newly generated GUI element in the user-preferred region in operation <NUM>.

When it is determined that display of all the GUI elements in the identified user-preferred region is impossible, the electronic device displays a plurality of GUI elements to be scrollable in the user-preferred region in operation <NUM>.

When a user selects a scroll icon displayed in the user-preferred region in operation <NUM>, the electronic device may display GUI elements present in a scroll direction in the user-preferred region in operation <NUM>.

<FIG> is a reference view illustrating scrollable GUI elements according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, view 2800a shows a state in which three GUI elements <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> are displayed in a user-preferred region <NUM>.

View 2800b shows an example in which, when a new GUI element to be additionally displayed is generated, display of the three GUI elements <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> and the newly generated GUI element together in the user-preferred region <NUM>, is impossible and thus the GUI elements are displayed to be scrolled. An upward arrow icon <NUM> and a downward arrow icon <NUM> may be displayed to indicate that other GUI elements may be accessed by scrolling up/down (e.g., swiping a displayed GUI element <NUM> or <NUM> up or down or touching the upward or downward arrow icon <NUM> or <NUM>). In this way, a user may scroll through all of the GUI elements within the user-preferred region <NUM>.

<FIG> is a reference view illustrating selection of a scrollable GUI element according to an exemplary embodiment.

View 2900a shows a state in which GUI elements <NUM> and <NUM> are displayed and an upward arrow icon <NUM> and a downward arrow icon <NUM> are displayed for scrolling in a user-preferred region <NUM> of the electronic device <NUM>.

View 2900b shows a state in which an application <NUM>-<NUM> for reading a message newly received by the electronic device <NUM> is displayed on the display of the electronic device <NUM> when the user selects the GUI element <NUM> representing a notification of reception of a new message in the state of 2900a.

View 2900c shows a screen displayed on the display of the electronic device <NUM> after the user checks the new message and ends the message application <NUM>-<NUM>. Since the user has checked the new message, display of the GUI element <NUM> representing the notification of reception of a new message may be no longer necessary. Therefore, the electronic device <NUM> may not display the GUI element <NUM>, and may display individual GUI elements <NUM>, <NUM>, and <NUM> as shown in 2900c when display of all GUI elements except the GUI element <NUM> in the user-preferred region <NUM> is possible.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating of an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, in operation <NUM>, an electronic device detects that a GUI element to be displayed in a user-preferred region has been generated.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device identifies a hand of a user with which the electronic device is currently being used. The electronic device may identify with which hand the user is currently holding the electronic device using, for example, a touch panel or so on. For example, when the user holds the electronic device with the right hand, the electronic device may sense a touch on the right side of the touch panel, and when the user holds the electronic device with the left hand, the electronic device may sense a touch on the left side of the touch panel.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device detects a user-preferred region corresponding to the identified hand.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device displays a GUI element in the detected user-preferred region.

When using the electronic device <NUM>, the user may manipulate the electronic device <NUM> while alternately holding the electronic device <NUM> with the right hand and left hand in real time. Therefore, the electronic device <NUM> may adaptively change a user-preferred region according to a hand of the user holding the electronic device <NUM>.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device detects that the hand of the user holding the electronic device is changed.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device changes the user-preferred region according to the changed hand of the user. For example, the user may hold and use the electronic device with the left hand and then hold and use the electronic device with the right hand.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device displays the GUI element in the changed user-preferred region.

<FIG> is a reference view illustrating a method of operating an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.

In <FIG>, view 3100a shows that, when the user holds and manipulates the electronic device <NUM> with the left hand, the electronic device <NUM> detects that the user is holding the electronic device <NUM> with the left hand and accordingly identifies a user-preferred region <NUM> at a position close to the user's left hand.

View 3100b shows that, when the user holds and manipulates the electronic device <NUM> with the right hand, the electronic device <NUM> detects that the user is holding the electronic device <NUM> with the right hand and accordingly identifies a user-preferred region <NUM> at a position close to the user's right hand.

When using the electronic device <NUM>, the user may manipulate the electronic device <NUM> while alternately holding the electronic device <NUM> with the right hand and left hand in real time. Therefore, when the electronic device <NUM> detects that the user uses the electronic device <NUM> with the left hand as shown in 3100a, the electronic device <NUM> may display a GUI element in the user-preferred region <NUM> arranged at the position close to the user's left hand, and when the user moves the electronic device from the left hand to the right hand and manipulates the electronic device <NUM> with the right hand, the electronic device <NUM> detects that the user's hand manipulating the electronic device <NUM> has been changed and accordingly identify a user-preferred region corresponding to the changed hand.

<FIG> is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device identifies with which hand a user is currently using the electronic device.

The electronic device may identify with which hand the user is currently holding the electronic device using, for example, a touch panel or so on. For example, when the user holds the electronic device with the right hand, the electronic device may sense a touch on the right side of the touch panel, and when the user holds the electronic device with the left hand, the electronic device may sense a touch on the left side of the touch panel.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device detects a current orientation of the electronic device. The electronic device may check the orientation using an appropriate orientation mechanism such as a gyroscope. When the electronic device is differently oriented, different preferred regions may be implemented. For example, a preferred region may vary according to whether the user holds the electronic device with the longer sides of the electronic device placed in a vertical or horizontal direction.

In operation <NUM>, the electronic device identifies a user-preferred region corresponding to the identified hand and the orientation of the electronic device.

According to whether the user holds the electronic device with the left or right hand and whether the electronic device is oriented horizontally or vertically, the electronic device may differently implement the user-preferred region.

<FIG> and <FIG> are reference views illustrating methods of operating an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, the user holds the electronic device <NUM> with the left hand in a horizontal orientation. Therefore, in this case, the electronic device <NUM> may identify a user-preferred region <NUM> at a lower left portion in the display region of the electronic device <NUM> by considering that the user is holding the electronic device <NUM> with the left hand and the electronic device <NUM> is oriented in a horizontal direction. According to an exemplary embodiment, a user-preferred region determined by monitoring user interactions when the user holds and uses the electronic device <NUM> with his or her left hand in the horizontal orientation may be stored, and the electronic device <NUM> may identify the stored user-preferred region when the user holds and uses the electronic device <NUM> horizontally with the left hand.

Referring to <FIG>, the user holds the electronic device <NUM> with the right hand in a vertical orientation. Therefore, in this case, the electronic device <NUM> may identify a user-preferred region <NUM> at a center right portion in the display region of the electronic device <NUM> by considering that the user is holding the electronic device <NUM> with the right hand and the electronic device <NUM> is oriented in the vertical direction. According to an exemplary embodiment, a user-preferred region determined by monitoring user interactions when the user holds and uses the electronic device <NUM> with his or her right hand in the vertical orientation may be stored, and the electronic device <NUM> may identify the stored user-preferred region when the user holds and uses the electronic device <NUM> vertically with the right hand.

<FIG> is a reference view illustrating determination of a user-preferred region on the basis of a finger position of a user according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to <FIG>, the electronic device <NUM> may detect a display region <NUM> corresponding to a finger position of the user who is using the electronic device <NUM>. When the finger position of the user who is using the electronic device <NUM> is detected on the display, the electronic device <NUM> may determine that the display region <NUM> corresponding to the finger position is a position currently most preferred by the user. Therefore, the electronic device <NUM> may determine a region within a certain range from the display region <NUM> as a user-preferred region <NUM>, and display GUI elements, such as an event notification, in the determined user-preferred region <NUM>. When a user-preferred region is identified in this way, the user-preferred region may be adaptively changed in real time along with a real-time change in the finger position of the user.

The operating methods of an electronic device described herein may be embodied in the form of program instructions executable by various computing tools and recorded in a computer-readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc., solely or in combination. The program instructions recorded in the computer-readable recording medium may be specially designed or configured for the present disclosure, or may be known to and used by those of ordinary skill in the computer software art. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include magnetic media, such as a hard disk, a floppy disk, and a magnetic tape, optical media, such as a compact disc ROM (CD-ROM) and a digital versatile disc (DVD), magneto-optical media, such as a floptical disk, and hardware devices, such as a ROM, a RAM, a flash memory, etc., specially configured to store and execute the program instructions. Examples of the program instructions include a high-level language code executable by a computer using an interpreter, etc. as well as a machine language code created by a compiler.

Claim 1:
An electronic device (<NUM>) comprising:
a touch-screen display (<NUM>) configured to display at least one graphical user interface, GUI, (<NUM>, <NUM>) element; and
a controller (<NUM>) configured to:
detect a plurality of angular coordinates or a plurality of sub-regions on the touch-screen display in which user inputs occur;
monitor a quantity of user touch inputs at each of the plurality of angular coordinates or sub-regions in the touch-screen display at which the user touch inputs in the electronic device occur;
identify angular coordinates or sub-regions at which the quantity of monitored user touch inputs exceed a threshold value, from among the plurality of angular coordinates or sub-regions in the touch screen display at which the user touch inputs occur;
identify a user-preferred region (<NUM>) on the touch-screen display (<NUM>), wherein the user-preferred region is a region covering the identified angular coordinates or the identified sub-regions at which the quantity of monitored user touch inputs exceed the threshold value or wherein the user-preferred region is a circle having a center position, wherein the center position is determined by calculating an average of the angular coordinates among the identified angular coordinates at which the quantity of monitored user touch inputs exceeds a threshold value or an average of angular coordinates of the sub-regions at which the quantity of monitored user touch inputs exceeds the threshold value; and
based on identifying the user-preferred region of the touch-screen display, control the touch-screen display (<NUM>) to display the at least one GUI element (<NUM>, <NUM>) in the identified user-preferred region.