Patent ID: 8294665

Claim:
A method for receiving input from a user of a computing device, comprising: displaying an input region to the user; receiving a specification for a subregion of the input region from the user by receiving a cursor sweep within the input region from the user, wherein the subregion is a portion of the input region below the cursor sweep; determining an area of the subregion providing the input to the computing device based on the area of the subregion relative to the area of the input region; receiving a first additional cursor sweep within the input region from the user, the first additional cursor sweep indicating one of an addition to or a subtraction from the subregion, an addition to the subregion comprising an addition of an area between a border of the subregion and a cursor sweep, and a subtraction from the subregion comprising a subtraction of an area between a border of the subregion and a cursor sweep; receiving a second additional cursor sweep within the input region from the user, wherein, when the first additional cursor sweep indicated an addition to the subregion, the second additional cursor sweep indicates a subtraction from the same subregion, and, when the first additional cursor sweep indicated a subtraction from the subregion, the second additional cursor sweep indicates an addition to the same subregion; and after each of the first and second additional cursor sweeps, updating the area of the subregion based on the corresponding addition or subtraction.