Gesture-Based Menu Invocation for Multi-Touch Displays
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional graphical user interfaces are ill-suited for large-scale, multi-user environments as they often require users to leave their current location or interrupt others to access system functions, and simply scaling buttons or menus is inefficient in terms of screen real estate.
Innovation Solution
A method involving generating a stroke on a touch-sensitive display to invoke control elements, where the stroke corresponds to predetermined shapes, such as closed loops or signature shapes, with secondary analysis for precise activation and audiovisual feedback, allowing control elements to be activated without leaving the user's location.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional graphical user interface elements (buttons, menus) are placed at corners or edges of the display, then system functions can be accessed, but users must leave their current location or reach distant areas which is impractical in large-scale displays
Solution Approach 1:
The interface elements are made dynamic rather than static. Control elements are invoked at the user's current location through gesture recognition, allowing the interface to adapt to user position rather than requiring users to move to fixed interface locations. This resolves the contradiction by making the interface follow the user rather than the user following the interface.
Solution Approach 2:
A gesture recognition system acts as an intermediary between the user and control elements. Instead of directly placing buttons at distant locations or requiring physical movement, the system uses gesture recognition to invoke control elements locally, mediating the interaction to eliminate the need for users to reach distant screen areas.
2Ease of operation
If buttons or menus are made larger or present in many locations on a large-scale display, then accessibility improves, but screen real estate is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The gesture recognition system serves multiple functions: it recognizes different gesture types (circles, squares, triangles), invokes different control elements, and adapts to various user locations. This single universal interface mechanism replaces the need for multiple physical buttons and menus distributed across the screen, providing accessibility without consuming screen real estate.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameter of interface invocation from spatial distribution (multiple buttons at different locations) to gesture-based activation. By changing how control elements are accessed rather than where they are placed, the system maintains accessibility while preserving screen real estate for content display.
3Measurement precision
If gesture recognition with secondary analysis is implemented, then precise control element activation is achieved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary classification of gestures into basic shapes (circles, squares, triangles) before conducting secondary analysis. This staged approach allows for efficient initial filtering followed by more detailed examination only when necessary, achieving precise control element activation while managing processing complexity through hierarchical analysis.
Data Source
AI summary
A method implemented on the graphical user interface device to invoke an independent, user-localized menu in an application environment, by making a predetermined gesture with a pointing device on an arbitrary part of a display screen or surface, especially when applied in a multi-touch, multi-user environment, and in environments where multiple concurrent pointing devices are present. As an example, the user may trace out a closed loop of a specific size that invokes a default system menu at any location on the surface, even when a second user may be operating a different portion of the system elsewhere on the same surface. As an additional aspect of the invention, the method allows the user to smoothly transition between the menu-invocation and menu control.