Gesture-Based Search for Mobile Content Regions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current search methods on mobile devices are cumbersome, requiring users to manually input search queries, which disrupts workflow and is difficult on devices with limited capabilities, especially when searching for information related to content being viewed.
Innovation Solution
Implementing gesture-based search techniques that allow users to define a region of content through touch, body motion, or device motion, enabling the client device to formulate a search query without manual input, and display search results seamlessly within the application.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual search query input is required, then search functionality is available, but workflow is disrupted and usability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically capturing content from the current application context (document, webpage, image) and pre-formulating search queries before the user initiates the search gesture. This eliminates the need for manual query input and allows immediate search execution upon gesture completion.
Solution Approach 2:
The search system serves itself by automatically extracting relevant content from the application context, formulating search queries, and executing searches without requiring user intervention for query composition. The system uses the current context (selected text, active document, displayed image) to autonomously generate and submit search requests.
2Productivity
If gesture-based search is implemented, then search efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gesture detection system is designed to work across multiple application types (document editors, web browsers, image viewers) and various gesture forms (touchscreen gestures, device motions, cursor movements). This universal approach allows a single implementation to serve diverse searching needs without requiring application-specific customization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary gesture detection layer that sits between the user and the search execution system. This intermediary translates various physical gestures (touch, motion, cursor) into standardized search commands, simplifying the overall system architecture by providing a unified interface for context-aware searching across different input modalities.
3Measurement precision
If context-aware search is implemented, then search relevance is improved, but information processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by focusing context analysis on the specific region or content element indicated by the user's gesture (selected text, highlighted area, pointed image). Rather than analyzing entire documents or applications, the system concentrates processing resources on the locally relevant portion, improving both accuracy and efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The context analysis process is segmented into distinct stages: gesture interpretation, content identification, query formulation, and search execution. Each stage processes only the necessary information for that specific step, breaking down the complex task of context-aware searching into manageable segments that reduce overall system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A search of displayed content may be automatically performed in response to receipt of a search gesture that defines a scope of the search and initiates the search. The search gesture may define a region of content within the displayed content. A search query may be formulated based on the region of content defined by the search gesture. In response to completion of the search gesture, a search may be automatically initiated. In some examples, the search gesture comprises a generally circular gesture that substantially bounds the region of content.