Pinch Gesture Navigation for Application Layer Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing touch-based user interfaces do not fully utilize multitouch capabilities for navigating between user interface layers of applications, relying on specific buttons for navigation rather than leveraging pinch gestures for efficient layer management.
Innovation Solution
Implementing pinch gestures to navigate user interface layers, where an in-pinch gesture can close the current layer or return to a previous layer, and out-pinch gestures can navigate back to parent layers, utilizing a handler function to interpret these gestures for navigation instead of scaling operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If specific buttons are used for navigation between user interface layers, then navigation functionality is provided, but the interface requires more elements and becomes less intuitive
Solution Approach 1:
The pinch gesture is designed to serve multiple functions: it can navigate between user interface layers, close applications, or perform other actions based on the current context and application state. This eliminates the need for separate buttons for each navigation function, reducing interface complexity while maintaining ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system automatically determines the appropriate navigation action based on the current application state and context without requiring the user to manually select from multiple options. The pinch gesture intelligently adapts to the situation, providing self-service navigation that reduces the number of interface elements needed.
2Productivity
If multitouch capabilities are leveraged for layer management, then navigation efficiency is improved, but gesture recognition complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of having multiple separate gestures for different navigation actions (which would increase gesture recognition complexity), the patent inverts the approach by using a single pinch gesture that adapts its function based on the application state. The system inverts the traditional gesture-to-action mapping and instead uses context-to-gesture mapping, where the same gesture serves different purposes based on what the application needs.
3Adaptability or versatility
If pinch gestures are used for both scaling and navigation, then interface versatility is improved, but gesture interpretation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the interpretation parameters of the pinch gesture based on the application state and context. Rather than creating separate gestures for different functions, the same pinch gesture has its meaning dynamically adjusted based on parameters such as the current user interface layer, application state, and available navigation options. This allows one gesture to serve multiple functions without significantly increasing interpretation complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Using pinch gestures to navigate user interface layers of an application. In particular embodiments, a pinch gesture may cause an application program to close a currently running user interface layer of the application and navigate to another user-interface layer of the application. In some implementations, a pinch gesture may cause an application to close.