Screen-Contacting Gesture Triage for Touch Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing touch-enabled computing devices lack efficient methods for quickly triaging information, such as managing email and other digital content, due to limitations in distinguishing between different user input modalities and performing complex gestures.
Innovation Solution
The information triage technique enables users to quickly triage information by identifying and implementing specific information management operations based on distinct screen-contacting gestures made with different user input modalities, such as fingers or a stylus, allowing for intuitive operations like replying, annotating, and organizing information objects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If touch-enabled devices use basic touch gestures for information management, then device simplicity is maintained, but information triage efficiency is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments gesture recognition into distinct modalities (single-finger tap, multi-finger gestures, stylus gestures) with each having specific associated operations. This segmentation allows the system to handle complex information triage by breaking down gestures into manageable categories, improving productivity without overwhelming complexity in the recognition system.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adapts gesture interpretation based on the input modality detected. Different gestures are interpreted differently depending on whether they are made with fingers or stylus, and the system adjusts its response accordingly. This dynamic approach enables efficient information triage while maintaining manageable system complexity through adaptive rather than static gesture handling.
2Ease of operation
If the system supports multiple user input modalities for gestures, then ease of operation is improved, but difficulty in detecting and measuring different gesture types increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes parameter changes in the gesture detection system to distinguish between different input modalities. By monitoring parameters such as contact type, pressure characteristics, and interaction duration, the system can identify whether a user is employing finger-based or stylus-based gestures. This enables multiple modalities to be supported for ease of operation while the parameter-based detection approach manages the complexity of distinguishing between gesture types.
3Adaptability or versatility
If complex multi-object framing gestures are implemented, then information management capability is enhanced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements multi-object framing gestures that can select multiple information objects simultaneously, and these same gestures can be combined with different input modalities (fingers or stylus) to perform various operations on the selected objects. This multi-functionality enhances information management capability while the universal gesture framework prevents excessive complexity by reusing the same basic gesture structure for multiple purposes.
Data Source
AI summary
A user is able to triage information on a touch-enabled computing device. Information objects are displayed on a touch-sensitive screen of the device. Whenever the user makes a first gesture on the screen using a first user input modality, the first gesture and that it was made using this first modality are identified, a first information management operation specifically associated with the first gesture being made with this first modality is also identified, and this first operation is implemented on the objects. Whenever the user subsequently makes a second gesture on the screen using a second user input modality which is different than the first modality, the second gesture and that it was made using this second modality are identified, a second information management operation specifically associated with the second gesture being made with this second modality is also identified, and this second operation is implemented on the objects.