Touch Screen Gesture Clamping for Linear Scrolling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for scrolling in graphical user interfaces on mobile devices often fail to accurately interpret user intent, particularly when gestures are not perfectly aligned with horizontal or vertical axes, leading to suboptimal scrolling behavior.
Innovation Solution
The method divides the touch screen into sectors defined by angles relative to the scrolling axes, allowing for linear scrolling parallel to the intended axis and independent scrolling when the gesture path falls within specific regions, with automatic snapping of content objects into view when partially visible.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional scrolling methods are used without gesture angle analysis, then the system is simple to implement, but user intent is not accurately interpreted when gestures are not perfectly aligned with scrolling axes
Solution Approach 1:
The touch screen is divided into multiple sectors around the starting point of the gesture, with each sector corresponding to a specific scrolling axis direction. This segmentation allows the system to accurately determine user intent by identifying which sector the gesture path falls into, resolving the contradiction between measurement precision and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an angular dimension to gesture recognition by defining sectors based on angles relative to scrolling axes. Instead of only detecting horizontal or vertical gestures, the system now considers the angular orientation of gestures, enabling accurate interpretation of diagonal or angled scrolling intentions while maintaining system manageability.
2Ease of operation
If clamping to scrolling axes is applied for angled gestures, then scrolling aligns with user intent, but diagonal scrolling capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different scrolling behaviors based on the local sector where the gesture occurs. When a gesture path falls within a sector corresponding to a scrolling axis, clamping to that axis is applied. This local quality approach ensures that scrolling aligns with user intent in appropriate cases while preserving diagonal scrolling capability when gestures fall in intermediate sectors, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and adaptability.
3Reliability
If content objects are automatically snapped into view when partially visible, then content visibility is improved, but additional processing complexity is introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary checking during the scrolling process to determine if any content objects are partially visible. When such objects are detected, they are automatically snapped into full view. This preliminary action ensures that important content is never missed by the user, improving reliability of content visibility while using a straightforward detection and correction mechanism that does not overly complicate the system.
Data Source
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AI summary
In one embodiment, a method includes receiving user input to scroll within a GUI on a touch screen. The user input includes a touch gesture having a path that includes a starting point and one or more other points on the touch screen. The computing device determines regions of the touch screen defined with respect to the starting point. A first one of the regions corresponds to a first scrolling axis, and a second one of the regions corresponds to a second scrolling axis perpendicular to the first scrolling axis. If the path corresponds to the first region, then the computing device scrolls within the GUI according to the user input linearly and parallel to the first scrolling axis. If the path corresponds to the second region, then the computing device scrolls within the GUI according to the user input linearly and parallel to the second scrolling axis.