WO2010143105A1

WO2010143105A1 - User interface for list scrolling

Info

Publication number: WO2010143105A1
Application number: PCT/IB2010/052480
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sudhir Muroor Prabhu
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
Priority date: 2009-06-08
Filing date: 2010-06-03
Publication date: 2010-12-16
Also published as: TW201104557A

Abstract

A method for processing a stored list of items, displaying a list of items requested by a user on a multi-touch sensitive display device and allowing the user to scroll through the displayed list of items and select a particular item is disclosed. The method comprises determining a scroll resolution in response to touch inputs provided by the user, the touch inputs being associated with the displayed list of items, the scroll resolution determining the number of items to skip over in the displayed list of items while scrolling through the displayed list of items and performing the scroll operation on the displayed list of items using the determined scroll resolution and enabling the user to select the particular item, the scroll operation being initiated in response to touch inputs provided by the user. The disclosed method can reduce the time required to scroll through long list of items.

Description

User interface for list scrolling

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of user interfaces that employ multi- touch sensitive display devices and more specifically to the field of user interfaces that enable scrolling through a list of displayed items.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

US2008/0062141 discloses a method for browsing images stored on a portable electronic device having a display and a user input device. The disclosed method comprises a) presenting an image browser that displays a plurality of images from a group of images b) transitioning through the group of images in accordance with at least one user input c) selecting one of the images from the group of images following said transitioning and d) subsequently performing an action associated with the selected image. The browsing operation disclosed in US2008/0062141 would require more number of user interactions to browse through a long list of images and select a particular image.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved way of allowing a user to scroll through the list of displayed items and select a particular item. The present invention is defined by the independent claims. The dependent claims define advantageous embodiments.

The object of the present invention is realized by providing a method for processing a stored list of items, displaying a list of items requested by a user on a multi- touch sensitive display device and allowing the user to scroll through the displayed list of items and select a particular item, the method comprising determining a scroll resolution in response to touch inputs provided by the user, the touch inputs being associated with the displayed list of items, the scroll resolution determining the number of items to skip over in the displayed list of items while scrolling through the displayed list of items; and performing the scroll operation on the displayed list of items using the determined scroll resolution and enabling the user to select the particular item, the scroll operation being initiated in response to touch inputs provided by the user.

In the disclosed method, the number of items to be scrolled (traversed) can be set by the user. The scroll resolution set by the user determines the number of items to skip over in the displayed list of items while scrolling through the displayed list of items.

The disclosed method can reduce the time required to scroll through long list of items. As an illustrative example, let us assume there are 6 items in the displayed list and scrolling one item requires 1 second. Available scroll techniques scroll one item and hence to scroll through the displayed list 6 scroll operations would be required resulting in 6 seconds. On the other hand, let us assume that the user sets the scroll resolution as 3. Then using two scroll operations, the user can scroll completely through the list of displayed items. Two scroll operations would require 2 seconds. Hence, the disclosed method could reduce the time taken to scroll through the list of items by scroll resolution times when compared with a linear scroll operation. The disclosed method could be useful for processing long list of items.

The disclosed method i. is simple and user intuitive ii. could provide personalized scrolling experience to the user iii. requires less number of user interactions to scroll through the displayed list of items and select a particular item; the number of user interactions required could be a) one interaction to touch the first item b) one interaction to touch the second item c) one swipe interaction for initiating the scroll d) one touch input to select the particular item. In total, (3 + x) user interactions are required to scroll through the complete list of items, wherein x represents the number of swipe operations to be performed depending on the total number of items in the list. It is also possible to touch the first item and the second item simultaneously using two fingers and hence setting the scroll resolution could require only one user interaction. iv. gives the flexibility to select the scroll resolution at runtime depending upon the list of items the user wants to scroll v. gives a perception to the user that the displayed list of items could be scrolled much faster without hiding any items In essence, the disclosed method can perform a multi-item scroll operation wherein the items in the list can be moved based on the scroll resolution set by the user.

In an embodiment, the scroll resolution determining step comprises detecting a first touch input associated with a first item in the displayed list of items and highlighting the first item; detecting a second touch input associated with a second item in the displayed list of items and highlighting the second item while holding the first item associated with the first touch input; and determining the scroll resolution as the number of items between the highlighted first item and the highlighted second item including the highlighted first item and the highlighted second item.

This embodiment has the advantage that the scroll resolution can be set by the user. Setting of the scroll resolution is simple, user intuitive and requires minimal user interactions. Generally one user interaction (using two fingers and touching the first item and the second item simultaneously) or two user interaction (using only one finger and touching the first item and the second item one after the other) is required to set the scroll resolution. The scroll resolution can be set based on the list size of displayed items and the size of the display screen. As an illustrative example, if the displayed list of items has less number of items e.g. 20 items, then the user can set a low scroll resolution (e.g. 4 or 5). On the other hand, if the displayed list of items has more number of items e.g. 500 items, then the user can set a high scroll resolution (e.g. 20 or 30) depending on the display screen size.

This embodiment allows the user to scroll (i.e. traverse) through long list of items in an accelerated manner whereby the items are skipped and not displayed.

Further, in order to aid the user in setting the scroll resolution, this embodiment highlights the first item on receiving the first touch input. After selecting the first item the user can decide on the range of items to skip and then select the second item. Furthermore, all the items between the selected first item and the selected second item (including the selected first item and the selected second item) are highlighted and hence the set scroll resolution can be seen by the user. The disclosed method could be useful for portable electronic devices. The portable electronic device for example could be a) a computer (e.g. personal computer) b) Mobile phone (e.g. cell phone) c) Personal digital assistant d) Portable media player e) Camera f) Multi-media juke boxes

8) Handheld devices Further, the portable electronic device may also be a multi-functional device that combines two or more of these device functionalities into a single device.

In a further embodiment, the method comprises detecting the first touch input in response to a first finger touch input associated with the first item in the displayed list of items and detecting the second touch input in response to a second finger touch input associated with the second item in the displayed list of items.

This embodiment has the advantage that there is no need for any additional input device for providing a touch input. The user can make use of his fingers to select the first item and the second item. Further, the disclosed method can be used with the available multi-touch sensitive display devices.

In a still further embodiment, the method comprises detecting a finger swipe touch input associated with the displayed list of items; and performing the scroll operation on the displayed list of items using the determined scroll resolution in response to the detection of the finger swipe touch input.

This embodiment enables the user to scroll through the list of displayed items using the set scroll resolution. The user can simply swipe his finger across the touch sensitive display device to scroll (i.e. traverse) through the list of displayed items and select a particular item. The user can use two fingers to swipe or use only one of his fingers. It is also possible for the user to swipe his finger on any area on the touch sensitive display. In other words the swipe may not be location dependent (i.e. may not be associated with the displayed list of items). The finger swipe can be detected and the scroll operation could scroll (traverse) the displayed items based on the set scroll resolution. As an illustrative example, the finger swipe touch input could be accomplished with a vertical swipe input that initiates vertical scrolling.

In a still further embodiment, the method comprises rendering the data associated with the selected particular item, the selection of the particular item by the user being initiated in response to a touch input associated with the particular item. This embodiment enables the user to obtain data associated with the selected particular item using one user interaction (i.e. a single touch input).

The invention also provides a user interface for processing a stored list of items, displaying a list of items requested by a user on a multi-touch sensitive display device and allowing the user to scroll through the displayed list of items and select a particular item, the user interface comprising a unit for determining a scroll resolution in response to touch inputs provided by the user, the touch inputs being associated with the displayed list of items, the scroll resolution determining the number of items to skip over in the displayed list of items while scrolling through the displayed list of items; and a controller for performing the scroll operation on the displayed list of items using the determined scroll resolution and enabling the user to select a particular item, the scroll operation being initiated in response to touch inputs provided by the user.

The invention also provides a computer readable medium including tangible computer program code executable by a computer for processing a stored list of items, displaying a list of items requested by a user on a multi-touch sensitive display device and allowing the user to scroll through the displayed list of items and select a particular item, wherein the computer program code enables the computer to carry out the above-mentioned method.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned aspects, features and advantages will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numerals indicate identical or similar parts, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a user interface for processing a list of items according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the user interface according to a further embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the user interface according to a still further embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 5, Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 schematically represent exemplary scroll operation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Referring now to Fig. 1, a) a storage unit 100 stores a list of items 102. As an illustrative example, these items could relate to media files, address files, data book files, document files, applications, contact list and menu driven lists b) a user interface 104 processes the stored list of items 102 and displays on a multi-touch sensitive display device 103 a list of items 105 requested by a user and allows the user to scroll through the displayed list of items 105 and select a particular item 106. The user interface 104 comprises a) a unit 112 for determining a scroll resolution in response to touch inputs provided by the user. The touch inputs could be associated with the displayed list of items 105. The scroll resolution determines the number of items to skip over in the displayed list of items 105 while scrolling through the displayed list of items b) a controller 114 for performing the scroll operation on the displayed list of items 105 using the determined scroll resolution and enabling the user to select a particular item 106, the scroll operation being initiated in response to touch inputs provided by the user. Referring now to Fig. 2, the unit 112 comprises a) a detector 204 for detecting a first touch input associated with a first item 105a in the displayed list of items 105 and highlighting the first item 105a and detecting a second touch input associated with a second item 105b in the displayed list of items 105 and highlighting the second item 105b while holding the first item 105a associated with the first touch input b) scroll resolution determining unit 208 for determining the scroll resolution as the number of items between the highlighted first item 105a and the highlighted second item 105b including the highlighted first item and the highlighted second item. The scroll resolution set in Fig. 2 is 3. Referring now to Fig. 3, the controller 114 comprises a) a swipe detector 304 for detecting a finger swipe touch input associated with the displayed list of items 105 b) a scroll execution unit 308 for performing the scroll operation on the displayed list of items using the determined scroll resolution in response to the detection of the finger swipe touch input.

Referring now to Fig. 4, the user interface 104 further comprises a rendering unit 404 for rendering the data associated with the selected particular item 106, the selection of the particular item by the user being initiated in response to a touch input associated with the particular item 106.

Referring now to Fig. 5, a typical view of a multi-touch sensitive device that displays items in a list is shown. The displayed list of items has 7 items namely Aaa, baa, bba, caa, daa, dba and eaa. The user touches the first item 105a namely Aaa and selects the item Aaa. On detecting the first touch input, the item Aaa is highlighted (or the color of the displayed item Aaa is changed). Next, the user selects the second item 105b namely baa and selects the item baa. On detecting the second touch input, the item baa is highlighted (or the color of the displayed item baa is changed). Now, the set scroll resolution is determined as 2. The user can now swipe his fingers on the displayed list of items. On detecting the finger swipe, the displayed list of items scrolls (traverses) by 2 and the scroll operation results in the display of new items as shown in Fig. 5. Further, the user can select the particular item e.g. dba with a finger touch input. On selection of the particular item, the data associated with the item dba is rendered and displayed namely AAA, BBB and CCC. Referring now to Fig. 6, the user touches the first item 105a namely Aaa and selects the item Aaa. On detecting the first touch input, the item Aaa is highlighted (or the color of the displayed item Aaa is changed). Next, the user selects the second item 105b namely caa and selects the item caa. On detecting the second touch input, the item caa is highlighted (or the color of the displayed item caa is changed). Now, the set scroll resolution is determined as 4. Furthermore, all the items namely baa, bba between the selected first item 105a and the selected second item 105b are highlighted and hence the set scroll resolution can be seen by the user. The user can now swipe his fingers on the displayed list of items. On detecting the finger swipe, the displayed list of items scrolls (traverses) by 4 and the scroll operation results in the display of new items as shown in Fig. 6. Further, the user can select the particular item e.g. fba with a finger touch input. On selection of the particular item, the data associated with the item fba is rendered and displayed namely GGG, HHH and III.

Referring now to Fig. 7, the user touches the first item 105a namely Aaa and selects the item Aaa. On detecting the first touch input, the item Aaa is highlighted (or the color of the displayed item Aaa is changed). Next, the user selects the second item 105b namely daa and selects the item daa. On detecting the second touch input, the item daa is highlighted (or the color of the displayed item daa is changed). Now, the set scroll resolution is determined as 5. Furthermore, all the items namely baa, bba, caa between the selected first item 105a and the selected second item 105b are highlighted and hence the set scroll resolution can be seen by the user. The user can now swipe his fingers on the displayed list of items. On detecting the finger swipe, the displayed list of items scrolls (traverses) by 5 and the scroll operation results in the display of new items as shown in Fig. 7. Further, the user can select the particular item e.g. Gaa with a finger touch input. On selection of the particular item, the data associated with the item Gaa is rendered and displayed namely PPP, QQQ and RRR.

Fig. 5, Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 schematically represents the scrolling of the items in a list. The disclosed method needs less number of user interactions and helps to scroll through the list of items in a fast manner. The method for processing the stored list of items 102 comprises a step of determining a scroll resolution in response to touch inputs provided by the user, the touch inputs being associated with the displayed list of items, the scroll resolution determining the number of items to skip over in the displayed list of items while scrolling through the displayed list of items and a step of performing the scroll operation on the displayed list of items using the determined scroll resolution and enabling the user to select the particular item, the scroll operation being initiated in response to touch inputs provided by the user.

In summary, a method for processing a stored list of items, displaying on a multi-touch sensitive display device a list of items requested by a user and allowing the user to scroll through the displayed list of items and select a particular item is disclosed. The method comprises determining a scroll resolution in response to touch inputs provided by the user, the touch inputs being associated with the displayed list of items, the scroll resolution determining the number of items to skip over in the displayed list of items while scrolling through the displayed list of items; and performing the scroll operation on the displayed list of items using the determined scroll resolution and enabling the user to select the particular item, the scroll operation being initiated in response to touch inputs provided by the user. The method can be used in handheld touch screen devices that support multi- touch inputs wherein the items are displayed as a list. As an illustrative example, media players store large collection of media such as music. With such large media collections, in order for a user to select a particular song to be played by the media player, the user typically navigates through the long list of songs. As an example, the user could interact with the media player to display a list of artists that have songs that are stored within the media collection on the media player. The user then scrolls through the list and selects an appropriate song to be played. However, as the storage capacity of media player is increasing, the number of songs stored on the media player could be high. Consequently, the list through which the user must navigate in order to select a song can be extensive. In such a scenario, the disclosed method can reduce the time required to scroll through the media collection and select the song. Further, the disclosed method can enhance user satisfaction levels. Furthermore, scrolling through long list of items can be less annoying to the user. Although claims have been formulated in this application to particular combinations of features, it should be understood that the scope of the disclosure of the present invention also includes any novel features or any novel combination of features disclosed herein explicitly or implicitly or any generalization thereof, whether or not it relates to the same subject matter as presently claimed in any claim and whether or not it mitigates any or all of the same technical problems as does the present invention. While the invention has been illustrated in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Other variations to the disclosed embodiments can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art of practicing the claimed subject matter, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure and the appended claims. Use of the verb "comprise" and its conjugates does not exclude the presence of elements other than those stated in a claim or in the description. Use of the indefinite article "a" or "an" preceding an element or step does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements or steps. A single unit may fulfill the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependant claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage. The figures and description are to be regarded as illustrative only and do not limit the invention. Any reference sign in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method for processing a stored list of items, displaying a list of items requested by a user on a multi-touch sensitive display device and allowing the user to scroll through the displayed list of items and select a particular item, the method comprising determining a scroll resolution in response to touch inputs provided by the user, the touch inputs being associated with the displayed list of items, the scroll resolution determining the number of items to skip over in the displayed list of items while scrolling through the displayed list of items; and performing the scroll operation on the displayed list of items using the determined scroll resolution and enabling the user to select the particular item, the scroll operation being initiated in response to touch inputs provided by the user.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, the scroll resolution determining step comprising detecting a first touch input associated with a first item in the displayed list of items and highlighting the first item; detecting a second touch input associated with a second item in the displayed list of items and highlighting the second item while holding the first item associated with the first touch input; and determining the scroll resolution as the number of items between the highlighted first item and the highlighted second item including the highlighted first item and the highlighted second item.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, comprising detecting the first touch input in response to a first finger touch input associated with the first item in the displayed list of items and detecting the second touch input in response to a second finger touch input associated with the second item in the displayed list of items while holding the first item associated with the first finger touch input.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising detecting a finger swipe touch input associated with the displayed list of items; and performing the scroll operation on the displayed list of items using the determined scroll resolution in response to the detection of the finger swipe touch input.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising rendering the data associated with the selected particular item, the selection of the particular item by the user being initiated in response to a touch input associated with the particular item.

6. A user interface (104) for processing a stored list of items, displaying a list of items requested by a user on a multi-touch sensitive display device and allowing the user to scroll through the displayed list of items and select a particular item, the user interface comprising a unit (112) for determining a scroll resolution in response to touch inputs provided by the user, the touch inputs being associated with the displayed list of items, the scroll resolution determining the number of items to skip over in the displayed list of items while scrolling through the displayed list of items; and a controller (114) for performing the scroll operation on the displayed list of items using the determined scroll resolution and enabling the user to select the particular item, the scroll operation being initiated in response to touch inputs provided by the user.

7. The user interface as claimed in claim 6, wherein the unit comprises a detector (204) for detecting a first touch input associated with a first item in the displayed list of items and highlighting the first item and detecting a second touch input associated with a second item in the displayed list of items and highlighting the second item while holding the first item associated with the first touch input; and a scroll resolution determining unit (208) for determining the scroll resolution as the number of items between the highlighted first item and the highlighted second item including the highlighted first item and the highlighted second item.

8. The user interface as claimed in claim 7, wherein the detector detects the first touch input in response to a first finger touch input associated with the first item in the displayed list of items and the second touch input in response to a second finger touch input associated with the second item in the displayed list of items while holding the first item associated with the first finger touch input.

9. The user interface as claimed in claim 6, wherein the controller comprises a swipe detector for detecting a finger swipe touch input associated with the displayed list of items; and a scroll execution unit for performing the scroll operation on the displayed list of items using the determined scroll resolution in response to the detection of the finger swipe touch input.

10. The user interface as claimed in claim 6, further comprising a rendering unit for rendering the data associated with the selected particular item, the selection of the particular item by the user being initiated in response to a touch input associated with the particular item.

11. A computer readable medium including tangible computer program code executable by a computer for processing a stored list of items, displaying a list of items requested by a user on a multi-touch sensitive display device and allowing the user to scroll through the displayed list of items and select a particular item, wherein the computer program code enables the computer to carry out the method in accordance with any of claims 1 to 5.