U.S. patent application number 17/180872 was filed with the patent office on 2022-08-25 for secured operation with optional cancellation on touch-sensitive devices.
The applicant listed for this patent is TFI Digital Media Limited. Invention is credited to Andy CHANG, Chi Keung FONG, Ka Hei LAI, Yiu Fai YUEN.
Application Number | 20220269403 17/180872 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | |
Filed Date | 2022-08-25 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220269403 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
YUEN; Yiu Fai ; et
al. |
August 25, 2022 |
SECURED OPERATION WITH OPTIONAL CANCELLATION ON TOUCH-SENSITIVE
DEVICES
Abstract
The present invention provides a method and a device for
facilitating a single touch-and-drag operation for a user to
communicate his/her intention and make selection during a
transaction flow in a robust and intuitive way. It can not only
prevent erroneous selection triggered by any inadvertent or
accidental touch but also provide option for the user to withdraw
selection which is made unintentionally.
Inventors: |
YUEN; Yiu Fai; (Hong Kong,
HK) ; CHANG; Andy; (Hong Kong, HK) ; FONG; Chi
Keung; (Hong Kong, HK) ; LAI; Ka Hei; (Hong
Kong, HK) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
TFI Digital Media Limited |
Hong Kong |
|
HK |
|
|
Appl. No.: |
17/180872 |
Filed: |
February 22, 2021 |
International
Class: |
G06F 3/0488 20060101
G06F003/0488; G06F 3/0485 20060101 G06F003/0485; G06F 3/01 20060101
G06F003/01; G06F 3/16 20060101 G06F003/16; G06F 1/03 20060101
G06F001/03 |
Claims
1. A method for facilitating a single touch-and-drag operation in a
mobile device having a touch-sensitive screen, the method
comprising: setting the device to a standby state and displaying a
user interface including one or more activating regions on the
touch-sensitive screen; when a touch is determined to be received
in the activating region, setting the mobile device to an
introduction state configured to be expired in an introduction time
duration; starting a first timer to count down from the
introduction time and displaying timing information of the first
timer on the touch-sensitive screen for indicating progress of the
introduction state; when the introduction state is expired, setting
the mobile device to a confirmation state if the touch received in
the activating region is not released, wherein the confirmation
state is configured to be expired in a confirmation time duration;
starting a second timer configured to count down from the
confirmation time duration; and setting the mobile device to enter
an execution state to execute an application process corresponding
to the activating region or transmit a command to a remote server
to execute a remote application process corresponding to the
activating region if the touch received in the activating region is
released from the activating region before the confirmation state
being expired.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising resetting the mobile
device to the standby state if the touch received in the activating
region is released during the introduction state.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising resetting the mobile
device to the standby state if the touch received in the activating
region is not released until the confirmation state is expired.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising resetting the mobile
device to the standby state if the touch received in the activating
region is dragged away from activating region during the
confirmation state.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising resetting the mobile
device to the standby state if a sudden motion of the device is
detected during the introduction state.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising resetting the mobile
device to the standby state if voice of a user is detected during
the introduction state.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: matching the selected
product to a database of purchasing record of the user; determining
whether the user has purchased the selected product before; and
reducing the introduction time duration for a period of time if the
user has purchased the selected product before.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: matching the selected
product to a database of purchasing record of the user; determining
whether the user has purchased the selected product before; and
setting the mobile device to enter the confirmation state without
entering the introduction state when if the has purchased the
selected product before.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: storing a lookup
table of a list of age ranges and corresponding introduction time
duration values; searching an age range in which the identified
user belongs to; and setting the introduction time duration to an
introduction time duration value corresponding to the searched age
range in the lookup table.
10. A mobile device configured to facilitate a single
touch-and-drag operation, comprising: a touch-sensitive screen
configured to display a user interface including one or more
activating regions to facilitate user input and selections, to
sense input touch gestures; a touch-sensing controller connected to
the touch-sensitive screen and configured to receive the
touch-sensing signals from the touch-sensitive screen to generate
touch data; a display driver connected to the touch-sensitive
screen and configured to drive the touch-sensitive screen to
display the user interface; a processor connected to the
touch-sensing controller and the display driver, and configured to
receive the touch data from the touch-sensing controller to analyze
touch data for identifying a user input, execute an application
process in response to the identified user input, and generate
display data for the display driver to reconfigure the user
interface being displayed in the touch-sensitive screen; a memory
connected to the processor and configured to store one or more
touch-sensing parameters or predetermined instructions for
execution of the application process; and a communication module
connected to the processor, and configured to transmit the
identified user inputs to a remote processor to execute a remote
application process.
11. The mobile device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further
configured to: set the device to a standby state and displaying a
user interface including one or more activating regions on the
touch-sensitive screen; when a touch is determined to be received
in the activating region, set the mobile device to an introduction
state configured to be expired in an introduction time duration;
start a first timer to count down from the introduction time and
displaying timing information of the first timer on the
touch-sensitive screen for indicating progress of the introduction
state; when the introduction state is expired, set the mobile
device to a confirmation state if the touch received in the
activating region is not released, wherein the confirmation state
is configured to be expired in a confirmation time duration; start
a second timer configured to count down from the confirmation time
duration; set the mobile device to enter an execution state to
execute an application process corresponding to the activating
region or transmit a command to a remote server to execute a remote
application process corresponding to the activating region if the
touch received in the activating region is released from the
activating region before the confirmation state being expired.
12. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further
configured to reset the mobile device to the standby state if the
touch received in the activating region is released during the
introduction state.
13. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further
configured to reset the mobile device to the standby state if the
touch received in the activating region is not released until the
confirmation state is expired.
14. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further
configured to reset the mobile device to the standby state if the
touch received in the activating region is dragged away from
activating region during the confirmation state.
15. The mobile device of claim 11, further comprising an
acceleration sensing module connected to the processor and
configured to measure acceleration of the mobile device and
generate acceleration signals; wherein the processor is further
configured to: receive the generated acceleration signals and
determine whether there is a sudden motion of the mobile device:
and reset the mobile device to the standby state if a sudden motion
of the device is detected during the introduction state.
16. The mobile device of claim 11, further comprising voice
receiving module connected to the processor and configured to
receive voice of a user and generate voice signals; wherein the
processor is further configured to receive the generated voice
signals and identify whether the voice belongs to the user of the
mobile device; and reset the mobile device to the standby state if
voice of a user is detected during the introduction state.
17. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further
configured to: match the selected product to a database of
purchasing record of the user; determine whether the user has
purchased the selected product before; and reduce the introduction
time duration for a period of time if the user has purchased the
selected product before.
18. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein the processor is further
configured to: match the selected product to a database of
purchasing record of the user; determine whether the user has
purchased the selected product before; and sett the mobile device
to enter the confirmation state without entering the introduction
state when if the has purchased the selected product before.
19. The mobile device of claim 11, wherein: the memory is further
configured to store a lookup table of a list of age ranges and
corresponding introduction time duration values; and the processor
is further configured to: search an age range in which the
identified user belongs to; and set the introduction time duration
to an introduction time duration value corresponding to the
searched age range in the lookup table.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention generally relates to facilitating
intuitive and secured operation via an interactive interface. More
specifically, the present invention relates to techniques of
facilitating single touch-and-drag operation via mobile devices
with touch-sensitive screens.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Mobile devices with touch-sensitive screens have been widely
used for online transactions. As screens of mobile devices are
usually small in size which result in smaller buttons or links in
close proximity to each other, it might be difficult for a user to
proceed with a transaction flow with his/her mobile phone in some
situations. For example, when the user is moving or being
distracted, he/she may inadvertently or accidentally touch an icon
or button on the screen to cause erroneous selection. It is
therefore desired to have a user interface that allows a user to
communicate his/her intention and make selection on a
touch-sensitive screen of a mobile device in a more secured and
intuitive way.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] One objective of the present invention is to improve the
touch-sensing functionality of a touch-sensitive screen of a mobile
device by facilitating a single touch-and-drag operation for a user
to communicate his/her intention and make selection during a
transaction flow in a robust and intuitive way. It can not only
prevent erroneous selection (e.g. triggered by any inadvertent or
accidental touch) in online transactions but also provide option
for the user to withdraw selection which is made
unintentionally.
[0004] In accordance with various embodiments, a method is provided
for facilitating a single touch-and-drag operation in a mobile
device having a touch-sensitive screen, the method comprises:
setting the device to a standby state and displaying a user
interface including one or more activating regions on the
touch-sensitive screen; when a touch is determined to be received
in the activating region, setting the mobile device to an
introduction state configured to be expired in an introduction time
duration; starting a first timer to count down from the
introduction time and displaying timing information of the first
timer on the touch-sensitive screen for indicating progress of the
introduction state; when the introduction state is expired, setting
the mobile device to a confirmation state if the touch received in
the activating region is not released, wherein the confirmation
state is configured to be expired in a confirmation time duration;
starting a second timer configured to count down from the
confirmation time duration; setting the mobile device to enter an
execution state to execute an application process corresponding to
the activating region or transmit a command to a remote server to
execute a remote application process corresponding to the
activating region if the touch received in the activating region is
released from the activating region before the confirmation state
being expired.
[0005] The method further comprises resetting the device to the
standby state if the touch received in the activating region is
released during the introduction state; if the touch received in
the activating region is not released until the confirmation state
is expired; or if the touch received in the activating region is
dragged away from activating region during the confirmation
state.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] Embodiments of the invention are described in more detail
hereinafter with reference to the drawings, in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 depicts a schematic block diagram of a mobile device
for facilitating a user to perform a single touch-and-drag
operation in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
[0008] FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart of a method for facilitating a
user to perform a single touch-and-drag operation according to one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0009] FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart of a method for facilitating a
user to perform a single touch-and-drag operation according to
another embodiment of the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart of a method for facilitating a
user to perform a single touch-and-drag operation according to
another embodiment of the present invention; and
[0011] FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of a method for facilitating a
user to perform a single touch-and-drag operation according to
another embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] In the following description, methods for facilitating a
user to perform a single touch-and-drag operation to initiate and
confirm execution of an application process and the likes are set
forth as preferred examples. It will be apparent to those skilled
in the art that modifications, including additions and/or
substitutions may be made without departing from the scope and
spirit of the invention. Specific details may be omitted so as not
to obscure the invention; however, the disclosure is written to
enable one skilled in the art to practice the teachings herein
without undue experimentation.
[0013] In accordance with various embodiments, the method may be
implemented with a mobile device having touch-sensitive
functionality. FIG. 1 depicts a schematic block diagram of a mobile
device 100 for facilitating a user to perform single touch-and-drag
operation in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention. The mobile device may comprise a touch-sensitive screen
101, a display driver 102, a touch-sensing controller 103, a
processor 104, a memory 105, a communication module 106.
Optionally, the mobile device may further comprise an acceleration
sensing module 107 and a voice receiving module 108.
[0014] The touch-sensitive screen 101 be configured to display a
user interface including one or more activating regions to
facilitate user input and selections, to sense input touch
gestures, including but not limited to tap, dragging
upward/downward or leftward/rightward, on the screen and to
generate touch-sensing signals.
[0015] The touch-sensing controller 102 may be connected to the
touch-sensitive screen 101 and configured to receive the
touch-sensing signals from the touch-sensitive screen 101 to
generate touch data.
[0016] The display driver 103 may be connected to the
touch-sensitive screen 101 and configured to drive the
touch-sensitive screen 101 to display the user interface.
[0017] The processor 104 may be connected to the touch-sensing
controller 102 and the display driver 103, and configured to
receive the touch data from the touch-sensing controller 102, to
analyze touch data for identifying a user input, to execute an
application process in response to the identified user input, to
generate display data for the display driver 103 to reconfigure the
user interface being displayed in the touch-sensitive screen
101.
[0018] The memory 105 may be connected to the processor 104 and
configured to store one or more touch-sensing parameters or
predetermined instructions for execution of the application
process.
[0019] The communication module 106 may be connected to the
processor 104, and configured to transmit the identified user
inputs to a remote processor (not shown), e.g. a cloud server, to
execute a remote application process.
[0020] The acceleration sensing module 107 may be connected to the
processor 104 and configured to measure acceleration of the mobile
device and generate acceleration signals. The processor 104 may be
further configured to receive the generated acceleration signals
and determine whether there is a sudden motion of the mobile
device.
[0021] The voice receiving module 108 may be connected to the
processor 104 and configured to receive voice of a user and
generate voice signals. The processor 104 may be further configured
to receive the generated voice signals and identify whether the
voice belongs to the user of the mobile device.
[0022] FIG. 2 depicts a flowchart of a method for facilitating a
single touch-and-drag operation according to one embodiment of the
present invention. The single touch-and-drag operation may be
applied in applications such as on-line shopping or payment
transactions. The method may comprise:
[0023] step 202: setting a mobile device to enter a standby state
(State 0) and displaying a user interface including one or more
activating regions on a touch-sensitive screen of the mobile
device;
[0024] step 204: determining whether a touch is received in an
activating region of the displayed user interface, going to step
206 if a touch is detected, going to step 202 if no touch is
detected;
[0025] step 206: setting the mobile device to enter an introduction
state (State 1) configured to be expired in an (introduction) time
duration, starting a first timer to count down from; optionally
displaying timing information of the first timer on the
touch-sensitive screen for indicating the progress of State 1;
[0026] step 208: determining whether the touch received in the
activating region is released, going to step 210 if the touch is
not released, going to step 202 if the detected touch is
released;
[0027] step 210: determining whether State 1 is expired; going to
step 212 if State 1 is expired, going to step 208 if State 1 is not
completed;
[0028] step 212: setting the mobile device to enter a confirmation
state (State 2) configured to be expired in a (confirmation) time
duration, starting a second timer configured to counting down
from;
[0029] step 214: determining whether State 2 is expired; going to
step 202 if State 2 is expired, going to step 216 if State 2 is not
expired;
[0030] step 216: determining whether the touch received in the
activating region is released, going to step 220 if the touch is
released, going to step 218 if the detected touch is not
released;
[0031] step 218: determining whether the touch received in the
activating region is dragged away from the activating region, going
to step 214 if the touch is not dragged away from the activating
region, going to step 202 if the detected touch is dragged away
from the activating region;
[0032] step 220: setting the mobile device to enter an execution
state (State 3) to execute an application process corresponding to
the activating region or transmit a command to a remote server to
execute a remote application process corresponding to the
activating region; resetting the mobile device to State 0 after the
application process is executed.
[0033] FIG. 3 depicts a flowchart of a method for facilitating a
user to perform a single touch-and-drag operation according to
another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is
different from the embodiment of FIG. 2 in that step 216 is changed
to a step 316: determining whether the touch received in the
activating region is released, going to step 220 if the touch is
released, going to step 318 if the detected touch is not releases;
and step 218 is changed to step 318: determining whether the touch
received in the activating region is released from the activating
region, going to step 214 if the touch is not dragged away from the
activating region, going to step 202 if the detected touch is
dragged away from the activating region.
[0034] It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the
context of the touching and dragging can be specific to the user
and/or the page displayed on the screen. Thus, when one user is
logged onto and/or using the mobile device, one set of
touch-sensing parameters or predetermined instructions can be used
and when another user is logged onto and/or using the device
another set of touch-sensing parameters or predetermined
instructions can be used.
[0035] It should also be understood by those skilled in the art
that a touch and/or drag action can be implemented in various ways
to accomplish different results. For example, the touch can be a
conventional touch where the user contacts a touch-sensitive screen
with a finger, typically a fingertip, a shake, displacement,
acceleration, orientation, roll, pitch, yaw, or movement of the
user device or other suitable means of input that enables a touch
to be detected.
[0036] According to various embodiments, before entering the
standby state, the device may be configured to determine the
identity of the user via the login or authentication process or via
biometrics such as voice recognition, face recognition, fingerprint
recognition, gesture recognition, and/or the like.
[0037] The introduction time duration and confirmation time
duration may be dependent upon characteristics of the user, such as
purchase history, activity history with the service or payment
provider, age of the user account with the payment provider,
gender, age of the user, time, location, browsing history, and the
like.
[0038] In one embodiment, the method may further comprise matching
the selected product to a database of purchasing record of the user
and determining whether the user has purchased the selected product
before; and adjusting the introduction time duration to a shorter
period if the user has purchased the selected product before.
Alternatively, the mobile device may be set to enter the
confirmation state without entering the introduction state if the
user has purchased the selected product before.
[0039] In one embodiment, the method may further comprise storing a
lookup table of a list of age ranges and corresponding confirmation
time duration values; searching an age range in which the
identified user belongs to; and setting the confirmation time
duration to a confirmation time duration value corresponding to the
searched age range in the lookup table.
[0040] According to various embodiments, during the introduction
state, the device may be configured to detecting whether the user
is distracted by any events or accidents for preventing erroneous
selection triggered by any inadvertent or accidental touch.
[0041] FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart of a method for facilitating a
user to perform a single touch-and-drag operation according to
another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is
different from the embodiment of FIG. 2 in that the method may
further comprise, between step 208 and step 210, a step 409:
sensing acceleration of the mobile device and determining whether
the mobile device has a sudden motion; going to step 202 if a
sudden motion is detected, going to step 208 if no sudden motion is
detected.
[0042] Accordingly, step 210 is changed to: determining whether
State 1 is expired; going to step 212 if State 1 is expired, going
to step 409 if State 1 is not expired.
[0043] FIG. 5 depicts a flowchart of a method for facilitating a
user to perform a single touch-and-drag operation according to
another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is
different from the embodiment of FIG. 2 in that the method may
further comprise, between step 208 and step 210, a step 509:
detecting voice of a user of the mobile device; going to step 202
if the voice of the user is detected, going to step 208 if no
sudden motion is detected. Accordingly, step 210 is changed to:
determining whether State 1 is expired; going to step 212 if State
1 is expired, going to step 509 if State 1 is not expired.
[0044] In the case that the single touch-and-drag operation is
applied in an on-line shopping transaction, at the standby state, a
user interface such as a home page for an on-line shop or service
provider may be displayed on a touch-sensitive screen of the mobile
phone. The activating regions may be manifested as buttons, icons,
product images, product names or other suitable indicative means
that enables a user to make selection to purchase a product from
the on-line shop or service provider.
[0045] At the introduction state, a plurality of contents in
relation to the selected product may be displayed on the
touch-sensitive screen. The plurality of contents in relation to
the selected product may be displayed sequentially as a video clip
or slide show providing additional details of the product.
[0046] At the confirmation state, a request may be displayed on the
touch-sensitive screen to ask the user to confirm if he/she wants
to proceed with purchasing the selected product by releasing
his/her touch away from the activating region.
[0047] The embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented using
mobile devices, computer processors, or electronic circuitries
including but not limited to application specific integrated
circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and other
programmable logic devices configured or programmed according to
the teachings of the present disclosure. Computer instructions or
software codes running in the mobile devices, computer processors,
or programmable logic devices can readily be prepared by
practitioners skilled in the software or electronic art based on
the teachings of the present disclosure.
[0048] All or portions of the electronic embodiments may be
executed in one or more mobile devices including server computers,
personal computers, laptop computers, mobile devices such as
smartphones and tablet computers.
[0049] The electronic embodiments include computer storage media
having computer instructions or software codes stored therein which
can be used to program computers or microprocessors to perform any
of the processes of the present invention. The storage media can
include, but are not limited to, floppy disks, optical discs,
Blu-ray Disc, DVD, CD-ROMs, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs,
flash memory devices, or any type of media or devices suitable for
storing instructions, codes, and/or data.
[0050] Various embodiments of the present invention also may be
implemented in distributed computing environments and/or Cloud
computing environments, wherein the whole or portions of machine
instructions are executed in distributed fashion by one or more
processing devices interconnected by a communication network, such
as an intranet, Wide Area Network (WAN), Local Area Network (LAN),
the Internet, and other forms of data transmission medium.
[0051] The foregoing description of the present invention has been
provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is
not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the
precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be
apparent to the practitioner skilled in the art.
[0052] The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best
explain the principles of the invention and its practical
application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to
understand the invention for various embodiments and with various
modifications that are suited to the particular use
contemplated.
* * * * *