USE OF SECONDARY FACTORS TO ANALYZE USER INTENTION IN GUI ELEMENT ACTIVATION

1 . A method of activating a graphical user interface element, comprising:

presenting the graphical user interface element via a touch-sensitive display surface;

receiving a user input at the touch-sensitive display surface;

determining whether one or more secondary factors associated with the user input indicate an intentional contact with the graphical user interface element that is presented via the touch sensitive display surface;

activating the graphical user interface element if the one or more secondary factors indicate the intentional contact with the graphical user interface element; and

disregarding the user input by not activating the graphical user interface if the one or more secondary factors do not indicate the intentional contact.

2 . The method of claim 1 , where receiving the user input at the touch-sensitive display surface includes recognizing an object contacting the touch-sensitive display surface.

3 . The method of claim 2 , where the one or more secondary factors include a contact duration of the user input at the touch-sensitive display surface.

4 . The method of claim 2 , where the one or more secondary factors include a characteristic of the object through which the user input contacts the touch-sensitive display surface.

5 . The method of claim 4 , where the characteristic includes a shape of the object.

6 . The method of claim 2 , where the one or more secondary factors include a contact distance travelled by the object across the touch-sensitive display surface.

7 . The method of claim 2 , where the one or more secondary factors include a contact velocity travelled by the object across the touch-sensitive display surface.

8 . The method of claim 2 , where the one or more secondary factors include a contact movement direction travelled by the user input across the touch-sensitive display surface.

9 . The method of claim 2 , where the one or more secondary factors include a contact orientation at which the object contacts the touch-sensitive display surface.

10 . The method of claim 1 , where determining whether one or more secondary factors indicate the intentional contact includes comparing the one or more of the secondary factors to an activation criterion; and

where the method further comprises selecting the activation criterion in accordance with a size of the graphical user interface element that is presented via the touch-sensitive display surface.

11 . An interactive media display system, comprising:

a touch-sensitive display surface configured to present a graphical user interface element;

a logic subsystem; and

memory holding executable instructions that, when executed by the logic subsystem, cause the logic subsystem to:

identify an initial location where the touch-sensitive display surface is initially contacted by an object;

identify a final location where the object discontinues contact with the touch-sensitive display surface; and

activate the graphical user interface element only if:

a contact distance between the initial location and the final location exhibits a pre-determined relationship to a threshold contact distance;

a contact duration between a time when the object initially contacts the touch-sensitive display surface at the initial location and a time when the object discontinues contact at the final location exhibits a pre-determined relationship to a threshold contact duration; and

a contact velocity of the object between the initial location and the final location exhibits a predetermined relationship to a threshold contact velocity.

12 . The interactive media display system of claim 11 , where the executable instructions further cause the logic subsystem to:

adjust one or more of the threshold contact distance, the threshold contact duration, and the threshold contact velocity based on a size of the graphical user interface element that is presented via the touch-sensitive display surface.

13 . The interactive media display system of claim 11 , where the executable instructions further cause the logic subsystem to:

select a magnitude of at least one of the threshold contact distance, the threshold contact duration, and the threshold contact velocity based on a magnitude of another of the threshold contact distance, the threshold contact duration, and the threshold contact velocity.

14 . The interactive media display system of claim 11 , where the executable instructions further cause the logic subsystem to:

activate the graphical user interface element only if the initial location is at a location where the graphical user interface element is presented via the touch-sensitive display surface or if the final location is at the location where the graphical user interface element is presented via the touch-sensitive display surface.

15 . The interactive media display system of claim 11 , where the executable instructions further cause the logic subsystem to:

identify a proximity of the object to the graphical user interface element that is presented via the touch-sensitive display surface; and

activate the graphical user interface element only if the proximity of the object to the graphical user interface element exhibits a pre-determined relationship to a threshold proximity.

16 . A method of activating a graphical user interface element, comprising:

presenting a graphical user interface element via the touch-sensitive display surface;

recognizing a user input contacting the touch-sensitive display surface;

selecting an activation criterion for the graphical user interface element in accordance with a size of the graphical user interface element that is presented via the touch-sensitive display surface;

activating the graphical user interface element if the activation criterion is satisfied by one or more secondary factors associated with the user input; and

disregarding the user input by not activating the graphical user interface if the activation criterion is not satisfied by the one or more secondary factors associated with the user input.

17 . The method of claim 16 , where the one or more secondary factors includes a contact duration of the user input contacting the touch-sensitive display surface.

18 . The method of claim 17 , where the one or more secondary factors further includes a contact distance of the user input along the touch-sensitive display surface.

19 . The method of claim 18 , where the one or more secondary factors further includes a contact velocity of the user input along the touch-sensitive display surface.

20 . The method of claim 16 , where the activation criterion includes a threshold value to be exhibited by the one or more of the secondary factors for the activation criterion to be satisfied.