TOUCH DISPLAY RUBBER-BAND GESTURE

1 . A gaming system, comprising:

a touch display;

a logic subsystem operatively coupled to the touch display; and

a data-holding subsystem holding instructions executable by the logic subsystem to:

recognize a rubber-band gesture on the touch display, the rubber-band gesture beginning with a source touching the touch display at a touch-down location of the touch display and continuing until the source stops touching the touch display at a lift-up location of the touch display;

determine an action vector having a vector direction pointing from the lift-up location to the touch-down location and a vector magnitude equal to a distance from the lift-up location to the touch-down location; and

display a game action on the touch display, the game action originating at a game object on the touch display and proceeding in the vector direction with an action amplitude derived from the vector magnitude.

2 . The gaming system of claim 1 , where the game action is the firing of a projectile from the game object in the vector direction with a range derived from the vector magnitude.

3 . The gaming system of claim 1 , where the game action is a moving of the game object in the vector direction with a range derived from the vector magnitude.

4 . The gaming system of claim 1 , where the data-holding subsystem holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to display an aimer during the rubber-band gesture, the aimer visually indicating the vector direction and the action amplitude.

5 . The gaming system of claim 1 , where the data-holding subsystem holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to recognize a plurality of temporally overlapping rubber-band gestures on the touch display, and for each recognized rubber-band gesture, determine a corresponding action vector and display a corresponding game action.

6 . The gaming system of claim 5 , where the data-holding subsystem holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to differentiate between two or more different sources performing the plurality of temporally overlapping rubber-band gestures.

7 . The gaming system of claim 6 , where the data-holding subsystem holds instructions executable by the logic subsystem to determine a game consequence that is dependent on a source performing the rubber-band gesture.

8 . The gaming system of claim 1 , where the action amplitude is linearly related to the vector magnitude.

9 . The gaming system of claim 1 , where the action amplitude is nonlinearly related to the vector magnitude.

10 . A method of operating a computing device having a touch display, the method comprising:

recognizing a gesture on the touch display, the gesture including a touch-down location and a lift-up location;

displaying an action on the touch display in response to the gesture, the action displayed in a direction parallel to a vector pointing from the lift-up location to the touch-down location and the action displayed with an action amplitude derived from a distance from the lift-up location to the touch-down location.

11 . The method of claim 10 , where the action is a firing of a projectile from the touch-down location in a direction parallel to a vector pointing from the lift-up location to the touch-down location with a range related to the distance from the touch-down location to the lift-up location.

12 . The method of claim 10 , where the action is the moving of an object from the touch-down location in a direction parallel to a vector pointing from the lift-up location to the touch-down location with a range related to the distance from the touch-down location to the lift-up location.

13 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising displaying an aimer while the gesture is being performed, the aimer visually indicating a direction and an amplitude with which the action is to be displayed.

14 . The method of claim 10 , where the gesture is one of a plurality of temporally overlapping gestures, and where the method further comprises recognizing each temporally overlapping gesture and displaying a corresponding action for each temporally recognized gesture.

15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising differentiating between two or more different sources performing the plurality of temporally overlapping gestures.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising determining a game consequence that is dependent on a source performing the gesture.

17 . The method of claim 10 , where the action amplitude is linearly related to the distance from the touch-down location to the lift-up location.

18 . The method of claim 10 , where the action amplitude is nonlinearly related to the distance from the touch-down location to the lift-up location.

19 . A method of operating a gaming device having a touch display, the method comprising:

recognizing a first rubber-band gesture on the touch display, the first rubber-band gesture beginning with a first source touching the touch display at a first touch-down location of the touch display and continuing until the first source stops touching the touch display at a first lift-up location of the touch display;

recognizing a second rubber-band gesture on the touch display, the second rubber-band gesture beginning with a second source touching the touch display at a second touch-down location of the touch display and continuing until the second source stops touching the touch display at a second lift-up location of the touch display;

determining a first action vector having a first vector direction pointing from the first lift-up location to the first touch-down location and a first vector magnitude equal to a distance from the first lift-up location to the first touch-down location;

determining a second action vector having a second vector direction pointing from the second lift-up location to the second touch-down location and a second vector magnitude equal to a distance from the second lift-up location to the second touch-down location;

displaying a first game action on the touch display, the first game action displayed in the first vector direction with a first action amplitude related to the first vector magnitude; and

displaying a second game action on the touch display, the second game action displayed in the second vector direction with a second action amplitude related to the second vector magnitude

20 . The method of claim 19 , where the first rubber-band gesture and the second rubber-band gesture temporally overlap.