Granted Patent B2

US 8,378,798 · App. 12/579,981 · Granted Feb 19, 2013

Abstract

Claims (57)

1. A method comprising:

detecting a touch on a touch-sensitive display;

when a force of the touch meets or exceeds a first threshold:

providing first tactile feedback;

performing a first function;

when a force of the touch meets or exceeds a second threshold that is greater than the first threshold:

providing second tactile feedback;

performing a second function;

wherein the first function and the second function are different.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first tactile feedback indicates the first function and the second tactile feedback indicates the second function.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

when a force of the touch meets or exceeds a first threshold, providing at least one of a first visual indication and a first audible indication;

when a force of the touch meets or exceeds a second threshold, providing at least one of a second visual indication and a second audible indication;

wherein the at least one of the first visual indication and the first audible indication indicates the first function and the at least one of the second visual indication and the second audible indication indicates the second function.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, when the touch meets or exceeds the first threshold subsequent to meeting or exceeding the second threshold, providing the first tactile feedback and performing the first function.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first function comprises autofocusing a camera and the second function comprises taking a picture.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first function comprises one of: activating a virtual key displayed on the touch-sensitive display, panning a displayed picture, positioning a curser in a displayed text field, and a focus function for a photographic application; and wherein the second function comprises one of: activating a lock of a virtual key of a virtual keyboard displayed on the touch-sensitive display, adjusting a zoom of a picture displayed on the touch-sensitive display, selecting text within a text field displayed on the touch-sensitive display, and taking a picture.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein performance of at least one of the first function or the second function is based at least in part on a mathematical correlation to the force detected wherein the mathematical correlation is at least one of linear, exponential, polynomial, and inverse.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first function comprises panning an image and the second function comprises activating a hyperlink associated with the image.

9. A computer-readable medium having computer-readable code executable by at least one processor to perform the method of claim 1 .

10. An apparatus comprising:

a touch sensor that detects a touch on a touch-sensitive display;

one or more processors configured to:

when the touch is at a first force that meets or exceeds a first threshold, provide first feedback and perform a first function;

when the touch is at a second force that meets or exceeds a second threshold greater than the first force threshold, provide second feedback and perform a second function;

wherein the first function and the second function are different, and wherein the first force and the second force are different;

wherein the feedback comprises at least one of tactile feedback, visual feedback, and audible feedback.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising one or more force sensors that detect the force.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the one or more force sensors comprise at least one of a force sensitive resistor, a strain gauge, a piezoelectric device, a piezoresistive device, or a pressure sensor.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first feedback indicates the first function and the second feedback indicates the second function.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the touch meets or exceeds a second threshold subsequent to when the touch meets or exceeds the first threshold.

15. A portable electronic device comprising the apparatus of claim 10 .

16. A method comprising:

detecting a touch on a touch-sensitive display;

when the touch is at a first force that meets or exceeds a first threshold, providing first feedback and performing a function at a first rate;

when the touch is at a second force that meets or exceeds a second threshold greater than the first force threshold, providing second feedback and performing the function at a second rate that is different than the first rate.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the feedback comprises at least one of tactile feedback, visual feedback, and audible feedback.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first function comprises highlighting a character displayed on the touch-sensitive display, wherein the second function comprises entering a lower-case character in a character entry field, further comprising when the touch is at a third force, entering an upper-case character in the character entry field.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the function comprises scrolling or panning a displayed image.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the function comprises zooming a displayed image.

21. The method of claim 16 , wherein the function comprises repeatedly entering a character.

22. The method of claim 16 , wherein the function comprises taking a picture.

23. The method of claim 16 , wherein performing the function at the first rate comprises deleting a first quantity of text and performing the function at the second rate comprises deleting a second quantity of text greater than the first quantity of text.

24. The method of claim 16 , wherein the first rate and the second rate are proportional to the first force and the second force, respectively.

25. A method comprising:

detecting a touch on a touch-sensitive display;

when the touch is at a first force, providing first feedback and performing a function at a first rate proportional to the first force;

when the touch is at a second force, providing second feedback and performing the function at a second rate proportional to the second force;

when the touch is at a third force, providing third feedback and performing the function at a third rate proportional to the third force;

wherein the first force is below a first force threshold, the second force exceeds the first threshold and is below a second force threshold, and the third force meets or exceeds the second force threshold.

26. The method of claim 25 , wherein the function comprises panning or zooming a displayed image.

27. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first function comprises one of:

activating a virtual key displayed on the touch-sensitive display, panning a displayed picture, positioning a curser in a displayed text field, and a focus function for a photographic application; and wherein the second function comprises one of:

activating a lock of a virtual key of a virtual keyboard displayed on the touch-sensitive display, adjusting a zoom of a picture displayed on the touch-sensitive display, selecting text within a text field displayed on the touch-sensitive display, and taking a picture.

28. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein performance of at least one of the first function or the second function is based at least in part on a mathematical correlation to the force detected wherein the mathematical correlation is at least one of linear, exponential, polynomial, and inverse.

29. The method of claim 16 , wherein performing the function is based at least in part on a mathematical correlation to the force detected wherein the mathematical correlation is at least one of linear, exponential, polynomial, and inverse.

30. The method of claim 25 , wherein performing the function is based at least in part on a mathematical correlation to the force detected wherein the mathematical correlation is at least one of linear, exponential, polynomial, and inverse.

Assignments (8)