IP Library Granted Patent US 8,368,645
Granted Patent B2
US 8,368,645 · App. 13/476,958 · Granted Feb 5, 2013

Cursor transitions

Inventor: John O. Louch (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Assignee: Apple Inc.
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,368,645
App. No.
13/476,958
Granted
Feb 5, 2013
Kind
B2
Abstract

Responsive to a trigger event, a first cursor state having a first visual appearance is transitioned into a second cursor state having a second visual appearance. A transition type and transition time can be specified so that the transition can be visually perceived by a user. The cursor states can be associated with different cursor types and/or cursor schemes.

Claims (28)

1. A method comprising:

detecting a trigger event associated with a cursor; obtaining a current state of the cursor, where the current state is associated with a first cursor image;

obtaining a target state of the cursor, where the target state is associated with a second cursor image; and

in response to detecting the trigger event, applying a transition effect to the cursor to transform the cursor from the current state to the target state, where during the transformation at least a portion of the first cursor image and at least a portion of the second cursor image can be simultaneously visually perceived by a user.

2. The method of claim 1 , where the current state and the target state are associated with different cursor types having different visual appearances.

3. The method of claim 1 , where the current state and the target state are associated with different cursor schemes.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: determining a transition type based on the trigger event and the current state of the cursor, where the transition effect corresponds to the transition type.

5. The method of claim 4 , where the transition type is from a set of transition types including: dissolve, map, burn, fade, iris, mix, wipe, digital effect, slide, stretch, page peel and flash animation.

6. The method of claim 1 , where the current state of the cursor is associated with a cursor type from a set of cursor types including: arrow, text cursor, hand, wait, edit, move, and resize.

7. A system comprising:

a processor; a memory coupled to the processor and operable for causing the processor to perform operations comprising:

detecting a trigger event associated with a cursor; obtaining a current state of the cursor, where the current state is associated with a first cursor image; obtaining a target state of the cursor, where the target state is associated with a second cursor image; and

in response to detecting the trigger event, applying a transition effect to the cursor to transform the cursor from the current state to the target state where during the transformation at least a portion of the first cursor image and at least a portion of the second cursor image can be simultaneously visually perceived by a user.

8. The system of claim 7 , where the current state and the target state are associated with different cursor types.

9. The system of claim 7 , where the current state and the target state are associated with different cursor schemes.

10. The system of claim 7 , where the memory is operable for causing the processor to perform: determining a transition type based on the trigger event and the current state of the cursor, where the transition effect corresponds to the transition type.

11. The system of claim 10 , where the transition type is from a set of transition types including: dissolve, map, burn, iris, mix, wipe, digital effect, slide, stretch, page peel and flash animation.

12. The system of claim 7 , where the current state of the cursor is associated with a cursor type from a set of cursor types including: arrow, text cursor, hand, wait, edit, move, and resize.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, causes:

detecting a trigger event associated with a cursor;

obtaining a current state of the cursor, where the current state is associated with a first cursor image;

obtaining a target state of the cursor, where the target state is associated with a second cursor image; and

in response to detecting the trigger event, applying a transition effect to the cursor to transform the cursor from the current state to the target state where during the transformation at least a portion of the first cursor image and at least a portion of the second cursor image can be simultaneously visually perceived by a user.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , where the current state and the target state are associated with different cursor types having different visual appearances.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , where the current state and the target state are associated with different cursor schemes.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , where the instructions cause: determining a transition type based on the trigger event and the current state of the cursor, where the transition effect corresponds to the transition type.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 , where the transition type is from a set of transition types including: dissolve, map, burn, fade, iris, mix, wipe, digital effect, slide, stretch, page peel and flash animation.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13 , where the current state of the cursor is associated with a cursor type from a set of cursor types including: arrow, text cursor, hand, wait, edit, move, and resize.

Continuity (2)
Continuation 11999378 · Dec 4, 2007
Related Publication 20120229379A1 · Sep 13, 2012