FR3079049A1 - METHOD FOR CONTAINER HANDLING AND CONTENT OF DIGITAL INFORMATION - Google Patents

Abstract

In the process of handling the container and content of a digital information, the interactions made with a container of digital information and / or the visual representation of the digital information are interpreted according to their location in the information container and of the state of the vignette, visual representation of said digital information container. The thumbnail can actually go through three complementary states, each characterized by a set of static-location interface elements and a set of dynamically located interface elements.

Description

The present invention relates to visual data sharing methods. More specifically, the invention relates to a method by which it is possible to pass, in a transparent manner, from a state of handling of container of digital information to a state of manipulation of content of digital information.

Indeed, with the democratization of touch screens, especially large, it is common for a group of people to gather around the same touch screen to display, spatially distribute and interact with several digital information on said touch screen.

State of the art

Such manipulations require at certain times to interact with the container of digital information, in particular to spatially distribute digital information over the entire surface of the screen, at other times to interact with the content of the information. digital.

In an office context, the mouse offers degrees of freedom allowing such complex actions. For example, the left mouse button can be used to manipulate the content when the right mouse button is used to manipulate the container. Alternatively, the right button can call a contextual menu allowing to quickly switch from a container handling mode to a content handling mode. The use of the mouse without pressing the button and the passage of its cursor over a visual representation (qualified as hover) can allow still other alternatives. Unfortunately, none of these degrees of freedom are available on a touch screen.

The content of digital information being displayed inside a container of digital information, the user of a touch screen on which will be displayed this digital information will be inclined to put his or her fingers on the surface of the screen on which the visual representation of the digital information is displayed. However, this surface can be conventionally associated with both the content and the container of digital information. An existing ambiguity therefore, since by placing his finger on the visual representation of digital information, a user may just as well want to interact with the container (eg moving the container to the surface of the screen) or with the content (eg move through the content of digital information, without moving the container).

To this end, in a first method, it is common to associate with the digital information container a certain number of buttons and or decorations making it possible to modify the interpretation of the interaction information produced and to pass from an interaction state. with the container in an interaction state with the content.

Said buttons are generally constantly present on the screen. Advantageously, the user or users therefore always see these buttons and know which one to press to change their state. According to a drawback of this method, the buttons occupy an important physical place on the display space, thereby reducing the possibility of displaying other digital information and disturbing the overall visualization of the different contents. In addition, users must move their finger from the container to the button and then return to the content to alternately manipulate the container and the content.

In an alternative embodiment, said buttons can appear only when a user touches the container and or the associated content. Advantageously, they do not disturb the display until a user makes them appear with a dedicated action. According to a drawback of this method, the user must know the action to be carried out to make the buttons appear, and above all the drawback of having to move the finger from the container to the button and then return to the content to alternately handle the container and content n is not avoided.

In a second method, special gestures are provided to act as shortcuts and allow a rapid change of state. They are defined to avoid redundancy with basic user interactions, and consist of advanced interactions such as double tap (two touches that follow each other quickly by touch) or the long press (long press). According to a drawback of this method, the users must know and therefore have learned beforehand the gestures to be carried out as well as the actions which are associated therewith, resulting in a significant cognitive load, in sources of potential errors and in a phase of inevitable learning.

In the field of graphical interfaces, in particular tactile, it is further known the possibility of adding particular graphical information, known as user feedback, or feedbacks, the role of which is to inform the user of the development. of carrying out a specific action. For example, to inform him that a long press (long press) is possible, a concentric circle can appear around his finger and an animation make him converge towards the finger, to inform him that if he leaves his finger enough a long time an action will be carried out.

Unfortunately, these user feedbacks allow the user to understand the existence of functions that are not initially accessible, but they do not allow him to carry out any interaction other than that for which the user feedback is engaged. The user will therefore have no other choice than to continue his action or stop in his action to try another type of interaction.

Also, the present invention aims to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

Statement of the invention

To this end, the invention relates to a method for handling the container and content of digital information.

For the purposes of the description, the expression containing information will be used to generically designate the visual representation displayed on a display terminal of digital information accompanied by a number of decorations, graphic elements and interface elements, delimiting an area of the display terminal occupied by the information.

By display terminal, we mean any means of displaying digital information and or containers of digital information, such as a screen, a small screen, a very large screen, a wall of screens, a video projector, a wall of video projectors, or one or more screens arranged relatively close to the horizontal to constitute a table or a desk.

In the context of the invention, the display terminal is associated with at least one device for capturing tactile interactions, capable of detecting the contacts of one or more fingers and or of one or more styli on the surface of this terminal. of visualization.

In the following description, the term touch screen will be used for better readability, which will designate any display terminal associated with at least one device for capturing tactile interactions. By touch, we will mean the functionality of a device to capture one or more fingers and or one or more styli on the surface of the touch screen.

In the context of the invention, the method is designed to address the problems of tactile interaction with screens. The screens displaying the containers and contents of digital information are therefore thought to be tactile. It should be understood that, in alternative methods of implementing the process, indirect modes of interaction (mouse, touchpad, etc.) may also be used to interact with the contents or containers of digital information.

A container of information can thus be, for example, a window as used in operating systems of the WIMP type (Windows, icons, menus, pointing devices) and making it possible to display a text document in the middle of a certain number of functions accessible by buttons and or menus, an image displayed without any visible decoration, information displayed in the middle of a quantity of others and associated or not with specific interface elements.

The calculation means associated with the display terminal thus create an information container adapted to contain a visual representation of digital information in any form that can be used to serve as an information medium (image, document, video, table , 3D, web page ...).

In the following description, the term vignette will be used to designate the combination of any visual representations of the information container and the digital information.

Conventionally, the calculation means display a set of thumbnails, capture the interactions carried out by the users on the screen surface, associate them with interactions on the thumbnails, said thumbnails thus interpreting these interactions how to handle the container, container state changes or content manipulation depending on whether they were performed on their content or digital information container.

For clarity, in the following description, we will focus on the manipulations relating to a given thumbnail. The entire description remains valid, however, that one or more thumbnails are displayed at the same time, that one or more thumbnails are manipulated at the same time, that one or more thumbnails are displayed and or manipulated sequentially.

According to the invention, three transient states are associated with each sticker, the transition from one state to another being simple and transparent for the user and requiring no prior knowledge.

Thus, an interaction on a sleeping thumbnail will allow the container to be manipulated while revealing interface elements, including an interface element having the function of locking and allowing the container of information to be locked so that the next manipulations are associated with the content of the information. Continued manipulation of the thumbnail will allow further manipulation of the container, when pressing the lock will lock the thumbnail so that the interactions associated with the visual representation of digital information are interpreted as manipulation of the content.

Advantageously, according to the invention, the interface element having the lock function appears under at least one of the contact points which led to the interaction with the sticker. Thus, unlike known solutions, the method according to the invention makes it possible to satisfy the needs of any type of user without penalizing the others by an omnipresent interface or learning needs:

- A user not yet familiar with the method according to the invention and touching the thumbnail will show the interface elements;

- A user not yet familiar with the method according to the invention and handling the sticker will handle the information container. If it was the will of this user, he will finish his gesture without incident. If this user wanted to handle the container, this user will quickly realize his error since the entire thumbnail will react to his interaction. This user will then realize the appearance of new interface elements including an interface element having the lock function and will thus be able to lock the thumbnail to interact with the content of the information as initially desired.

- A user who simply wants to handle the container will not have to worry about the interface elements.

- A user familiar with the method according to the invention can quickly lock the sticker by making a double contact at any location on the surface of the sticker, the first contact to bring up the interface element having the lock function and the second contact to activate this lock.

Advantageously, this process which responds to specific challenges in tactile interaction can also operate with one or more virtual cursors such as a mouse for indirect pointing. So when we talk about contact points, they are just as much the interaction events resulting from an action of touching with a finger, an action of touching with a pencil, or a click action with a pointer of mouse.

Also, it is understood that several parallel interactions according to the method can be carried out on several vignettes in parallel.

Brief presentation of the figures

Other characteristics and advantages will emerge from the description which follows of the invention, description given by way of example only, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an overall view of a screen 1 on which several thumbnails 100 are displayed;

FIG. 2 shows a specific embodiment for each of the three states of a sticker;

FIG. 3 presents an overall view of a screen on which several thumbnails are displayed while interactions have been carried out on these thumbnails;

FIG. 4 shows an example of a manipulation of a sticker in its awake state, said manipulation using two contact points to make an enlargement of the information container;

FIG. 5 shows an example of displaying a thumbnail in its awake state while a user is interacting with its content;

FIG. 6 shows an example of displaying a thumbnail in its locked state when a user has just finished using the lock function;

FIG. 7 presents an example of the result of the interaction of a user with the thumbnail in a locked state, said interaction resulting in manipulation of the content of the digital information, here for example a scrolling of the image;

FIG. 8 presents an example of the result of the interaction of a user with the sticker 10 in an awake state, said interaction resulting in a manipulation of the container of digital information, here for example a displacement of the sticker in the screen from a position 10a to a position 10b, said interaction represented in FIG. 8 being the same as the interaction represented in FIG. 7.

Detailed description and detailed description of an embodiment

The present invention relates to a method for handling the container and content of digital information as illustrated in the figures.

The method according to the invention is characterized by the introduction of a transient state, between the unlocked and locked states. As will be revealed in the following description, this transient state is characterized by the appearance of interface elements allowing rapid access to indirect manipulations of the container or content of digital information, and more particularly to a vignette locking function 10. In addition, while the interface elements allowing access to indirect manipulations of the container or content of digital information have static positions in the visual representation of digital information, advantageously close from the outside, the interface element (s) having the locking function has a dynamic position dependent on the contact points detected and their development.

This method can also be applied to unlocking, in the case where the initial state is the locked state, the indirect manipulation of the container of digital information consists of a function for unlocking the sticker.

According to the invention, a sticker can therefore be in at least three states including:

sleeping state, awake state, locked state.

In one embodiment, the sleeping state is the initial state in which each thumbnail is managed by the computing means capable of producing the computer program necessary to capture the information provided by the touch screen and to identify manipulations with it. containing or containing digital information.

However, the initial state of a sticker can just as easily be the awake or the locked state. Whatever the initial state of a sticker, the conditions for switching from one state to another are similar.

It is understood that these three states are the three constituent states of the invention, but that more or less temporary transient states can be added without modifying the scope of the invention. For example, a transient state can be an animation of passage from the awake state to the locked state.

Similarly, as will be explained later in the description, additional states can be constructed to supplement these three states with a thumbnail.

According to the method, in a sleeping state, the digital information container is very little visually present to favor the display of the visual representation of the digital information.

In one embodiment, only the visual representation of the digital information is present.

In another embodiment, information such as the name or size of the file containing the digital information is superimposed on the visual representation of the digital information.

In yet another embodiment, a very thin frame is displayed around the visual representation of the digital information.

In yet another embodiment, shortcuts to indirect manipulations of the container or content of digital information are displayed. More particularly, in an implementation of this embodiment, a graphic representation shortened to the function of closing the thumbnail is displayed in the upper right corner of the thumbnail.

In yet another embodiment, a partial combination of the previous embodiments is implemented, consisting of a partial frame around the visual representation of the digital information, said visual representation of the digital information being superimposed an icon representing the format of the digital information displayed.

Advantageously, in a complementary embodiment, one or more of these elements may disappear or fade as a function of the time spent in the sleeping sticker state.

According to the process, any interaction with a sleeping sticker has the effect of putting the sticker in its awake state.

According to the method, in an awake state, at least one interface element having the function of lock 110 appears superimposed on the visual representation of the digital information at the location at which the contact points are detected.

To this end, the contact points detected on the edges or inside the sticker are temporarily saved in a memory of the processing system and are applied a treatment to determine the location in the visual imprint of the sticker to which the interface element having the lock function 110 should be displayed.

In one embodiment, the location of the interface element having the lock function 110 is that of the first of said detected contact points.

In another embodiment, the location of the interface element having the lock function 110 is that of the last of said contact points detected.

In yet another embodiment, the location of the interface element having the lock function 110 is that of the barycenter of said detected contact points.

Advantageously, this location can be dynamic and change during the interaction. For example, the location of the interface element having the lock function 110 can follow the location of the retained finger with a slight delay weighted by the speed of movement to result in fluid animation. Also, for example, since the number of said contact points detected can vary during the interaction, the barycenter of the contact points can also vary significantly and be associated with an animation to make the display more fluid.

Advantageously also, the interface element having the lock function can be multiplied, for example to be displayed under each of said detected contact points.

In a preferred embodiment, to allow an ideal visualization of the visual representation of the content of the digital information, the interface element having the lock function disappears after a certain period of inaction on the thumbnail, for example 3 seconds.

In a complementary embodiment, the interface element having the lock function can advantageously be associated with a pictogram representing a lock, the state of which will be open or closed depending on whether the thumbnail is in a locked state or not.

In addition, in a complementary embodiment which can be combined with the above embodiments, complementary interface elements 130 also appear superimposed on the visual representation of the digital information.

In a preferred implementation of this embodiment, the interface elements are dependent on the type of digital information and allow the appearance of graphical information associated with the digital information and or shortcuts to indirect manipulations of the container or digital information content.

For example and in a non-exhaustive manner, the graphic information associated with the digital information can be:

the name of the file containing the digital information, the length and or linear representation of the document (for a video or a text document), the zoom level of the visual representation of the digital information.

For example and in a non-exhaustive manner, the shortcuts to indirect manipulations of the container or content of digital information can be:

adjust the volume and or the activation of the sound, go forwards or backwards in a video or in a document, go to a particular place in the linear representation of the document or the video, pause a video or a shared screen, put the thumbnail in full screen, close the thumbnail, clone the thumbnail.

In this preferred implementation of this embodiment, these complementary interface elements are displayed at predefined positions that do not disturb the reading of the content of the digital information such as the four corners of the visual representation of the digital information or the sides upper, lower, left and right.

Advantageously, the various graphic information associated with the digital information and or the shortcuts to indirect manipulations of the container and or of the content of the digital information can be spatially distributed in the visual representation of the digital information as a function of their meaning and of their reach.

For example, according to one embodiment, an icon presenting the type of digital information (eg image, document, video, web, 3D, split screen, note ...) and the name of the digital information are displayed at the top. to the left. Depending on the type of digital information and the state of its content, the zoom level may appear after this information.

The pictograms and or graphic elements associated with the various functions allowing to act on the behavior of the sticker in the workspace are displayed at the top right.

The pictograms and / or graphic elements associated with actions on the content of the thumbnail are displayed in the bottom middle.

Advantageously, these static and dynamic characteristics of the awakened state according to the method according to the invention ensure that the interface element having the function of a lock follows the finger or fingers performing the interaction and allows a last repeated contact in end of movement quickly switches to the locked state immediately after moving the container of digital information.

In fact, according to the process, interactions with an awakened vignette have the effect of manipulating the container of digital information, unless the point of contact causing the interaction is located on an interface element, whether it is l the interface element having the function of a lock or an additional interface element, in which case this interaction will have the effect of triggering the function associated with the interface element.

Consequently :

a user touching a sleeping thumbnail and moving their finger over the surface of the touch screen will move the container of digital information.

A user touching an awakened thumbnail in places of the visual representation where no interface element, either having the lock or complementary function, is displayed, and moving his finger on the surface of the touch screen will move the container digital information.

A user touching a sleeping thumbnail will bring up light interface elements to reveal information on digital information and an interface element having the lock function which will already be positioned very close and or under his finger . A user twice touching a sleeping sticker in the same place will make it go from a sleeping state to a locked state, after having changed it in the meantime and temporarily to an awake state.

According to the method, in a locked state, at least one additional interaction zone 200 appears on and around the visual representation of the digital information.

Said at least one additional interaction zone thus provides a context in which to display graphic information associated with digital information and shortcuts to indirect manipulations of the container and or content of digital information.

For example and in a non-exhaustive manner, the shortcuts to indirect manipulations of the container or content of digital information can be:

adjust the volume and or the activation of the sound, go forwards or backwards in a video or in a document, go to a particular place in the linear representation of the document or the video, pause a video or a shared screen, put the thumbnail in full screen, close the thumbnail, clone the thumbnail, bring up a virtual keyboard and or mouse to interact with the digital information content indirectly, annotate the digital information content, change the characteristics the annotation of the content of digital information, unlock the container of digital information, view and or edit the Internet address when the digital content is web-based.

According to one embodiment, said at least one additional interaction zone 200 is a new zone whose colors and texture patterns allow it to stand out from the background color displayed by the screen, and which is created above of the visual representation of the content of digital information, and another new area with similar or even identical visual properties, which is created below the visual representation of the content of digital information, therefore without encroaching on the visual representation of digital information content.

According to another embodiment, said at least one additional interaction zone 200 is a new zone which is created over the upper part of the visual representation of the content of the digital information, and whose colors and texture patterns are such that the information of the visual representation of the content of the digital information is seen through said new area while being sufficiently contrasted so that said new area is clearly visible to the user.

Advantageously, the various graphical information associated with the digital information and the shortcuts to indirect manipulations of the container and or of the content of the digital information can be spatially distributed in the additional area of interaction according to their direction and their range. .

For example, according to one embodiment, an icon presenting the type of digital information (eg image, document, video, web, 3D, split screen, note ...) and the name of the digital information 120 are displayed in top left. Depending on the type of digital information and the state of its content, the zoom level may appear after this information.

The pictograms and or graphic elements associated 130 with the various functions making it possible to act on the behavior of the sticker in the workspace are displayed at the top right.

The pictograms and or graphic elements associated 230 with actions on the content of the thumbnail are displayed at the bottom left, advantageously slightly superimposed on the visual representation of the digital information to show that they are related to its content, and supplemented with if necessary by the submenus of active action 235 displayed at the bottom in the middle.

According to the process, interactions with a locked thumbnail are interpreted according to the interaction area.

If the contact points are detected in the additional interaction zone (s) and on the visual representation of shortcuts to indirect manipulations of the container and or the content of the digital information, the interaction will have the effect of activating the function associated with the pictogram.

If the contact points are detected in the additional interaction zone or zones without being on the visual representation of shortcuts to indirect manipulations of the container and or of the content of the digital information, the interaction will have the effect of manipulating the container digital information.

If the contact points are detected in the area of the thumbnail containing the visual representation of the digital information, the interaction will have the effect of manipulating the content of the digital information.

As mentioned above, in one embodiment, the action of unlocking the sticker can be one of the actions constantly accessible via a pictogram placed in the additional interaction zone.

In another embodiment, the unlocking action can follow the mechanism characteristic of the awake state of the sticker, and be accessible thanks to the temporary appearance of an interface element associated with the lock action under one or more points of contact on the visual representation of the content of digital information.

In yet another embodiment, the unlocking action can follow the mechanism characteristic of the awake state of the sticker, and be accessible thanks to the temporary appearance of an interface element associated with the lock action under one or more points of contact on the complementary interaction zone. Advantageously, the displacement of the zone in which the interface element associated with the lock action from the display zone of the visual representation of the digital information towards the complementary interaction zone when the state of the thumbnail goes from an awake state to a locked state can be represented for the user by a temporary animation of the interface element associated with the lock action towards the complementary interaction zone.

As mentioned above, these three states can be supplemented by optional complementary states.

Thus, in one embodiment, an annotation mode can constitute a sub-state of the locked state, which is accessed by one of the shortcuts to indirect manipulations of the container and or of the content of the digital information.

In a complementary embodiment, a full screen state can also be activated thanks to one of the shortcuts to indirect manipulations of the container or content of the digital information, accessible both in awake and locked mode.

In an implementation of this embodiment, the full screen state is the same as the locked state except that the information container takes the largest possible size depending on the screen.

In an alternative implementation of this embodiment, it is the visual representation of the content of the digital information which takes the largest possible size depending on the screen, the interface elements being superimposed on said visual representation.

In particular in this embodiment, a particular interface element shortened to indirect manipulations of the container or content of digital information is created to exit from the full screen state.

In an implementation, leaving the full screen state returns the thumbnail to the size and location it had before entering full screen mode, and places it in the locked state.

In another implementation, exiting the full screen state returns the thumbnail to the size and location it had before entering full screen mode, and places it in the awake state.

In another implementation, outputting the full screen state puts the thumbnail in a size and location dependent on the sizes and locations of the other thumbnails displayed on the screen, and places it in the sleeping state.

Claims (9)

claims 1. Method for handling container and content of digital information, consisting of several states of visual representations of container of information and digital information, characterized in that it has a transient state comprising interface elements allowing indirect manipulation of the container or content of digital information. 2. Method according to claim 1 characterized in that at least one of the interface elements makes it possible to pass from an unlocked state to a locked state of the digital information container or vice versa. 3. Method according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that the at least one interface element having the function of lock has a dynamic position. 4. Method according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that the position of the at least one interface element having the lock function is dependent on the detected contact points. 5. Method according to claim 4 characterized in that the location of the at least one interface element having the lock function is that of the first of said detected contact point. 6. Method according to claim 4 characterized in that the location of the at least one interface element having the lock function is that of the last of said contact points detected. 7. Method according to claim 4 characterized in that the location of the at least one interface element having the lock function is that of the barycenter of said detected contact point. 8. Method according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that the interface element having the lock function is multiplied. 9. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the at least one interface element disappears with the time of inaction.