WO2012078654A1

WO2012078654A1 - Editing based on force-based physical cues

Info

Publication number: WO2012078654A1
Application number: PCT/US2011/063563
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ronald Ho; Gabriel Cohen
Original assignee: Google Inc.
Priority date: 2010-12-07
Filing date: 2011-12-06
Publication date: 2012-06-14

Abstract

A method is provided for formatting. A force-based physical cue performed on or to a mobile computing device is detected. The force-based physical cue is associated with a formatting function. Formatting of text or characters in a document, message or form is performed according to the formatting function in response to the detecting. An extent of the formatting is correlated to an amount of the detected force-based physical cue.

Description

EDITING BASED ON FORCE-BASED PHYSICAL

CUES

Inventor(s): Ronald Ho, Gabriel Cohen

PRIORITY CLAIM

[0001 ] This application is a continuation of, and claims priority to, U.S. Patent Application Serial Number 12/962,152 filed on December 7, 2010, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This description relates to editing documents or stored information.

BACKGROUND

[0003] There are a wide variety of electronic or computing devices that may communicate electronically, such as through a network, e.g., a wireless network, the Internet, or other networks. These computing devices may come in a variety of sizes. Mobile computing devices (or simply mobile devices), such as cell phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants), and other handheld or portable computing devices may allow increased mobility as compared to other computing devices, such as desktop and laptop computers. Mobile computing devices may have a smaller keyboard or keypad, and a smaller screen or display size as compared to other computing devices.

[0004] Document editing may include a wide variety of editing functions such as replacing or deleting text, and different kinds of formatting, such as capitalizing words or letters, adjusting a font size, underlining, holding or italicizing text, varying line thickness, adjusting a line length, adding or modifying an image or figure, etc. These editing functions are typically performed by the user interacting with a pointing device or input device, such as a mouse, keyboard, or touch-screen input. Some applications provide formatting/editing icons or pull-down menus where a user may select document editing or formatting options. SUMMARY

[0005] According to one general aspect, a method includes detecting a force- based physical cue performed on or to a computing device. The force-based physical cue is associated with a formatting function. The method also includes formatting characters according to the formatting function in response to the detecting. An extent of the formatting is correlated to an amount of the detected force-based physical cue.

[0006] The method can include one or more of the following features. For example, detecting the force-based physical cue can include at least one of the following: detecting a rotation of the computing device; detecting a side-to-side movement of the computing device; detecting a shaking of the computing device; detecting a force applied to the bottom of the computing device; detecting an amount of pressure applied to a portion of the computing device; or detecting an amount of pressure applied to one or more keys of the computing device. The force-based physical cue associated with a formatting function can include an action that mimics at least a portion of an action that is used to perform the same formatting function for a paper document. Detecting the force-based physical cue can include detecting an amount of pressure applied to one or more keys of the computing device, where a font weight of one or more characters is correlated to the amount of pressure applied to the one or more keys. Detecting the force-based physical cue can include detecting an amount of a rotation of the mobile computing device and the formatting function is italicizing. Formatting characters can include italicizing one or more characters in response to the detected rotation, where an amount or degree of slant of the italicized characters is correlated to the detected amount of rotation. Detecting a force-based physical cue can include detecting moving the computing device in a side to side motion, wherein the formatting comprises deleting characters, wherein a number of characters that are deleted is correlated to the amount or distance that the mobile computing device is moved. Detecting the force-based physical cue can include detecting an amount of pressure applied to a touch-sensitive component of the computing device, where the formatting includes adjusting a font weight of one or more characters, where the font weight is correlated to the detected amount of pressure. [0007] The method may be understood as a method of formatting characters in response to response to one or more force-based physical cues input performed on or to a computing device. The formatting method may have the effect of facilitating formatting commands to a computing device in an intuitive manner to a user of the computing device. In particular, the method allows formatting commands to be input, not just by touching keys of the computing device, but by responding to force-based physical cues, which may include actions that mimic at least a portion of an action that is used to perform the same formatting function for a paper document.

[0008] According to another general aspect, an apparatus includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least detect a force-based physical cue performed on or to a computing device. The force-based physical cue is associated with a formatting function. The apparatus is further caused to format characters according to the formatting function in response to the detecting. An extent of the formatting is correlated to an amount of the detected force-based physical cue.

[0009] According to another general aspect, a computer program product is provided that is tangibly embodied on a computer-readable storage medium having executable-instructions stored thereon. The instructions are executable to cause a processor to detect a force-based physical cue performed on or to a computing device. The force-based physical cue is associated with a formatting function. The processor is further caused to format characters according to the formatting function in response to the detecting. An extent of the formatting is correlated to an amount of the detected force-based physical cue.

[0010] According to another general aspect, a method includes receiving one or more characters input via keys of a touch-sensitive component. The method also includes detecting an amount of pressure applied to the touch-sensitive component and adjusting a font weight of the one or more received characters to be correlated to the detected amount of pressure.

[0011 ] According to another general aspect, an apparatus includes at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least receive one or more characters input via keys of a touch-sensitive component. The apparatus is further caused to detect an amount of pressure applied to the touch-sensitive component and to adjust a font weight of the one or more received characters to be correlated to the detected amount of pressure.

[0012] According to another general aspect, a computer program product is provided that is tangibly embodied on a computer-readable storage medium having executable-instructions stored thereon. The instructions are executable to cause a processor to receive one or more characters input via keys of a touch-sensitive component. The processor is further caused to detect an amount of pressure applied to the touch-sensitive component and to adjust a font weight of the one or more received characters to be correlated to the detected amount of pressure.

[0013] The details of one or more implementations are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system that includes a mobile computing device connected to a network according to an example implementation. .

[0015] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary mobile computing device.

[0016] FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating operation of a mobile computing device according to an example in which the document formatting function of selecting a font weight or a font size for text in a document is controlled based on an amount of pressure applied to a touch-sensitive display of the mobile computing device.

[0017] FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating operation of a mobile computing device according to an example in which a motion imparted to the device is used to control a formatting function.

[0018] FIGS. 5 A and 5B are diagrams illustrating operation of a mobile computing device according to an example in which text or characters are underlined based on a bottom of the mobile computing device being hit or tapped.

[0019] FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating operation of a mobile computing device according to an example in which text or other information is deleted or erased based on the mobile computing device detecting a side-to-side motion or shaking of the mobile computing device.

[0020] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary operation of a mobile computing device.

[0021 ] FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary operation of a mobile computing device.

[0022] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing exemplary or representative structure, devices and associated elements that may be used to implement the computing devices and systems described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] A character formatting control technique is provided where different types of character formatting are performed in response to the detection of respective force-based physical cues performed on or to a computing device. Rather than requiring a user to open up drop down menus or select a series of nested options for character formatting, the use of force-based physical cues to control character formatting provides a simpler formatting control that relies on physical manipulations of a computing device, such as various movements with the computing device or forces applied to the computing device.

[0024] According to various implementations, a mobile computing device may detect a force-based physical cue performed on or to the mobile computing device. The force-based physical cue may include performing a physical motion with the mobile computing device, such as, for example, shaking, twisting, rotating, or moving in a side-to-side motion the computing device. A force-based physical cue may include those physical cues that involve a force being applied to the mobile computing device and which may be detected by an accelerometer. In another example implementation, the force-based physical cue may include a pressure or force being applied to the mobile computing device, such as pressing, striking, hitting, or tapping the mobile computing device, which may be detected by a pressure sensor or detector.

[0025] The force-based physical cue is associated with a formatting function. The computing device detects the force-based physical cue and performs the associated formatting function on text or characters. For example, text or characters may be tilted or italicized based on the computing device being rotated, or text may be bolded, or a character font weight increased, based on pressure applied to a touch- sensitive component that exceeds a threshold.

[0026] In one example implementation, an amount or a degree of the formatting function performed by the mobile computing device may be based on the amount of the force-based physical cue performed on or to the mobile computing device. For example, a font weight of one or more characters may be varied or adjusted based on pressure applied to a touch-sensitive component of a mobile computing device when the character is being input.

[0027] In addition, for at least some force-based physical cues, the force-based physical cue may resemble the associated formatting function in some respect. In one example implementation, text or characters may be italicized (or tilted) based on detecting a rotation of the mobile computing device from an initial position to at least a threshold angle. The angle or amount of rotation may be measured with respect to one of several different reference points, such as with respect to the ground or surface of the earth, for example. In another example implementation, a force-based physical cue associated with a formatting function for an electronic document may include a same action (e.g., applying pressure) that is used to perform the same document formatting function for a paper document. For example, the physical cue of applying pressure via one or more keys of the mobile computing device to control character font weight for an electronic document may include the same action of applying pressure to paper using a pen or other writing instrument to control character font weight for a paper document. Thus, in such a case, the action of increasing pressure on the touch-sensitive component of the mobile computing device to provide a larger character font weight in an electronic document may be the same, or may mimic, the action of pressing a pen harder (or increasing the pressure) on paper to increase character line thickness for a paper document.

[0028] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system that includes a mobile computing device 120 connected to a network 130 according to an example implementation. Network 130 may be any type of network such as a Local Area Network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), the Internet, or other network or combinations of networks. Mobile computing device 120 may be any type of computing device. The mobile computing device 120 may be, for example, a cell phone, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a smart phone, a tablet computer, a wireless handheld device, or any other mobile, handheld or portable computing device. Computing device 120 may include a display 122 and a character entry area 123, such as a keypad. The character entry area 123 can either be a portion of the display 122 or physically separate from the display 122. Display 122 may be a touch-sensitive component or display, which may be referred to as a touchscreen that can detect the presence and location of a touch within the touchscreen or touch sensitive display. A touchscreen (or touch-sensitive component or display) may allow a user to interact directly with what is displayed by touching the touch-sensitive display or touchscreen. The touch sensitive display 122 may be touched with a hand, finger, stylus, or other object. In an example implementation, text or other information may be displayed in a text area 126 on display 122. Character entry area 123, when implemented as a keypad, may include a set of one or more keys 124, which may include, for example, physical keys, or may include one or more keys defined by a graphical user interface (GUI) on (or integrated with) the touch-sensitive display 122. The physical keys may include sensors or detectors that may detect an amount of pressure applied. Likewise, for the GUI defined keys on the touch-sensitive display 122, the display may include sensors or detectors that may detect an amount of pressure applied via the keys. In some implementations, the character entry area 123 is a Qwerty or alphabetical keyboard. In some implementations, the character entry area 123 is an alternative character entry system.

[0029] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a mobile computing device according to an example implementation. Mobile computing device 120 may include a processor 210 for executing software or instructions, a memory 212 for storing instructions and other information, one or more input/output devices such as a display 122 and an optional character entry area 123. In some implementations, the display 122 is a touch-sensitive component. The mobile computing device 120 optionally includes one or more detectors, such as one or more pressure detectors 216 or and/or one or more motion detectors 214. A pressure detector 216 can be used to detect force or pressure applied to the computing device 120. A pressure detector 216 may include a pressure sensor that is configured to detect an applied pressure directly. The pressure detector 216 may be part of touch-sensitive display 122, or may be provided as a separate or standalone component. For example, a piezoelectric sensor can be used to convert a mechanical strain on the sensor into an electrical signal that serves to measure the pressure applied to the sensor. Capacitive and electromagnetic pressure sensors can include a diaphragm and a pressure cavity, and when the diaphragm moves due to the application of pressure to the diaphragm a change in the capacitance or inductance in a circuit caused by movement of the diaphragm can be used to measure the pressure applied to the sensor.

[0030] A pressure detector also may measure an applied pressure indirectly. For example, the touch sensitive device/display 122 can include a capacitively- or resistively-coupled display that is used detect the presence or contact of a pointing device (e.g., a human finger) with the display. The display 122 may receive input indicating the presence of a pointing device (e.g., a human finger) near, or the contact of a pointing device with, one or more capacitively- or resistively-coupled elements of the touch-sensitive display 122. Information about input to the display 122 may be routed to the processor 210, which may recognize contact of the display by a relatively small area of a human finger as a light, low-pressure touch of the user's finger and which may recognize contact with the display by a relatively large area of the user's finger as a heavy, high-pressure touch, because the pad of a human finger spreads out when pressed hard against a surface. Similarly, the display 122 may recognize contact with the display with a human finger over a relatively short time as a light, low-pressure touch of the user's finger and may recognize contact with the display with a human finger over a relatively long time as a heavy, high-pressure touch of the user's finger, because a user generally contacts the display for a longer time when pressing hard than when pressing softly. The processor 210 may execute instructions that allow the device 120 to learn over time what is a relatively light or short contact for a particular user and what is a relatively heavy or long contact for the user. Alternatively, or in addition, the device 120 can allow a user to train the device with regard to particular force-based physical cues.

[0031 ] A motion detector 214 is used to detect movement/motion or acceleration of the computing device 120. Motion detector(s) 214 may include, for example, an accelerometer used to detect motion of the computing device 120, which may include detecting an amount of motion (e.g., how far the computing device 120 is moved) and a type of motion imparted to the mobile computing device 120 (e.g., twisting or rotating, moving side-to-side or back and forth).

[0032] Detectors 214 and 216 can be used to detect force-based physical cues that are input or applied to the mobile computing device 120 and which can be used to control one or more formatting functions performed by the mobile computing device. Formatting may include changes to the appearance and presentation of information, e.g., changing the character or line font weight (e.g., holding text), changing a character font size, underlining text, italicizing text, changing the spacing of characters or information, and the like. The computing device 120 may detect the force-based physical cue and may perform the formatting function on inputted characters based on the force-based physical cue. In particular, in one example implementation, a degree to which the formatting function is performed by the mobile computing device to the characters may be based on the amount of the force-based physical cue imparted to the mobile computing device. For example, the force-based physical cue may be imparted to the mobile computing device over a range of amplitudes or frequencies and the degree to which the formatting function is applied to the inputted characters by the computing device may correspond to the specific amplitude or frequency with which the force-based physical cue is applied.

[0033] A force-based physical cue may include a physical motion applied to the mobile computing device, such as, for example, shaking, twisting, moving or rotating the entire mobile computing device or applying pressure or force to the mobile computing device. The force-based physical cue may include striking, hitting or tapping the mobile computing device (in conjunction with entering text or separately from entering text), or applying pressure to a touch-sensitive component or display. In an example implementation, the force-based physical cue may include pressure or force applied to a touch-sensitive component or touchscreen, e.g., in conjunction with character or text entry. In another example implementation, the force-based physical cue of applying pressure or a force to a touch-sensitive component may be performed separate from character or text entry. In some example implementations, the force-based physical cue may include force-based physical cues performed to or with the mobile computing device that do not involve or use a keyboard or a cursor pointing device (e.g., a mouse, a trackball), but rather that involve motion of the mobile computing device or force or pressure applied to the computing device that may detected or measured by detectors 214 or 216.

[0034] Each force-based physical cue may be associated with a character formatting function. The terms character and text are used interchangeably herein. The computing device 120 detects the force-based physical cue and, in response, performs the associated formatting function on text or characters. In one example implementation, the force-based physical cue may resemble (or may be similar to) the associated formatting function.

[0035] In another example implementation, the amount (or degree) of the formatting function performed by the mobile computing device may be based on the amount of the force-based physical cue performed on or to the mobile computing device. Therefore, in this example implementation, a user may control the amount (or degree) of the formatting function that is performed by adjusting or varying an amount of the physical cue applied to or performed with the mobile computing device 120. Several examples will now be described.

[0036] FIGs. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating operation of a mobile computing device according to an example implementation in which the formatting function of selecting a font weight or font size for text is controlled based on an amount of pressure applied to a touch-sensitive display of a mobile computing device. As shown in FIG. 3 A, mobile computing device 120 receives input through keys 124, such as physical keys or via the touch-sensitive display 122. The input can be interpreted by a pressure detector 216 of the device 120 as the application of pressure 310 to the device. The keys 124 and/or touch-sensitive display 122 may receive a user input, e.g., by the user typing characters or keys via the keys 124, which may be physical keys or GUI defined keys provided on touch-sensitive display 122. Thus, a user can apply pressure 310 to the keys 124. A pressure detector 216 of the mobile computing device 120 may detect an amount of pressure 310 that is applied by the user when typing or pressing on the keys 124.

[0037] The mobile computing device 120 may adjust or vary at least one formatting parameter, such as, for example, font weight (or character thickness) or font size, based on the pressure applied by the user when typing or entering the characters. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3A, lighter or less pressure applied to the keys to input characters may result in a light font for these characters (as stored, e.g., in a document), shown as characters 312. Likewise, heavier (or more) pressure applied to the keys 124 by a user when typing or entering characters may result in a thicker, bolder, heavier font weight for the input characters, shown as 314 in FIG. 3B. In one example implementation, the text may be unbolded (i.e., presented in a normal or average font weight, shown as 312, FIG. 3 A) if the pressure on the key(s) is less than a threshold pressure, and the text may be bolded (i.e., presented in a heavier than normal font weight), shown as bolded characters 314 in FIG. 3B, if the pressure on the key(s) is greater than a threshold pressure. More than two font weights may be used as well. For example, the mobile computing device 120 may adjust the font weight to be either light, normal, heavy or heavier, or vary from a scale of 90 to 700 units (e.g., 90, 200, 300, ...800 units), based on the amount of pressure applied to keys 124 or to input the characters, where 90 units is the lightest or thinnest font weight, and 700 units is the thickest font weight. Using relatively greater (or more) pressure on the keys 124, e.g., as a font weight control input or to type in characters, may be similar to or analogous to pressing harder with a pen, pencil or other writing instrument when writing on paper, since applying greater pressure (greater force) on the paper may result in thicker or heavier. Therefore, according to an example implementation, a force-based physical cue associated with a formatting function, such as for an electronic document, may include a same action (e.g., applying pressure) that is used to perform the same formatting function for a paper document. For example, as noted above, a physical cue of applying pressure via one or more keys of the mobile computing device to adjust character font weight for characters may include a same action of applying pressure to paper using a pen or other writing instrument to adjust character font weight for a paper document. Thus, in such case, the action of increasing pressure (or applying a greater pressure) on the keys 124 or touch-sensitive display of the mobile computing device to provide a larger character font weight may be the same, or may mimic, the action of pressing a pen (or other writing instrument) harder (or increasing the pressure) on paper to increase character line thickness for a paper document.

[0038] In some example implementations, a computing device 120 receives one or more characters input via keys 124 (which may be physical keys or GUI- defined keys provided on a touch-sensitive display 122). The computing device 120 detects an amount of pressure applied to a touch-sensitive component. The computing device 120 adjusts a font weight of the one or more received characters to be correlated to the detected amount of pressure.

[0039] In one example implementation, the detected amount of pressure (used to control the character font weight) may be applied to a touch-sensitive component separately from the input of the one or more characters. In such case, the pressure applied to press keys to input or display individual characters does not affect the font weight of such characters. Rather, according to this example implementation, the font weight of the characters may be adjusted based on pressure applied as a separate input (separate from the character input) to a touch-sensitive component.

[0040] In another example implementation, the detected amount of pressure (that is used to control character font weight) may be applied in conjunction with (or as part of) the input of the one or more characters via keys of the touch-sensitive component or display 122. In this case, the pressure applied to press keys to input the character(s) may be used to adjust the character font weight of the input characters.

[0041 ] In some implementations, the pressure applied to an individual key 124 may control the font thickness of the individual character that is input or displayed as a result of the key being pressed. In other implementations, the average pressure applied to a number of consecutively -pressed keys 124 may control the font thickness of the group of individual characters that are input or displayed as a result of the keys being pressed. In some implementations, the group is delineated by spaces, or punctuation, such as commas or periods. Thus, for example, the font thickness of a word, a sentence, a paragraph, or a message can be controlled based on the average pressure applied to generate the characters of the word, sentence, paragraph, or message respectively.

[0042] In another implementation, pressure applied to keys other than those used to generate characters or applied to portions of the device other than the keys can be used to control the font thickness of characters in the document. For example, pressure applied to a "function" key, such as the ENTER or SEND key can be used to control the font thickness of characters, words, sentences, paragraphs, etc. In one implementation, a key could be pressed by a user's finger and the while the key is pressed, the amount of pressure applied to the key can be varied relatively slowly and used to vary the font thickness of characters, words, sentences, paragraphs, etc. on the display 122 until a desired font thickness is achieved. Then, once the desired font thickness has been achieved, the user can lift his finger off the key relatively quickly so that the font thickness of the character, word, sentence, paragraph, etc. on the display 122 remains at the desired font thickness. In some implementations, the characters, words, sentences, paragraphs, etc. on the display 122 whose font thickness is to be controlled by the detected pressure applied to a portion of the device is selected (e.g., by a mouse movement or gesture-based input to a touchscreen interface) prior to applying the pressure that is detected to control the font thickness. [0043] In some implementations, the user may apply pressure to a part of the mobile device 120 other than keys 124 to control the font weight or thickness of characters in the document. For example, if a pressure detector is located on a backside of the device, the device may be pressed on the backside to control the font thickness. If a pressure detector is located on a side portion of the device, the device may be squeezed to control the font thickness.

[0044] Thus, a degree or amount of the formatting function (e.g., the font weight or thickness) may be correlated to the amount or degree to which the force- based physical cue is performed on or to the mobile computing device (or that is detected by the mobile computing device). In this example illustrated in FIGs. 3A and 3B, the character font weight may be controlled based on amount of pressure applied to the keys 124 or display device 122 or other pressure detectors of the device 120.

[0045] Also referring to FIGs. 3A and 3B, a font size of one or more characters, words, sentences, paragraphs, etc. of a document may be controlled by the computing device 120 based on an amount of pressure applied to keys 124 used to input the characters in the document, or applied to other keys, or applied to non-key portions of the device 120. For example, greater pressure may result in the characters being displayed using a larger font size, shown as characters 316. For example, characters 316 may be increased from a font size of 12 (characters 312, at a font size of 12 corresponding to an average pressure) to a font size of 18, e.g., due to heavier than average pressure applied to the keys 124 used to input the characters in the document, or applied to other keys, or applied to non-key portions of the device 120.

[0046] FIGS. 4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating operation of a mobile computing device according to an example implementation in which a motion imparted to the device is used to control a formatting function. As explained above, force-based physical cues that can be detected by one or more detectors of the device and used to control formatting functions can include shaking, twisting, moving, or rotating the entire mobile computing device. FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an example implementation in which the force-based physical cue of rotating the mobile computing device is associated with the formatting function of italicizing characters in a document or of adjusting the amount or degree of slant for the italicized characters.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 4A, one or more motion detectors 214 of the mobile computing device 120 may detect an amount or degree of rotation (490) applied by a user to the mobile computing device 120. If the mobile computing device is rotated by more than a threshold angle or with more than a threshold velocity or acceleration, then the text or characters may be italicized. Similarly, rotating the mobile computing device in an opposite direction may un-italicize the text or characters. In one example implementation, as shown in FIG. 4A, rotation of device 120 may be performed by a user rotating computing device 120 about axis 491. Axis 491 is not part of computing device 120, but is shown to illustrate one example how the computing device may be rotated.

[0048] In another example implementation, the mobile computing device 120 may detect an amount or degree of rotation (590) applied by a user to the mobile computing device 120, and may then adjust an amount or degree of slant (or amount or degree of italicization) for the italicized characters based on the amount or degree of the rotation applied to the mobile computing device. In one implementation, a user may select particular text to change the formatting of (e.g., by dragging his finger or a pointing device over the selected text to highlight the selected text). Then, for selected text that is displayed in normal font, the selected text can be changed to italicized font by rotating the mobile computing device 120. Alternatively, for selected text that is displayed in italicized font, the selected text can be changed to normal (or non- italicized) font by rotating the mobile computing device 120. In FIG. 4A, the text 492 illustrates normal font text before rotation of the mobile computing device. In FIG. 4B, text 494 illustrates the same text that has been italicized based on the detection of a rotation of the mobile computing device 120. A user may also select italicized text (e.g., as shown in FIG. 4B) and then can rotate the device 120 to unitalicize the selected text.

[0049] FIGS. 5 A and 5B are diagrams illustrating operation of a mobile computing device according to an example implementation in which text or characters are underlined based on a bottom of a mobile computing device being hit or tapped. The terms text and characters are used interchangeably herein. As shown in FIG. 5A, text without underlining is shown as text 512. In one implementation, a user may select particular text in a document to change the formatting (e.g., by dragging his finger or a pointing device over the selected text to highlight the selected text). Then, for selected text that is displayed in normal font, the selected text can be changed to underlined font by tapping or hitting the bottom or underside of the mobile computing device 120. For selected text that is displayed in underlined font, the selected text can be changed to normal font by tapping or hitting the bottom or underside of the mobile computing device 120. The bottom or underside of computing device 120 may be the side of computing device 120 that is opposite of display 122. Alternatively, for selected text that is displayed in underlined font, the selected text can be changed to normal font by tapping or hitting the top of the mobile computing device 120. A user may use a hand, finger, table or other object to strike, tap or hit (shown as 510) the bottom of the mobile computing device 120. The mobile computing device 120 may underline characters or text (resulting in text 514) in response to detection of the bottom or underside of the device 120 being struck, tapped, or hit.

[0050] FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating operation of a mobile computing device according to an example implementation in which text or other information is deleted or erased based on the mobile computing device detecting a side-to-side motion or shaking of the mobile computing device. This force-based physical cue of moving or shaking the computing device in a side-to-side motion may be associated with an editing function of erasing or deleting text, characters or other information. Sensors 214, which may include one or more accelerometers, may detect the shaking or side-to-side motion of the mobile computing device 120.

[0051 ] For example, referring to FIG. 6A, a cursor 615 may be located between the words "quick" and "brown," within the text phrase "the quick brown fox," shown as 612 in FIG. 6A. A user may then move (or shake) the mobile computing device 120, e.g., in a side-to-side motion, or in a slashing motion, shown as 611 (e.g., which may be a side-to-side motion that may be in a direction that is not perpendicular to the long edge 607 of device 120) to delete one or more words in proximity to the cursor 615. The slashing motion 611 illustrates that the side-to-side motion may be at various angles or in various directions, and not necessarily in a direction that is perpendicular to long edge 607.

[0052] In an example implementation, a shake may erase or delete a set of characters or words, e.g., the sentence in which the cursor 615 (FIG. 6A) is positioned. Alternatively, each shake, may delete one word, two words, etc. in proximity to the cursor 615. The amount of text or information that may be deleted, e.g., per shake or per side-to-side motion may be user configured in one example implementation. In another implementation, a user may select particular text (e.g., by dragging his finger or a pointing device over the selected text to highlight the selected text). Then, the selected text can be deleted by moving or shaking the mobile computing device 120 in a side-to-side motion.

[0053] For example, shaking or moving the mobile computing 120 device in a side-to-side motion 610 or in a slashing motion 611 may cause the computing device to erase or delete the words "quick brown", resulting in a remaining (undeleted) phrase of "The fox", shown as 614 in FIG. 6B. While the side-to-side motion or slashing motion is one example of a motion that may be used, other motions or physical cues may be used to delete or erase characters or information.

[0054] Also, as noted above, the amount of text or other information deleted or erased by the computing device may be adjusted or varied by the computing device based on the amount shaking or side-to-side motion of the mobile computing device. For example, a harder (with greater length/amplitude or greater force) side-to-side shake, or more shakes, may result in a greater amount of characters or information being deleted. This may allow the user to control the amount to text or information to be deleted.

[0055] Several examples have been provided where a force-based physical cue may resemble an editing function. By providing one or more force-based physical cues that may resemble in at least some respect (or are similar to or analogous to) the associated formatting function, these force-based physical cues may be more intuitive (or easier to remember) for users to make edits, such as to messages, forms or documents. For example, a physical cue associated with a formatting function for an electronic document (e.g., increasing a character font weight) may include a same action (increasing/decreasing pressure) that is used to perform the same formatting function (e.g., increasing/decreasing character thickness based on pen pressure) for a paper document. Thus, a font weight of one or more characters may be adjusted based on the amount of pressure applied to one or more keys (or to the touch-sensitive component or display), wherein an action of applying pressure to the one or more keys to adjust character font weight for an electronic document includes a same action of applying pressure to paper using a pen or other writing instrument to adjust character font weight/thickness for a paper document. Also, force-based physical cues may be used by a user of a mobile computing device without, at least in some cases, necessarily requiring use of a keyboard, mouse or pointing device. Also, at least in some cases, by allowing an amount of the editing function to be adjusted based on the amount of the force-based physical cue that is performed or detected, this may allow the user to control the amount of editing function performed. For example, the font weight or line weight may be adjusted based on the amount of pressure applied to a touch-sensitive component or keys, or the amount or angle of italics may be adjusted based on the amount of rotation of the mobile computing device, or the amount of information that is erased or deleted may be adjusted based on the amount of shaking or motion that is performed to or detected by the computing device.

[0056] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a computing device according to an example implementation. A force-based physical cue performed on or to a mobile computing device is detected (710) (e.g., by a mobile computing device). The force-based physical cue is associated with a formatting function.

Characters are formatted according to the formatting function in response to the detecting (720) (e.g., by the mobile computing device). An extent of the formatting is correlated to an amount of the detected force-based physical cue. FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a computing device according to yet another example implementation. One or more characters input via keys of a touch-sensitive component are received (810). An amount of pressure applied to the touch-sensitive component is detected (820). A font weight of the one or more received characters is adjusted to be correlated to the detected amount of pressure (830).

[0057] FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing example or representative structure, devices and associated elements that may be used to implement the computing devices and systems described herein, e.g., for a laptop computing device and for a mobile computing device. FIG. 9 shows an example of a generic computer device 900 and a generic mobile computer device 950, which may be used with the techniques described here. Computing device 900 is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such as laptops, personal digital assistants, and other appropriate computers. Computing device 950 is intended to represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smart phones, and other similar computing devices. The components shown here, their connections and relationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only, and are not meant to limit implementations of the inventions described and/or claimed in this document.

[0058] Computing device 900 includes a processor 902, memory 904, a storage device 906, a high-speed interface 908 connecting to memory 904 and highspeed expansion ports 910, and a low speed interface 912 connecting to low speed bus 914 and storage device 906. Each of the components 902, 904, 906, 908, 910, and 912, are interconnected using various busses, and may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate. The processor 902 can process instructions for execution within the computing device 900, including instructions stored in the memory 904 or on the storage device 906 to display graphical information for a GUI on an external input/output device, such as display 916 coupled to high speed interface 908. In other implementations, multiple processors and/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along with multiple memories and types of memory.

[0059] The memory 904 stores information within the computing device 900. In one implementation, the memory 904 is a volatile memory unit or units. In another implementation, the memory 904 is a non-volatile memory unit or units. The memory 904 may also be another form of computer-readable medium, such as a magnetic or optical disk.

[0060] The storage device 906 is capable of providing mass storage for the computing device 900. In one implementation, the storage device 906 may be or contain a computer-readable medium, such as a floppy disk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or a tape device, a flash memory or other similar solid state memory device, or an array of devices, including devices in a storage area network or other configurations. A computer program product can be tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer program product may also contain instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 904, the storage device 906, or memory on processor 902.

[0061 ] The high speed controller 908 manages bandwidth-intensive operations for the computing device 900, while the low speed controller 912 manages lower bandwidth-intensive operations. Such allocation of functions is exemplary only. In one implementation, the high-speed controller 908 is coupled to memory 904, display 916 (e.g., through a graphics processor or accelerator), and to high-speed expansion ports 910, which may accept various expansion cards (not shown). In the implementation, low-speed controller 912 is coupled to storage device 906 and low- speed expansion port 914. The low-speed expansion port, which may include various communication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet) may be coupled to one or more input/output devices, such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking device such as a switch or router, e.g., through a network adapter.

[0062] The computing device 900 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure. It may be implemented in a personal computer such as a laptop computer 922. Alternatively, components from computing device 900 may be combined with other components in a mobile device (not shown), such as device 950. Each of such devices may contain one or more of computing device 900, 950, and an entire system may be made up of multiple computing devices 900, 950 communicating with each other.

[0063] Computing device 950 includes a processor 952, memory 964, an input/output device such as a display 954, a communication interface 966 and a transceiver 968, among other components. The device 950 may also be provided with a storage device, such as a microdrive or other device, to provide additional storage. Each of the components 950, 952, 964, 954, 966, and 968, are interconnected using various buses, and several of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners as appropriate.

[0064] The processor 952 can execute instructions within the computing device 950, including instructions stored in the memory 964. The processor may be implemented as a chipset of chips that include separate and multiple analog and digital processors. The processor may provide, for example, for coordination of the other components of the device 950, such as control of user interfaces, applications run by device 950, and wireless communication by device 950.

[0065] Processor 952 may communicate with a user through control interface 958 and display interface 956 coupled to a display 954. The display (or screen) 954 may be, for example, a TFT LCD (Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display) or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, or other appropriate display technology. The display interface 956 may comprise appropriate circuitry for driving the display 954 to present graphical and other information to a user. The control interface 958 may receive commands from a user and convert them for submission to the processor 952. In addition, an external interface 962 may be provide in communication with processor 952, so as to enable near area communication of device 950 with other devices. External interface 962 may provide, for example, for wired communication in some implementations, or for wireless communication in other implementations, and multiple interfaces may also be used.

[0066] The memory 964 stores information within the computing device 950. The memory 964 can be implemented as one or more of a computer-readable medium or media, a volatile memory unit or units, or a non-volatile memory unit or units. Expansion memory 974 may also be provided and connected to device 950 through expansion interface 972, which may include, for example, a SIMM (Single In Line Memory Module) card interface. Such expansion memory 974 may provide extra storage space for device 950, or may also store applications or other information for device 950. Specifically, expansion memory 974 may include instructions to carry out or supplement the processes described above, and may include secure information also. Thus, for example, expansion memory 974 may be provide as a security module for device 950, and may be programmed with instructions that permit secure use of device 950. In addition, secure applications may be provided via the SIMM cards, along with additional information, such as placing identifying information on the SIMM card in a non-hackable manner.

[0067] The memory may include, for example, flash memory and/or NVRAM memory, as discussed below. In one implementation, a computer program product is tangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer program product contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such as those described above. The information carrier is a computer- or machine -readable medium, such as the memory 964, expansion memory 974, or memory on processor 952, that may be received, for example, over transceiver 968 or external interface 962.

[0068] Device 950 may communicate wirelessly through communication interface 966, which may include digital signal processing circuitry where necessary. Communication interface 966 may provide for communications under various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, or MMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others. Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequency transceiver 968. In addition, short- range communication may occur, such as using a Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiver (not shown). In addition, GPS (Global Positioning system) receiver module 970 may provide additional navigation- and location-related wireless data to device 950, which may be used as appropriate by applications running on device 950.

[0069] Device 950 may also communicate audibly using audio codec 960, which may receive spoken information from a user and convert it to usable digital information. Audio codec 960 may likewise generate audible sound for a user, such as through a speaker, e.g., in a handset of device 950. Such sound may include sound from voice telephone calls, may include recorded sound (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.) and may also include sound generated by applications operating on device 950.

[0070] The computing device 950 may be implemented in a number of different forms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as a cellular telephone 980. It may also be implemented as part of a smart phone 982, personal digital assistant, or other similar mobile device.

[0071 ] Thus, various implementations of the systems and techniques described here can be realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry, specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof. These various implementations can include implementation in one or more computer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

[0072] These computer programs (also known as programs, software, software applications or code) include machine instructions for a programmable processor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/or object-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machine language. As used herein, the terms "machine- readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term "machine- readable signal" refers to any signal used to provide machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

[0073] To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described here can be implemented on a computer having a display device (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor) for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

[0074] The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in a computing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a data server), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an application server), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computer having a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a user can interact with an implementation of the systems and techniques described here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, or front end components. The components of the system can be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communication network). Examples of communication networks include a local area network ("LAN"), a wide area network ("WAN"), and the Internet.

[0075] The computing system can include clients and servers. A client and server are generally remote from each other and typically interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

[0076] In addition, the logic flows depicted in the figures do not require the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirable results. In addition, other steps may be provided, or steps may be eliminated, from the described flows, and other components may be added to, or removed from, the described systems. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. [0077] It will be appreciated that the above implementations that have been described in particular detail are merely example or possible implementations, and that there are many other combinations, additions, or alternatives that may be included.

[0078] Also, the particular naming of the components, capitalization of terms, the attributes, data structures, or any other programming or structural aspect is not mandatory or significant, and the mechanisms that implement the invention or its features may have different names, formats, or protocols. Further, the system may be implemented via a combination of hardware and software, as described, or entirely in hardware elements. Also, the particular division of functionality between the various system components described herein is merely exemplary, and not mandatory;

functions performed by a single system component may instead be performed by multiple components, and functions performed by multiple components may instead performed by a single component.

[0079] Some portions of above description present features in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on information. These algorithmic descriptions and representations may be used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. These operations, while described functionally or logically, are understood to be implemented by computer programs. Furthermore, it has also proven convenient at times, to refer to these arrangements of operations as modules or by functional names, without loss of generality.

[0080] Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing" or "computing" or "calculating" or "determining" or "displaying" or "providing" or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A method comprising:

detecting a force-based physical cue performed on or to a computing device, wherein the force-based physical cue is associated with a formatting function; and formatting characters according to the formatting function in response to the detecting, wherein an extent of the formatting is correlated to an amount of the detected force-based physical cue.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the detecting the force-based physical cue comprises at least one of the following:

detecting a rotation of the computing device;

detecting a side-to-side movement of the computing device;

detecting a shaking of the computing device;

detecting a force applied to the bottom of the computing device;

detecting an amount of pressure applied to a portion of the computing device; or

detecting an amount of pressure applied to one or more keys of the computing device.

3. The method of any of claims 1-2 wherein the force-based physical cue associated with a formatting function includes an action that mimics at least a portion of an action that is used to perform the same formatting function for a paper document.

4. The method of claim 1 or 3 wherein the detecting the force-based physical cue comprises detecting an amount of pressure applied to one or more keys of the computing device, wherein a font weight of one or more characters is correlated to the amount of pressure applied to the one or more keys.

5. The method of claim 1 or 3 wherein detecting the force-based physical cue comprises detecting an amount of a rotation of the mobile computing device and the formatting function is italicizing.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein formatting characters includes italicizing one or more characters in response to the detected rotation, and wherein an amount or degree of slant of the italicized characters is correlated to the detected amount of rotation.

7. The method of claim 1 or 3 wherein detecting a force-based physical cue comprises detecting moving the computing device in a side to side motion, wherein the formatting comprises deleting characters, wherein a number of characters that are deleted is correlated to the amount or distance that the mobile computing device is moved.

8. The method of claim 1 or 3 wherein the detecting the force-based physical cue comprises detecting an amount of pressure applied to a touch-sensitive component of the computing device, and wherein the formatting includes adjusting a font weight of one or more characters, wherein the font weight is correlated to the detected amount of pressure.

9. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:

detect a force-based physical cue performed on or to a computing device, wherein the force-based physical cue is associated with a formatting function; and formatting characters according to the formatting function in response to the detecting, wherein an extent of the formatting is correlated to an amount of the detected force-based physical cue.

10. A computer program product tangibly embodied on a computer- readable storage medium having executable-instructions stored thereon, the instructions being executable to cause a processor to: detect a force-based physical cue performed on or to a computing device, wherein the force-based physical cue is associated with a formatting function; and formatting characters according to the formatting function in response to the detecting, wherein an extent of the formatting is correlated to an amount of the detected force-based physical cue.

1 1. A method comprising:

receiving one or more characters input to a touch-sensitive component;

detecting an amount of pressure applied to the touch-sensitive component; and adjusting a font weight of the one or more received characters to be correlated to the detected amount of pressure.

12. The method of claim 1 1 wherein the detected amount of pressure is applied in conjunction with the input of the one or more characters via keys of the touch-sensitive component.

13. The method of any of claims 1 1-12 wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting a font weight of an individual character to be correlated to the pressure applied to an individual key to input the individual character.

14. The method of any of claims 1 1-12 wherein the adjusting comprises adjusting a font weight of a group of characters to be correlated to an average pressure used to press keys to input the group of characters.

15. The method of any of claims 1 1-14 wherein the detected amount of pressure is applied separately from the input of the one or more characters.

16. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor cause the apparatus to at least:

receive one or more characters input to a touch-sensitive component; detect an amount of pressure applied to the touch-sensitive component; and adjust a font weight of the one or more received characters to be correlated to the detected amount of pressure.

17. A computer program product tangibly embodied on a computer- readable storage medium having executable-instructions stored thereon, the instructions being executable to cause a processor to: