Applications for mobile computing devices
Contents
1. most of these entertainment applications have focused on the display of rich graphical environments similar to those found in video games and the like Other entertain ment applications involve the playing of movies television programs and music SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0005 The present invention provides for displaying in response to user input a sequence of images on a display ofa mobile device wherein the sequence of images a common constituent in successively different poses or states and the user input comprises entering an answer to a question or performing at least one of a touch and drag operation or a tap operation or shaking of the mobile device The images may be displayed in an order determined by a direction implied by the user input for example a direction of the touch and drag operation or the shaking The sequence in which the images are displayed may he determined by a user input other than the touch and drag operation the tap operation or the shaking ofthe mobile device and may in some cases be accompanied by music In one particular instance the sequence of images is displayed in response to the shaking of the device and an additional user input for example an indication that the dis play of the sequence of images should commence The dis play of the sequence of images may continue for a time determined by the shaking of the device prior to commence ment of the display of the sequence of images Some of th2. Dec 31 2009 sors In FIG 5A an image 50 is shown on display 14 Image 50 may be an initial image that is displayed when an appli cation is launched on the device Also displayed at this time are three icons 52a 525 and 52c which allow the user to designate what form of input will be used in order to play the sequence of images associated with the application Icon 52a corresponds to tap inputs i e direct input via the touch screen icon 52b corresponds to touch and drag input via the touch screen and icon 52c corresponds to shake input via the spatial displacement sensor of the iPhone Alternatively or in addition shake touch and or tap icons may be included in a toolbar such as toolbar 56 0035 Also shown in this illustration is an optional area 54 for presenting advertisements e g of game sponsors or other messages or instructions Also a toolbar 56 and navi gation arrows 58a 58b are part of the user interface Naviga tion arrows 58a and 585 allow a user to scroll among different sets of sequences of images For example sets that corre spond to months of a year e g for a calendar based applica tion may be selected through appropriate manipulation of arrows 58a and 585 These navigation arrows may be actuated by touching same for a touch screen interface or by actuat ing corresponding buttons or other user manipulable ele ments of the subject device 0036 Toolbar 56 includes icons associated with a v
3. a question based ona current clue and an associated image in the sequence the user can shake the device e g the iPhone or the Wii remote or provide another form of user input and a next image in the sequence will be displayed The next image will include one or more additional simulated jigsaw puzzle pieces affording the user addi tional information to attempt to answer the trivia question In some cases a different question may be posed when a new image is presented however in most instances the question will remain unchanged 0052 Users can compete in a local only version of the game played on only one device or ina version which allows for competition against other users via a communication channel accessible to the device on which the game is being played e g via a telecommunication carrier s network or via the Internet etc For example toolbar 122 includes options for CLUE 128 selection of which will provide the user with a clue to answer the question VS 130 selection of which allows the user to connect to the carrier s network or the Internet to play against other opponents and SHARE 132 selection of which allows the user to share the application with other users e g to inform others about the application via email or instant message which email or instant message may also include a link to a Web site or commerce site to download the application 0053 To play the game the user initiates the application
4. clothing than was the case for the previously displayed image is displayed on display 14 step 44 This process continues step 45 for as long as there are images to display and as long as further spatial displacement step 42 is provided When there are no more images for display the process terminates step 46 As was the case for the examples discussed above different forms of input may determine the direction in which the sequence of images is played and or from which of sequence of images the next image is played For example displacing the device up and down may cause playing of images from a current sequence of images while displacement ofthe device left and right may cause switching to a different sequence of images Displacement of the device in a front and back or circular manner may cause still other display sequences to be initiated e g restarting the sequence going backwards within a sequence displaying an image out of linear order within a sequence etc 0032 In one particular instance of the process depicted in flow diagram 40 the images are displayed on an iPhone Shaking ofthe iPhone or another delivery of spatial displace ment of the iPhone e g receiving input from the iPhone s GPS sensor indicating that it has moved to a new geographic location sufficiently displaced from a previous location at which a previous image was displayed results in the display ofthe next image The velocity or acceleration of the
5. iPhone or magnitude or direction of displacement of the iPhone may becorrelated with the number ofimages within a sequence of images to skip ahead or back for display of a next image on the iPhone Similar instances of the process depicted in flow diagram 40 may be utilized with a Wii remote control or other system having spatial displacement sensor 12 The use of GPS sensor input may be particularly advantageous when the game involved with the display of images is a scavenger hunt or similar game involving the movement ofthe device and its user over large geographic areas and the sequence of images is a set of clues to finding items for collection or other items of interest For example the game may be sponsored by a business that wants to lead customers to its establishment and as the user approaches the establishment s he is rewarded by revealing a next image in a sequence 0033 Another example involves the use of a virtual slider control with an iPhone or similar touch screen Together with the images is displayed a virtual slider control which allows the user to input control using a finger that is held against the touch screen and dragged in one direction or another Respon sive to this input the sequence of images plays in one direc tion or another 0034 FIGS 5A 5D illustrate some specific examples of user interfaces for use with iPhones or similar devices e g devices having touch screens and or spatial displacement sen
6. may be followed by shaking or other spatial displacement which results in the subsequent display of dif ferent images on display 14 Or shaking may be used to revert to the initial image in a sequence or to change between different sequences of images In a variant of the processes described above the display of subsequent images may be paused so that a presently displayed image may remain unchanged even though user input is received This may be accommodated by a locking function in which user input is ignored or disabled In another variant display of a sequence of images may advance to a next image and further subse quent images although no user input is received This may be accommodated by an automatic mode in which the sequence of images is played without need for user input 0047 Various alternative entertainment applications in accordance with the present invention may allow for the display of images in sequence or otherwise in response to user input in the form of an answer to a question For example in addition to or in lieu of user input of the sort described above the display of a next image in a sequence may depend upon the user providing a correct answer to a question The question may come in the form of a short message service SMS message a multimedia service message MSM an email message an instant message e g via an instant mes senger client installed on the device or other message or the user may be
7. phone a personal digital assistant a portable music player a portable computer a portable camera or similar device hereinafter collectively referred to as a device configured in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention is configured to display a sequence of images in response to user manipulation ofthe device More specifically various ones of the images are displayed in sequence or in an order other than sequential e g random pseudo random or determined by a measure of the input applied to the device or other factor on a display of the device responsive to user manipulation ofthe device The user manipulation may take the form of oscillating e g shaking the device manipulating a cursor control interface e g a trackball manipulating one or more human input interfaces e g buttons switches a touch screen etc or voice commands input via a microphone In the description below reference will be made to shaking a device configured with accelerometers or other sensors that allow for registering such user manipulation but any of the above forms of input should be understood to be encompassed within the broader scope of the invention 0014 In one particular embodiment of the invention the sequence of images depict a human model wearing succes sively fewer articles of clothing Thus shaking the device causes the sequence of images to be displayed so as to suggest that the model removes articles of clot
8. LISELLLILILILLLLELILILILLILILLILICILILILI C VILILLLLILLILILILILILLLICLLILILI LI LILLILILILI LILLE LLLILILI LILLE ILL LILILLILILIEIELILILIZLI LL i AA A UU HERPES Up EE Revelve user input 33 t e alar PELENE EEEE EE EEE TETTE LTT 3T i Display next image according to determined direction of user input 38 227 M Z More images X 38 Figure 3B Patent Application Publication Dec 31 2009 Sheet 4 of 8 US 2009 0322761 A1 LLLA YNEE lt Pa H Sense spatial displacement ttt Z EEEE hanna AR ah EPEAT TEENER TETTED Nana nn RR UREA SCE EPOCE E TLES a nn A TET Display next image from the sequence of images e g human wearing one or more fewer articles of clothing than in previously displayed image 3 IEEE M LLLLLLLLILIILILILILILILILILICILILILILILILLICIS y LELLLLL LLL LILLE ELLE EUUTE EET TTE ELT LEETEEETEERELE EL TEETEEE EET DELL g Sul wearing NSSSSNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN 2 clothes NOUS 45 Ng pus 8 MM reccern Bm E Figure 4 US 2009 0322761 A1 Dec 31 2009 Sheet 5 of 8 Patent Application Publication 2 5 iii 25 H ui Patent Application Publication Dec 31 2009 Sheet 6 of 8 US 2009 0322761 A1 ga Figure SE US 2009 0322761 A1 Patent Application Publication Dec 31 2009 Sheet 7 of 8 Figure 5F Patent Application Publicatio
9. LUELLUCELLLELULEDELULELLILELLDECO WS UELELLDECILECULIELLLEDLLLLELLLTELLLELULECELILELLEDELLLECLLLELULELELEECOD 31 3 Wail for user input a 3 Receive user input 33 v i Display next image from the sequence of images i i eg human wearing one or more fewer articles of i clothing than is previously displayed image i 34 C Mare images gt 3 a E roses a 36 i Patent Application Publication User Manipulable Component 11 aasang N N i N i N PAG DI SUSU ac AA N N N N 3 N t Spatial Displacement Sensor N E 1 5 3 3 3 3 3 3 Figure 1 Zia Dec 31 2009 Sheet 1 of 8 US 2009 0322761 A1 SSSSSSSNNNNNNNSNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSNNNNNNSNNNNNNT Computing Device zl 43 VwUOQUQWwLYY__ _ _ _ySSI E ARIA SI RARA Figure 2 Patent Application Publication Dec 31 2009 Sheet 2 of 8 US 2009 0322761 A1 I CR 3 i N r v ione p Wa it for user input a SAN I 43 ux 2 pee 2 i Display next image from the sequence of images e g human wearing one or more fewer articles of ioo clothing than in previously displayed image 34 ae A s aa EA ge NSSSSNSNSNNSNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSNNNSNNNNN More images gt 35 3 i N N N No X Y Y Figure 3A Patent Application Publication Dec 31 2009 Sheet 3 of 8 US 2009 0322761 A1 GILILILLLLILILILI
10. US 20090322761A1 a2 Patent Application Publication 10 Pub No US 2009 0322761 A1 19 United States Phills 43 Pub Date Dec 31 2009 54 APPLICATIONS FOR MOBILE COMPUTING DEVICES 76 Inventor Anthony Phills Westwood CA US Correspondence Address SONNENSCHEIN NATH amp ROSENTHAL LLP P O BOX 061080 WACKER DRIVE STATION WILLIS TOWER CHICAGO IL 60606 1080 US 21 Appl No 12 255 891 22 Filed Oct 22 2008 Related U S Application Data 60 Provisional application No 61 076 133 filed on Jun 26 2008 Publication Classification 51 Int CI G06T 15 70 2006 01 H04M 1 00 2006 01 A63F 13 00 2006 01 52 UIS CL enean 345 473 455 566 463 37 57 ABSTRACT A sequence of images is displayed in response to user input such as an answer to a question a touch and drag operation a tap operation or shaking of a mobile device The images may be displayed in an order determined by a direction implied by the user input and may be accompanied by music The dis play of the sequence of images may continue for a time determined by the shaking of the device prior to commence ment of the display of the sequence of images The sequence of images may depict a common constituent in successively different poses or states Start lp Display initia image from sequence af images e g i jo human wearing one ar more articles af clothing A Qo tte AILUPELLLELLL
11. ag operation 4 The method of claim 2 wherein the direction is implied by the direction of the shaking 5 The method of claim 2 wherein the sequence in winch the images are displayed is determined by a further user input other than the touch and drag operation the tap operation or the shaking of the mobile device 6 The method of claim 2 wherein the sequence of images is displayed accompanied by music 7 The method of claim 1 wherein the sequence of images is displayed in response to the shaking of the device and an additional user input 8 The method of claim 7 wherein the additional user input comprises an indication that the display of the sequence of images should commence 9 The method of claim 7 wherein the display of the sequence of images continues for a time determined by the shaking of the device prior to commencement of the display of the sequence of images 10 The method of claim 1 wherein the sequence of images depicts a human male or female in successively fewer articles of clothing 11 The method of claim 1 wherein one or more of the sequence of images includes an advertisement 12 The method of claim 1 wherein advertisements accom pany the display of the sequence of images 13 The method of claim 1 wherein a user is awarded points based on one or more aspects of the user input 14 The method of claim 13 further comprising displaying the points 15 The method of claim 13 further comprising aw
12. anda first image such as image 104 shown in FIG 6A will be displayed In addition the user will be presented with a ques tion in area 118 in the illustrated example the question is What superhero s parents were killed in an alley If the user does not know the answer to the question s he can shake the device or provide other user input to have a next image in the sequence of images displayed such as image 108 shown in FIG 6B This next image reveals further informa tion that may assist the user in answering the question This continues until the user correctly answers the question in this case the correct answer is BATMAN and the final image in the sequence is revealed image 112 shown in FIG 6C In some cases the final image may be revealed even if the user does not correctly answer the question Also in some cases if the user provides an incorrect answer the game may progress to a next image in the sequence to allow the user another opportunity to guess 0054 In still another embodiment of the game the user plays against a clock launched when the user selects the timer US 2009 0322761 A1 button 134 from toolbar 122 In this case the user may be presented with an indication of the time remaining to submit an answer to the question e g a countdown timer As time counts down in the timer images presenting different pieces of the puzzle will be played on the display The object is to answerthe question with as
13. arding prizes based on point totals amassed by the user Dec 31 2009 16 The method of claim 1 wherein a user is awarded points based on a duration of play of the sequence of images 17 The method of claim 16 further comprising displaying the points 18 The method of claim 16 further comprising awarding prizes based on point totals amassed by the user 19 The method of claim 1 further comprising providing additional image sequences responsive to additional user input indicative of a request to download the additional image sequences 20 The method of claim 19 wherein the additional user input includes input received through a download button comprising part of a user interface associated with a player configured to play the images from the sequence on the dis play 21 A mobile device comprising user input means com municatively coupled to processing means and computer readable storage means accessible to the processing means and storing a sequence of images each of which depicts a common constituent in successively different poses or states wherein the processing means is configured to display on display means communicatively coupled to the processing means and in response to user input received via the user input means the images in sequence on the display means wherein the user input comprises one of answering a ques tion or performing a touch and drag operation or a tap opera tion or shaking of the mobile devi
14. ariety ofuser functions For example there may be icons for exiting the application and return to a home screen of the device 60 for displaying a menu that provides additional user options 62 for initiating a download of application related materials e g additional sets of images 64 for sharing information with others e g via a messaging or other communication facility of the host device 66 and for getting assistance e g in the form of a user s manual or other instructions 68 Of course these are only examples of the types of tools that may be provided via the toolbar and the present invention is not limited to this particular implementation of same 0037 In response to user selection of the tap icon 52a the application may present the user with the tap interface 70 illustrated in FIG 5B Tap interface 70 includes a tap target 72 which serves as a user input station By selecting the tap target 72 e g by tapping same with a finger the user will provide the input needed to advance the sequence of images in the fashions described above The images may be displayed according to how quickly the user taps the tap target Or tapping may have to be synchronized with music or visual indicators presented to the user in order to advance the play ing of the sequence of images To reset the images to the beginning of the sequence the user may tap the screen at another location other than the tap target 72 e g the main portion
15. ce 22 The mobile device of claim 21 wherein the sequence of images depicts a human male or female in successively fewer articles of clothing 23 The mobile device of claim 21 wherein the processor is configured to display the images in an order determined by a direction implied by the user input 24 The mobile device of claim 23 wherein the direction is implied by the direction of the touch and drag operation 25 The mobile device of claim 23 wherein the direction is implied by the direction of the shaking 26 The mobile device of claim 21 wherein the sequence in which the images are displayed is determined by a user input other than the touch and drag operation the tap operation or the shaking of the mobile device 27 The mobile device of claim 21 wherein the processor is configured to display the sequence of images accompanied by music 28 The mobile device of claim 21 wherein the processor is configured to display the sequence of images in response to the shaking of the device and an additional user input 29 The mobile device of claim 28 wherein the additional user input comprises an indication that the display of the sequence of images should commence 30 The mobile device of claim 28 wherein the processor is configured to display the sequence of images for a time deter mined by the shaking of the device prior to commencement of the display of the sequence of images 31 A method comprising displaying in respon
16. ded image sequences may be downloaded to the subject device Alternatively instead of an entire image sequence an unlock code may be downloaded which unlock code indicates to the player on the subject device that previ ously non viewable images in one or more particular image sequences may now be played for viewing In still other instances an upgraded player is required to view the enhanced or extended image sequences and such an upgraded player would be provided in response to the user input indi cating a desire to upgrade 0044 FIG 5F shows a further example of an interface consistent with embodiments of the present invention This time shake and touch buttons 98 100 have been incorpo rated into the toolbar 56 The functionality provided by these buttons is similar to that described above to the shake and touch icons Also included in this user interface is a best time display 102 This display may report the user s best time for sequencing through all of the images in a particular sequence of images Similar displays or presentations may be used to present a high score highest energy most taps most shakes or other metric of interest to the user and or associated with a game or other contest or which has relevance for accumulating points towards prizes such as those discussed above As mentioned previously download button 64 may be used to launch a commerce application such as the App Store accessible to iPhone users throu
17. e Dec 31 2009 images may be advertisements or advertisements may accompany the display of the images BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0006 The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompany ing drawings in which 0007 FIG 1 depicts a block diagram of a system 10 configured according to one embodiment of the invention 0008 FIG 2 illustrates an example of the display of a sequence of images on a mobile computing device in accor dance with embodiments of the present invention 0009 FIGS 3A and 3B are flow diagrams illustrating examples of processes for displaying sequences of images in response to user input in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention 0010 FIG 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a further example of a process for displaying sequences of images in response to user input in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention 0011 FIGS 5A 5F are examples of user interfaces to prompt user input for the displaying of sequences ofimages in response thereto in accordance with embodiments of the present invention 0012 FIGS 6A 6c illustrate additional examples of user interfaces to prompt user input for the displaying of sequences of images this time designed to simulate pieces of a jigsaw puzzle in response thereto in accordance with embodiments of the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION 0013 A system variously a mobile
18. ection or set and different sets ofimages may be stored on computer readable media within or accessible by the device Various forms of user input or manipulation may be used including but not limited to the manipulation of a user manipulable component such as a trackball and or the dis placement of one or more spatial displacement sensors such as accelerometers In some cases touch screen inputs in the form of gestures may be used as user inputs 0016 FIG 1 depicts a block diagram of a system 10 configured according to one embodiment of the invention System 10 may be a mobile computing device such as mobile phone personal digital assistant portable media player or the like System 10 includes at least one of a user manipulable component 11 e g a trackball touch screen joystick etc and at least one spatial displacement sensor 12 e g an accel erometer which may be a multi axis accelerometer commu nicatively connected to a computing device 13 More gener ally system 10 may include one or more user manipulable components 11 one or more spatial displacement sensors 12 or a combination of user manipulable components 11 and spatial displacement sensors 12 interfaced with computing device 13 0017 Computing device 13 contains repository 15 which is adapted to store digital images and or computer readable instructions For example repository 15 may be a computer readable medium such as a solid state memory storing co
19. enerally within any given sequence of images each image may depict a common constituent e g a person an animal an object etc in suc cessively different poses or states 0024 An article of clothing includes but is not limited to a T shirt a jacket a vest a sweater pants shorts a hat socks an apron a dress and underwear In another embodiment of the invention articles other than clothing may be worn by the human including but not limited to jewelry a pair of shoes and eyeglasses The individual depicted in the sequence of images may be a male or a female In another embodiment of the invention images 21a 21n each include one or more humans Images 21a 217 may depict an illustration or a pho tograph of a human wearing one or more articles of clothing 0025 For example image 1 may depict a female wearing a hat a dress and socks Image 2 may depict the female wearing a hat and socks Finally image N may depict the female wearing no articles of clothing Note at one or more points in the display of the sequence of images an audio file may be played to provide additional user entertainment 0026 FIG 3A illustrates one example of a process 30 for presenting a sequence of images to a user via a display of a device according to the present invention An initial image from a sequence of images e g depicting a human wearing one or more articles of clothing is displayed on display 14 step 31 This display ofthe ini
20. gh which a user can retrieve additional image sequences such as upgraded or enhanced image sequences or players or post his her scores 0045 In a system with a Wii remote control which is communicatively coupled to the Wii video game console via wireless communications means shaking rotating swing ing or another delivery of spatial displacement of the Wii remote control may result in the display of a sequence or sequences of images in one direction or another on display 14 In the case of a sequence of images showing an individual in various states of undress the type of spatial displacement of the Wii remote control may be correlated with the type of clothing that is removed For example shaking of the Wii remote control may result in the removal of socks whereas swinging the Wii remote control may result in the removal of a hat To keep the user entertained the sequence in which articles of clothing are removed may vary over time For example in one instance the removal of socks may be fol US 2009 0322761 A1 lowed by the removal of a hat In another instance the removal of a hat may be followed by the removal of socks 0046 In another embodiment the present invention may proceed according to a process which performs steps from any of processes 30 30 and 40 For example scrolling of a trackball may result in the display in one direction or another ofa sequence of images on display 14 The scrolling of the trackball
21. he scrolling of a trackball the shaking of the device etc the individual depicted in the images appears to the user to be disrobing in response to the user input That is the sequence of images in a particular set advances in response to the user input or in accordance with an amount of energy stored in response to user inputs and the details shown in the indi vidual images that make up the sequence are successively revealed to the user One example of a process for implement ing this behavior e g through execution of appropriate com puter readable instructions is discussed below in connection with a description of various flow diagrams 0020 To a user the effect of having the sequence of images presented is not unlike the experience of using a novelty pen in which an image of a clothed person is embed ded within a barrel of the pen and when the pen is inverted the clothing in the image falls away to reveal an unclothed instance of the image of the person If the pen is inverted again the clothing is replaced Similarly in the case of the present invention one set of user inputs sensed by the com puting device may case the sequence of images to proceed in one direction presenting an individual wearing successively fewer articles of clothing and another set of user inputs may cause the images to play in the reverse direction presenting an individual wearing successively more articles of clothing In one example rol
22. hes in response to the shaking In some instances the sequence of images begins playing as soon as the shaking commences but in other cases the amount or vigorousness of shaking is measured and translated by the device into a stored metric e g energy and the sequence of images played out to a point according to the value of the stored metric For example if a user shakes US 2009 0322761 A1 the device sufficiently to store 5096 energy where energy is used simply as a term of convenience and should not neces sarily be inferred to represent a true measure of energy imparted by the user manipulation then one half of the sequence of images that make up a complete image collection will be subsequently played e g in response to a separate user input indicating a desired to commence the playing ofthe image sequence The amount of stored energy may be presented to the user so that s he knows how much more shaking or other manipulation is required in order to achieve a desired length of image sequence play 0015 More generally the present invention provides for a sequence of images to advance in display in response to user input The sequence of images may be a deterministic sequence i e the same sequence of images may be displayed every time or a non deterministic sequence i e the order in which the images are presented may vary from one playing to another Different sequences of images may be collected in a coll
23. images on a display Dec 31 2009 wherein the sequence of images depict ever increasing por tions of an overall image which overall image includes a visualindication ofan answer to a question presented to a user via the display and the user input comprises spatial displace ment ofa device configured to recognize said spatial displace ment 39 The method of claim 38 wherein the device is a mobile device which includes the display 40 The method of claim 38 wherein the device is a remote control unit communicatively coupled to a console unit that is further communicatively coupled to the display 41 The method of claim 38 wherein upon entry of a correct answer to the question a final image in the sequence is displayed 42 The method of claim 38 wherein the device is an iPhone 43 The method of claim 38 wherein the sequence of images include images simulating pieces of a jigsaw puzzle x
24. ing the human without any articles of cloth ing Alternatively if there is a long delay between user inputs the user may be penalized and the next image may be ofthe human wearing even more articles of clothing than was the case for the previously displayed image Many forms of games can be implemented around this notion of sequential display of images and the present invention is not restricted to only oneora few such games Some ofthe games may involve the user agreeing to view certain advertising in conjunction with or between the display of desired images and the user may only be permitted to view the nest image in a sequence of images after viewing one or more advertisements Although these sorts of games are not highlighted in the figure they are contemplated within the scope of the present invention 0028 Ifthere are more images in the sequence available to be displayed step 34 system 10 once again waits for user input step 32 Otherwise the process terminates step 36 once all the images in a particular sequence have been dis played Note in some cases the display of images has been referred to as the playing thereof but it is important to rec ognize that the present invention involves the display of dis crete images and not the playing of a movie or movie clip which itself may be a sequence of images but which are intended to be played sequentially one after the other with out a pause or interruption therebetween e
25. ling a trackball in one direction causes the sequence of images to play in a forward direction and rolling the trackball in the opposite direction causes the sequence of images to play in a reverse direction Many other variants of this playing forwards and backwards are possible and the invention is not limited to just two dimen sional control of the playing of sequences of images For example different sets of images may be presented ifthe user input is made in a direction orthogonal to an original input similar to turning pages in a book 0021 In one embodiment one or more of elements 11 15 may be included in a mobile computing device including but not limited to an iPhone or iPod available from Apple M of Cupertino Calif a smartphone a cellular or other mobile phone a BlackBerry available from Research in Motion of Waterloo ON a calculator a watch a graphing calculator a wireless Wii remote control available from Nintendo Company Co Ltd of Koyoto Japan or other device or remote control Thus elements 11 15 of system 10 may be integrated on a single device or may be located on separate devices or in separate modules For example user manipulable component 11 and spatial displacement sensor 12 may be located on a wireless Wii remote control computing device 13 may be located in a Wii video game console communicatively coupled to the Wii remote control and display 14 may be a televisio
26. m puter readable instructions which instructions when executed by computing device 13 cause the computing device to perform operations that result in the display of images in response to user manipulations of system 10 as discussed herein Other examples of computer readable media suitable for use in accordance with the present inven tion include random access memories RAMs read only memories ROMs erasable programmable read only memories EPROMs electrically erasable programmable read only memories EEPROMs and magnetic disks or combinations thereof to name a few The present invention is not limited to the use of one particular form of device or form of computing device or computer readable memory 0018 To facilitate the display of the images computing device 13 is further interfaced with display 14 Display 14 may be a liquid crystal display LCD a touch screen display or a reflective display based on interferometric modulation IMOD technology The interfaces between components 11 15 include but are not limited to electrical wireless and or optical interfaces Dec 31 2009 0019 As indicated above in one instance the sequence of images which computing device 13 is programmed to display concern a human being In each of a successive one of the images that individual is shown with successively fewer articles of clothing Consequently as the images are pre sented one by one in response to the user input e g t
27. much time remaining as possible Points may be awarded accordingly and redeemed as dis cussed above In some instances during the timed game when the user shakes the device an additional clue useful for answering the question will be presented Such a clue may be presented for a brief period of time e g 3 sec or so and then be removed from view The clue may be presented in image display area in which case the playing of images is tempo rarily halted or in the question and answer area 0055 Thus applications for mobile computing devices have been described Although the present invention was discussed above in conjunction with several illustrated embodiments thereof the invention should not be limited to these examples Instead the invention should be measured only in terms of the following claims What is claimed is 1 A method comprising displaying in response to user input images from a sequence of images on a display of a mobile device wherein the sequence of images depict a com mon constituent in successively different poses or states and the user input comprises entering an answer to a question or performing at least one of a touch and drag operation ora tap operation or shaking of the mobile device 2 The method ofclaim 1 wherein the images are displayed in an order determined by a direction implied by the user input 3 The method of claim 2 wherein the direction is implied by the direction of the touch and dr
28. n Dec 31 2009 Sheet 8 of 8 US 2009 0322761 A1 upene gerente 3 a What Sugertere s parents Were kiusd Hoan Silay 3 A were edge an alley se OC j igure dl 334 US 2009 0322761 A1 APPLICATIONS FOR MOBILE COMPUTING DEVICES RELATED APPLICATION 0001 This application is a nonprovisional of and claims priority to U S Provisional Patent Application 61 076 133 filed Jun 26 2008 which is incorporated herein by reference COPYRIGHT NOTICE 0002 A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile repro duction by anyone of the patent document or the patent dis closure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever FIELD OF THE INVENTION 0003 The present invention relates generally to the field of applications for mobile computing devices such as mobile phones personal digital assistants portable media players and the like and more particularly to entertainment applica tions for such mobile computing devices BACKGROUND 0004 The advent of mobile computing devices such as the BlackBerryTM and iPhone have occasioned a significant increase in the number of applications being developed for these platforms While many such applications have a busi ness purpose some are intended simply for user entertain ment To date
29. n or other display device communicatively coupled to the Wii console 0022 A user manipulable component includes but is not limited to a clicker a key a scroll wheel a slider a button a trackball a turnable knob or a touch screen display More user manipulable components include the scroll wheel on an iPod and the trackball on a mobile computing device A spatial displacement sensor includes but is not limited to an US 2009 0322761 A1 accelerometer a gyroscope a global positioning system GPS receiver and a light sensor 0023 In one embodiment of the invention a sequence of images such as those depicted in FIG 2 is displayed on display 14 Image 1 21a depicts the first image from the sequence of images Image 2 215 depicts the second image from the sequence of images and Image N 217 depicts the final image from the sequence ofimages where N is a natural number Image 1 may depict a human wearing one or more articles of clothing image 2 may depict the human wearing one or more fewer articles of clothing than were present in image 1 and image N may depict the human wearing one or more fewer articles of clothing than were present in image 2 In one embodiment of the invention Image N may depict a human wearing no articles of clothing It is understood that the same human may be depicted throughout the sequence of images It is also possible for different humans to be depicted through the sequence of images More g
30. of the displayed image or elsewhere on the screen Musical accompaniment may be initiated by selecting the audio button 74 This may initiate playing ofaudio files stored on the subject iPhone or streamed from another source For example the audio button may be configured to play selec tions from the iPod portion ofthe iPhone or to play audio via another player such as the Pandora player available from the Music Genome Project A counter 76 may be provided to indicate the number of images played the number of images remaining in a sequence the time before a next image can be played the time of play or other time or item of interest 0038 In response to user selection of the touch icon 525 FIG 5A the application may present the user with the touch interface 80 illustrated in FIG 5C Touch interface 80 US 2009 0322761 A1 includes a scroll bar 82 which serves as a user input station That is by touching and dragging the scroll button 84 along the scroll bar 82 the user can control the playing of images in the manner discussed above The images of a sequence may beplayed according to the speed and direction ofthe displace ment of scroll button 84 along the scroll bar 82 As before the sequence may be resent to the beginning by touching the display at a different location and musical accompaniment may be provided in response to appropriate user input 0039 In response to user selection of the shake icon 52c FIG 5A thea
31. pplication may present the user with the shake interface 90 illustrated in FIG 5C Shake interface 90 works in conjunction with user input provided via the spatial dis placement sensor for the iPhone Images are played as dis cussed above according to the manner of shaking of the device as recorded by the spatial displacement sensor 0040 A variation of the shake interface is shown in FIG 5E Here shake interface 92 includes an initial image 94 of a sequence of images and a energy bar 96 that shows the state of stored energy for the current game play As a user shakes the device energy will build up and the state of stored energy will be reflected in the energy bar 96 e g the filled portion of the energy bar will increase as the user continues to shake the device vigorously This gives the impression of winding up the dancer displayed in the image so that s he will dance for the user Once the user stops shaking the device the sequence of images will begin to play simulating a dance by the indi vidual depicted in the images The images may or may not include the dancer in various states ofundress but the playing ofthe sequence of images is such so as to give the impression of a private dance in response to the user s input Alterna tively instead of commencing the playing of images imme diately the images may begin to play only after the user has affirmatively pressed an appropriate user interface element such as a ha
32. prompted to visit a web site at which the question is presented In some cases a native application on the device will act as a player for the message which may be provided to the device via a communication channel accessible to the player 0048 Regardless of how the question is presented to the user the user is given the opportunity to answer the question e g by sending a reply message or by entering the requested information into a Web form on a Web page etc In some cases historical data or other information may be presented to the user in conjunction with the question so as to serve as a guide or reference point forthe user in answering the question being posed Advertising messages or other content may be displayed in connection with the question and answer and perhaps other elements of the game fostering significant user participation is of interest to game sponsors or organiz ers 0049 Referring now to FIGS 6A 6C still a further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated In this example the sequence of images is made to simulate pieces of a jigsaw puzzle That is each image in the sequence of images includes successively further details of a complete image and the details are revealed in each image so as to resemble a jigsaw puzzle being pieced together For example among the first images in the sequence may be an image such as image 104 presented on display 14 Image 104 includes mainly a blank background
33. quence of images Other measures if user input such as frequency of inputs magnitude of inputs positions etc can form the basis for point awards Users may compete with one another by recording their individual scores Dec 31 2009 with a remote service provider for example by positing scores to the service provider s Web site and may be awarded prizes or other incentives for doing so For example users that accumulate sufficient points may be rewarded with free downloads of new sequences of images or with extended sequences of images that include images not previously view able by the user Alternatively these extended sequences of images may beincluded in previously downloaded sequences of images but may not be available for viewing until being unlocked in response to a user accumulating a sufficiently high score or a sufficiently high aggregate score The extended sequence of images may include images depicting a fully nude individual or other images 0043 Other ways in which new or extended sequences of images can be obtained include purchasing or downloading upgraded services from a service provider that provides the image sequences and or the player application For example in response to user input indicating a desire to upgrade e g payment or other indicia indicating a promise to pay received via a commerce application through which a user may pur chase upgraded services and or image sequences enhanced or exten
34. rd or soft button This allows the user to store energy for a later dance at a convenient time place Of course if the user waits too long before playing the images the dancer may become bored and the energy may dissipate meaning that the user will have to start over by shaking the device and storing new energy 0041 A dance will last as long as the amount of stored energy e g between 60 90 seconds in one embodiment of the invention for a full energy store Different dances and or different models may be delivered via different sequences of images Selection may be made by the user scrolling through available models dances or may be made based on other criteria or may be random or pseudo random according to a shuffle algorithm Prior to the dance commencing a splash screen may be displayed to present an advertisement or other message Alternatively dances may be interrupted to present such advertisements or messages or they may be played at the end of the dance Such advertisements or messages may be sequences of images appended to or included within the dance sequence of images or may be separate sequences of images 0042 In various embodiments of the invention users may accumulate points based on their interaction with the appli cation For example points may be awarded based on a length of time that a user shakes the device or the length of a dance e g as determined by how much energy a user stores up prior to playing the se
35. se to user input received through a remote control unit separate from a processing unit that is communicatively coupled to the remote control unit images from a sequence of images on a display that is communicatively coupled to the processing unit wherein the sequence of images depict a common con stituent in successively different poses or states and the user input comprises entering an answer to a question or shaking of the remote control unit US 2009 0322761 A1 32 The method of claim 31 wherein the processing unit comprises a Wii video game console and the remote control unit comprises a Wii remote control unit 33 The method of claim 32 wherein the sequence of images is displayed accompanied by music 34 The method of claim 32 wherein the sequence of images is displayed in response to the shaking of the remote control unit and an additional user input 35 The method of claim 34 wherein the additional user input comprises an indication that the display ofthe sequence of images should commence 36 The method of claim 32 wherein the display of the sequence of images continues for a time determined by the shaking of the remote control unit prior to commencement of the display of the sequence of images 37 The method of claim 32 wherein the sequence of images depicts a human male or female in successively fewer articles of clothing 38 A method comprising displaying in response to user input images from a sequence of
36. simulating the absence of jigsaw pieces with a portion of an image revealed in section 106 which is made to resemble a piece of an unfinished jigsaw puzzle A later image 108 in the sequence of images includes not only section 106 but also section 110 which resembles a different piece of the jigsaw puzzle As further images in the Dec 31 2009 sequence are played additional jigsaw pieces are revealed until a complete image 112 is shown 0050 The entire user interface includes area 114 to dis play a score and or a current level e g for a game having multiple levels of difficultly or other differentiators such as number of questions posed and or answered an image area 116 a question and answer area 118 which may also be used to present instructions or prompts 126 for game play and a Next button or other actuator which in some cases may be a hard button or a virtual button 120 to allow a user to progress to a next question with a corresponding new image sequence without submitting an answer to a current question Also provided is a toolbar 122 which affords a user several facilities as discussed below 0051 This interface provides a convenient means for a user to participate in a trivia game in which a user is presented questions in the question and answer area 118 and is per mitted to submit answers to same via a text box 124 in the question and answer area In one embodiment ofthe game if a user cannot answer
37. the user input whereas in other cases the speed and or dis placement of the user input may determine from how far ahead or behind in the sequence the next image for presen tation is selected This way impatient users may be accom modated In one particular instance of the process the sequence of images is displayed on a mobile computing device such as a handheld device and the user manipulable component is a trackball The rate at which the user rolls the trackball is correlated with the rate at which the sequence of images advances Thus if a user rolls the trackball at a fast rate the sequence of images advances at a fast rate In other US 2009 0322761 A1 cases the shaking of a device controls the presentation of images and images within the sequence may be presented in accordance with the amount of shaking provided by the user e g as measured by an accelerometer over a predetermined time interval or other means 0031 Still another example of a process 40 configured in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is shown in the flow diagram depicted in FIG 4 An initial image e g one depicting a human wearing one or more articles of clothing is displayed on display 14 step 41 System 10 waits for spatial displacement step 42 Spatial displacement is sensed by spatial displacement sensor 12 step 43 In response to spatial displacement a next image depicting the human wearing one or more fewer articles of
38. tial image may be responsive to a user activating an application program configured to presentation of the sequence of images responsive to user input For example the user may launch an appropriate appli cation by selecting same from a menu or by selecting an icon In other instances the user may launch the application using a voice command Such methods for initiating an application are not critical to the present invention but are all contem plated within the scope thereof 0027 System 10 waits for user input step 32 The user input may be received by user manipulable component 11 or spatial displacement sensor 12 step 33 In response to the user input a next image from the sequence of images is displayedon display 14 step 34 This nextimage may inone example depict the human shown in the previous image wearing one or more fewer articles of clothing than was the case in the previous image in the sequence Alternatively if the images are shown in a sequence other than a linear order the human may be wearing more articles of clothing than was the case in the previous image displayed to the user In some instances the device may measure the user s interaction with the application and determine what image from the sequence Dec 31 2009 ofimages to display for example in responseto a particularly violent input perhaps representative of an impatient user the next image displayed may be the last image in the sequence depict
39. ven though user controls may permit paying on a particular image in the movie The difference is more than semantics Different file types and players are involved 0029 Note that not shown in this illustration but shown in connection with process 30 in FIG 3B is an example of the process where images may be played in either a forward or a backwards direction within the sequence of images That is prior to playing a particular image from the sequence step 38 the computing device may determine which next image to present based on the type or direction of user input received step 37 Ifthe user input is in the forward direction the next forward image is played If the user input 1s in the reverse direction the next backwards image is played If the user input is in an orthogonal e g left or right direction a first image of a new sequence of images may be played the first image may be the initial image of a sequence or an image from a point in the new sequence that corresponds to a point in the current sequence As before if there are more images to play the system permits further user input step 39 Since there will always be further images e g even if only in the reverse direction play may continue until the user quits the application e g by selecting a quit function or menu com mand not shown 0030 In other examples the images of a sequence are played one by one regardless ofthe speed or displacement of
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search