WO2014060129A1 - Method and device for improved electronic device unlocking - Google Patents

Method and device for improved electronic device unlocking Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2014060129A1
WO2014060129A1 PCT/EP2013/065199 EP2013065199W WO2014060129A1 WO 2014060129 A1 WO2014060129 A1 WO 2014060129A1 EP 2013065199 W EP2013065199 W EP 2013065199W WO 2014060129 A1 WO2014060129 A1 WO 2014060129A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
screen
predefined area
drag operation
unlock
electronic device
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2013/065199
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Ricardo Marquez
Steve PETTENGELL
Original Assignee
Telefonica Digital España, S.L.U.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Telefonica Digital España, S.L.U. filed Critical Telefonica Digital España, S.L.U.
Publication of WO2014060129A1 publication Critical patent/WO2014060129A1/en

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Classifications

    • GPHYSICS
    • G06COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06FELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F3/00Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
    • G06F3/01Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
    • G06F3/048Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
    • G06F3/0487Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
    • G06F3/0488Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
    • G06F3/04883Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04MTELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M1/00Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers
    • H04M1/66Substation equipment, e.g. for use by subscribers with means for preventing unauthorised or fraudulent calling
    • H04M1/667Preventing unauthorised calls from a telephone set
    • H04M1/67Preventing unauthorised calls from a telephone set by electronic means
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04MTELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04M2250/00Details of telephonic subscriber devices
    • H04M2250/22Details of telephonic subscriber devices including a touch pad, a touch sensor or a touch detector

Definitions

  • the electronic devices with a locked state require mechanisms to unlock the electronic device by means of interacting with the device's input interfaces. Nevertheless these mechanisms need to be intuitive, usable and easily discoverable by the user whilst not being easy to reproduce by means of an accidental interaction with the input interfaces.
  • the touch screen represents a convenient input interface as it can provide visual guidance to the user to facilitate the discovery and execution of the unlock mechanism.
  • the present invention may be embodied in other specific devices, systems and/or methods.
  • the described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as only illustrative and not restrictive.
  • the scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than by the description and figures herein. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
  • the present invention deals with the unlocking of electronic devices with a touch screen (touch sensitive screen or display).
  • Said electronic devices may be mobile phones, personal computers, portable computers, electronic games devices, smart phones, laptops or any other type of electronic devices with touch-sensitive screen.
  • the path followed by the drag operation is not preset but may be whatever path as long as it starts at the unlock icon, and without losing contact with the screen goes to the predefined second area of the screen and then returns to the first area of the screen. So the drag operation is not limited to a limited predefined path and the unlock method will correctly work independently of the initial point selected by the user (as long as it starts at the unlock icon, and without losing contact with the screen goes to the predefined second area of the screen and then returns to the first area of the screen).

Abstract

A method and device for improved unlocking of an electronic device with a touch sensitive screen, by means of interacting with such touch-sensitive screen. The embodiments of the present invention suggest an innovative approach, which allows configuring and optimizing the balance between usability and security of the unlock process.

Description

METHOD AND DEVICE FOR IMPROVED ELECTRONIC DEVICE
UNLOCKING
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Technical field
The present invention relates to the field of electronic devices operation and more specifically to a method and device for improving unlocking of electronic devices with a touch sensitive screen.
Description of related art
In most of electronic devices (especially in portable devices which can be carried in a pocket, purse, bag, or a similar container), it is important to allow the device to be set to a locked state (also known as lock state) which prevents accidental access. This state avoids the unintentional invocation of device functions (e.g. making a phone call) by the contact with any of the device's input interfaces (e.g. buttons, touch screen).
This is especially useful in electronic devices with touch-sensitive screen like mobile phones or tablet computers, which are becoming popular and widely available nowadays. Interacting with electronic devices by means of this kind of screen is very intuitive and simple and thus reduces the level of complexity and the learning curve to deal with such appliances.
The electronic devices with a locked state (also known as user-interface locked state, a mode of operation where the user interface is blocked so the electronic device does not react to the user instructions given through the device's input interfaces, of course except if it is an unlock instruction) require mechanisms to unlock the electronic device by means of interacting with the device's input interfaces. Nevertheless these mechanisms need to be intuitive, usable and easily discoverable by the user whilst not being easy to reproduce by means of an accidental interaction with the input interfaces. The touch screen represents a convenient input interface as it can provide visual guidance to the user to facilitate the discovery and execution of the unlock mechanism.
Some of these unlock mechanisms do not rely on the interaction with a touch screen, but rather with other input interfaces in the device, specially the physical buttons. Prior to the popularization of the touch screens unlock mechanisms were mainly based on the sequential pressing a series of buttons, for instance pressing the call disconnect button followed by the asterisk "*" button. With the arrival of the touch screens (also known as touch sensitive screens or displays) more user- friendly unlock mechanism have arisen based on the user interaction with such screens, like the ones described below.
A variety of mechanisms to unlock an electronic device are available in the state of the art.
For example, US patent US7657849 describes a mechanism by which an electronic device is unlocked by means of moving an unlock image (unlock icon, that is, an image related or associated to the unlock action) along a predefined path on the touch screen in accordance to the contact with the screen, whilst keeping the device in locked state in case the detected contact does not follows the predefined path or US patent US8046721 which describes an electronic device which is unlocked by means of moving an unlock image from a predefined location in the screen to another predefined unlock area.
US8209637 describes a mechanism resulting in launching a first or a second application upon the user performing a predefined gesture, like moving an unlock image along a predefined path, respectively on a first or on a second unlock image while the device is in a locked state and on the other hand, US patent US20120124644 depicts a procedure by which a user performs an input to unlock a device plus at least one more input to execute at least one command when transitioning to an unlocked state (also known as unlock state, in said state the user interface is not anymore blocked, so the electronic device reacts to the inputs of the user through the user interface). Several examples of this inputs are mentioned as for example dragging one command-related icon to an unlock icon and releasing over this other icon, or alternatively in the reverse order, that is dragging the unlock icon to a command-related icon and then releasing.
A method to unlock an electronic appliance whilst invoking at the same time a specific function is taught by US patent US20100162182; the method comprises detecting a set of specific gestures on the touch screen (e.g. drawing a "V" or a "/") each of them associated to a specific function and then unlocking the device and additionally invoking the function or application mapped with that gesture.
A different method to unlock a device is described in US20120169617 characterized in that the user needs to stroke the touch screen following a predetermined track and applying a predetermined force pattern in order to unlock the screen or in US20120174042 which describes an additional method to unlock screen by touching and dragging from a predetermined region along a predefined path over a predetermined distance. Additionally an application may be launched if the end point of the dragging gesture is located within one of a set of segmented regions, associated respectively to a plurality of applications.
Some of the unlock methods previously cited are not very intuitive for the user or not easy to remember, for instance those mechanisms based on the sequential pressing a series of buttons or those which requires the user to remember a specific pattern. Another problem of existing unlock methods is the difficulty to find a right balance between the flexibility offered to the user to deviate from the established unlock interaction and on the other hand the security against an accidental undesired unlock, in other words, the balance between false negatives and false positives, especially if an attractive usability is to be offered at the same time.
To this regard some of the previous unlock methods require the user to follow a very specific pattern in the touch screen providing no or very limited flexibility to the user. This results in the device not being unlocked upon the user interacting with the touch screen following a pattern that slightly deviates from a strictly defined gesture. On the other hand other unlock methods in the state-of-the-art do not present a high enough level of security against an undesired unlock. In fact an accidental touch interaction with the screen may be interpreted as an unlock request and result in the device undesirably being unlocked.
Hence, there is a need for an unlock mechanism which overcome the above mentioned drawbacks.
SUMMARY The present invention describes a method and device for unlocking an electronic device provided with a touch-sensitive screen by means of interacting with such touch-sensitive screen according to a procedure described in the disclosed embodiments.
More specifically, the present invention discloses unlocking an electronic device with a touch sensitive screen comprising performing a drag operation when the electronic device is in a locked state by means of touching the screen and moving the point of contact across the screen, starting said operation in an unlock icon located in an initial position within a first area of the screen, and reaching said drag operation a second area in the screen different from the first area, wherein the electronic device transitions to an unlocked state (also known as unlock state) if after reaching that second area the drag operation returns to the first area of the screen within which the unlock icon was initially located.
The problems found in prior art techniques are generally solved or circumvented, and technical advantages are generally achieved, by the disclosed embodiments.
In a first aspect, it is disclosed a method for unlocking an electronic device with a touch sensitive screen, wherein said screen displays an unlock icon (for example a padlock or any other image representing an unlock action), said method comprising: - detecting, while the device is in a locked state, a drag operation on the screen performed by an user of the electronic device by touching the screen and moving the point of contact with the screen across the screen, wherein said detected drag operation starts in an unlock icon (that is, the user touches the unlock icon in the screen) located in an initial position within a first predefined area of the screen, and reaches said drag operation a second predefined area in the screen different from the first area
wherein the method also comprises:
- the electronic device transitioning from the locked state to an unlocked state (it changes from an state where the user interface is blocked to a state where the user interface is not blocked) if said detected drag operation comprises, after reaching that second predefined area, returning to the first predefined area in the screen (within which the unlock icon was initially located). In other words, the movement of the point of contact across the screen must go from the first area to the second area and then return to the first area, in order to the electronic device being unlocked.
In an embodiment, wherein the unlock icon is moved and displayed on the screen according to the movement of the point of contact across the screen. That is, the unlock icon is moved across the screen following the drag operation and said movement is displayed on the screen.
In an embodiment, the electronic device determines that the drag operation has returned to the first predefined area if a first certain percentage, greater than zero, of the unlock image has entered said first predefined area, where said first certain percentage is a design parameter. In another embodiment, the electronic device determines that the drag operation has reached the second predefined area if a second certain percentage, greater than zero, of the unlock image has entered said second predefined area, where said second certain percentage is a design parameter. In another embodiment, the electronic device determines that the drag operation has reached the second predefined area if any percentage greater than zero of the unlock image has entered said second predefined area. In another embodiment, the electronic devices determines that the drag operation has reached the second predefined area if the unlock image is fully contained in said second predefined area and/or the electronic devices determines that the drag operation has returned to the first predefined area if the unlock image is fully contained in said first predefined area.
Optionally, in case a first certain time period passes since the drag operation started without said drag operation reaching the second predefined area (that is, the user does not drag the unlock icon from the first to the second area within a first certain time period), the electronic device remains in a locked state and the unlock icon (unlock image) is returned to the initial position on the screen (and the user must start again a new drag operation to unlock the device).
In an embodiment, in case a second certain time period passes since the drag operation reached the second predefined area without said drag operation returning to the first predefined area or in case a third certain time period passes since the drag operation started without said drag operation returning to the first predefined area, the electronic device remains in a locked state and the unlock icon is returned to the initial position on the screen. In an embodiment, the drag operation must be performed without losing contact with the screen.
The size and forms of said first and second certain predefined areas are design parameters. The first and second predefined areas may have any appropriated form and size. For example, the first predefined area of the screen may be a circle around the initial position of the unlock icon and the second predefined may be the outer side of a circle around the initial position of the unlock icon.
In another embodiment, the first or the second predefined areas of the screen may be delimited by horizontal lines on the screen.
A visual guidance may be displayed on the screen when in locked state to indicate to the user how to unlock the device. For example, said visual guidance may be one or both of a textual explanation and a set of at least one arrow starting from the unlock icon going to the second area of the screen and returning to the first area and, optionally, said at least one arrow can be animated providing hints as to how the unlock icon needs to be dragged to unlock the screen.
In another aspect, it is provided an electronic device comprising:
- A touch sensitive screen which displays an unlock icon
- Detection means for detecting contact with the screen while the device is in a locked state and for tracking the path followed by a drag operation performed by an user of the electronic device by moving the point of contact across the screen wherein the device also comprises:
- means for transitioning from the locked state to an unlocked state in case said drag operation starts in the unlock icon located in an initial position within a first predefined area in the screen, reaches a second predefined area in the screen different from the first area and, after reaching said second predefined area, returns back to the first predefined area.
According to another aspect of the invention, a computer program product is provided, comprising computer-executable instructions for performing any of the method previously disclosed, when the program is run on a computer and a digital data storage medium is also provided encoding a machine-executable program with instructions to perform any of the methods disclosed. Consequently, according to the invention, a method, device and computer program according to the independent claims are provided. Favorable embodiments are defined in the dependent claims.
These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Some embodiments of the method and device in accordance with embodiments of the present invention are now described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a flow diagram describing the process to unlock an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 shows the graphical user interface of an electronic device with a touch screen, in which an unlock icon is displayed, with which the user can interact to unlock the device, according to the embodiments of the present invention. Figure 3 schematically shows the process of performing the unlock method according to an embodiment of the invention, by dragging an unlock icon from an initial position within a first area of the screen (figure 3a) to a second area of the screen (figure 3b) and returning it back to the first area of the screen (figure 3c). In this embodiment both first and second areas are respectively a circle around the initial position of the unlock icon and the outer side of another circle concentric to the previous one.
Figure 4 schematically shows different criteria that can be followed in different embodiments of the invention to determine whether the requirement of reaching the unlock image the second area of the screen is fulfilled or not, namely fully entering of the unlock image in the second area (Figure 4a), entering a predefined percentage of the unlock image in the second area (Figure 4b) or entering any (even the tiniest) part of the unlock image in the second area (Figure 4c)
Figure 5 shows the graphical user interface of an electronic device with a touch screen in a locked state, in which an unlock icon is displayed, and both the first area, in which the unlock icon is initially located and to which it has to return after reaching a second area in order to unlock the device, and said second area are depicted, according to an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the first and second areas are delimited by horizontal lines on the screen with a separation between them equal to one third of the total height of the screen and respectively with the bottom and upper edges of the screen. Figure 6 shows the graphical user interface of an electronic device with a touch screen in a locked state, in which an unlock icon is displayed, as well as visual hints (explanatory text and arrows) added to the graphical user interface of the electronic device to help the user to learn the way to unlock the device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
The present invention may be embodied in other specific devices, systems and/or methods. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as only illustrative and not restrictive. In particular, the scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than by the description and figures herein. All changes that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope. The present invention deals with the unlocking of electronic devices with a touch screen (touch sensitive screen or display). Said electronic devices may be mobile phones, personal computers, portable computers, electronic games devices, smart phones, laptops or any other type of electronic devices with touch-sensitive screen.
The methods and devices shown in the following embodiments solve some of the problems found in the prior art unlocking techniques.
Figure 2 shows the graphical user interface of an electronic (200) device with a touch screen (201 ), in which an unlock icon is displayed. In order to allow the use of the unlock method described by present invention the electronic device may display an unlock icon (202) in said screen as can be seen in figure 2. The icon (202) depicted in figure 2 is a circle with a drawing inside representing a padlock. This invention is not restricted to the type of unlock icon displayed in figure 2, but it applies to any other representation of the unlock icon (that is, of an icon which is used to unlock the electronic device). As it is evident to a person skilled in the subject, the unlock icon may present a variety of different forms that make evident to the user that this icon is related to the unlock action. Figure 1 is a flow diagram describing the process to unlock an electronic device which is in a locked state according to an embodiment of the present invention and figures 3a, 3b and 3c schematically show how to perform the unlock method proposed on the present invention on the unlock icon on the touch screen of an electronic device.
The electronic device (300) will be in the locked state (101 ) (a state where the user interface is blocked to prevent accidental access). The electronic device will have a touch screen (301 ) showing a graphical user interface with an unlock icon (302) (for example a padlock or any other image representing an unlock action) as shown in figure 3a.
In order to unlock the electronic device, the end user needs to interact with the touch screen as follows, according to an embodiment of the invention. The user touches (102) the screen with the finger or other appropriate object (for example, a stick) at the unlock icon (302) (unlock image) located in an initial position within a first predefined area of the screen (303) (a previously defined area of the screen), and then starts a drag operation which moves the unlock icon according to the movement of the contact with the touch screen. The electronic device tracks (103) the drag operation until the unlock icon reaches (105) a second area (305) of the screen (as shown in figure 3b). Then the electronic device continues tracking (106) the drag operation until the unlock icon comes back (108) to the first area (303) of the screen (as shown in figure 3c) and then the device transitions to an unlocked state (109) (that is, the electronic device is unlocked and the user interface is not blocked).
When the device is unlocked, a default screen may be shown to the user, like a home screen with a grid of applications. Of course, other types of default screens can be shown when the device is unlocked, for example, in an embodiment, said default screen is an screen showing an application that was active before the device was locked.
In an embodiment, the electronic device remains in a locked state and return the unlock icon to the initial position in case a predefined time passes since the drag operation started (104) and the unlock icon has not reached the second area of the screen or if having reached said second area another predefined time passes (107) and it has not come back to the first area of the screen or if another predefined time passes since the drag operation started and it has not completed the full procedure of reaching the second area of the screen and then returning to the first area. In all these cases the unlock method is required to be started again.
Note that the path followed by the drag operation is not preset but may be whatever path as long as it starts at the unlock icon, and without losing contact with the screen goes to the predefined second area of the screen and then returns to the first area of the screen. So the drag operation is not limited to a limited predefined path and the unlock method will correctly work independently of the initial point selected by the user (as long as it starts at the unlock icon, and without losing contact with the screen goes to the predefined second area of the screen and then returns to the first area of the screen).
Different criteria can be used in different embodiments of the invention to perform the method disclosed above. For example, different criteria can be used in order to move to step 105 (that is, in order to determine that the unlock image has reached the second area). In an embodiment in order to determine that the drag operation has moved the unlock icon so it has reached the second predefined area (step 105) the full unlock image (unlock icon) must enters (must be fully contained) into the second area (Figure 4a).
In an alternative embodiment, in order to determine that the drag operation (the unlock icon) has reached the second area, a certain predefined percentage of the unlock image must enter into the second area (Figure 4b). That is, a certain predefined percentage (which is a design parameter) of the area occupied by the unlock icon is within the second predefined area. In an alternative embodiment, in order to determine that the unlock icon has reached the second area, is enough that a part, even the tiniest, of the unlock image has entered into the second area (that is any percentage greater than 0 of the area occupied by the unlock icon is within the second predefined area) (Figure 4c).
Similar criteria are possible in different embodiments in order to move to step 108 when the unlock image comes back to the first area. That is, in different embodiments, the unlock image will be considered to reach again the first area if (in one embodiment) the full unlock image has entered (be fully contained) into the first area or if (in an alternative embodiment) a certain predefined percentage (which is a design parameter) of the unlock image has entered into the first area or if (in another embodiment) a part (even the tiniest) of the unlock image has entered the first area.
In an embodiment, the first and second areas which the touch and drag operation is required to pass, are defined as the parts of the screen which are at a distance from the initial location of the unlock icon respectively smaller than a first predefined value (first area) and greater than a second predefined value (second area), being the second value bigger or equal than the first value. In other words, in this embodiment the first area (303) is the part of the screen inside a circle (304) centered around the unlock icon and the second area (305) the part of the screen outside another circle (306) also centered around the unlock icon, as disclosed in figure 3a. Note that just the part of the circle (306) that is located within the device's screen is shown. In another embodiment of this invention said first and second areas are areas of the screen delimited by one or several horizontal lines (as shown in figure 5). For instance the first area (503) could be the area in the screen located under a horizontal line (504) placed at a distance above the bottom edge of the screen (for example, equal to one third of the screen height). And the second area (505) could be the area in the screen located above a second horizontal line (506) placed at a distance below the upper edge of the screen (for example, equal to one third of the screen height).
Of course, a huge number of other forms of the first and second areas are possible, as it is evident to a person skilled in the art, and this invention is not limited to the mentioned examples.
In order to facilitate the discovery by the user of the unlock procedure that he must follow to unlock the electronic device, in an embodiment visual guidance will be provided to the user on the screen when the device is in a locked state. As shown in figure 6 this visual guidance may consist on one or more, preferably animated, arrows (607) starting in the unlock icon pointing at the second area and going back to the first area, which invite the user to drag the unlock icon following that path. An alternative or complementary guidance may consist on a textual explanation (608) like the following "To unlock please drag the unlock icon to this area and take it back to the initial position". Note that other types of visual guidance are possible, as it is evident to a person skilled in the subject, and this invention is not limited to the mentioned examples.
The sizes of the first and the second areas of the screen and the distance between them have an impact on the ease for the user to perform the unlock operation and also on the chances of the device being accidentally unlocked; so the balance between these two factors is configurable by changing said parameters (size and form of the areas and distance between them). Thus larger first and second areas and/or smaller distance between them, result in the unlock operation being easier to perform but also in greater chances of an accidental unlock. On the contrary, smaller first and second areas and/or longer distance between them, result in the unlock operation being more difficult to perform but also in less chances of an accidental unlock.
The size and forms of said first and second area are design parameters and they can be fixed in the electronic device during its production or configured afterwards. In an embodiment, said design parameters may be configured by an user of the electronic device.
The same happens with other design parameters (as the criteria used to determine that the unlock icon has reached the first or the second area) which can be fixed in the electronic device during its production or configured afterwards. In an embodiment, said design parameters may be configured by an user of the electronic device.
The liberty on the path followed by the drag operation provides much flexibility to the user, who is not required to follow a strictly defined path. On the other hand the requirement that the drag operation needs to go to a second area and come back to the first area minimizes the chances of the device being accidentally unlocked. Moreover the flexibility to change the sizes and forms of the first and the second areas of the screen and the distance between them allows to define a configurable balance between the ease for the user to perform the unlock operation and the chances of the device being accidentally unlocked. So it is such balance not just very favorable with regards to other methods in the state-of-the-art if such sizes and distance are adequately defined, but also this balance is configurable to make it adaptable to different scenarios. For instance a device aimed at a visually impaired person may favor the ease over minimizing the chances of an accidental unlock.
Summarizing, the present invention describes an innovative and intuitive method to unlock an electronic device with a touch screen that on one hand provides an intuitive and attractive usability and on the other hand presents an optimized and configurable balance between the flexibility offered to the user to deviate from the unlock interaction and the security against an undesired unlock. Moreover it fulfills the increasing demand from end-users of fresh and innovative ways to interact with their electronic devices provided with a touch screen.
A person of skill in the art would readily recognize that steps of various above- described methods can be performed by programmed computers. Herein, some embodiments are also intended to cover program storage devices, e.g., digital data storage media, which are machine or computer readable and encode machine- executable or computer-executable programs of instructions, wherein said instructions perform some or all of the steps of said above-described methods. The program storage devices may be, e.g., digital memories, magnetic storage media such as a magnetic disks and magnetic tapes, hard drives, or optically readable digital data storage media. The embodiments are also intended to cover computers or any type of processors programmed to perform said steps of the above-described methods.
The description and drawings merely illustrate the principles of the invention. Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions and additions in the form and detail thereof may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
Furthermore, all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to be only for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the principles of the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of the invention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended to encompass equivalents thereof.
It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any block diagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitry embodying the principles of the invention. Similarly, it will be appreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transition diagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes which may be substantially represented in computer readable medium and so executed by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer or processor is explicitly shown.

Claims

1 . A method for unlocking an electronic device with a touch sensitive screen, wherein an unlock icon is displayed on said screen, said method comprising:
- detecting, while the device is in a locked state, a drag operation on the screen performed by an user of the electronic device by touching the screen and moving the point of contact across the screen, wherein said detected drag operation starts in an unlock icon located in an initial position within a first predefined area of the screen, and reaches said drag operation a second predefined area in the screen different from the first area
the method being characterized in that it also comprises:
- the electronic device transitioning from the locked state to an unlocked state if said detected drag operation comprises, after reaching that second predefined area, returning to the first predefined area in the screen.
2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein the unlock icon is moved and displayed on the screen according to the movement of the point of contact across the screen.
3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the electronic device determines that the drag operation has returned to the first predefined area if a first certain percentage, greater than zero, of the unlock image has entered said first predefined area, where said first certain percentage is a design parameter.
4. A method according to any of the previous claims 2-3, wherein the electronic device determines that the drag operation has reached the second predefined area if a second certain percentage, greater than zero, of the unlock image has entered said second predefined area, where said second certain percentage is a design parameter.
5. A method according to any of the previous claims, where the electronic device remains in a locked state and the unlock icon is returned to the initial position in case a first certain time period passes since the drag operation started (104) without said drag operation reaching the second predefined area, where said first certain time period is a design parameter.
6. A method according to any of the previous claims, where the electronic device remains in a locked state and the unlock icon is returned to the initial position in case a second certain time period passes since the drag operation reached the second predefined area without said drag operation returning to the first predefined area or in case a third certain time period passes since the drag operation started without said drag operation returning to the first predefined area, where said second or third certain time periods are design parameters.
7. A method according to any of the previous claims where the drag operation must be performed without losing contact with the screen.
8. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the first predefined area of the screen is a first circle around the initial position of the unlock icon, being the radio of said first circle a design parameter, and/or the second predefined area of the screen is the outer side of a second circle around the initial position of the unlock icon, being the radio of said second circle a design parameter.
9. A method according to claims 1 -7, wherein at least one of the first or the second areas of the screen are delimited by a horizontal line on the screen.
10. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein a visual guidance is shown in the screen when the electronic device is in the locked state, to indicate to the user how to unlock the device.
1 1 . An electronic device comprising:
- A touch sensitive screen which displays an unlock icon
- Detection means for detecting contact with the screen while the device is in a locked state and for tracking the path followed by a drag operation performed by an user of the electronic device by moving the point of contact across the screen characterized in that the device also comprises:
- means for transitioning from the locked state to an unlocked state in case said drag operation starts in the unlock icon located in an initial position within a first predefined area in the screen, reaches a second predefined area in the screen different from the first area and, after reaching said second predefined area, returns back to the first predefined area.
12. An electronic device according to claim 1 1 , wherein the electronic device also comprises means for moving the unlock icon on the screen according to the movement of the point of contact across the screen and for displaying said movement on the screen.
13. An electronic device according to claim 12, wherein if, a first certain time period passes from the moment where the user starts the contact with the screen without detecting that the drag operation has reached the second predefined area, or a second certain time period passes from the moment where the drag operation has reached the second predefined area without detecting that the drag operation has returned to the first predefined area or a third certain time period passes from the moment where the user starts the contact with the screen without detecting that the drag operation has reached the second predefined area and it has returned back to the first predefined area, said drag operation is discarded by the electronic device and the unlock icon is returned to the initial position, where said first, second and third certain time periods are design parameters.
14. An electronic device according to claims 12 or 13, wherein the electronic device determines that the drag operation has returned to the first predefined area if a first certain percentage, greater than zero, of the unlock image has entered said first predefined area and/or the electronic devices determines that the drag operation has reached the second predefined area if a second certain percentage, greater than zero, of the unlock image has entered said second predefined area, where said first and second certain percentages are design parameters.
15. A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions for performing the method according to any of the claims 1 -10, when the program is run on a computer.
PCT/EP2013/065199 2012-10-19 2013-07-18 Method and device for improved electronic device unlocking WO2014060129A1 (en)

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US61/716,195 2012-10-19

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