Cross-slide Gesture to Select and Rearrange

Abstract

Cross slide gestures for touch displays are described. In at least some embodiments, cross slide gestures can be used on content that pans or scrolls in one direction, to enable additional actions, such as content selection, drag and drop operations, and the like. In one or more embodiments, a cross slide gesture can be performed by dragging an item or object in a direction that is different from a scrolling direction. The different-direction drag can be mapped to additional actions or functionality. In one or more embodiments, one or more thresholds can be utilized, such as a distance threshold, in combination with the different-direction drag, to map to additional actions or functionality.

1 . A method comprising:
 detecting a gesture slide input relative to an object displayed on a display device of a computing device;   ascertaining whether a gestural slide input direction is different from a panning or scrolling direction by using region detection logic in which gestural slide input that occurs relative to the object and within one region is ascertained to be associated with panning or scrolling and gestural slide input that occurs relative to the object and within a different region is ascertained to not be associated with panning or scrolling; and   responsive to the gestural slide input being in a direction that is different from the panning or scrolling direction and within the different region, performing an object-related action.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the panning or scrolling direction is generally vertical along the display device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the panning or scrolling direction is generally horizontal along the display device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the object-related action comprises an object selection. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the object-related action comprises a re-arrangement action. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein performing an object-related action comprises performing one of a plurality of object-related actions which are accessible via the gestural slide input being in a direction that is different from the panning or scrolling direction. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the direction that is different from the panning or scrolling direction comprises a direction that is generally orthogonal relative to the panning or scrolling direction. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said performing an object-related action is performed responsive to detecting a threshold trigger associated with the gesture slide input. 
     
     
         9 . One or more computer readable storage media embodying computer readable instructions which, when executed, implement a method comprising:
 detecting a drag direction associated with a drag operation;   ascertaining whether the drag direction is different from a panning direction by using region detection logic in which drag directions that occur relative to an object and within one region are ascertained to be associated with panning and drag directions that occur relative to the object and within a different region are ascertained to not be associated with panning; and   responsive to the drag direction being different than the panning direction and occurring within the different region, performing an object-rearrangement action associated with the object.   
     
     
         10 . The one or more computer readable storage media of  claim 9 , wherein detecting a drag direction is performed by detecting a drag direction associated with a touch gesture. 
     
     
         11 . The one or more computer readable storage media of  claim 9 , wherein the panning direction is one of generally vertical or generally horizontal along the display device, and the drag direction is generally orthogonal relative to the panning direction. 
     
     
         12 . The one or more computer readable storage media of  claim 9 , wherein the one region and the different region are defined by one or more angle ranges. 
     
     
         13 . The one or more computer readable storage media of  claim 9 , wherein said performing an object re-arrangement action is performed responsive to detecting a threshold trigger associated with the drag direction. 
     
     
         14 . The one or more computer readable storage media of  claim 9 , wherein said performing an object re-arrangement action is performed responsive to detecting a threshold trigger associated with the drag direction, the threshold trigger being associated with a distance. 
     
     
         15 . The one or more computer readable storage media of  claim 9 , wherein said performing an object re-arrangement action is performed responsive to detecting a threshold trigger associated with the drag direction, the threshold trigger being associated with a distance, and wherein at least one other action is configured to be performed based on at least one other respective threshold trigger that is different from the first-mentioned threshold trigger. 
     
     
         16 . A system comprising:
 one or more computer-readable storage media;   an application embodied on the one or more computer-readable storage media, the application being configured to implement a method comprising:
 detecting a cross-slide gesture in a direction that is different from a panning direction; 
 responsive to said detecting, detecting one or more threshold triggers associated with the cross-slide gesture, individual threshold triggers being associated with an individual object-related action; 
 detecting whether a user action indicates that an object-related action is to be committed; and 
 responsive to the user action indicating that an object-related action is to be committed, committing an object-related action associated with a last-triggered threshold. 
   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the one or more threshold triggers comprise distance threshold triggers. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16  further comprising providing visual feedback, responsive to detecting the cross-slide gesture, to facilitate threshold discernability. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16  further comprising providing visual feedback, responsive to detecting the cross-slide gesture, to facilitate threshold discernability, the visual feedback being provided within a region in which an object that is a subject of the cross-slide gesture moves slower than a finger executing the cross-slide gesture. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 16  further comprising responsive to detecting the one or more threshold triggers, modifying a user experience associated with a region within which the cross-slide gesture occurs.