Link Gestures

Abstract

Techniques involving gestures and other functionality are described. In one or more implementations, the techniques describe gestures that are usable to provide inputs to a computing device. A variety of different gestures are contemplated, including bimodal gestures (e.g., using more than one type of input) and single modal gestures. Additionally, the gesture techniques may be configured to leverage these different input types to increase the amount of gestures that are made available to initiate operations of a computing device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method performed on a computing device, the method comprising:
 recognizing, by the computing device via a touch screen, a first user input as selecting and holding a first user interface object displayed at a first location on the touch screen by a display device;   recognizing, by the computing device via the touch screen, a second user input as approximating a self-intersecting movement within the selected and held first user interface object; and   identifying, by the computing device, a punch-out gesture from the recognized first and second user inputs, the punch-out gesture effective to cause the displayed selected and held first user interface object to appear as if the self-intersecting movement caused a hole in the displayed selected and held first user interface object.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising displaying, on the display device, a visual que that illustrates the self-intersecting movement within the selected and held first user interface object. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  where a minimum size of the hole is limited by a threshold. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  where the identifying is in response to recognizing a third user input as a tap within the self-intersecting movement. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  where the tap within the self-intersecting movement indicates that a portion of the selected and held first user interface object outside the self-intersecting movement is retained. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  where the identifying is in response to recognizing a third user input as a tap outside the self-intersecting movement. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4  where the tap outside the self-intersecting movement indicates that a portion of the selected and held first user interface object within the self-intersecting movement is retained. 
     
     
         8 . A computing device comprising:
 at least one processor;   memory couple to the at least one processor;   a touch screen coupled to the at least one processor and via which the computing device is configured to:
 recognize a first user input as selecting and holding a first user interface object displayed at a first location on the touch screen by a display device, and 
 recognize a second user input as approximating a self-intersecting movement within the selected and held first user interface object; and 
   the computing device configured to identify a punch-out gesture from the recognized first and second user inputs, the punch-out gesture effective to cause the displayed selected and held first user interface object to appear as if the self-intersecting movement caused a hole in the displayed selected and held first user interface object.   
     
     
         9 . The computing device of  claim 8  further configured to display, on the display device, a visual que that illustrates the self-intersecting movement within the selected and held first user interface object. 
     
     
         10 . The computing device of  claim 8  where a minimum size of the hole is limited by a threshold. 
     
     
         11 . The computing device of  claim 8  where the punch-out gesture is further identified in response to recognizing a third user input as a tap within the self-intersecting movement. 
     
     
         12 . The computing device of  claim 11  where the tap within the self-intersecting movement indicates that a portion of the selected and held first user interface object outside the self-intersecting movement is retained. 
     
     
         13 . The computing device of  claim 8  where the punch-out gesture is further identified in response to recognizing a third user input as a tap outside the self-intersecting movement. 
     
     
         14 . The computing device of  claim 13  where the tap outside the self-intersecting movement indicates that a portion of the selected and held first user interface object within the self-intersecting movement is retained. 
     
     
         15 . At least one hardware computer-readable medium that includes computer-executable instructions that, based on execution by a computing device, configure the computing device to perform actions comprising:
 recognizing, by the computing device via a touch screen, a first user input as selecting and holding a first user interface object displayed at a first location on the touch screen by a display device;   recognizing, by the computing device via the touch screen, a second user input as approximating a self-intersecting movement within the selected and held first user interface object; and   identifying, by the computing device, a punch-out gesture from the recognized first and second user inputs, the punch-out gesture effective to cause the displayed selected and held first user interface object to appear as if the self-intersecting movement caused a hole in the displayed selected and held first user interface object.   
     
     
         16 . The at least one hardware computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , the actions further comprising displaying, on the display device, a visual que that illustrates the self-intersecting movement within the selected and held first user interface object. 
     
     
         17 . The at least one hardware computer-readable medium of  claim 15  where the identifying is in response to recognizing a third user input as a tap within the self-intersecting movement. 
     
     
         18 . The at least one hardware computer-readable medium of  claim 17  where the tap within the self-intersecting movement indicates that a portion of the selected and held first user interface object outside the self-intersecting movement is retained. 
     
     
         19 . The at least one hardware computer-readable medium of  claim 15  where the identifying is in response to recognizing a third user input as a tap outside the self-intersecting movement. 
     
     
         20 . The at least one hardware computer-readable medium of  claim 19  where the tap outside the self-intersecting movement indicates that a portion of the selected and held first user interface object within the self-intersecting movement is retained.