Patent Application
20120096373
Mobile phones, and other small computing devices, are being built with increasingly large display surfaces. While the devices themselves, in general, are smaller than they were several years ago, modern devices devote a relatively larger percentage of the device's surface to the display. Early devices typically had a mechanical keypad for input and a screen to display output. Since the keypad and screen coexisted on the same side of the device, there was a limit as to how large the display could be. While some phones continue to use mechanical keypads (which are favored by some users), advances in touch-screen technology have allowed other devices to omit the keypad entirely in favor of a touch-screen interface that acts as both an input device and a display. This design allows a larger portion of the surface area to be used as a display.
Some devices include more than one display area. For example, some phones with a “flip” or “slide out” design include plural displays—e.g., one large display as the main viewing area, and another smaller display to show a clock, a “message waiting” indicator, etc. In some cases, one of the displays may use less power per viewing area than the other display—e.g., one display may be color and the other may be monochrome (where a monochrome display generally uses less power than a color display).
Despite these designs, phones and other devices generally include less display real estate than they could. There is often a considerable amount of surface area on the device that could accommodate a display, but that is not being used as a display.
One or more low-power displays, such as electronic ink (e-ink) displays, can be fitted to a mobile phone or other device, and certain types of information can be displayed on these low-power displays. The use of a low-power display in this manner frees real estate on the device's other displays, and provides opportunities to show information that otherwise would not be shown. The use of a low-power display on a device to supplement an ordinary high-power display may reduce the power load on the device (e.g., if some information can be displayed on the low power display when the high-power display is off). Moreover, the combined use of low- and high-power displays in clever ways can provide a compelling user experience.
Although the subject matter herein is not limited to any particular type of low-power display, some example features of low power displays may include a relatively low refresh rate, and the ability to hold an image indefinitely without the application of power. Thus, low-power displays could be used to display content that changes infrequently—e.g., user-specific “skins” or “tattoos”, or moving images that involve relatively slow animation such as a moving diagram of objects in the night sky.
A low-power display could be driven by its own processor. The processor that drives the low-power display could be a relatively low-power processor. In this way, a device could be put in sleep mode to turn off the main processor and the main display, while also allowing the device to perform some computation, and to display the results of that computation, even while the device is in sleep mode. For example, such a configuration could be used to display (and update) the date and time on a device that is otherwise in sleep mode. However, the low-power display could also display content generated by the main processor. Thus, a program could use both the high- and low-power displays to display different aspects of the program's output.
In one example, a low-power display (such as an e-ink display) can be molded to the contours of a device's surface, thereby allowing the e-ink display to be wrapped around the corners or edges of a device. In this way, portions of a device's surface, which would otherwise go unused, could be used as a display.
This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.
As technology advances, mobile phones and other devices are being designed such that a display occupies an increasing proportion of the device's surface area. It was once common for a device to have a single display that took up, perhaps, one half the surface of one side of the device. Now, some devices have a display that occupies almost the entire surface of one side of the device, and some of these devices have more than one display. For example, some mobile phones or tablet computers have a touch screen that takes up a large proportion of a single side of the device, and that functions as the device's main input and output device. Some devices, such as “flip” or “slide out” phones (or even devices with no “flip” or “slide out” feature) have plural displays.
When devices have plural displays, the displays are typically used in different ways. For example, a flip phone may have a large display that acts as the main display for the phone, and a small auxiliary display on the outside of the phone that displays the date, time, strength of radio reception, new message notifications, etc. In some cases, the displays are of different types—e.g., the main display may be a color touch screen, while the auxiliary display may be a simple monochrome display. However, one aspect of these displays is that they generally draw a substantial amount of power, and thus the amount of time that they spend displaying information has to be carefully managed. Thus, on a typical device, each of the displays is on a timer that turns off the display after some number of seconds of inactivity, or that turns off the display based on some other type of trigger. For this reason, displays typically are not used to display certain types of information. For example, a user might want to adorn the surface of his device with a custom skin, a custom animation, the user's name, etc. However, since displays that draw significant amounts of power generally turn off after a few seconds of inactivity, such displays generally are not used to display this type customization information.
The subject matter herein makes use of low-power displays to display various types of information. A phone or other type of device may be created with a low-power display on its surface. Such a device typically has more than one display, and the low-power display is “low-power” in the sense that it displays a given piece of information using a lower level of power than another display on the device would use to display that information. In one example, the low-power display is an electronic ink (e-ink) display, which is able to display an image even after power has ceased to be applied to the display. However, other types of low-power displays could be used.
The low-power display may be used to display various types of information. For example, the user could choose a particular image, and that image could be displayed continuously on the low-power display. Or, the user could choose to have the date, the time, the temperature, or any other type of information displayed on the low-power display. In one example, the information to be displayed is animated (e.g., an animation of the motion of objects in the night sky). Such an animation could be effectuated by a low-power processor that drives the low-power display, even when the device to which the display is attached is currently in sleep mode.
Some low-power displays can be contoured. In one example the surface of the device has some type of non-flat contour. Examples of non-flat contours include: edges (smooth or rounded); corners (smooth or rounded); or surfaces that are non-planar. Certain types of low-powered displays (e.g., e-ink displays) can be molded to fit on a non-flat surface, thereby allowing such non-flat surfaces on a device to be used as display real estate. In one example, a low-power display is wrapped around the edges and/or corners of the device, and is used to display basic information such as the date and/or time, strength of signal reception, etc. However, a contoured display could be placed on any part of a device, and could be used to display any type of information.
Turning now to the drawings,
Device 100 may have a touch screen 102, various buttons 104, 106, and 108, a speaker 110, a microphone 112, a lens 114, and one or more low-power displays 116 and 118. Touch screen 102 may be a color display that is used as both an input and output device. For example, touch screen 102 may display output generated by programs that execute on device 100, and may also receive input from a user in the form of gestures, handwriting, an on-screen keyboard, etc.
Buttons 104, 106, and 108 may be used as additional input devices. For example, buttons 106 and 108 may control aspects of device 100 such as audio volume, visual brightness, or other aspects of device 100. Button 104 may be used as an “escape” button that exits whatever program is running on device 100, and returns the user to a desktop or selection screen that allows a user to choose an application. The foregoing are some example uses of buttons 104-108, although buttons 104-108 could be used to communicate any type of input to device 100, or could be used in any other manner.
Speaker 110 and microphone 112 may be used for audio output and/or input. In the example in which device 100 is a phone, speaker 110 and microphone 112 may be used to allow a user to carry on a conversation, although speaker 110 and microphone 112 could be used for other audio applications. Lens 114 may be used to capture visual input. For example, device 100 may have a photo-taking application that uses lens 114 to capture images, and that stores and/or transmits the images that have been captured through lens 114. As another example, device 100 may have a video application that uses lens 114 to capture moving images.
Device 100 may also have one or more low-power displays 116 and 118. Low-power displays may be “low power” in the sense that they use less power to display a given piece of information than other types of displays. Thus, touch screen 102 may use one level of power, and low-power display 116 or 118 may use another level of power. Thus, in this example, displays 116 and 118 are “low-power” in the sense that the level of power that they use to display some information is lower than the level of power that touch screen 102 uses to display that information. In one example, low-power displays 116 and 118 are e-ink displays, although low-power displays could be implemented using any type of display technology.
Device 100 may have a non-flat contour, in the sense that the surface of device 100 has an edge, a corner, or some other non-planar surface. An edge may be rounded or sharp.
Any type of information could be displayed on a low-power display. However, one feature of a low-power display is that it can display information without drawing much power (or, in the case of some display technologies, without drawing any power). In some cases, information can be displayed on a device even when the device is in sleep mode, or even when it is off or out of power. Thus, the type of information that is displayed may be information that is to be displayed all the time (or that is to be displayed for a long time). In the example of
Additionally, low-power display 118 can show various types of information. In the example of
It is noted that low-power display could be used for any purpose, regardless of whether such purpose is to customize and/or personalize the appearance of device 100—e.g., low-power display 118 could be used as an electronic book reader, since some types of low-power displays (e.g., e-ink displays) may be easier on the eyes for long periods of reading than are high-power backlit displays.
Device 100, as described above, may have a touch screen 102 and low-power displays 116 and 118. In one example, touch screen 102 and low-power displays 116 and 118 may be driven by distinct processors. Using separate processors to drive the high-power and low-power displays allows the low-power displays to operate while device 100 is in sleep mode. The device might have a sleep mode and an active mode; in one example, one of the processors operates only when the device is in active mode, but the other processor (e.g., the one that drives the low-power display) operates regardless of whether the device is in sleep mode or active mode. Some low-power displays (e.g., e-ink displays) can display information without the continuous application of power. However, by having a separate processor drive the low-power displays, an application can be used to change the information that is being shown by the low-power displays even when device 100 is in sleep mode—e.g., the low-power display could show an animation, a clock that changes in real time, etc., even when device 100 is in sleep mode.
Thus, in the example of
Since low-power displays may be used to display user-specific information such as skins, tattoos, etc., device 100 may employ an input mechanism 412 to receive the user's choice of what is to be displayed. Input mechanism 412 may be touch screen 102, or may be some other type of mechanism (e.g., a keyboard, a microphone, a writing tablet, network interface, etc.). In one example, the user indicates what is to be shown by choosing text or graphics from a menu—e.g., the user could be given a set of, say, twenty different skins, and might choose one of the skins. In another example, the user specifies what is to be shown by providing the text and/or graphics as input—e.g., the user could specify graphics by drawing a new graphic with a drawing program, or could specify text by inputting the text directly, or by inputting a script that generates text. Input mechanism 412 may be used to receive this choice and/or specification of what is to be shown on low-power displays 116 and 118. It is also noted that—while a low-power display might not be able to act as an input device directly—one could still interact with a low-power display. For example, with reference to
As noted above, low-power displays may be driven by one of device 100's processors even when the device is in sleep mode, and may display information even when high-power displays on the device are off. Thus, device 100 may employ a power source 414 (e.g., AC/DC power converter, battery, solar panel, etc.) that can provide power separately to the various components on device 100. Power source 414 may be connected to touch screen 102, displays 116 and 118, processors 404 and 408, memory 402, or any other component that draws power. Power source 414 may apply power to any one or more of these components, while denying or limiting power to the other components. Thus, device 100 can conserve power by removing power from touch screen 102, while allowing low-power displays 116 and 118 to be sufficiently powered to display information (or to change the information that they are displaying). Additionally, device 100 can use power source 414 to power one of processors 404 and 408, while keeping the other processor unpowered. When device 100 is in sleep mode, power source 414 may apply power to memory 402 (and, possibly processor 408), while keeping processor 404 unpowered. In this way, low-power displays can be used on device 100, and can receive sufficient power to perform their functions, even while device 100 otherwise conserves power.
At 502, input is received by a device. The input may be received through any mechanism—e.g., a touch screen, a keyboard, a lens, a microphone, etc. At 504, the device reacts to the input by generating some information (referred to herein as “first” information) to be displayed to a person. (
A device that performs the actions in
Although the subject matter herein is not limited to any particular example, the following is an example of how the foregoing scenario involving two displays, two people, and two pieces of information could proceed. A person could indicate to a device that he wants to take a photo. He could indicate this intent by pressing a button on the device. The pressing of the button is an example of the input that could be received at 502. In this example, person A could be the subject of the photo, and person B could be the user of the device who wants to take the photo. The device could react to the pressing of the button by generating a countdown to be shown to the subject, and generating a view through the lens (e.g., a viewfinder image) to be shown to the device's user. The device may be configured such that the lens is on the surface that has the low-power display, and the touch screen is on a surface located opposite to the lens. Based on the device's knowledge of this physical configuration, the device could determine that the touch screen is not facing the subject (person A), and could thus display the countdown on the low-power display. The device could then display the viewfinder image on one of the device's displays; given the example configuration of such a device (in which the touch screen is on the opposite side of the device form the lens), it would be natural to assume that the user of the device (i.e., the person taking the picture) is on the side of the device where the touch screen is located. Based on this assumption, the viewfinder image may be displayed on the touch screen. The foregoing is a specific example of the general process of
As noted above, at 508 a device determines whether a first display is facing a particular person, and then shows certain information either on the first display, or on a different display, depending on whether the first display is facing that person. The following are some specific examples of how that decision could be made. It is noted that the subject matter herein is not limited to these specific examples.
In one example (block 516), it could be determined that the first display is positioned against a fixed object, thereby preventing person A from seeing the first display. For example, person A might be using the device to take pictures of the night sky, and might lay the camera, lens up, against the ground (where the ground is an example of a “fixed object”). If the lens and touch screen are on opposite sides of the device, then it could be determined—based on the fact that the lens is pointing up to the sky—that the touch screen is against the ground and thus is not visible to the user of the device. (The orientation of the camera could be detected, for example, by the use of a gyroscope and/or accelerometer in the device.) In another example (block 518), it may be determined that the first display cannot be seen by a person based on the position in which the device is located. For example, as noted above, an application might issue directions to a person on how to take photos to cover a three-dimensional spatial area, such as a room. The application might direct the person to position the device in a crevice of the room, in such a way that the touch screen is pointing away from that person. Thus, the device might issue instructions, or provide a viewfinder image, on the low-power display based on the determination that the high-power display is not facing that person. These are a few examples of how a device could determine that a particular display is not facing a particular person, although the device could make this determination in any manner or in any context.
It is noted that a device can “determine” that a particular display is not facing a particular person even if that determination is not correct. In the example in which an application is directing a person on how to take pictures of a room, the application might direct a person to position the camera in a crevice of the room and might determine, based on the position of the device, that the person cannot see the touch screen on the device. However, the device might be wrong—i.e., it might be the case that the person really can see the device's touch screen in that position. In this example, the device has made a determination that the person cannot see the touch screen; the fact that the determination turns out to be wrong does not negate the fact that a determination has been made. Moreover, a determination does not have to be made in real-time, and can be made in advance. For example, an application could be designed to presume that the subject of a photo cannot see the touch screen (perhaps because it is known that the device's lens is on the opposite side of the device from the touch screen). Thus, the device might be configured to display a countdown (or other information to be shown to the subject) on a display other than the touch screen without attempting to assess, on a case-by-case basis, whether the subject can see the touch screen. It will be understood that even in such a situation, the device has performed the act of determining that the subject of the photo cannot see the touch screen.
Computer 600 includes one or more processors 602 and one or more data remembrance components 604. Processor(s) 602 are typically microprocessors, such as those found in a personal desktop or laptop computer, a server, a handheld computer, or another kind of computing device. Data remembrance component(s) 604 are components that are capable of storing data for either the short or long term. Examples of data remembrance component(s) 604 include hard disks, removable disks (including optical and magnetic disks), volatile and non-volatile random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, magnetic tape, etc. Data remembrance component(s) are examples of computer-readable (or device-readable) storage media. Computer 600 may comprise, or be associated with, display 612, which may be a cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor, a liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor, or any other type of monitor.
Software may be stored in the data remembrance component(s) 604, and may execute on the one or more processor(s) 602. An example of such software is low-power display usage software 606, which may implement some or all of the functionality described above in connection with
The subject matter described herein can be implemented as software that is stored in one or more of the data remembrance component(s) 604 and that executes on one or more of the processor(s) 602. As another example, the subject matter can be implemented as instructions that are stored on one or more computer-readable storage media. Tangible media, such as an optical disks or magnetic disks, are examples of storage media. The instructions may exist on non-transitory media. Such instructions, when executed by a computer or other machine, may cause the computer or other machine to perform one or more acts of a method. The instructions to perform the acts could be stored on one medium, or could be spread out across plural media, so that the instructions might appear collectively on the one or more computer-readable storage media, regardless of whether all of the instructions happen to be on the same medium.
Additionally, any acts described herein (whether or not shown in a diagram) may be performed by a processor (e.g., one or more of processors 602) as part of a method. Thus, if the acts A, B, and C are described herein, then a method may be performed that comprises the acts of A, B, and C. Moreover, if the acts of A, B, and C are described herein, then a method may be performed that comprises using a processor to perform the acts of A, B, and C.
In one example environment, computer 600 may be communicatively connected to one or more other devices through network 608. Computer 610, which may be similar in structure to computer 600, is an example of a device that can be connected to computer 600, although other types of devices may also be so connected.
At various points herein, items may be described as being “distinct”. In general, two items are “distinct” if they are not the same item, although the two items may be said to be identical to each other. For example, a first processor and a second processor might be described as being distinct. These two processors might be exactly the same model of processor, or they might be different models of processor. However, in this example, the two processors would be “distinct” in the sense that “first processor” and “second processor” are not merely different labels for the same processor; rather, each label refers to a separate item. The term “distinct” can be applied similarly to any type of item.
Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.
