Gesture touch inputs for controlling video on a touchscreen

Abstract

In general, this disclosure describes novel techniques for controlling video content on a computing device, such as a mobile computing device. For example, a computing device may execute a media application that provides a video output to a presence-sensitive screen of the computing device. During execution of the media application, the presence-sensitive screen may receive a gesture touch input that has motion with respect to the presence-sensitive screen. The computing device may then rewind or fast forward the video output based at least in part on the gesture touch input. The computing device may display, during the rewinding or fast forwarding of the video output, a plurality of frames of the video output concurrently on the presence-sensitive screen in lateral motion corresponding to the rewinding or fast forwarding.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 executing, by a computing device, a media application that provides a video output to a presence-sensitive screen of the computing device;   receiving, by the presence-sensitive screen during execution of the media application, a gesture touch input that has motion with respect to the presence-sensitive screen;   rewinding or fast forwarding the video output based at least in part on the gesture touch input; and   displaying, during the rewinding or fast forwarding of the video output, a plurality of frames of the video output concurrently on the presence-sensitive screen in lateral motion corresponding to the rewinding or fast forwarding.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of concurrently displayed frames comprise frames that are spaced apart from each other in a video file for the video output, and wherein the frames are spaced apart at a frame interval that is a function of a speed of motion of the gesture touch input. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 displaying, during rewinding or fast forwarding the video output, the plurality of concurrently displayed frames of the video output on the presence-sensitive screen in lateral motion at a rate independent of the frame speed of the rewinding or fast forwarding, wherein the plurality of concurrently displayed frames are selected from the frames within frames of the rewound or fast forwarded video output, and are separated from one another in the video output by a frame interval that is a function of the frame speed of the rewinding or fast forwarding.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying the plurality of frames of the video output with a frame size such that at least a minimum number of the frames are displayed concurrently. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising providing user-selectable frame size options, and displaying the plurality of frames of the video output with a frame size that is based at least in part on a user input to the user-selectable frame size options. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising detecting a size of the presence-sensitive screen, and rendering the plurality of frames of the video output with a frame size that is based at least in part on the size of the presence-sensitive screen. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a speed of the motion of the gesture touch input; and   rewinding or fast forwarding the video output at a frame speed based at least in part on the determined speed of the motion of the gesture touch input.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 displaying, during rewinding or fast forwarding the video output, the plurality of concurrently displayed frames of the video output on the presence-sensitive screen in lateral motion at a rate corresponding to the frame speed of the rewinding or fast forwarding.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the frame speed slows down over time unless it is reset by a subsequent gesture touch input. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the frame speed is directly proportional to the speed measured for the gesture touch input. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the frame speed is exponentially proportional to the speed measured for the gesture touch input. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the frame speed is directly proportional to the speed measured for the gesture touch input in a first part of a range of possible speeds for the gesture touch input, and the frame speed is exponentially proportional to the speed measured for the gesture touch input in a second part of a range of possible speeds for the gesture touch input. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, by the presence-sensitive screen during rewinding or fast forwarding the video output, a subsequent gesture touch input that has motion with respect to the presence-sensitive screen; and   rewinding or fast forwarding the video output based on the subsequent gesture touch input.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the presence-sensitive screen has a current left-right orientation when the presence-sensitive screen receives the gesture touch input, and wherein rewinding or fast forwarding the video output based on the gesture touch input comprises rewinding the video output in response to the gesture touch input having a motion toward a right side of the presence-sensitive screen in the current left-right orientation, and fast forwarding the video output in response to the gesture touch input having a motion toward a left side of the presence-sensitive screen in the current left-right orientation. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving a second touch input that lacks motion with respect to the presence-sensitive screen; and   responding to the second touch input by interrupting the rewinding or fast forwarding of the video output and either pausing the video output or resuming normal playback of the video output.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 pausing the video output in response to the second touch input;   receiving a third touch input, that lacks motion with respect to the presence-sensitive screen; and   responding to the third touch input by resuming normal playback of the video output.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing a prediction of one or more frames that are imminently pending to render for an interspersed display of frames during the rewinding or fast forwarding of the video output; and   modifying a frame buffering process based at least in part on the prediction of the one or more frames that are imminently pending to render.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the media application provides the video output to the presence-sensitive screen while still downloading the video output from a server device, the method further comprising:
 providing a prediction of one or more frames that are imminently pending to render for an interspersed display of frames during the rewinding or fast forwarding of the video output; and   sending an updated request to the server device for a change in an order in which frames of the video output are to be sent, based on the prediction of the one or more frames that are imminently pending to render for the interspersed display of frames.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the method is implemented as a feature of an operating system configured to execute on the computing device, and the feature of the operating system is configured to detect and interpret gesture touch inputs and other touch inputs on the presence-sensitive screen, and to communicate data about the gesture touch inputs and other touch inputs to a separate media application. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 executing a boolean method on the computing device that performs evaluations of touch inputs on the presence-sensitive screen and detects whether a touch input qualifies as a gesture touch input that has motion with respect to the presence-sensitive screen; and   if the boolean method detects a gesture touch input that has motion with respect to the presence-sensitive screen, triggering a scroller class that extends a video class to evaluate properties of the gesture touch input and to generate a rewind effect or a fast forward effect in the video class based on the properties of the gesture touch input.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the properties of the gesture touch input comprise a direction of the gesture touch input and one or more of a speed and a duration of the gesture touch input, and the video class generates either the rewind effect or the fast forward effect based on the direction of the gesture touch input, and generates the rewind effect or the fast forward effect with a scrolling speed based on one or more of the speed and the duration of the gesture touch input. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of concurrently displayed frames are displayed in a frame carousel, and the frame carousel is displayed with a motion across the presence-sensitive screen at a speed of motion that is a function of a speed of motion of the gesture touch input. 
     
     
         23 . A method comprising:
 detecting, by a presence-sensitive screen during execution of a media application, a gesture touch input that has motion with respect to the presence-sensitive screen, on which a video output is being displayed;   displaying, on the presence-sensitive screen, a plurality of frames from the video output, the frames being located in advance of a current frame of the video output at the time the gesture touch input is detected, each of the frames being separated by a frame interval, and the interval being a function of a speed of motion of the gesture touch input, wherein the presence-sensitive screen depicts at least two of the frames concurrently, and depicts the frames moving across the presence-sensitive screen in lateral motion to provide the user with a perception of advancing video footage;   advancing a counter position indicating a currently depicted frame of the video output based on the gesture touch input and in coordination with the displaying of the plurality of frames from the video output; and   resuming the video output based on the advanced counter position.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the lateral motion of the concurrently displayed frames has a speed of motion that is constant independent of a speed of motion of the gesture touch input. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the concurrently displayed frames are separated by a larger frame interval for a faster speed of motion of the gesture touch input relative to a slower speed of motion of the gesture touch input. 
     
     
         26 . A computing device, comprising:
 at least one processor;   at least one data storage device;   a presence-sensitive screen configured to detect gesture inputs; and   machine-readable code stored on the at least one data storage device comprising executable instructions that are executable by the at least one processor, and which comprise:
 executable instructions to provide a video output to the presence-sensitive screen; 
 executable instructions to receive a gesture input at the presence-sensitive screen; 
 executable instructions to determine a speed of motion of the gesture input relative to the presence-sensitive screen; 
 executable instructions to rewind or fast forward the video output if the gesture input has either a rightward motion or a leftward motion with respect to the presence-sensitive screen, wherein the rewinding or fast forwarding of the video output is performed at a speed based at least in part on the speed of the motion of the gesture input; and 
 executable instructions to display, during rewinding or fast forwarding the video output, a frame carousel comprising a plurality of frames of the video output on the presence-sensitive screen, with two or more of the frames displayed concurrently in different portions of the presence-sensitive screen and in lateral motion across the presence-sensitive screen corresponding to the rewinding or fast forwarding of the video output. 
   
     
     
         27 . The computing device of  claim 26 , further comprising a wireless network interface, wherein the computing device is configured for sending a request through the wireless network interface, and downloading data for the video output through the wireless network interface in response to the request. 
     
     
         28 . A computer-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions for causing at least one processor of a computing device to perform operations comprising:
 providing a video output to the presence-sensitive screen;   receiving a gesture touch input in a region on the presence-sensitive screen corresponding to a display window that comprises the video content on the presence-sensitive screen;   determining a speed of motion of the gesture touch input across the presence-sensitive screen;   rewinding or fast forwarding the video output if the gesture touch input has either a rightward motion or a leftward motion with respect to the presence-sensitive screen; and   displaying, during rewinding or fast forwarding the video output, a frame carousel comprising a plurality of frames of the video output displayed concurrently on the presence-sensitive screen in lateral motion across the presence-sensitive screen corresponding to the rewinding or fast forwarding of the video output, wherein a speed of the frame carousel is based at least in part on the speed of the motion of the gesture touch input.   
     
     
         29 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 28 , further comprising executable instructions for causing the at least one processor of the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 sending a request through a wireless network interface;   downloading data for the video output through the wireless network interface in response to the request;   providing the video output to the presence-sensitive screen while the data for the video output is being downloaded;   providing a prediction of one or more frames of the video output that are imminently pending to render the frame carousel during the rewinding or fast forwarding of the video output; and   modifying a frame buffering process based at least in part on the prediction of the one or more frames that are imminently pending to render the frame carousel.   
     
     
         30 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 29 , further comprising executable instructions for causing the at least one processor of the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 sending an updated request for a change in an order in which frames of the video output are to be sent, based on the prediction of the one or more frames that are imminently pending to render the frame carousel.