USER INTERFACE FOR TOUCHSCREEN DEVICE

摘要

A free-flowing user interface for a touchscreen device of a mobile electronic device provides touch--sensitive application icons and a touch-sensitive hotspot having an optional activation radius surrounding the hotspot. A user can launch a selected application by touching the hotspot and then touching and dragging the application icon corresponding to the selected application onto the hotspot or at least partially into the activation radius surrounding the hotspot. Alternatively, an application can be launched by dragging the hotspot and its surrounding activation zone such that the hotspot or activation zone at least partially overlaps the application icon of the application to be launched. The free-flowing interface can be optionally enhanced by displacing icons onscreen, when dragged or when collisions occur between icons, based on at least one of a virtual inertia parameter, a virtual friction parameter and a virtual collision--elasticity parameter to create more realistic onscreen motion for the icons.