Display of hierarchical three-dimensional structures with rotati

Details Display of hierarchical three-dimensional structures with rotati Display of hierarchical three-dimensional structures with rotati

1993-05-21

1994-03-15

Zimmerman, Mark K.

G06F 1500

Patent

active

052952436

ABSTRACT:
A processor presents a sequence of images of a hierarchical structure that is perceived as three-dimensional. The hierarchical structure includes conic substructures that can have vertical or horizontal axes. Each cone has a parent node at its vertex and children nodes along its base, each with a link to the parent node. Each child can in turn be at the vertex of another cone. The cones can be rotated in steps that produce the perception of object constancy for each node. For example, if the user requests that an indicated node be moved to a primary viewing position, each of the cones along the path from the indicated node to the root node is rotated in the direction that most directly moves the indicated node to the primary viewing position. Each node can include a selectable unit for indicating it, and a node can also include a grow tab that can be selected to request presentation of its children nodes and links to them. The user can request that the children nodes of a node be replaced by a grow tab. To reduce the computation necessary for each step of rotation, the position relative to a cone's axis for each of 80 points on the base of a cone is computed for a level of the hierarchy and is then stored in an array for subsequent use in positioning nodes on that level. The base point of each node on a rotating cone can then be changed in a linked node data structure, and its new position can then be obtained by simple arithmetic operations using the axis coordinates and the appropriate data from the array. The base of each array can be a polygon whose vertices are nodes, and the base shape can be presented as a shadow to provide additional information and strengthen the perception of three dimensions. Or, the profiles of the cones can be presented as a shadow.

REFERENCES:
patent: 4434460 (1984-02-01), Drakenborn et al.
patent: 4613946 (1986-09-01), Forman
patent: 4649499 (1987-03-01), Sutton et al.
patent: 4710763 (1987-12-01), Franke et al.
patent: 4742558 (1988-05-01), Ishibashi et al.
patent: 4752889 (1988-06-01), Rappaport et al.
patent: 4764867 (1988-08-01), Hess
patent: 4794528 (1988-12-01), Hirose et al.
patent: 4807158 (1989-02-01), Blanton et al.
patent: 4821211 (1989-04-01), Torres
patent: 4845744 (1989-07-01), DeBenedictis
patent: 4868766 (1989-09-01), Oosterholt
patent: 4944023 (1990-07-01), Imao et al.
patent: 4982344 (1991-01-01), Jordan
patent: 5008853 (1991-04-01), Bly et al.
patent: 5010500 (1991-04-01), Makkuni et al.
patent: 5021976 (1991-06-01), Wexelblat et al.
patent: 5065347 (1991-11-01), Pajak et al.
patent: 5072412 (1991-12-01), Henderson, Jr. et al.
patent: 5107443 (1992-04-01), Smith et al.
patent: 5224209 (1993-06-01), Hirai et al.
patent: 5237651 (1993-08-01), Randall
Fairchild, K. M., Poltrock, S. E., and Furnas, G. W., "SemNet: Three-Dimensional Graphic Representations of Large Knowledge Bases", in Guindon, R., Ed., Cognitive Science and its Application for Human Computer Interaction, Lawrence Erlbaum, Hillsdale, N.J., 1988, pp. 201-233.
Smith. A. R., "Plants, Fractals, and Formal Languages", in Computer Graphics, vol. 18, No. 3, Jul. 1984, pp. 1-10.
Robertson, G. G., Card, S. K., and Mackinlay, J. D., "The Cognitive Coprocessor Architecture for Interactive User Interfaces", Proceedings of the ACM SIGGRAPH Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology, Williamsburg, Va., Nov. 13-15, 1989, pp. 10-18.
Pope, S. T., Goldberg, A., and Leibs, D., "The ParcPlace Systems Navigator Applications and Frameworks", presented at ACM SigGraph Symposium on User Interface Software, Oct. 1988, Banff, Canada, pp. 1-30.
Cahn, D., "A PHIGS Technical Overview", Using the PHIGS Standard, Sigraph '87, Anaheim, Calif., Jul. 27-31, 1987, pp. 73-110.
European Search Report and Annex, Application No. EP 90314111.7, dated Nov. 28, 1991.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Display of hierarchical three-dimensional structures with rotati does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Display of hierarchical three-dimensional structures with rotati, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Display of hierarchical three-dimensional structures with rotati will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1541905