Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Computer graphics processing – Animation
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-15
2001-10-23
Vo, Cliff N. (Department: 2671)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Computer graphics processing
Animation
C345S440000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06307562
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to graphical user interfaces for computer systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for viewing a group of objects on a graphical display.
2. Related Art
One of the scarcest resources in today's computing devices is screen space. Even though the processing power and storage capacity of computing devices has increased by several orders of magnitude during the past twenty years, the average computer screen size has barely doubled. Although the resolution, clarity, and the overall quality of the displays has improved substantially, the actual size of the work area remains relatively limited. Screen space limitations are particularly apparent in the emerging pocket-sized computing devices and personal organizers, such as the palm connected organizer produced by the 3COM Corporation of Sunnyvale, Calif. These pocket-sized computing devices often have display sizes that are less than a few hundred or a few thousand square pixels.
At present, the most commonly used user interface paradigm for computing devices is the windows-icons-desktop-folders metaphor prevalent on computers such as the Macintosh, or personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system. Under this paradigm, the screen of a computer system simulates an office desktop that contains various objects. These objects are represented as graphical “icons” that can be opened as “windows” on the screen. Under this paradigm, a user can create an unlimited number of overlapping windows, and the size of these windows can be adjusted dynamically. The user can also hierarchically create and manipulate “folders” that reflect how the information is organized on the computer system's storage devices.
One of the main problems of the traditional windows-icons-desktop-folders metaphor is that it does not work well for large amounts of information because finding and organizing large numbers of windows and objects becomes very tedious. Also, the use of multiple windows is not feasible in computing devices with limited screen area.
In order to accommodate large amounts of data, some researchers have proposed using an “unlimited” desktop. (For example, see the Kansas user interface of the Self 4.0 programming environment described in “Supporting Flexible Roles in a Shared Space,” Smith, et al., Computer Supported Collaborative Work '98 Conference Proceedings, Seattle Wash. Nov. 14-18, 1995). This type of user interface can be used to store and manipulate a virtually unlimited number of objects without the use of multiple windows. Objects in different parts of the unlimited space can be viewed using panning functions to navigate up/down and left/right through the unlimited space.
Unfortunately, experience has shown that navigating through a large two-dimensional space is not always easy. Locating a particular object may require a user to exhaustively pan and zoom through the space. To facilitate finding objects, additional tools (such as “radar” views) may be needed to help the user. However, the use of such tools may not be practical in small computing devices with limited screen size.
Some user interfaces have tried to break away from the limitations of flat, two-dimensional displays through the use of zooming and three-dimensional graphics. For instance, the Pad++ environment allows the user to “push” and “pull” objects farther and closer by using the zooming operations in conjunction with the conventional panning operations. (See “Pad++: A Zooming Graphical User Interface for Exploring Alternate Interface Physics,” Bederson, et al., User Interface and Software Technology Conference Proceedings, pp. 17-26. Marina Del Rey, Nov. 2-4, 1994.) Unfortunately, this paradigm tends to make user interfaces complicated, because current pointing devices such as the mouse do not readily support object manipulation in three dimensions. Furthermore, most small computing devices do not have the necessary graphics support (e.g., text font scaling operations) or do not have adequate computing power to support the computationally demanding zooming and three-dimensional graphics operations.
SUMMARY
One embodiment of the present invention provides a system for viewing a plurality of objects on a graphical display. The graphical display includes space for displaying objects and a sink that contains objects that are not visible on the graphical display. The system operates by receiving a command from a user of the graphical display. When the command is a compress command, if an object is inside the sink, the system moves the object a level deeper into the sink. If the object is located outside the sink on the graphical display, the system moves the object closer in a radial direction towards the sink. If the object moves very close to the sink, the object leaves the graphical display and enters the sink. When the command is an expand command, if the object is located inside the sink, the system moves the object a level higher in the sink. If the object is already at a highest level of the sink, the object leaves the sink and enters the graphical display at a location near the sink. If the object is located outside the sink on the graphical display, the system moves the object in a radial direction away from the sink. Objects that move past the boundaries of a graphical display are no longer visible, but may become visible again after subsequent compress operations.
Thus, one embodiment of the present invention provides an unlimited two-dimensional space for storing objects typically found on the computer screens, such as icons, pictures, graphical elements and text. A user can move objects about the screen in traditional fashion by using a mouse, pen or other pointing device. In the middle of the screen there is a small area known as a sink or an event horizon. The sink serves as an unlimited container in which objects are stored when the display is “compressed.”
A simple user interface navigation operation, known as the “expand/compress” function, is available to the user. This function is operated by using two simple buttons, such as the up and down buttons of a Palm connected organizer, or a simple rocker switch. When the display is “compressed,” objects on the screen move closer in a radial direction towards the sink, which is typically located at the center of the screen. Objects that come close enough to the sink are “sucked in” the sink and disappear from the screen. This paradigm suggests the term “event horizon,” because the sink operates like a black hole.
When the display is “expanded,” objects on the screen move away in a radial direction from the sink. At the same time, the sink releases the objects it contains in the original order the objects were previously sucked into the sink. This makes the objects visible again and restores the original view.
During the “expand” operation, objects may move beyond the physical limits of the computer screen. This is perfectly normal: objects may later be brought back to the visible part of the screen by using the “compress” operation. In general, the expand/compress process is entirely reversible and repeatable. The compress operation allows a user to gradually pull complex, visual displays of information away from the screen altogether, and store them in the sink. Conversely, the expand operation restores the view as it was before compression.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5519618 (1996-05-01), Kastner et al.
patent: 5608909 (1997-03-01), Atkinson et al.
patent: 5613124 (1997-03-01), Atkinson et al.
patent: 5861885 (1999-01-01), Stransnick et al.
patent: 6064406 (2000-05-01), Atkinson et al.
John Lamping and Ramana Rao; “Laying Out and Visualizing Large Trees Using a Hyperbolic Space”; UIST'94, Marina del Ray, CA; Nov. 2-4, 1994; pp. 13-14.
Joseph M. Ballay; “Designing Workscape: An Interdisciplinary Experience”; Human Factors in Computing Systems CHI '94; Boston, MA; Apr. 24-28, 1994; pp. 10-15.
Randall B. Smith, Ronald Hixon, and Bernard Horan;
Park Vaughan & Fleming LLP
Sun Microsystems Inc.
Vo Cliff N.
LandOfFree
Graphical interface with event horizon does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Graphical interface with event horizon, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Graphical interface with event horizon will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2572568