Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-01
2003-06-24
Nguyen, Cao (Kevin) (Department: 2173)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C707S793000, C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06583794
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to information visualization, and more particularly, to a method of breaking up and displaying financial information represented by rectangular regions on a computer interface.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Millions of individual investors and securities professionals spend countless hours each year analyzing the performance and fluctuation, among other things, of various financial instruments. In order to gauge more accurately the value of a particular stock, for example, it is often necessary to scrutinize its price, volume and movement against other stocks in the same industry, sector or even across a particular index or market. This process becomes quite tedious, as the accumulation of such continuously changing data is nearly impossible for some and too cumbersome for many others. Even those who manage to collect the desired information then have the hurdle of analyzing the data so as to reach a conclusion.
Indeed, many computer programs exist nowadays to help facilitate a simpler approach to financial analysis. Such programs may, for example, provide charts, graphs, financial equations, technical indicators, etc. so that users can see how the various numbers relate. Furthermore, with the advent of the Internet and the proliferation of online brokers and financial web sites, ever more graphical and interactive financial computer programs, that are best suited to operate in such environments, are becoming available. As these programs are considered a fairly new area of development, there are not surprisingly, many shortcomings in the present technology.
On a similar note, graphical programs relating to other areas on the Internet are, on the whole, nonexistent. For example, this absence is quite noticeable with respect to commerce on the Internet. So far, Internet commerce has had most of its success with the sale of items that require the least physical examination. People are more comfortable ordering products such as books, videos, audio CDS and computer components, where there is little or no mystery as to the substance of the ordered item. Although physical examination is not necessary, customers still desire graphical images of the product and sufficient information to be able to analyze, compare, and chose between related or competing products. Other than individually viewing each product there are few methods of making such a comparison.
One prior art system used by many on-line computer retailers enables users to select two or more products for a comparison review. Such a review typically charts the respective products, listing the presence or absence of features for each one. The limitations of this system are twofold. First, not more than a handful of products may be simultaneously compared due to a lack of viewing space. Second, there is no significant visual or graphical element; forcing users to spend added time and effort reading and deciphering the relevant data.
Generally, the few prior art graphical programs that do exist, typically those relating to non-Internet applications, have been unsuccessful in their attempt to implement systems where large amounts of data are visible in a graphically appealing manner. Users desire an interface where they can comprehend or decipher as much information as possible solely by examining a graphical display, and little else.
With continued reference to the financial industry, one prior art graphical program has endeavored to display information relating to as many companies simultaneously on the same computer interface as possible. Having such information relating to multiple companies on the same screen provides a more efficient graphical environment for analyzing and comparing them. One such system, referred to as a treemap, is described more fully in Jungmeister, W. and Turo D.,
Adapting Treemaps to Stock Portfolio Generalization
, Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory, Univ. of Maryland, College Park, Md., Sept., 1992, CS-TR-2996 and incorporated herein by reference. Briefly, the visual display of a treemap comprises a space that is divided into multiple rectangular regions, whereby each region is assigned to a different company. Despite the ability of treemaps to overcome many shortcomings from other prior art systems, by compressing large amounts of data into a small area, there are still significant shortcomings both in the visual element and the implementation of this technology.
Specifically, treemaps are not visually appealing and are limited in function. This is primarily because the prior art algorithm used to generate the many regions on a treemap is not ideally suited for such an implementation. One result, is that individual regions are often distorted in size or shape and hardly visible, thereby wrecking the effectiveness of the display. Furthermore, the overall appearance of such a display is confusing as the prior art systems produce a ‘slice-and-dice’ layout, which reduces the user's ability to accurately decipher the graphical information. An example of such a ‘slice-and-dice’ layout is shown with reference to
FIG. 1
c
, as layout
95
. Also, by its very structure, this prior art system is limited in function and use. For example, with further reference to layout
95
, the awkward structuring of individual regions make it difficult to evenly zoom into portions of the display without cutting off the very long or wide regions.
Thus, there is a need for a computer program that can provide an interface that simultaneously conveys to the user information on multiple companies or other relevant items. In addition, there is a need for such an interface to be implemented in a graphically appealing and functional manner, where the user can visualize large quantities of graphical information. Naturally, overcoming these shortcomings will prove beneficial to many environments, not solely on the Internet and not exclusively to the financial industry.
OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is thus a general object of the present invention to provide a computer interface system to graphically visualize information in an efficient manner.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a software system and computer interface that enables users to view a large quantity of information on an efficiently configured graphical environment.
The software system according to one embodiment of this invention is configured to operate as a financial software application. According to this embodiment, a computer interface system is provided, which divides a display screen into a plurality of financial sectors from the securities industry, such as Utilities, Basic Materials, Transport, Consumer Staples, Energy, Capital Goods, Communication, Financial, Technology, Health Care and Consumer Cyclicals. In addition, the computer interface system displays a button bar and a menu interface for manipulating and displaying information to the user.
The computer interface system also displays, for each of the financial sectors, a plurality of rectangular regions, each region corresponding to a distinct company or corporation that renders business within that particular financial sector. Such companies typically have stock trading on a securities exchange, such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and the NASDAQ. Furthermore, each financial sector displayed on the screen is potentially subdivided into multiple units, referred to in this embodiment as industries, wherein the stocks or companies belonging to the same sector are grouped according to shared industries. For example, the Technology sector comprises technology companies such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Intel Corp. (INTC), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Oracle (ORCL), Computer Associates (CA), America Online (AOL) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD). Microsoft, Oracle and CA may be grouped together in a software industry, a subset of the Technology sector. Further, Intel and AMD may be categorized as part of the semiconductor industry, Cisco as part of the networking industry, and so forth.
Nguyen Cao (Kevin)
Smart Money
Sofer & Haroun LLP
LandOfFree
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