Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Display driving control circuitry – Controlling the condition of display elements
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-20
2004-02-10
Cabeca, John (Department: 2173)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Display driving control circuitry
Controlling the condition of display elements
C345S215000, C345S215000, C345S215000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06690402
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to information retrieval and display, and contemplates techniques for locating and loading information from resources such as the Internet and displaying the same for review and/or interaction. More specifically, the invention embraces methods for retrieving information, together with display apparatus adapted for that purpose and especially for use in the domestic or commercial environment. The invention extends to methods and apparatus for interacting with the retrieved and displayed information.
The advance of information technology has placed information on almost any topic at the disposal of every suitably-equipped computer user. The Internet especially is undergoing explosive growth, with the result that new web pages and Internet-based services are proliferating in every field.
Web pages can simply contain reference information but increasingly provide interactive facilities for the provision of information, entertainment and Internet-based services. For instance, many banks now offer customers the option of on-line home banking over the Internet. Large stores offer home delivery services, where a customer places an order for specific goods such as groceries over the Internet and the ordered goods are subsequently delivered to the customer's home.
Whilst the expansion of the Internet has brought many benefits and has opened up some remarkable possibilities, it has also encountered the problem of information overload. There is now such a surfeit of information on many topics that irrelevant information obscures the information an Internet user needs to know. Filtering this information adds to what, for many actual and potential users, is the already undesirable complexity of Internet access.
For example, a query presented through an Internet search engine can lead to an overwhelming flood of irrelevant hits that discourages those seeking a quick answer to a simple question. Advanced search options can be used to stem the flood, but they involve input of further, carefully considered search parameters, and are still somewhat hit-and-miss. The user has no convenient way to ensure, as far as possible, that the information immediately displayed will be precisely relevant to his or her needs at that time. To be relevant, such information could be pertinent to the user's locality and/or the time of day, such as a bus or train timetable from the local bus stop or train station. More generally, relevant information could be the subject of whatever issue the user happens to be dealing with at that time, say a bank statement received in that day's mail, on which a query has arisen. Unfortunately, getting to such relevant information can be like finding a needle in a haystack. In particular, the global, borderless character of the Internet renders it ill-equipped readily to provide local information on demand.
Even if the URL of a desired web page is already known and has been bookmarked for easy repetitive access, much irrelevant information can be presented by that web page to the user. Means exist to personalize a web page to the user's perceived needs by, for example, storing a cookie on the user's PC that identifies the user and his or her browsing habits to the server hosting the web page. However, the user's actual information needs can change from day to day or even from hour to hour and so will tend to outstrip any such personalization techniques.
As just one example, a user might visit a web site one day for advice on how to fill in a particularly complex form such as a tax return. A day or two later, the same user might visit that site again for advice on how to fill in another form such as an appendix to the first form. Clearly, it would be more of a hindrance than a help on that second visit if the browser infers from recent experience that the user only wants information relating to the first form. In practice, therefore, the user is presented with a full menu of options on each and every visit, through which the user has to navigate to get to the advice that he or she seeks.
Also, whilst Internet-enabled devices such as mobile telephones are threatening the hegemony of the PC in terms of Internet access, it is still the case for most users that Internet access requires access to a PC. Unless the PC is left on all the time and is connected to the Internet by a fast and expensive telecommunications link such as ISDN, Internet access requires the PC to be booted up, following which a dial-up connection to the user's ISP has to be made and only then can the desired web page be searched for or entered. Even then, there could be layers of menus to be negotiated, possibly exacerbated by security measures, each involving download time in what has come to be known as the ‘world wide wait’. It is therefore quite common for several minutes to elapse before the PC is actually ready to help the user with his or her query. This delay further discourages the user from accessing the Internet resources from which he or she could benefit and, if the information requested is time-critical such as a bus or train timetable, can make the system too slow to be of practical use.
More fundarnentally, many potential Internet users do not have access to a PC within their domestic environment or are reluctant to use the Internet because of lack of familiarity with the use of computers. PCs are designed primarily as a functional tool for the workplace, and not for household use. They therefore impose the creation of an office environment in the home, and cannot properly handle challenging domestic environments such as the kitchen with its heat, humidity and dirt contamination. Indeed, a PC in the kitchen would generally be regarded as getting in the way, no matter how useful its functionality might be in downloading recipes and so on.
Accordingly, even in households where Internet users have access to a PC, the PC is rarely located in the most convenient domestic environment for use in performing routine domestic activities such as on-line shopping etc. PCs are often located in private spaces within the home, such as a home office or a bedroom, rather than in more public spaces. This environment of use influences who in the household has access to the computer; studies show that, on average, usage still remains male-dominated rather than a shared family activity.
In recent years, the diffusion of home computers has slowed throughout the western world. By way of illustration, on-line PC household penetration in the US has slowed down at around 40%, despite very healthy predictions for home on-line access and ever-failing PC prices. It appears that the PC ‘one size fits all’ approach to computing does not satisfy the requirements of most consumers, whose lifestyle needs may be better met by alternatives offering ease of use that PCs fail to provide. There is therefore a need to satisfy the home computing needs of the many consumers who do not personally perceive the need for a home PC, or who are dissuaded by its complexity, inconvenience and cost. This need extends to the commercial environment, such in as offices and stores.
The Applicant's studies with discussion groups in the area of so-called relationship technologies have led to many interesting findings. Whilst most participants in such studies have experience of using computers at work, the studies noted a general feeling of uneasiness towards technology. The PC is often seen as being too complicated for most of the computing tasks that users want to perform at home or at work. Even for routine household tasks, the PC is seen as being cumbersome, slow to boot and in the ‘wrong’ room within the home, a room that is not used frequently. Also, there appears to be a lack of trust in PCs and their reliability. Most participants felt that technology would let them down since, from their experience of PCs at work, computers often ‘crashed’ or simply did not work properly.
Accordingly, easier to use computing devices have been proposed to drive the next gen
Mackay Robin
Waller Michael
Ward Matthew
Becker Shawn
Cabeca John
NCR Corporation
Welte Gregory A.
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