Gallery application for content viewing

• US 10,324,976 B2
• Filed: 10/06/2015
• Issued: 06/18/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Oath Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Krishnaraj, Venkat, Shoemaker, Austin W., Rathnam, Aditya, Bhumkar, Soujanya
• Primary Examiner(s): Ulrich, Nicholas
• Application Number:
  US14/875,954
• Publication Number:
  US 20160026658A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,351 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/51 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/54 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/743 a collection of video files or sequences
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04804 Transparency, e.g. transparent or translucent windows
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/80 2D [Two Dimensional] animation, e.g. using sprites
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/18 Image warping, e.g. rearranging pixels individually

Abstract

A gallery software application enables a user to browse, view, and interact with various content items, such as still images and videos. The gallery includes a graphical user interface with two modes: stack and grid. In stack mode, images (which represent content items) are divided into groups, and a group is represented by a displayed stack of images. In grid mode, images are displayed in a grid of rows and columns. The displayed stacks and images can be scrolled. When the scrolling reaches the end of a set of stacks or images, the last stack or image is displayed with perspective distortion. In grid mode, a value is displayed for meta-data of a content item that is not currently displayed. If a user indicates the displayed value, the grid is scrolled until the content item whose meta-data matches that value is displayed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

displaying, by a processor, a plurality of images in a stack mode, wherein the images are divided into groups, and wherein a group is represented by a stack of images, where an image for a first content item is at a top of the stack and oriented parallel to an edge of a display, and subsequent images in the stack are centered a random amount away from a center of the image for the first content item and subsequent images in the stack are rotated a random amount relative to the image for the first content item;

receiving, by the processor, a first user input that indicates a first stack that represents a first group of images;

displaying, by the processor, the first group of images in a grid mode and a scroll bar in response to receiving the first user input, the images in the first group displayed in a grid of one or more rows and one or more columns;

retrieving, by the processor, items of metadata associated with the first group of images;

displaying, by the processor, an overlay including the metadata upon determining that each item of the metadata represents a first value;

displaying, by the processor, a second group of images in a grid mode in response to an interaction with the scroll bar;

retrieving, by the processor, items of second metadata associated with the second group of images; and

updating, by the processor, the overlay to include the second metadata upon determining that each item of the second metadata represents a second value, the second value different from the first value.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, upon receipt of a second user input selecting metadata for a first off-screen image, scrolling the grid to a location associated with the first off-screen image.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the metadata for the first group of images and the second metadata for the second group of images each comprises a timestamp.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the images are ordered chronologically.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising overlaying the metadata for the first group of images and the second metadata for the second group of images on the grid.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the images are ordered chronologically based on timestamps associated with the images.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying the metadata for the first group of images and metadata for the off-screen images below the grid.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying, by the processor, the plurality of images in an album mode.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, in the album mode, the plurality of images are displayed as album stacks.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying, by the processor, the plurality of images in a cluster mode.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of images are displayed as cluster stacks.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein, in the grid mode, the first group of images are displayed as thumbnail images.

13. A computing device comprising:

a processor;

a storage medium for tangibly storing thereon program logic for execution by the processor, the program logic comprising;

logic executed by the processor for displaying a plurality of images in a stack mode, wherein the images are divided into groups, and wherein a group is represented by a stack of images, where an image for a first content item is at a top of the stack and oriented parallel to an edge of a display, and subsequent images in the stack are centered a random amount away from a center of the image for the first content item and subsequent images in the stack are rotated a random amount relative to the image for the first content item;

logic executed by the processor for receiving a first user input that indicates a first stack that represents a first group of images; and

logic executed by the processor for displaying, in response to receiving the first user input, the first group of images in a grid mode and a scroll bar, the images in the first group displayed in a grid of one or more rows and one or more columns;

logic executed by the processor for retrieving items of metadata associated with the first group of images;

logic executed by the processor for displaying an overlay including the metadata upon determining that each item of the metadata represents a first value;

logic executed by the processor for displaying a second group of images in a grid mode in response to an interaction with the scroll bar;

logic executed by the processor for retrieving items of second metadata associated with the second group of images; and

logic executed by the processor for updating the overlay to include the second metadata upon determining that each item of the second metadata represents a second value, the second value different from the first value.

14. The computing device of claim 13, further comprising logic executed by the processor for, upon receipt of a second user input selecting metadata for a first off-screen image, scrolling the grid to a location associated with the first off-screen image.

15. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the metadata for the first group of images and the second metadata for the second group of images each comprises a timestamp.

16. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the images are ordered chronologically.

17. The computing device of claim 13, further comprising logic executed by the processor for overlaying the metadata for the first group of images and the second metadata for the second group of images on the grid.

18. The computing device of claim 13, further comprising logic executed by the processor for displaying the plurality of images in an album mode.

19. The computing device of claim 18, wherein, in the album mode, the plurality of images are displayed as album stacks.

20. The computing device of claim 13, further comprising logic executed by the processor for displaying the plurality of images in a cluster mode.

21. The computing device of claim 20, wherein the plurality of images are displayed as cluster stacks.

22. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium tangibly storing computer program instructions capable of being executed by a computer processor, the computer program instructions defining the steps of:

displaying, by the computer processor, a plurality of images in a stack mode, wherein the images are divided into groups, and wherein a group is represented by a stack of images, where an image for a first content item is at a top of the stack and oriented parallel to an edge of a display, and subsequent images in the stack are centered a random amount away from a center of the image for the first content item and subsequent images in the stack are rotated a random amount relative to the image for the first content item;

receiving, by the computer processor, a first user input that indicates a first stack that represents a first group of images; and

displaying, by the computer processor, the first group of images in a grid mode and a scroll bar in response to receiving the first user input, the images in the first group displayed in a grid of one or more rows and one or more columns;

retrieving, by the computer processor, items of metadata associated with the first group of images;

displaying, by the computer processor, an overlay including the metadata upon determining that each item of the metadata represents a first value;

displaying, by the computer processor, a second group of images in a grid mode in response to an interaction with the scroll bar;

retrieving, by the computer processor, items of second metadata associated with the second group of images; and

updating, by the computer processor, the overlay to include the second metadata upon determining that each item of the second metadata represents a second value, the second value different from the first value.