System and method for navigating in a digital information environment

• US 20020080195A1
• Filed: 07/17/2001
• Published: 06/27/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/1999
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: John Franklin Sharp, Samuel Garrett Carlson
• Original Assignee: John Franklin Sharp, Samuel Garrett Carlson
• Inventors: Sharp, John Franklin, Carlson, Samuel Garrett
• Application Number:
  US09/907,435
• Publication Number:
  US 20020080195A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/853
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/904 Browsing; Visualisation therefor for navigating the web G06F16/954; browsing optimisation for the web G06F16/957
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

The present system and method is directed to an interactive navigation system and method for exploring or browsing digital content data that can be spatially structured such that content pages can be located relative to one another. Once a page arrangement layout is completed, a navigation bar in conjunction with an underlying scrolling engine allow fast access to any section of the information space while maintaining an intuitively correct spatial metaphor. Thus, as the user manipulates the navigation bar, the scrolling engine moves the user to the new information content area in a visually intuitive manner while the intermediate content is displayed on a screen.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for navigating an information space that includes a plurality of content pages for display on a screen, said method comprising:

displaying a graphical object comprising a plurality of first-level items, each first-level item associated with a respective first-level page and at least one first-level item comprising a plurality of second-level items associated with a plurality of second-level pages;

selecting a first-level item of said graphical object such that a first-level page associated with said first-level item is displayed on said display screen; and

moving from said first-level item to another first-level item of said graphical object such that another first-level page associated with said another first-level item is displayed on said display screen and such that said graphical object remains displayed on said display screen.