Systems, methods and apparatus for magnifying portions of a display

• US 20030214519A1
• Filed: 05/20/2002
• Published: 11/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gateway Incorporated (Acer, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Gateway Incorporated (Acer, Inc.)
• Inventors: Smith, Kim C., Pollman, Sandie E., DʼSouza, Melroy E.
• Granted Patent: US 7,062,723 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/660
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04805 Virtual magnifying lens, i.e. window or frame movable on top of displayed information to enlarge it for better reading or selection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/14 Digital output to display device ; Cooperation and interconnection of the display device with other functional units
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/04 Changes in size, position or resolution of an image
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/045 Zooming at least part of an image, i.e. enlarging it or shrinking it
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2340/14 Solving problems related to the presentation of information to be displayed
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/00 Control arrangements or circuits for visual indicators common to cathode-ray tube indicators and other visual indicators image data processing or generation, in general G06T

Abstract

Systems, methods and apparatus are provided through which meaningful or semantic portions of displayed visual information, are modified in order to improve their visual perception by a user. In some embodiments, the meaningful portion is limited to a word, a plurality of words, a phrase, a sentence, or a paragraph of text of the information. In some embodiments, the meaningful portion is predefined. In some embodiments, the meaningful portion is dynamically modified based on context of the text, and/or prior use. In some embodiments, the modification includes modifying an attribute of the text, such as size, color, and/or font.

Claims

3-1. The method of claim 1, wherein the meaningful portion is identified by semantic analysis, and is visually enhanced by magnification.

4. A computer-accessible medium having executable instructions to cause a computer to perform a method of displaying information, the method comprising:

displaying a document;

determining a cursor position relative to the display of the document;

identifying a meaningful portion of the document relative to the cursor position; and

displaying a visually enhanced version of the meaningful portion.

5. The computer-accessible medium of claim 5, wherein the meaningful portion is identified by semantic analysis, and is visually enhanced by magnification.

6. A display of meaningful portion of information to facilitate visual perception of the portion by a human user, produced by the process comprising:

receiving a cursor position of a document displayed by an application, the cursor position being within the first window;

transmitting the cursor position to the software application;

obtaining an address pointer of a meaningful portion of the document that includes the cursor position, from the software application, wherein the software application determines from content of the document and format rules that are interpreted by the software application; and

displaying the meaningful portion with visual attributes that facilitate visual perception of the meaningful portion by a human user.

7. The display of claim 7, wherein the receiving further comprises:

receiving a cursor position of a document displayed by an application in a first window with a first point size, the cursor position being within the first window, and

the displaying further comprises displaying the meaningful portion in a second window with a point size that is larger than the first point size.

8. The display of claim 7, wherein method further comprises:

transmitting an indication of the type of meaningful portion of the document to the software application

9. A method of facilitating visual perception of information by a human user, the method comprising:

obtaining a meaningful or semantically-coherent portion of displayed information, the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion including a position in a document; and

displaying the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion of the document in a manner that facilitates visual perception of the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion by a human user.

10. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

identifying the position in the document.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion of the document is selected from the group consisting of a word, a plurality of words, a phrase, a sentence, a paragraph, or a plurality of paragraphs.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion further comprises a predefined meaning portion and the method further comprises:

obtaining a scope of the predefined meaningful or semantically-coherent portion.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

dynamically modifying the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion based on context of the text.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the method further comprises:

modifying dynamically the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion based on prior use of the text by a human user.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the displaying further comprises:

displaying the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion of the document with an attribute that facilitates visual perception of the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion by a human user.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the displaying further comprises:

displaying the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion of the document in a point size that facilitates visual perception of the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion by a human user.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the displaying further comprises:

displaying the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion of the document in a color that facilitates visual perception of the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion by a human user.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the displaying further comprises:

displaying the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion of the document in a font that facilitates visual perception of the meaningful or semantically-coherent portion by a human user.

19. A system to facilitate visual perception of information by a human user, comprising:

a processor;

a display device to visually display the information, the display device operably coupled to the processor;

a pointing device to visually identify a portion of the information, the pointing device operably coupled to the processor;

an application program, to manage the information, the application program operable on the processor; and

software means operative on the processor to receive an identification of the portion of information, to transmit the identification to the application program, to receive an indication of meaningful information that includes the identified portion of information, to display the meaningful information with at least one visual attribute that facilitates visual perception of the meaningful information by a human user.

20-2. The system of claim 21, wherein the pointing device further comprises a mouse.

21. The system of claim 21, wherein the application program further comprises an application program to modify the at least one visual attribute of the meaningful information to facilitate the visual perception of the meaningful information by the human user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the document is displayed in a first window, and the visually enhanced meaningful portion of the document is displayed in a second window.

20. A system to facilitate visual perception of information by a user, the system comprising:

means for displaying a document;

means for determining a cursor position relative to the display of the document;

identifying a semantically meaningful portion of the document relative to the cursor position; and

means for displaying a magnified version of the semantically meaningful portion.

24. An apparatus to facilitate visual perception of document by a human user, comprising:

a processor;

a display device to visually display the document, the display device operably coupled to the processor;

a pointing device to visually identify a portion of the document, the pointing device operably coupled to the processor;

a word processor application program, to manage the document, the word processor application program operable on the processor; and

a software component operative on the processor to receive an identification of the portion of the document, to transmit the identification to the word processor application program, to receive an indication of meaningful or semantically coherent portion that includes the identified portion of document, to display the meaningful or semantically coherent portion with at least one visual attribute that facilitates visual perception of the meaningful or semantically coherent portion by a human user.

22. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one visual attribute further comprises a point size.

23. The system of claim 24, wherein the modifying further comprises increasing the point size.

28. A computer-readable medium to facilitate visual perception of document by a human user, comprising:

a receiver of a cursor position of the document from a pointing device;

a transmitter of the cursor position to a word processor application program, the transmitter being operably coupled to the receiver of the cursor position;

a receiver of an indication of meaningful or semantically coherent portion of the document that includes the cursor position, the portion having at least one visual attribute that facilitates visual perception of the meaningful or semantically coherent portion by a human user, the receiver of the indication being operably coupled to the transmitter; and

a displayer of the meaningful or semantically coherent portion, the displayer being operably coupled to the receiver of the indication.

25. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the pointing device further comprises a mouse.

26. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the word processor application program further comprises a word processor application program to modify the at least one visual attribute of the meaningful or semantically coherent portion to facilitate the visual perception of the meaningful or semantically coherent portion by the human user.

27. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the at least one visual attribute further comprises a point size.

30-3. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the at least one visual attribute further comprises a point size.

31. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the displayer further comprises a software component to transmit the indication of meaningful or semantically coherent portion to a windowing display management component of an operating system.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the second window is positioned to minimize overlapping of text in the document corresponding to the meaningful portion.

30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the modifying further comprises increasing the point size.

29. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the pointing device further comprises a mouse.