System and method for presenting and browsing images serially

• US 20040150657A1
• Filed: 02/04/2003
• Published: 08/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc. (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Esenther, Alan W., Forlines, Clifton L., Wittenburg, Kent B., Lanning, Thomas R.
• Granted Patent: US 7,139,006 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/619
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 345/959 Object path adherence

Abstract

A method presents a set of input images on a display device. First, a set of display images is selected from the set of images. A 3D layout is assigned to each selected image, and a 3D trajectory is assigned to a virtual camera. A set of active images of the set of display images is rendered according to the layout and the trajectory. The set of active images includes a collector image. The collector images is rendered statically in a collector frame of an image plane of the display device, while remaining images in the set of active images are rendered dynamically on the image plane. Then, the layout and trajectory are animated according user input, and the rendering and animating is repeated until a termination condition is reached.

Claims

1. A method for presenting a set of images, comprising:

selecting a set of display images from the set of images;

assigning a 3D layout to each image in the set of display images;

assigning a 3D trajectory to a virtual camera;

rendering a set of active images of the set of display images according to the layout and the trajectory, the set of active images including a collector image, the collector image being rendered statically in a collector frame of an image plane of a display device, while remaining images in the set of active images are rendered dynamically on the image plane;

animating the layout and the trajectory according user input; and

repeating the rendering and animating until a termination condition is reached.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein 3D coordinates, a size, and an orientation are assigned to each image in the set of display images.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the trajectory is linear.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the trajectory is curved.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the set of images is a video, and the set of active images is a summary of the video.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the selection is periodic.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

traversing the virtual camera along the trajectory at a rate indicated by the user input.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the traversal is reversible.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the layout is linear.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the layout is circular.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the layout is spiral.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein a depth of an image, with respect to a viewer is indicated by the size of the image.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the collector image is a first image in the set of active images and closest in depth.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

semantically grouping images in the layout.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

inserting logical transition images in the set of display images.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the transition images are transparent.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

stopping the traversing according to an estimate of a time required to actuate the user input device.

18. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting the set of display images from multiple broadcast channels of television signals.

19. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

identifying target images in the set of display images; and

traversing the virtual camera along the trajectory at a rate corresponding to distances between the target images.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein a time to traversing between any two target images is constant.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein multiple collector frames are used.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein video is used in place of static images.

21. A system for presenting a set of images, comprising:

a memory storing a set of images;

a query engine configured to select a set of display images from the set of images;

means for assigning a 3D layout to each image in the set of display images;

means for assigning a 3D trajectory to a virtual camera;

a rendering engine configured to display a set of active images of the set of display images according to the layout and the trajectory, the set of active images including a collector image, the collector image being rendered statically in a collector frame of an image plane of a display device, while remaining images in the set of active images are rendered dynamically on the image plane;

means for animating the layout and the trajectory according user input; and

means for repeating the rendering and animating until a termination condition is reached.