RADIAL VECTOR PLOTS FOR PATHS

• US 20100118030A1
• Filed: 11/10/2009
• Published: 05/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Goldberg, Joseph H., Helfman, Jonathan I.
• Granted Patent: US 8,432,399 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/440
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/113 for determining or recording eye movement
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: G16B 30/00 ICT specially adapted for sequence analysis involving nucleotides or amino acids

Abstract

Techniques for displaying path-related information. Techniques are provided for generating and displaying graphical representations for a path. In one embodiment, a radial vector plot is generated and output for a path.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions for controlling a processor to display a graphical representation for a path, the plurality of instructions comprising:

instructions that cause the processor to determine a set of path segments associated with the path;

instructions that cause the processor to determine a set of angles associated with the path;

instructions that cause the processor to group the angles in the set of angles into a set of one or more groups;

instructions that cause the processor to determine a value for each group in the set of groups based upon one or more path segments from the set of path segments associated with the angles in the group; and

instructions that cause the processor to output a graphical representation for the path, the graphical representation comprising a bar for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, wherein a bar for a group has a length based upon the value determined for the group and the bar is rotated by an angle representative of the group.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein:

the plurality of instructions further comprises instructions that cause the processor to determine a length for each angle in the set of angles based upon one or more path segments that define the angle; and

the instructions that cause the processor to determine a value for each group in the set of groups comprise instructions that cause the processor to determine the value for the group based upon an average of the lengths associated with the angles in that group.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 2 wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine a length for each angle in the set of angles comprise:

instructions that cause the processor to, for an angle formed by a pair of adjoining path segments in the path, associate a length of one of the two path segments in the pair with the angle.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 2 wherein the instructions that cause the processor to determine a length for each angle in the set of angles comprises:

instructions that cause the processor to, for an angle formed by a pair of adjoining path segments in the path, associate an average of the lengths of the two path segments in the pair with the angle.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein:

the instructions that cause the processor to determine the set of angles comprise instructions that cause the processor to determine an angle each path segment in the set of path segments makes with respect to a common absolute reference.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein:

the instructions that cause the processor to determine the set of angles comprise instructions that cause the processor to, for each pair of adjoining path segments in the path, determine an angle between the path segments in the pair.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises:

instructions that cause the processor to determine an average magnitude, wherein the average magnitude is equal to the average of the values determined for one or more groups in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles;

instructions that cause the processor to determine an average angle, wherein the average angle is equal to the average of the angles representative of the one or more groups in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles; and

instructions that cause the processor to output a second graphical representation based upon the aggregate magnitude and the aggregate angle.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises:

instructions that cause the processor to, for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, determine a first orthogonal and a second orthogonal for the group based upon the value determined for the group and the angle representative of the group;

instructions that cause the processor to determine an aggregate magnitude based upon the first and second orthogonals determined for the set of groups;

instructions that cause the processor to determine an aggregate angle based upon the first and second orthogonals determined for the set of groups; and

instructions that cause the processor to output a second graphical representation based upon the aggregate magnitude and the aggregate angle.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises:

instructions that cause the processor to, for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles;

determine a length for the bar for the group based upon the value determined for the group; and

determine an angle representative of the group.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises:

instructions that cause the processor to, for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, scale the length of the bar for the group based upon an area available for outputting the graphical representation; and

wherein the instructions that cause the processor to output the graphical representation comprise instructions that cause the processor to, for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, display the scaled bar for the group in the graphical representation.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the path is a scanpath representing a path followed by an eye when viewing a scene.

12. A system for displaying information related to a path, the system comprising:

a display; and

a processor;

wherein the processor is configured to;

determine a set of path segments associated with the path;

determine a set of angles associated with the path;

group the angles in the set of angles into a set of one or more groups;

determine a value for each group in the set of groups based upon one or more path segments from the set of path segments associated with the angles in the group; and

cause a graphical representation to be output for the path on the display, the graphical representation comprising a bar for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, wherein a bar for a group has a length based upon the value determined for the group and the bar is rotated by an angle representative of the group.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to:

determine a length for each angle in the set of angles based upon one or more path segments that define the angle; and

determine a value for each group in the set of groups based upon an average of the lengths associated with the angles in that group.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the processor is configured to:

for an angle formed by a pair of adjoining path segments in the path, associate a length of one of the two path segments in the pair with the angle.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein the processor is configured to:

for an angle formed by a pair of adjoining path segments in the path, associate an average of the lengths of the two path segments in the pair with the angle.

16. The system of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to:

determine an average magnitude, wherein the average magnitude is equal to the average of the values determined for one or more groups in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles;

determine an average angle, wherein the average angle is equal to the average of the angles representative of the one or more groups in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles; and

output a second graphical representation based upon the aggregate magnitude and the aggregate angle.

17. The system of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to:

for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, determine a first orthogonal and a second orthogonal for the group based upon the value determined for the group and the angle representative of the group;

determine an aggregate magnitude based upon the first and second orthogonals determined for the set of groups;

determine an aggregate angle based upon the first and second orthogonals determined for the set of groups; and

output a second graphical representation based upon the aggregate magnitude and the aggregate angle.

18. The system of claim 12 wherein the processor is configured to:

for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles;

determine a length for the bar for the group based upon the value determined for the group; and

determine an angle representative of the group.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the processor is configured to:

for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, scale the length of the bar for the group based upon an area available for outputting the graphical representation; and

for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, display the scaled bar for the group in the graphical representation.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein the path is a scanpath representing a path followed by an eye when viewing a scene.

21. A computer-implemented method for displaying a graphical representation for a path, the method:

determining, by a computer system, a set of path segments associated with the path;

determining, by the computer system, a set of angles associated with the path;

grouping, by the computer system, the angles in the set of angles into a set of one or more groups;

determining, by a computer system, a value for each group in the set of groups based upon one or more path segments from the set of path segments associated with the angles in the group; and

outputting, by the computer system, cause a graphical representation to be output for the path on the display, the graphical representation comprising a bar for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, wherein a bar for a group has a length based upon the value determined for the group and the bar is rotated by an angle representative of the group.