User Interface with Z-axis Interaction and Multiple Stacks

• US 20110296351A1
• Filed: 08/06/2010
• Published: 12/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/26/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Rossan, Steven A., Mann, Jonathan L., Kuncl, Parker Ralph, Barton, Jupiter Macleod, Panchal, Prarthana H., Goran, Charles, Ewing, Richard Alan JR.
• Application Number:
  US12/852,086
• Publication Number:
  US 20110296351A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/841
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04108 Touchless 2D- digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface without distance measurement in the Z direction
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0346 with detection of the device orientation or free movement in a 3D space, e.g. 3D mice, 6-DOF [six degrees of freedom] pointers using gyroscopes, accelerometers or tilt-sensors
• 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: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text

Abstract

A user interface presents a plurality of items configured as a stack in a display of a device. The stack is scrollable in a direction oblique to a plane of the display for successively viewing the items in the stack. Some implementations provide multiple stacks of items laterally navigable into a viewable area of the display.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a user interface on a display of a device, the user interface presenting a plurality of items arranged in a plurality of stacks, wherein

each stack comprises a plurality of items navigable in a direction oblique to a plane of the display, and

navigation from a particular stack presented in a focus of the user interface to an adjacent stack is by navigation in a direction within the plane of the display;

presenting a plurality of first stacks representing a first level of a navigation hierarchy; and

expanding a selected first stack to provide a plurality of second stacks, the plurality of second stacks representing a second level of the navigation hierarchy corresponding to the selected first stack.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein

each first stack has a centricity that is different from a centricity of the other first stacks;

and

the plurality of second stacks have a centricity based on the centricity of the selected first stack.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein one of the first stacks is a people-centric stack and expansion of the people-centric stack provides the plurality of second stacks, each second stack representing a different application relating to a plurality of people, the method further comprising:

navigating in a currently presented one of the second stacks in the focus to a first item associated with a particular person; and

navigating an adjacent second stack into the focus, wherein the adjacent second stack presents a second item associated with the particular person.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein when a particular adjacent second stack does not include an item associated with the particular person, the interface presents an item inviting a user to add information associated with the particular person to the particular adjacent second stack.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein one of the first stacks is a calendar-centric stack, the method further comprising:

providing one or more expansion controls selectable for expanding the calendar-centric stack into the plurality of second stacks as one of a day view, a week view or a month view, wherein

expansion into the day view provides the plurality of second stacks, wherein each second stack represents a day and items in the second stack represent time slots in the day;

expansion into the week view provides the plurality of second stacks, wherein each second stack represents a week and items in the second stack represent days of the week; and

expansion into the month view provides the plurality of second stacks, wherein each second stack represents a month and items in the second stack represent days of the month.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein one of the first stacks is an application-centric stack and expansion of the application-centric stack provides the plurality of second stacks, the plurality of second stacks each representing different categories of applications, the method further comprising:

navigating in a currently presented one of the second stacks currently in the focus to an item associated with a particular application; and

navigating an adjacent second stack into the focus, wherein the adjacent second stack presents a beginning item of the adjacent second stack.

7. The method according to claim 2, wherein one of the first stacks is a device-management-centric stack, and expansion of the device-management-centric stack provides the plurality of second stacks, the plurality of second stacks each representing different categories of device management options, the method further comprising:

navigating in a currently presented one of the second stacks currently in the focus to an item associated with a particular device management option; and

navigating an adjacent second stack into the focus, wherein the adjacent second stack presents a beginning item of the adjacent second stack.

8. The method according to claim 2, wherein one of the first stacks is a media-centric stack, and expansion of the media-centric stack provides the plurality of second stacks, the plurality of second stacks each representing different types of media content items, the method further comprising:

expanding a particular one of the second stacks to provide a plurality of third stacks based on the type of media content item of the particular second stack.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the particular second stack is a photo-centric stack, and expansion of the photo-centric stack provides the plurality of third stacks, the plurality of third stacks each representing different photograph storage categories, each of the plurality of third stacks including a plurality of items for representing photographs.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein one of the particular second stacks is a music-centric stack, and expansion of the music-centric stack provides the plurality of third stacks, the plurality of third stacks each representing different music storage categories, wherein navigation from a current stack to an adjacent stack results in navigation to an analogous item in the adjacent stack or navigation to a beginning item of the adjacent stack, depending on the category of the adjacent stack.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing at least one of:

a control that is selectable to expand the selected first stack into the plurality of second stacks;

or

a control that is selectable to collapse the plurality of second stacks into the first stack.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the control is provided as a virtual control presented on a touch screen display.

13. Computer-readable media containing instructions to be executed by a processor for implementing a user interface, the user interface comprising:

a plurality of stacks generated for presentation on a display, each stack comprising a beginning item and a plurality of items behind the beginning item, the plurality of items of each stack being navigable in a direction oblique to a plane of the display to sequentially display items in the stack, wherein

following navigation in the direction oblique to the plane of the display to a particular item in a first stack, when the user interface receives an input to move an adjacent second stack into a viewable area of the display, the user interface determines a type of the second stack for determining whether to present an analogous item of the second stack or the beginning item of the second stack in the user interface.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the beginning item of the second stack is presented when the items in the second stack do not have a correspondence with the items in the first stack.

15. The computer readable media according to claim 13, wherein

the second stack and the first stack each have items identified according to people;

and

navigation to the second stack from an item related to a particular person in the first stack results in presentation of a particular item of the second stack related to the particular person.

16. The computer readable media according to claim 13, wherein

the second stack and the first stack each have items identified according to an artist or a song;

and

navigation to the second stack from an item related to a particular artist or song in the first stack results in presentation of a particular item of the second stack related to the particular artist or song, respectively.

17. A device comprising:

a display;

a processor in communication with computer-readable media;

a user interface component, maintained in the computer-readable media and executed on the processor, to present a user interface on the display, the user interface comprising;

a plurality of stacks, each stack comprising a plurality of items navigable in a direction oblique to a plane of the display for successively presenting the items in the stack, wherein a first stack is presented in a viewable area of the display and an adjacent second stack is moveable in a direction in a plane of the display to replace the first stack in the viewable area.

18. The device according to claim 17, further comprising at least one control that is selectable to perform at least one of:

expand a stack displayed in the viewable area of the display into a plurality of stacks of a lower hierarchical level;

or

collapse a plurality of stacks into a single stack of a higher hierarchical level.

19. The device according to claim 18, wherein the display is a touch screen and the at least one control comprises multiple virtual controls displayed on the display, wherein a first virtual control expands a stack and a second virtual control collapses a plurality of stacks.

20. The device according to claim 17, wherein when a currently displayed stack is a calendar-centric stack, the interface provides at least one control to expand the stack into at least one of:

a day view that provides a plurality of day stacks, wherein each day stack represents a day and items in the day stack represent time periods in the day;

a week view that provides a plurality of week stacks, wherein each week stack represents a week and items in the week stack represent days of the week; and

a month view that provides a plurality of month stacks, wherein each month stack represents a month and items in the month stack represent days of the month.

21. A device comprising:

a display;

a processor in communication with computer-readable media; and

a user interface component, maintained in the computer-readable media and executed on the processor, to present a user interface on the display, the user interface comprising;

a scrollable list of categories; and

a stack of items related to the categories, wherein as the list of categories is scrolled, the stack of items scrolls in a direction oblique to a plane of the display.

22. The device according to claim 21, wherein when a particular category of the list of categories is selected, a related item related to the particular category is displayed at as a front item of the stack of items.

23. The device according to claim 22, the user interface further comprising a plurality of related representations displayed in the user interface, wherein the plurality of related representations are related to the particular item and the particular category.

24. The device according to claim 23, wherein:

the plurality of related representations are scrollable in a direction corresponding to the plane of the display; and

the plurality of related representations comprise at least one of;

stacks of items related to the particular category, or

individual items related to the particular category.