GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE, COMPUTING DEVICE, AND METHOD FOR OPERATING THE SAME

• US 20130127850A1
• Filed: 09/16/2011
• Published: 05/23/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gooisoft Limited
• Original Assignee: Gooisoft Limited
• Inventors: BINDON, Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 9,684,426 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/420
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04802 3D-info-object: information is displayed on the internal or external surface of a three dimensional manipulable object, e.g. on the faces of a cube that can be rotated by the user
• 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: G06T 19/20 Editing of 3D images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/2016 Rotation, translation, scaling

Abstract

A user interface for a computing device, the interface comprising means for defining a coordinate system of a 3D frame (1), the 3D frame (1) being rotatable within a 3D environment of the user interface; and a plurality of 3D elements (2), each 3D element (2) being locatable at a position relative to the coordinate system for rotation with the 3D frame (1) and comprising a graphical indicator for id entifying the 3D element (2).

Claims

1. A user interface for a computing device, the interface comprising:

means for defining a coordinate system of a 3D frame, the 3D frame being rotatable within a 3D environment of the user interface; and

a plurality of 3D elements, each 3D element being locatable at a position relative to the coordinate system for rotation with the 3D frame and comprising a graphical indicator for identifying the 3D element.

2. A user interface according to claim 1, wherein the coordinate system is defined by an origin of the 3D frame.

3. A user interface according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying a surface of the 3D frame, the 3D elements being locatable on or relative to a position on the 3D frame surface based on the coordinate system.

4. A user interface according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of 3D elements is an icon or a data placeholder.

5. A user interface according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of 3D elements comprises a sphere or a cone.

6. A user interface according to claim 5, wherein the cone has a circular base.

7. A user interface according to claim 5, wherein the cone has a height to radius ratio of 1:

15-30.

8. A user interface according to claim 5, wherein the cone=s base faces towards the origin of the 3D frame.

9. A user interface according to claim 1, wherein the 3D frame is a sphere.

10. A user interface according to claim 3, wherein the 3D frame surface has variable transparency.

11. A user interface according to claim 1, wherein each 3D element is automatically rotatable about its own axis when moved within the 3D environment such that its graphical indicator remains upright from in the point of view of a user.

12. A user interface according to claim 1, further comprising means for applying an automatic object spacing algorithm for controlling the spacing of 3D elements which are within a predetermined distance of each other.

13. A user interface according to claim 12, wherein the automatic object spacing algorithm is disabled after attempting to space two or more 3D elements for more than a predetermined number of iterations.

14. A user interface according to claim 1, wherein groups of 3D elements within a predetermined distance of each other are selectable as a group.

15. A user interface according to claims 14, further comprising means for applying an automatic group spacing algorithm for controlling the spacing of groups of 3D elements which are within a predetermined distance of each other.

16. A user interface according to claim 1, further comprising user control means for allowing a user to adjust the size of at least one of the plurality of 3D elements.

17. A user interface according to claim 1, further comprising linking elements for visually linking between 3D elements.

18. A user interface according to claim 1, wherein the graphical indicator of each 3D element is applied to its surface as a texture.

19. A user interface according to claim 1, further comprising a memory for storing the locations of the 3D elements relative to the coordinate system at intervals in time.

20. A method of implementing a user interface for a computing device, the method comprising:

providing data for defining a coordinate system of a 3D frame, the 3D frame being rotatable within a 3D environment of the user interface; and

providing data for displaying a plurality of 3D elements, each 3D element being locatable at a position relative to the coordinate system for rotation with the 3D frame and comprising a graphical indicator for identifying the 3D element.

21. A computing device comprising:

a module for defining a coordinate system of a 3D frame, the 3D frame being rotatable within a 3D environment of the user interface; and

a module for defining a plurality of 3D elements within the 3D environment, each 3D element being locatable at a fixed position relative to the coordinate system for rotation with the 3D frame and comprising a graphical indicator for identifying the 3D element; and

a graphics processing unit for rendering the 3D environment and the 3D elements for display on a display screen.