Geometrical and Ontological Filtering Using Spatial Boundary of 3D Objects
First Claim
1. A method of displaying 3D model data from a dataset, by a graphical application on a video display, the method comprising:
- displaying, on the video display, a first display region having a plurality of visual indicia, each visual indicium being associated with an attribute;
displaying on the video display a second display region, each visual indicium being capable of being drag-and-dropped between the first display region and the second display region; and
in response to a visual indicium being drag-and-dropped between the first display region and the second display region, selecting for display on the video display, 3D model data in the dataset having an attribute associated with at least one visual indicium displayed in the second display region.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and apparatus are provided that improve graphical software applications, by filtering the data for display according to techniques for defining and manipulating visual indicia. Data may be filtered according to multiple filters that are combined in a number of ways to form the set of data for display. Data may be filtered ontologically and geometrically according to their relationships with other data. Visual indicia that represent filters may be drag-and-dropped between input areas to facilitate ease of use. Data selected according to a filter may be displayed at the same time as non-selected data by applying visually distinctive characteristics to the selected data. A virtual environment may be shown simultaneously on several different video displays at a single workstation.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method of displaying 3D model data from a dataset, by a graphical application on a video display, the method comprising:
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displaying, on the video display, a first display region having a plurality of visual indicia, each visual indicium being associated with an attribute; displaying on the video display a second display region, each visual indicium being capable of being drag-and-dropped between the first display region and the second display region; and in response to a visual indicium being drag-and-dropped between the first display region and the second display region, selecting for display on the video display, 3D model data in the dataset having an attribute associated with at least one visual indicium displayed in the second display region. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An apparatus for displaying representations of three-dimensional objects on a graphics display device, the apparatus comprising:
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a database configured to store a dataset of data that models the three-dimensional objects, at least one datum in the dataset having one or more ontological meanings; a storage device configured to store a plurality of data filters, each data filter being associated with at least one of the ontological meanings; a filtering processor, coupled to the database and the storage device, configured to receive a selection of at least one of the plurality of data filters, and filter the data in the dataset according to the meanings associated with the selected data filters to produce a display dataset; and a display processor, coupled to the graphics display device and the filtering processor, the display processor being configured to receive the display dataset from the filtering processor, and to cause the graphics display device to display the display dataset. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method of displaying, on a video display, a subset of data selected from a set of data, each datum in the set of data representing a three-dimensional object, the method comprising:
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assigning at least one meaning to at least one datum in the set of data, the collection of all assigned meanings forming an ontology; in a computer process; a) determining a first subset of the set of data, each datum in the first subset having a given first meaning in the ontology, b) determining a second subset of the set of data, each datum in the second subset having a given second meaning in the ontology, and c) forming a third subset of the set of data, the third subset comprising each datum in the first subset that satisfies a given geometric relationship with at least one datum in the second subset; and forwarding a signal toward the video display to cause the video display to graphically highlight the three-dimensional objects represented by the third subset. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A computer program product, for use on a computer system, for displaying, on a video display, a subset of data selected from a set of data, each datum in the set of data representing a three-dimensional object, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory, tangible computer-readable storage medium having program code thereon, the program code comprising:
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program code for assigning at least one meaning to at least one datum in the set of data, the collection of all assigned meanings forming an ontology; program code for determining a first subset of the set of data, each datum in the first subset having a given first meaning in the ontology; program code for determining a second subset of the set of data, each datum in the second subset having a given second meaning in the ontology; program code for forming a third subset of the set of data, the third subset comprising each datum in the first subset that satisfies a given geometric relationship with at least one datum in the second subset; and program code for forwarding a signal toward the video display to cause the video display to graphically highlight the three-dimensional objects represented by the third subset. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification