Perspective windowing technique for computer graphical user interface
First Claim
1. A method for efficiently displaying a plurality of windows on a display of a computer, the method comprising the steps of:
- displaying a full scale frontal view of an active one of said windows on said display; and
displaying each background one of said windows on said display with perspective depth with respect to a focal point such that information displayed in said background one of said windows is full scale at a front edge of said background one of said windows and progressively smaller moving away from said front edge toward a rear edge of said background one of said windows, said display of said background one of said windows being responsive to user selection of said focal point.
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Abstract
System for implementing a perspective windowing technique for a computer GUI is disclosed. The perspective windowing system of the present invention displays each of a plurality of open but inactive, or "background," windows, with perspective depth with respect to one or more focal points, resulting in the background windows effectively taking up less space on the display of the PC. In contrast, a full frontal view of the active window is presented on the display to call the user'"'"'s attention to the active window. When the user activates a new window, it swings forward about its full scale front edge, such that a full frontal view of the newly active window is presented on the display, and the previously active window swings back about an axis defined by its full front scale edge to be displayed in perspective with respect to the predefined focal point.
179 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method for efficiently displaying a plurality of windows on a display of a computer, the method comprising the steps of:
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displaying a full scale frontal view of an active one of said windows on said display; and displaying each background one of said windows on said display with perspective depth with respect to a focal point such that information displayed in said background one of said windows is full scale at a front edge of said background one of said windows and progressively smaller moving away from said front edge toward a rear edge of said background one of said windows, said display of said background one of said windows being responsive to user selection of said focal point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A computer program for enabling the efficient display of a plurality of windows on a display of a computer, the computer program stored on a computer-readable medium and comprising:
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instructions for displaying a full scale frontal view of an active one of said windows on said display; and instructions for displaying each background and one of said windows on said display with perspective depth with respect to a focal point such that information displayed in a background one of said windows is full scale at a front edge of said background one of said windows and progressively smaller moving away from said front edge toward a rear edge of said background one of said windows, said display of said background one of said windows being responsive to user selection of said focal point. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. Apparatus for enabling the efficient display of a plurality of windows on a display of a computer, the apparatus comprising:
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means for displaying a full scale frontal view of an active one of said windows on said display; and means for displaying each background one of said windows on said display with perspective depth with respect to a focal point such that information displayed in a background one of said windows is full scale at a front edge of said background one of said windows and progressively smaller moving away from said front edge toward a rear edge of said background one of said windows, sad display of said background one of said windows being responsive to user selection of said focal point. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification