Motion user interface

• US 6,198,483 B1
• Filed: 11/05/1997
• Issued: 03/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/30/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ken Launais
• Original Assignee: Ken Launais
• Inventors: Launais, Ken
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cao H.
• Application Number:
  US08/964,655
• Time in Patent Office: 1,217 Days
• Field of Search: 345/340, 345/341, 345/342, 345/355, 345/356, 345/357, 345/977
• US Class Current: 715/848
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• 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 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/977 Dynamic icon, e.g. animated or live action

Abstract

A data viewing terminal for displaying graphical indices pointing to elements of a database of information in a way that takes into account properties of the human visual perception system so as to maximize the amount of information that the user can absorb. The system has an interface with a processor that displays the graphical indices as images moving across a viewing screen. The screen is divided into viewing segments, each of which displays graphical indices in motion in a direction predetermined for that segment where the information in at least one pair of adjacent viewing segments moves in anti-parallel directions.

Claims

1. A data viewing terminal for displaying graphical indices corresponding to elements of a database of information, said terminal interfacing with a processor that displays said graphical indices as images moving across a viewing screen,

said screen divided into a plurality of viewing segments, each viewing segment displaying said graphical indices in motion in a direction predetermined for said segment, such that the graphical indices in at least one pair of adjacent viewing segments move in opposing directions;

and

means for selecting one of said graphical indices;

wherein said viewing segments are configured and said graphical indices are moving such that two input channels are presented to a visual cortex of a user.

2. The data viewing terminal for displaying graphical indices of claim 1, wherein each viewing segment has an apparent perspective vanishing point such that the motion of each image moves towards and decreases in size as it approaches the vanishing point of the segment.

3. The data viewing terminal for displaying graphical indices of one of claims 1 or 2 in which there are at least four viewing segments arranged of which three have graphical indices flowing in parallel directions and a fourth opposing direction.

4. The data viewing terminal for displaying graphical indices of one of claims 1 or 2 in which there are at least four viewing segments arranged so that there are two pairs of viewing areas having graphical indices flowing parallel within each pair and in opposing directions as between pairs.

14. The data viewing terminal for displaying graphical indices of one of claims 1,2 and 5-13, wherein said viewing screen comprises one or more regions comprising luminance zones in which images are distinguished by color from indices outside said luminance zones.

5. A data viewing terminal for displaying graphical indices corresponding to elements of a database of information, said terminal interfacing with a processor that displays said graphical indices as images moving across a viewing screen,

said screen divided into a plurality of viewing segments comprising left and right rows narrowing in perspective towards a central region, each viewing segment displaying graphical indices in motion towards said central region, such that the graphical indices in each viewing segment are present for a predetermined time before moving into the next adjacent segment;

and

means for selecting one of said graphical indices.

6. The data viewing terminal of claim 5, wherein the viewing terminal has an outer edge and motion of the segments towards a central vanishing point causes the viewer to view the outer edges of the data viewing terminal, whereby graphical indices at the outer edges are focused upon by the user.

7. The data viewing terminal for displaying graphical indices of claim 5 wherein each of said viewing segments comprises a parametric repeat pattern of identical pairs of graphical indices in reverse linear order, each pair comprising two elements moving in anti-parallel motion.

8. A data viewing terminal for displaying graphical indices corresponding to elements of a database of information, said terminal interfacing with a processor that displays said graphical indices as images moving across a viewing screen,

said screen divided into a plurality of viewing segments comprising left and right rows broadening in perspective towards a central region, each viewing segment displaying graphical indices in motion towards said central region, such that the graphical indices in each viewing segment are present for a predetermined time before moving into the next adjacent segment;

and

means for selecting one of said graphical indices;

wherein said viewing segments are configured and said graphical indices are moving such that two input channels are presented to a visual cortex of a user.

9. A data viewing terminal for displaying graphical indices corresponding to elements of a database of information, said terminal interfacing with a processor that displays said graphical indices as images moving across a viewing screen,

said screen divided into at least four quadrants of viewing segments in which said graphical indices stream in parallel or anti-parallel directions, wherein at least one pair of adjacent elements moves antiparallel to an adjacent stream;

and

means for selecting one of said graphical indices;

wherein said viewing segments are configured and said graphical indices are moving such that two input channels are presented to a visual cortex of a user.

10. The data viewing terminal of claim 9 in which only one quadrant has a graphical stream that move antiparallel to the remaining graphical streams.

11. The data viewing terminal of claim 9 in which two quadrants have graphical streams that move antiparallel to the remaining graphical streams.

12. A data viewing terminal for displaying graphical indices corresponding to elements of a database of information, said terminal interfacing with a processor that displays said graphical indices as images moving across a viewing screen,

said screen divided into multiple cells of viewing segments having a perspective converging to a central portion of the screen, wherein the graphical images within each segment move toward said central portion;

and

means for selecting one of said graphical indices.

13. A data viewing terminal for displaying graphical indices corresponding to elements of a database of information, said terminal interfacing with a processor that displays said graphical indices as images moving across a viewing screen,

said screen divided into multiple cells of viewing segments, wherein a plurality of said graphical indices are repeated in different cells and the motion of streams of said indices brings identical indices together during a portion of their motion;

and

means for selecting one of said graphical indices.

15. A data viewing terminal for enabling a user to display graphical indices corresponding to elements of a database of information, said terminal interfacing with a processor that displays said graphical indices as images moving across a viewing screen,

said screen divided into multiple cells of viewing segments, wherein each cell is associated with a visual tag region moving in opposite directions, said tag regions each comprising one of at least first and second types, said second type being associated with cells having content that matches predefined parameters;

and

said visual tag regions being associated with said second tag type being selectable by the user.

16. The data viewing terminal of claim 15, wherein said first type of tag comprises streaming lines and said second type of tag comprises a zig-zag pattern.

17. The data viewing terminal of claim 15, wherein said second tag type upon selection by the user acts as a trigger to expand its associated visual segment to open further visual segments.

18. The data viewing terminal of claim 17, wherein said further visual segments comprise a vertical row of segments.

19. A data viewing terminal for enabling a user to display graphical indices corresponding to elements of a database of information, said terminal interfacing with a processor that displays said graphical indices as images moving across a viewing screen,

said screen divided into a piano view of multiple cells of viewing segments that converge to a central portion of the screen, wherein said segments display information in a preset temporal sequence such that the order in which information is displayed to the different segments repeats in a regular sequence or series of sequences,

wherein said regular sequence or series of sequences are configured such that the visual cortex of a user can recognize the visual pattern of the regular sequence or series of sequences.

20. A data viewing terminal for enabling a user to display graphical indices corresponding to elements of a database of information, said terminal interfacing with a processor that displays said graphical indices as images moving across a viewing screen,

said screen divided into quadrants and aligned mini-data cells, each mini-data cell comprising a reduced copy of a corresponding image present in a quadrant or adjacent to a quadrant,

and such that the central mini-cell is equivalent to an image in a quadrant, and the central cell'"'"'s adjacent mini-cells are equivalent to images that have already been displayed or are about to be displayed in a quadrant.

21. The data viewing terminal for enabling a user to display graphical indices of claim 20, wherein said mini-data cells contain information corresponding to streaming information within the quadrants.

22. A computer program product for presenting a plurality of images on a display, comprising:

at least one computer readable medium;

computer program instructions embodied in the at least one computer readable medium for a causing a computer to;

present a first subset of the plurality of images in a first viewing area of the display, each of the first subset of images moving in a first direction; and

present a second subset of the plurality of images in a second viewing area of the display, each of the second subset of images moving in a second direction;

wherein the first and second viewing areas are configured and the images are moving such that two input channels are presented to a visual cortex of a user.

23. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the first and second directions are opposite each other.

24. The computer program product of claim 23 wherein the first and second directions are toward a central region of the display.

25. The computer program product of claim 23 wherein the first and second directions are away from a central region of the display.

26. The computer program product of claim 23 wherein the first direction is toward a top edge of the display and the second direction is toward a bottom edge of the display.

27. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the computer program instructions further cause the computer to:

present a third subset of the plurality of images in a third viewing area of the display, each of the third subset of images moving in a third direction; and

present a fourth subset of the plurality of images in a fourth viewing area of the display, each of the fourth subset of images moving in a fourth direction;

wherein the first, second, third and fourth viewing areas are configured such that two input channels are presented to a user'"'"'s visual cortex.

28. The computer program product of claim 27 wherein the first and second directions are opposite each other and the third and fourth directions are opposite each other.

29. The computer program product of claim 27 wherein the first and second directions are opposite each other and the third and fourth directions are the same.

30. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein each of the first and second viewing areas comprises an image region which narrows in aspect toward a central region of the display, the first and second subsets of images moving in their respective image regions.

31. The computer program product of claim 30 wherein each image region provides perspective views of the images therein, selected ones of the plurality of images being further toward the central region than others of the plurality of images and therefore appearing farther away than the others of the plurality of images.

32. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein each of the first and second viewing areas comprises an image region which is two-dimensional in appearance.

33. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein movement of the first and second subsets of images appears smooth to the user'"'"'s visual cortex.

34. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein each of the first and second viewing areas comprises a plurality of image regions which move across the display in the first and second viewing areas in the first and second directions, respectively.

35. The computer program product of claim 34 wherein the computer program instructions further cause the computer to present each of the first and second subsets of images in a corresponding image region in the first and second viewing areas, each of the image regions periodically stopping for a predetermined period of time.

36. The computer program product of claim 34 wherein the computer program instructions further cause the computer to present each of the first and second subsets of images in a corresponding image region in the first and second viewing areas, each of the image regions appearing to the user'"'"'s visual cortex to move smoothly across the display.

37. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the computer program instructions further cause the computer to:

present first duplicates of the first subset of images in the first viewing area, each of the first duplicates moving in a third direction opposite the first direction; and

present second duplicates of the second subset of images in the second viewing area, each of the second duplicates moving in a fourth direction opposite the second direction.

38. The computer program product of claim 37 wherein movement of the images and their duplicates causes each image to be presented adjacent its duplicate in a central portion of the viewing area in which each image is presented.

39. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein each of the first and second viewing areas comprises a first region having an increased luminance relative to a remaining portion of the viewing area thereby highlighting images in the first region.

40. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the computer program instructions further cause the computer to visually identify at least one of the plurality of images in at least one of the first and second viewing areas according to at least one user specified criterion.

41. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein visual identification of the at least one of the plurality of images is effected by augmenting the at least one of the plurality of images.

42. The computer program product of claim 40 wherein the computer program instructions further cause the computer to present a visual tag region adjacent the images in each of the first and second viewing areas, the visual tag region having a particular characteristic when adjacent the at least one of the plurality of images.

43. The computer program product of claim 42 wherein the computer program instructions further cause the computer to enable the user to view an additional stream of images relating to the at least one of the plurality of images.

44. The computer program product of claim 43 wherein the additional stream of images is presented in response to the user selecting the at least one of the plurality of images.

45. The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the computer program instructions further cause the computer to:

provide a first image region in the first viewing area in which the first subset of images moves and second image region in the second viewing area in which the second subset of images moves;

provide a first slide view region in the first viewing area, the first slide view region presenting selected ones of the first subset of images; and

provide a second slide view region in the second viewing area, the second slide view region presenting selected ones of the second subset of images.

46. The computer program product of claim 45 wherein the selected ones of the first subset of images comprises images currently moving through the first image region, images about to enter the first image region, and images which recently left the first image region, and wherein the selected ones of the second subset of images comprises images currently moving through the second image region, images about to enter the second image region, and images which recently left the first second region.

47. The computer program product of claim 45 wherein the first slide view region presents more of the first subset of images than the first image region, and wherein the second slide view region presents more of the second subset of images than the second image region.

48. A method for transmitting computer program instructions from a server to a remote device via a wide area network, comprising:

storing computer program instructions in a memory associated with the server, the computer program instructions being for causing a computer to;

present a first subset of the plurality of images in a first viewing area of the display, each of the first subset of images moving in a first direction; and

present a second subset of the plurality of images in a second viewing area of the display, each of the second subset of images moving in a second direction;

wherein the first and second viewing areas are configured and the images are moving such that two input channels are presented to a user'"'"'s visual cortex; and

transmitting the computer program instructions from the server to the remote device.

49. A computer implemented method for presenting a plurality of images on a display, comprising:

presenting a first subset of the plurality of images in a first viewing area of the display, each of the first subset of images moving in a first direction; and

presenting a second subset of the plurality of images in a second viewing area of the display, each of the second subset of images moving in a second direction;

wherein the first and second viewing areas are configured and the images are moving such that two input channels are presented to a user'"'"'s visual cortex.

50. The method of claim 49 wherein the plurality of images are transmitted to a computer associated with the display from a remote platform via a wide area network, the computer having a computer readable medium in which computer program instructions for performing the method are stored.

51. The method of claim 49 wherein the plurality of images are transmitted to a computer associated with the display from a remote platform via a wide area network, the remote platform having a computer readable medium in which computer program instructions for performing the method are stored.

52. A computer, comprising:

memory;

a processor; and

a display;

wherein computer program instructions are stored in the memory for causing the processor to;

present a first plurality of images in a first viewing area of the display, each of the first plurality of images moving in a first direction; and

present a second plurality of images in a second viewing area of the display, each of the second plurality of images moving in a second direction;

wherein the first and second viewing areas are configured and the images are moving such that two input channels are presented to a user'"'"'s visual cortex.

53. A computer program product for presenting a plurality of images on a display, comprising:

at least one computer readable medium;

computer program instructions embodied in the at least one computer readable medium for a causing a computer to;

present a first subset of the plurality of images in a first viewing area of the display, each of the first subset of images moving within a first image region in a first direction; and

present a second subset of the plurality of images in a second viewing area of the display, each of the second subset of images moving within second image region in a second direction opposing the first direction;

wherein each of the first and second image regions narrows in aspect toward a central region of the display and provides perspective views of the images therein, and wherein the first and second viewing areas are configured and the images are moving such that two input channels are presented to a visual cortex of a user.

54. A computer program product for presenting a plurality of images on a display, the display being divided into a plurality of viewing regions, the computer program product comprising:

at least one computer readable medium;

computer program instructions embodied in the at least one computer readable medium for a causing a computer to;

sequentially presenting a first subset of the plurality of images in the viewing regions according to a first pattern;

after presenting the first subset, sequentially presenting a second subset of the plurality of images in the viewing regions according to a second pattern; and

alternating between the first and second patterns for successive subsets of the images.

55. The computer program product of claim 54 wherein the display is divided into four viewing regions including an upper and lower left viewing regions and upper and lower right viewing regions, the first, second and successive sets each including four of the plurality of images, the first pattern being upper left, lower right, lower left, upper right, and the second pattern being upper left, lower left, upper right, lower right.