Computer user interface with non-salience deemphasis
DCFirst Claim
1. In a computerized system having a computer, storage means for information represented by a sequence of displayable objects, a display for displaying such objects, and a user control device for said computer having means for accessing the storage means and for causing the display to display certain of the objects under control of the control device, the improvement comprising:
- a) first means in computer for displaying alongside the displayed objects a scroll bar as part of the control device, b) second means in the computer responsive to the user control device for selectively marking on the scroll bar an area corresponding to a first segment of the objects displayed for future retrieval or emphasis; and
c) third means connected to the second means for transforming the object display into shrunken and non-shrunken segments corresponding to the marked areas and for causing a corresponding change in the appearance of those scroll bar portions located opposite the marked objects.
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Abstract
A relativity controller is a scroll bar/window combination that provides a way to see data in relation to both the context of its wholeness and the salience of its contents. To accomplish this, the linear density or other appearance of the scroll bar (acting as a ruler or scale) varies with the density of the document salience (as indicated by different kinds of annotations or marks). It also provides a way to zoom between perspectives. This is usable on many different data types: including sound, video, graphics, calendars and word processors.
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Citations
8 Claims
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1. In a computerized system having a computer, storage means for information represented by a sequence of displayable objects, a display for displaying such objects, and a user control device for said computer having means for accessing the storage means and for causing the display to display certain of the objects under control of the control device, the improvement comprising:
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a) first means in computer for displaying alongside the displayed objects a scroll bar as part of the control device, b) second means in the computer responsive to the user control device for selectively marking on the scroll bar an area corresponding to a first segment of the objects displayed for future retrieval or emphasis; and
c) third means connected to the second means for transforming the object display into shrunken and non-shrunken segments corresponding to the marked areas and for causing a corresponding change in the appearance of those scroll bar portions located opposite the marked objects.
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2. In a computerized system having a computer, storage means for information represented by a sequence of displayable objects, a display for displaying such objects, and a user control device for said computer having means for accessing the storage means and for causing the display to display certain of the objects under control of the control device, the improvement comprising:
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(a) first means in the computer responsive to the user control device for selectively shrinking the display of a first segment of the objects displayed to emphasize the display of a second segment of the displayed objects;
(b) second means for displaying alongside the displayed objects a scroll bar as part of the control device, (c) third means connecting the second means to the first means such that transformation of the display into shrunken and non-shrunken segments causes a corresponding change in the appearance of those scroll bar portions located opposite the marked objects in proportion to the shrunken or non-shrunken segments in the document; and
(d) fourth means of changing perspective scaling of all marked segments by selectively changing the proportion used. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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Specification