Method and apparatus for organizing and processing information using a digital computer

• US 6,256,032 B1
• Filed: 01/19/2000
• Issued: 07/03/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/07/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TheBrain Technologies, LP
• Original Assignee: TheBrain Technologies Corporation
• Inventors: Hugh, Harlan M.
• Primary Examiner(s): SAX, STEVEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US09/487,701
• Time in Patent Office: 531 Days
• Field of Search: 345/326-358
• US Class Current: 715/854
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/904 Browsing; Visualisation therefor for navigating the web G06F16/954; browsing optimisation for the web G06F16/957

Abstract

A method and apparatus for organizing and processing pieces of interrelated information (or “thoughts”) using a digital computer is disclosed. The invention employs a graphical user interface to facilitate user interaction with highly flexible, associative “matrices” that enable users conveniently to organize digitally-stored thoughts and their network of interrelationships. Each of the thoughts may be affiliated with one or more application programs, such as a word processing or spreadsheet utility, or an Internet browser. Users are able conveniently to select a current thought along with any applications or content associated with that thought by interacting with the graphical representation. That representation is automatically reoriented about the selected thought, and is revised to reflect only those thoughts having predetermined relations to that current thought. Users can easily modify the matrix by interactively redefining relations between thoughts. Further aspects of the invention include techniques permitting automated generation of thought matrices, delayed loading to facilitate navigation amongst thoughts without undue delay due to bandwidth constraints, and matrix division and linking to allow optimal data structure flexibility. Finally, the present invention is interoperable with computer networks including the internet, and offers an intuitive scalable methodology for the navigation and management of essentially immeasurable information resources and knowledge bases that transcends the limitations inherent in traditional hierarchical approaches.

Claims

1. A method for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) defining a thought network that includes the plurality of thoughts, among which is a first thought having a direct network relationship with an initial current thought, and a second thought also having a direct network relationship with the initial current thought, wherein the first and second thoughts are not directly related to each other;

(b) displaying a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought;

(c) selecting the first thought from the first graphical representation as a new current thought;

(d) determining, in response to the selection of the new current thought, which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought; and

(e) displaying a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought, the second graphical representation including at least the new current thought, the initial current thought and the second thought.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein an application program is associated with one or more of the thoughts in the thought network.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(a) creating a new network relationship between two of the plurality of thoughts; and

(b) displaying a third graphical representation of the thought network including the new network relationship.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(a) deleting an existing network relationship between two of the plurality of thoughts; and

(b) displaying a third graphical representation of the thought network including at least one of the two thoughts and excluding the deleted network relationship.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(a) associating each of at least two thoughts of the thought network with one or more attribute values; and

(b) searching the thought network for those thoughts having attribute values equal to a specified set of attribute values.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

associating one or more usage statistics with at least one thought of the thought network, the usage statistics describing at least one processing task performed by a user in connection with that thought.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

displaying a history of the processing task based upon the usage statistics.

8. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

undoing the processing task based upon the usage statistics.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

(a) associating at least one thought of the thought network with at least one scheduled time and desired operation; and

(b) automatically executing the desired operation associated with that thought at the scheduled time.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the second graphical representation is displayed in a first window, and data associated with the new current thought is displayed in a second window.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one thought in the thought network is associated with remotely stored data.

12. A system for organizing and processing a plurality thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) a definition of a digital computer data structure that can represent a thought network including the plurality of thoughts, among which is a first thought having a direct network relationship with an initial current thought, and a second thought also having a direct network relationship with the initial current thought, wherein the first and second thoughts are not directly related to each other; and

(b) a current thought network display mechanism that, in response to the selection of a current thought, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the current thought, and can display a graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the current thought, whereby the current thought network display mechanism can;

(i) display a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought,

(ii) determine, in response to a selection of the first thought from the first graphical representation as a new current thought, which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and

(iii) display a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought, the second graphical representation including at least the new current thought, the initial current thought and the second thought.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein an application program is associated with one or more of the thoughts in the thought network.

14. The system of claim 12 wherein the current thought network display mechanism can, upon the creation of a new network relationship between two of the plurality of thoughts, display a third graphical representation of the thought network including the new network relationship.

15. The system of claim 12 wherein the current thought network display mechanism can, upon the deletion of an existing network relationship between two of the plurality of thoughts, display a third graphical representation of the thought network including at least one of the two thoughts and excluding the deleted network relationship.

16. The system of claim 12 wherein at least two thoughts of the thought network can be associated with at least one or more attribute values, and the thought network can be searched for those thoughts having attribute values equal to a specified set of attribute values.

17. The system of claim 12 wherein one or more usage statistics can be associated with at least one thought of the thought network, the usage statistics describing at least one processing task performed by a user in connection with that thought.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein a history of the processing task can be displayed based upon the usage statistics.

19. The system of claim 17 wherein the processing task can be undone based upon the usage statistics.

20. The system of claim 12 wherein at least one thought of the thought network can be associated with at least one scheduled time and desired operation, and the desired operation associated with that thought can be executed automatically at the scheduled time.

21. The system of claim 12 wherein the current thought network display mechanism can display the second graphical representation in a first window, and can display data associated with the new current thought in a second window.

22. The system of claim 12 wherein at least one thought in the thought network can be associated with remotely stored data.

23. A method for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) defining a thought network that includes the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts;

(b) associating an application program with one or more of the thoughts in the thought network;

(c) displaying a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought;

(d) selecting a new current thought from the first graphical representation; and

(e) in response to the selection of the new current thought determining which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and displaying a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought.

24. A system for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) a definition of a digital computer data structure that can represent a thought network including the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts, and wherein an application program is associated with one or more of the thoughts of the thought network; and

(b) a current thought network display mechanism that, in response to the selection of a current thought, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the current thought, and can display a graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the current thought, whereby the display mechanism can display a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought and, in response to the selection of a new current thought from the first graphical representation, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and can display a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought.

25. A method for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) defining a thought network that includes the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts;

(b) displaying a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought;

(c) selecting a new current thought from the first graphical representation; and

(d) in response to the selection of the new current thought determining which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and displaying a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought, wherein the second graphical representation includes at least one direct network relationship between two thoughts neither of which is the new current thought.

26. A system for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) a definition of a digital computer data structure that can represent a thought network including the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts; and

(b) a current thought network display mechanism that, in response to the selection of a current thought, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the current thought, and can display a graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the current thought, wherein the graphical representation can include at least one direct network relationship between two thoughts neither of which is the current thought, whereby the display mechanism can display a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought and, in response to the selection of a new current thought from the first graphical representation, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and can display a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought.

27. A method for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) defining a thought network that includes the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts;

(b) displaying a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought;

(c) creating a new network relationship with one of the thoughts displayed in the first graphical representation by interacting directly with that thought, wherein the new network relationship can be any one of a plurality of relationship types, and wherein the relationship type is determined automatically based upon the location of the interaction;

(d) selecting a new current thought from the first graphical representation; and

(e) in response to the selection of the new current thought determining which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and displaying a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought.

28. A system for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) a definition of a digital computer data structure that can represent a thought network including the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts;

(b) a current thought network display mechanism that, in response to the selection of a current thought, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the current thoughts, and can display a graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the current thought, whereby the display mechanism can display a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought and, in response to the selection of a new current thought from the first graphical representation, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and can display a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought; and

(c) a network relationship creation mechanism that can create a new network relationship with one of the thoughts displayed by the display mechanism as result of a direct interaction with that thought, wherein the new network relationship can be any one of a plurality of relationship types, and wherein the relationship type is determined automatically based upon the location of the interaction.

29. A method for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) defining a thought network that includes the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts;

(b) displaying a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought;

(c) selecting a new current thought from the first graphical representation; and

(d) in response to the selection of the new current thought determining which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and displaying a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought, after displaying one or more intermediate graphical representations of the thought network as transitions between the first and second graphical representations.

30. A system for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) a definition of a digital computer data structure that can represent a thought network including the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts; and

(b) a current thought network display mechanism that, in response to the selection of a current thought, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the current thought, and can display a graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the current thought, whereby the display mechanism can display a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought and, in response to the selection of a new current thought from the first graphical representation, can determine which of the plurality of the thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and can display a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought, after displaying one or more intermediate graphical representations of the thought network as transitions between the first and second graphical representations.

31. A method for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) defining in persistent storage a thought network that includes the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts;

(b) displaying a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought;

(c) selecting a new current thought from the first graphical representation; and

(d) in response to the selection of the new current thought determining which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, retrieving one or more of the related thoughts by randomly accessing the persistent storage, and displaying a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought.

32. A system for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) a definition of a digital computer data structure that can represent in persistent storage a thought network including the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts; and

(b) a current thought network display mechanism that, in response to the selection of a current thought, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the current thought, can retrieve one or more of the related thoughts by randomly accessing the persistent storage, and can display a graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the current thought, whereby the display mechanism can display a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought and, in response to the selection of a new current thought from the first graphical representation, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and can display a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought.

33. A method for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) defining a thought network that includes the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts;

(b) displaying a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought;

(c) selecting a new current thought from the first graphical representation; and

(d) in response to the selection of the new current thought determining which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and displaying a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought, wherein the second graphical representation includes no overlapping thoughts and at least two thoughts that are not equidistant from the new current thought.

34. A system for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) a definition of a digital computer data structure that can represent a thought network including the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts; and

(b) a current thought network display mechanism that, in response to the selection of a current thought, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the current thought, and can display a graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the current thought, wherein the second graphical representation can include, without any overlapping thoughts, at least two thoughts that are not equidistant from the current thought, whereby the display mechanism can display a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought and, in response to the selection of a new current thought from the first graphical representation, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and can display a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought.

35. A method for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) defining a thought network that includes the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts;

(b) displaying a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought;

(c) selecting a new current thought from the first graphical representation; and

(d) in response to the selection of the new current thought determining which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and displaying a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought, wherein the second graphical representation includes a visible indicator of a network relationship between at least one thought that is displayed in the second graphical representation and at least one thought that is not displayed in the second graphical representation.

36. A system for organizing and processing a plurality of thoughts using a digital computer, comprising:

(a) a definition of a digital computer data structure that can represent a thought network including the plurality of thoughts, among which is an initial current thought, and at least one network relationship between the initial current thought and one or more of the other thoughts; and

(b) a current thought network display mechanism that, in response to the selection of a current thought, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the current thought, and can display a graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the current thought, wherein the graphical representation includes a visible indicator of a network relationship between at least one thought that is displayed in the graphical representation and at least one thought that is not displayed in the graphical representation, whereby the display mechanism can display a first graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the initial current thought and, in response to the selection of a new current thought from the first graphical representation, can determine which of the plurality of thoughts, if any, are related to the new current thought, and can display a second graphical representation of the thought network from the perspective of the new current thought.