Computer user interface with non-salience de-emphasis
DCFirst Claim
1. In a computerized system having a computer, storage for information represented by a sequence of displayable objects, a display for displaying such objects, and a user control device for said computer, said computer able to access the storage and cause the display to display certain of the objects under control of the control device, the improvement comprising:
- (a) a relativity controller in the computer to selectively shrink the display of a first segment of the objects displayed and to emphasize the display of a second segment of the objects displayed, wherein the relativity controller is responsive to the user control device;
(b) a scroll bar is displayed with the objects displayed, wherein the scroll bar is responsive to the user control device;
(c) the scroll bar includes a thumb which corresponds in location to where the objects displayed are located within the sequence of displayable objects; and
(d) the relativity controller is associated with the scroll bar such that the scroll bar changes appearance in response to what proportion the relativity controller selectively shrinks the display of the first segment of the 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.
90 Citations
9 Claims
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1. In a computerized system having a computer, storage for information represented by a sequence of displayable objects, a display for displaying such objects, and a user control device for said computer, said computer able to access the storage and cause the display to display certain of the objects under control of the control device, the improvement comprising:
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(a) a relativity controller in the computer to selectively shrink the display of a first segment of the objects displayed and to emphasize the display of a second segment of the objects displayed, wherein the relativity controller is responsive to the user control device;
(b) a scroll bar is displayed with the objects displayed, wherein the scroll bar is responsive to the user control device;
(c) the scroll bar includes a thumb which corresponds in location to where the objects displayed are located within the sequence of displayable objects; and
(d) the relativity controller is associated with the scroll bar such that the scroll bar changes appearance in response to what proportion the relativity controller selectively shrinks the display of the first segment of the objects. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. In a computerized system having a computer, storage for information represented by a sequence of displayable objects and a display for displaying such objects, the computer able to access the storage and cause the display to display certain of the objects, the improvement comprising:
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a relativity controller in the computer for determining which instances of the objects are meaningful and shrinking display of non-meaningful objects a they are displayed, to emphasize the objects which are meaningful; and
a scroll bar is displayed with the objects displayed, wherein the scroll bar is responsive to said relativity controller;
wherein the sequence of displayable objects are members of the set consisting of sound, text, and video objects and determination whether an individual object is meaningful is based upon a characteristic of the object. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8)
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9. In a computerized system having a computer, storage for information represented by a sequence of displayable objects and a display for displaying such objects, the computer able to access the storage and cause the display to display certain of the objects, the improvement comprising:
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a relativity controller in the computer for determining which instances of the objects are meaningful and shrinking display of non-meaningful objects a they are displayed, to emphasize the objects which are meaningful; and
a scroll bar is displayed with the objects displayed, wherein the scroll bar is responsive to said relativity controller;
wherein said relativity controller shrinks display of the non-meaningful objects in a proportion relative to display of the objects which are meaningful;
the computer is further able to present a cursor in the display; and
said cursor changes appearance responsive to said proportion.
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Specification