Information presentation apparatus and method

• US 6,339,431 B1
• Filed: 09/14/1999
• Issued: 01/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Nagai, Takeshi, Ohmori, Yoshihiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu, Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): HAVAN, THU THAO
• Application Number:
  US09/395,221
• Time in Patent Office: 854 Days
• Field of Search: 345/116, 345/433, 345/619, 345/604, 345/585, 345/586, 345/730, 345/731, 345/732, 345/733, 345/734, 707/500, 707/512, 707/530, 709/217, 709/205
• US Class Current: 345/619
• 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

Abstract

A data input section inputs time series data changeable over the passage of time. An annotation input section inputs an annotation related to at least one of the time series data. A transformation section transforms the annotation according to a correlation between the annotation and the time series data. An output section outputs the transformed annotation combined with the time series data.

Claims

1. An information presentation apparatus, comprising:

data display means for displaying time series data as a dynamic image changeable over the passage of time;

annotation input means for inputting an annotation related to at least one of the time series data by handwriting a figure on said data display means while displaying the dynamic image, the annotation being the handwritten figure;

transformation means for transforming the annotation according to a correlation between the annotation and the time series data to be displayed, the transformation being at least one of elimination, movement, change of color degree, and change of size; and

data combining means for combining the transformed annotation with the time series data, and for sending the combined data to said data display means.

2. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 1,

further comprising an object detection means for detecting objects from the time series data, and

wherein said transformation means transforms the annotation according to a correlation between the annotation and an object related with the annotation.

3. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 2,

further comprising a memory for storing the time series data and the annotation related to the object in the time series data, and

a retrieval means for retrieving the time series data including the object related to the annotation from said memory.

4. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said transformation means transforms the annotation according to a change in the content of the time series data.

5. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 1,

further comprising a scene change detection means for detecting one of the time series images in which content changes, and

wherein said transformation means eliminates the annotation from the one of the time series images successively in response to a detection signal of said scene change detection means.

6. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said transformation means gradually eliminates the annotation from the time series images in proportion to the passage of time.

7. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said data combining means stops updating of the time series image displayed during a period from the beginning of the input of the annotation to the completion of the input of the annotation through said annotation input means.

8. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 2,

wherein said object detection means selects the object related to the annotation from each object in the time series image by comparing each distance between a position of the annotation and a position of each object.

9. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein said transformation means moves the annotation in the time series image in proportion to the movement of the object related to the annotation.

10. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein said transformation means creates a reflected image of the annotation if the annotation is positioned outside of the time series image to be displayed, and

wherein said display means displays the reflected image with the object related to the annotation in the time series image.

11. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein said transformation means enlarges or reduces the annotation in the time series image in respective proportion to and enlargement or reduction of the object related to the annotation.

12. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein said object detection means selects an annotation related to a background image if the position of the annotation coincides with a predetermined area of the time series image, and

wherein said transformation means does not move the annotation related to the background image in the time series image.

13. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 8,

wherein said annotation input means indicates one point of the object to which the annotation is inputted, and

wherein said transformation means automatically creates a circumferential figure of the object as the annotation.

14. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 13,

wherein said data combining means eliminates the annotation from the time series image if the object related to the annotation does not appear in the time series image, and displays the annotation again in the time series image if the object related to the annotation reappears in the time series image.

15. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 3,

wherein said memory includes a dynamic image memory section for storing frame number and object identifier for each image, an annotation memory section for storing annotation identifier for each annotation image, a relational memory section for storing the annotation identifier, the object identifier of the object related with the annotation, and the frame number of the image to which the annotation is inputted.

16. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 15,

wherein said retrieval means retrieves the frame number, the annotation identifier and the object identifier from said relational memory, and

wherein said output means displays the image of the frame number as an index image for a user, in which the annotation of the annotation identifier is related with the object of the object identifier.

17. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 15,

wherein said retrieval means traces one image in which the object related to the annotation first appears, and newly adds the annotation to the object from the one image to the image of the frame number.

18. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 15,

wherein said annotation input means indicates a deletion of the annotation related to the object in the time series image, and

wherein said retrieval means eliminates the annotation identifier and the annotation image of the indicated annotation from said annotation memory and said relational memory.

19. An information presentation method, comprising:

displaying time series data as a dynamic image changeable over the passage of time on a screen;

inputting an annotation related to at least one of the time series data by handwriting a figure on the screen while displaying the dynamic image, the annotation being the handwritten figure;

transforming the annotation according to a correlation between the annotation and the time series data to be displayed, the transformation being at least one of elimination, movement, change of color degree, and change of size;

combining the transformed annotation with the time series data; and

displaying the combined data on the screen.

20. A computer readable memory containing computer readable instructions, comprising:

instruction means for causing a computer to display time series data as a dynamic image changeable over the passage of time on a screen;

instruction means for causing a computer to input an annotation related to at least one of the time series data by handwriting a figure on the screen while displaying the dynamic image, the annotation being the handwritten figure;

instruction means for causing a computer to transform the annotation according to a correlation between the annotation and the time series data to be displayed, the transformation being at least one of elimination, movement, change of color degree, and change of size;

instruction means for causing a computer to combine the transformed annotation with the time series data; and

instruction means for causing a computer to display the combined data on the screen.

21. An information presentation apparatus, comprising:

a display configured to display time series data as a dynamic image changeable over the passage of time;

an annotation input unit configured to input an annotation related to at least one of the time series data by handwriting a figure on said display while displaying the dynamic image, the annotation being the handwritten figure;

a transformation unit configured to transform the annotation according to a correlation between the annotation and the time series data to be displayed, the transformation being at least one of elimination, movement, change of color degree, and change of size; and

a data combining unit configured to combine the transformed annotation with the time series data, and to send the combined data to said display.