Event programming guide

• US 6,593,942 B1
• Filed: 03/31/2000
• Issued: 07/15/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Fish, Robert S., Bushmitch, Dennis
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid, Kristine
• Assistant Examiner(s): VU, THANH T
• Application Number:
  US09/539,564
• Time in Patent Office: 1,201 Days
• Field of Search: 345/848, 345/852, 345/963, 345/839, 345/720, 345/721, 705/8, 705/9, 725/39, 725/45, 725/46
• US Class Current: 715/721
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/14 Time supervision arrangements, e.g. real time clock
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/963 Calendar or scheduling

Abstract

An event programming guide for scheduling and retrieving items on a video display. The event programming guide includes a virtual analog clock interface disposed on the video display. The event programming guide includes a display interface medium that facilitates activation of an item selection feature for manipulating the items of interest on the video display for scheduling/retrieving and further programming.

Claims

1. An event programming guide for scheduling and retrieving items on a video display including a virtual analog clock interface disposed on the video display, and using an item selection feature, comprising:

a virtual analog clock interface disposed on the video display, said virtual clock interface having a face operable to visually represent a plurality of times, said virtual analog clock interface operable to display a point in time via hour and minute hands visually rendered on said face;

a window display disposed on the video display and interposed with the virtual analog clock interface, comprising a catalog of the items for scheduling and retrieving, wherein the items have predefined durations and are selectable via touch of the video display; and

a display interface medium that facilitates activation of the item selection feature, comprising both “

drag/drop” and

“

poke”

techniques for manipulating the items on the video display, wherein said display interface medium is adapted to initially schedule a selected item according to a specific time interval when the selected item is dragged into a position corresponding to a specific time represented on a face of said virtual analog clock interface, wherein the specific time interval is based on the specific time and a predefined duration of the selected event item;

wherein said point in time corresponds to a start time relating to said specific time interval.

2. The event programming guide according to claim 1, wherein said clock face can be used to display current time and assist in scheduling and retrieving items of interest.

3. The event programming guide according to claim 1, wherein an attribute of the face, including at least one of width, coloring, and highlighting, represents a time duration of the item in time.

4. The event programming guide according to claim 1, wherein an attribute of an item, including at least one of width, coloring and highlighting, represents a time duration of the item in time.

5. The event programming guide according to claim 1, wherein the catalog of items are predetermined objects of interest including at least one of news, sports, and commentary, selected by a user of the programming guide.

6. The event programming guide according to claim 1, wherein a design of the item selection feature automatically invokes secondary programming functions for a particular item of interest when selected.

7. The event programming guide according to claim 1, wherein the item selection feature comprises a touch screen technology.

8. The event programming guide according to claim 1, wherein the item selection feature comprises a moving cursor.

9. The event programming guide according to claim 1, wherein the item selection feature comprises a pen-based technology.

10. The event programming guide according to claim 1, wherein the item selection feature comprises a touch-ball technology.

11. The event programming guide according to claim 1, wherein the item selection feature comprises a “

mouse”

technology.

12. The event programming guide according to claim 1, wherein selection of an item in the window display will display a corresponding event time designating the item, on the virtual analog clock interface and on the window display, and each item may be scrolled to reveal all sub items within a category.

13. The event programming guide according to claim 1, wherein the display interface medium incorporates the selection of the item by selecting the item in the catalog and “

dragging”

it to the virtual analog clock interface, ‘

dropping’

the item at a desired time interval on the clock interface, displaying the event time on the display interface medium, adjusting the event time by the “

drag/drop”

technique, and “

poking”

at a selected item to reveal its event time and any associated programming highlights.

14. The event programming guide according to claim 13, wherein adjusting the event time includes the “

drag/drop”

technique using the catalog item displayed on the virtual analog clock interface.

15. The event programming guide according to claim 13, wherein adjusting the event time includes the “

drag/drop”

technique using the hour and minute hands displayed on the virtual analog clock interface.

16. The event programming guide according to claim 13, wherein the video display includes a plurality of disposed virtual analog clock displays interposed with the item selection feature thus facilitating multiple screen display interactions.

17. The event programming guide according to claim 13, wherein the plurality of virtual analog clock displays includes a 3D screen layout, allowing the user to browse in time among different items.

18. The event programming guide according to claim 17, wherein the item in the catalog is “

double tapped”

thus accessing at least one associated function including a recording function.

19. A video display that includes a touch screen technology incorporating an electronic programming guide for scheduling items of interest, the electronic programming guide comprising:

a virtual analog clock display with hour and minute hands visually rendering at least one of a current time and scheduled times of the items of interest, said virtual clock display having a face operable to visually represent a plurality of times, said virtual analog clock display operable to display a point in time via said hour and minute hands as visually rendered on said face;

a catalog of the items of interest, wherein the items have predefined start times and predefined durations and are selectable via touch of the video display; and

a display interface medium that facilitates the touch screen display technology, comprising both “

drag and drop” and

“

poke”

techniques for manipulating the objects of the video display, wherein said display interface medium is adapted to initially schedule a selected item according to a specific time interval when the selected event item is initially selected, wherein the specific time interval is based on a predefined start time and a predefined duration of the selected item;

wherein said point in time corresponds to said predefined start time.

20. The video display according to claim 19, wherein ‘

double tapping’

on an item of interest reveals a plurality of secondary programming features including a recording feature.

21. The video display according to claim 19, wherein a plurality of virtual analog clock displays are disposed simultaneously, creating a 3D screen effect, thus allowing viewable time progressive and split screen scheduling.

22. A method of forming an event scheduling guide for scheduling and retrieving items on a video display, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a virtual analog clock interface disposed on the video display, said virtual analog clock interface operable to display a point in time via hour and minute hands visually rendered on the face of said virtual analog clock interface;

providing touch screen display technology to manipulate the items on the video display;

displaying the items in a catalog of items of interest selective to a user of the event scheduling guide; and

facilitating the touch screen display technology by a display interface medium that includes “

drag/drop” and

“

poke”

techniques for screen manipulations, and is adapted to initially schedule a selected item of interest using the “

drag drop” and

“

poke”

techniques;

wherein said point in time corresponds to a start time relating to a specific time interval associated with a scheduled event item whenever said selected item of interest is selected, in said facilitating, for scheduling as said scheduled event item.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises the step of incorporating a ‘

double tapping’

technique to access secondary programming functions for a particular item of interest.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises the step of providing simultaneous viewing of a plurality of virtual analog clock interfaces in a 3D effect thus allowing time progressive and split screen scheduling.

25. An event programming guide for use with a computerized device having a visual display with touch screen capability, comprising:

a catalog of event items displayed on the visual display, wherein the event items have predefined durations and are selectable via touch of the visual display;

a virtual analog clock interface displayed on the visual display and having a face operable to visually represent a plurality of times, said virtual analog clock interface operable to display a point in time via hour and minute hands visually rendered on said face, said point in time corresponding to a specific time relating to a specific time interval associated with a scheduled event item whenever the scheduled event item is selected from said catalog; and

a display interface medium adapted to initially schedule a selected event item according to a specific time interval when the selected event item is dragged into a position corresponding to a specific time represented on the face of said virtual analog clock display;

wherein said specific time interval is based on said specific time and a predefined duration of said selected event item.

26. The event programming guide of claim 25, wherein said display interface medium is adapted to reschedule the selected event item according to a new specific time interval when the selected event item is dragged into a position corresponding to a new specific time on the face of said virtual analog clock display, wherein the new specific, time interval is based on the new specific time and the predefined duration of the selected event item.

27. The event programming guide of claim 26, wherein the point in time corresponds to a current time.

28. An event programming guide for use with a computerized device having a visual display with touch screen capability, comprising:

a catalog of event items displayed on the visual display, wherein the event items have predefined start times and predefined durations and are selectable via touch of the visual display;

a virtual analog clock interface displayed on the visual display and having a face operable to visually represent a plurality of times, said virtual analog clock interface operable to display a point in time via hour and minute hands visually rendered on said face, wherein said point in time corresponds to a start time relating to a specific time interval associated with a scheduled event item whenever the scheduled event item is selected from said catalog; and

a display interface medium adapted to initially schedule a selected event item according to a specific time interval when the selected event item is initially selected, wherein the specific time interval is based on a start time and a predefined duration of the selected event item, and wherein said display interface medium is adapted to automatically visually associate a scheduled event item with a portion of said virtual analog clock interface, wherein the portion visually represents at least part of a specific time interval of the scheduled event item.

29. The event programming guide of claim 28, wherein the hour and minute hands are selectable via touch of the visual display, wherein said display interface medium is adapted to reschedule the selected event item according to a new specific time interval when the hour and minute hands are selected and dragged into a position corresponding to a new start time on the face of said virtual analog clock display, and wherein the new specific time interval is based on the new start time and the predefined duration of the selected event item.

30. The event programming guide of claim 28, wherein the hour and minute hands are operable to display a current time.

31. The event programming guide of claim 28, wherein said display interface medium is adapted to retrieve a scheduled event item when the hour and minute hands move into a position corresponding to a specific time interval associated with the scheduled event item.