Three-dimensional model to facilitate user comprehension and management of information

• US 6,874,123 B1
• Filed: 02/09/1998
• Issued: 03/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: DeStefano, George Francis
• Primary Examiner(s): Paula, Cesar B
• Application Number:
  US09/020,668
• Time in Patent Office: 2,605 Days
• Field of Search: 707/526, 707/514, 707/530, 707/531, 707/500, 345/350, 345/782, 715/526, 715/514, 715/530, 715/531, 715/500
• US Class Current: 715/234
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/02 Knowledge representation; Symbolic representation

Abstract

A computer system and method of presenting information from a body of knowledge to a user utilize a three-dimensional model to facilitate user comprehension and management of both the specific information in the body of knowledge, as well as the contextual relationship of the information within the body of knowledge as a whole. An abstraction stack is utilized to concurrently display information elements associated with different levels of abstraction for a body of knowledge, with the information elements visually linked with one another in a three dimensional workspace to represent the hierarchical arrangement of the information elements within the scope of the overall body of knowledge. In addition, a computer system and method of authoring a body of knowledge permit a user to input information with the contextual relationship of the information within the overall body of knowledge established in an intuitive and efficient manner. An authoring tool facilitates the creation of a body of knowledge by an author by organizing information into one or more information elements associated with various levels of abstraction. Users are concurrently presented with a plurality of user input elements configured to receive input from a user, with each user input element associated with a particular level of abstraction. Once information is received into a particular user input element, an information element is stored in a computer system and associated with the level of abstraction for the user input element.

Claims

1. A method of accessing selected information from a body of knowledge stored in a computer system, the body of knowledge stratified into a plurality of levels of abstraction, the method comprising:

(a) concurrently displaying first and second information elements in first and second lenses on a computer display, respectively, the first and second information elements respectively associated with first and second levels of abstraction in the body of knowledge;

(b) visually linking the first and second information elements displayed on the computer display in a three dimensional workspace to represent a hierarchical arrangement of the first and second levels of abstraction, wherein visually linking the first and second information elements includes orienting the first and second lenses along an abstraction axis, the abstraction axis oriented generally perpendicular to the first and second lenses;

(c) applying a first filter criteria associated with the first lens to the plurality of information elements to generate a first set of filtered information elements;

(d) applying a second filter criteria associated with the second lens to the plurality of information elements to generate a second set of filtered information elements;

(e) displaying the first set of filtered information elements in the first lens; and

(f) displaying the second set of filtered information elements in the second lens.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein applying the first filter criteria filters out information elements associated with at least one predetermined level of abstraction.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein applying the first filter criteria applies a focus effect to information elements associated with at least one predetermined level of abstraction, and wherein displaying the first set of filtered information elements includes displaying the information elements associated with the predetermined level of abstraction with a visually distinct representation.

4. A method of accessing selected information from a body of knowledge stored in a computer system, the body of knowledge stratified into a plurality of levels of abstraction, the method comprising:

(a) concurrently displaying first and second information elements in first and second lenses on a computer display, respectively, the first and second information elements respectively associated with first and second levels of abstraction in the body of knowledge;

(b) visually linking the first and second information elements displayed on the computer display in a three dimensional workspace to represent a hierarchical arrangement of the first and second levels of abstraction, wherein visually linking the first and second information elements includes orienting the first and second lenses along an abstraction axis, the abstraction axis oriented generally perpendicular to the first and second lenses;

wherein the first and second lenses each display a current location in the body of knowledge, the method further comprising, in response to a user manipulating the first lens to display a predetermined location in the body of knowledge, updating the second lens to display the same predetermined location in the body of knowledge.

5. A method of accessing selected information from a body of knowledge stored in a computer system, the body of knowledge stratified into a plurality of levels of abstraction, the method comprising:

(a) concurrently displaying first and second information elements in first and second lenses on a computer display, respectively, the first and second information elements respectively associated with first and second levels of abstraction in the body of knowledge, and the first and second information elements associated with a common concept in the body of knowledge;

(b) visually linking the first and second information elements displayed on the computer display in a three dimensional workspace to represent a hierarchical arrangement of the first and second levels of abstraction, wherein visually linking the first and second information elements includes orienting the first and second lenses a long an abstraction axis, the abstraction axis oriented generally perpendicular to the first and second lenses, and wherein visually linking the first and second information elements includes highlighting the first information element displayed in the first lens in response to user selection of the second information element in the second lens.

6. A computer-implemented method of organizing information from a body of knowledge into a plurality of levels of abstraction, the method comprising:

(a) concurrently presenting a user with first and second user input elements, the first and second user input elements respectively associated with first and second levels of abstraction, and the first and second user input elements positioned within a three dimensional workspace to represent a hierarchical arrangement between the first and second levels of abstraction;

(b) receiving a first information element as user input to the first user input element;

(c) receiving a second information element as user input to the second user input element;

(d) storing the first information element in the computer system, including associating the first information element with the first level of abstraction; and

(e) storing the second information element in the computer system, including associating the second information element with the second level of abstraction.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising displaying the first and second information elements on a computer display, including:

(a) retrieving the first and second information elements from the computer system; and

(b) displaying each of the first and second information elements in at least one of first and second lenses based upon the association of each information element with the first and second levels of abstraction.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein each lens has associated therewith a filter criteria that selectively filters out information elements associated with at least one level of abstraction.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the filter criteria selectively applies a focus effect to information elements associated with at least one level of abstraction.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the first and second user input elements each include a window.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein the first and second user input elements each have associated therewith a filter criteria, the filter criteria associating the user input element with at least one level of abstraction, wherein associating the first and second information elements is performed in response to the filter criteria for the first and second user input elements.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising setting the filter criteria for the first user input element in response to user input.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the filter criteria for the first user input element passes the first and second levels of abstraction, the method further comprising further associating the first information element with the second level of abstraction.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the filter criteria for the first user input element passes the first and second levels of abstraction, the method further comprising:

(a) receiving a third information element as user input to the first user input element; and

(b) associating the third information element with at least one of the first and second levels of abstraction in response to user input.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the filter criteria for the first user input element includes a focus effect associated with the second level of abstraction, the method further comprising displaying the third information element in the first user input element with the focus effect applied thereto.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising, in response to user input of a third information element into one of the first and second user input elements, updating the other of the first and second user input elements to display the third information element if the filter criteria for the other of the first and second user input elements passes the third information element.

17. The method of claim 6, further comprising associating the first information element with a predetermined concept.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising setting the predetermined concept in response to user selection of an information element displayed in at least one of the first and second user input elements.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising setting the predetermined concept in response to a copy or cut operation.