User interface for displaying and exploring hierarchical information

• US 6,879,332 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2001
• Issued: 04/12/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DataCloud Technologies, LLC (IP Investments Group LLC)
• Original Assignee: Groxis, Inc.
• Inventors: Decombe, Jean Michel
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cao (Kevin)
• Application Number:
  US09/859,343
• Publication Number:
  US 20020145623A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,427 Days
• Field of Search: 345/764, 345/781, 345/808, 345/810, 345/841, 345/848, 345/853, 345/760, 345/762, 345/763, 345/854, 345/835
• US Class Current: 715/764
• 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: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus

Abstract

A user interface is animated and configurable to optimize, facilitate and simplify displaying on a display device and exploring via user input a hierarchy of information accessible by an electronic device.

Claims

1. A user interface system comprising:

a plurality of nodes organized into a hierarchy of information wherein at least one node is a source focus and nodes contained inside the focus forming a sub-hierarchy,

said focus being substantially centered in a view,

an aggregator mechanism for associating at least one visual cue to a node in the view and where the visual cue suggests the contents of said at least one node to a user interacting with the system,

a means for rendering nodes in the view.

2. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the aggregation mechanism associates a cue with a node to indicate that the node contains sub-hierarchy that is completely hidden.

3. The user interface of claim 2, wherein the cue is convex shape.

4. The user interface of claim 2, wherein the node having an associate cue contains other nodes all of which are too small to be displayed.

5. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the aggregation mechanism associates a cue with the node indicates that the node contains partial hidden sub-hierarchy.

6. The user interface of claim 5, wherein the cue is concave shape.

7. The user interface of claim 5, wherein the node in the view associated with a cue contains other nodes some of which are too small to be displayed.

8. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the aggregation mechanism associates a cue with the node to indicate that the node contains no hidden sub-hierarchy.

9. The user interface of claim 8, wherein the cue has a flat shape.

10. The user interface of claim 8, wherein the cue indicates that all nodes contained in the node having the cue are visible and displayed.

11. The user interface of claim 8, wherein the node having a cue to indicate the node contains no hidden sub-hierarchy is also empty and a leaf node.

12. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the aggregation mechanism associates a color or symbol to establish visual cues.

13. The user interface of claim 1, wherein node shape, color or symbol may depict or suggest the absence or presence of additional information in the hierarchy.

14. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the system includes an adjustable view angle.

15. The user interface of claim 1, wherein the system further including at least one adjustable parameter to facilitate exploration wherein the adjustable parameter may change the number of nodes displayed or the visual cues applied by the aggregator mechanism.

16. The user interface of claim 15, wherein a user may adjust the adjustable parameter to display only a few or many nodes in order to simplify exploration or facilitate an individual'"'"'s understanding of the entire hierarchy of information, respectively.

17. The user interface of claim 15, wherein the adjustable parameter is selected from the group consisting of view size, minimum node size, focus-to-view ratio and default maximum leaf size.

18. The user interface of claim 17, wherein focus-to-view ratio is the selected adjustment and is provided via a slider incorporated on a display screen.

19. The user interface of claim 15, wherein changes to the selected parameter may result in a change of a node'"'"'s visual cue.

20. The user interface of claim 19, wherein a change in the selected adjustable parameter results in at least one node having a cue change and where the cue changes to a shape selected from the group consisting of convex, concave and flat.

21. A user interface system comprising:

a plurality of nodes organized into a hierarchy of information wherein at least one node is a source focus and nodes contained inside the focus forming a sub-hierarchy,

said focus being substantially centered in a view,

an aggregator means for associating at least one visual cue to a node in the view and where the visual cue suggests the contents of said at least one node to a user interacting with the system,

a means for rendering nodes in the view according to their associated visual cue,

wherein the system may allow a user to change focus to a destination node in the hierarchy.

22. The user interface of claim 21, wherein the user selects the destination node with a pointing device.

23. The user interface of claim 22, wherein the pointing device enables a user to click on a node around the focus and where the system responds by shrinking the visible space.

24. The user interface of claim 22, wherein the pointing device enables a user to click on a node outside the focus and where the system responds migrating or translating the visible space.

25. The user interface of claim 22, wherein the pointing device enables a user to click on a node inside the focus and where the system responds by enlarging the visible space associated with the node.

26. The user interface of claim 22, wherein a transition is shown in the view to animate the change of source focus to destination focus selected by the user.

27. The user interface of claim 22, wherein the destination node selected by the user is substantially centered in the view at the termination of the animation.

28. The user interface of claim 27, wherein the user interface also having an adjustment for animation speed factor.

29. The user interface of claim 27, wherein the animation is a linear straight-line transition.

30. The user interface of claim 27, wherein the animation is non-linear transition having a non-linear speed.

31. The user interface of claim 27, wherein the animation is combination of translating and morphing.

32. The user interface of claim 31, wherein the animation may suggest or infer the direction and length of the vector from the newly selected destination node position to the source focus position in the center of the view.

33. The user interface of claim 27, wherein the user interface further including an animation frame count that sets number of frames to use in the animation.

34. The user interface of claim 33, wherein the animation frame count is automatically configured based on system memory, processor speed, etc.

35. The user interface of claim 33, wherein the destination node'"'"'s position and size are computed relative to the focus node and a vector from the destination node'"'"'s position to the source node'"'"'s position is computed and divided by the animation frame count to determine if it exceeds the size of the view.

36. The user interface of claim 35, wherein the divided value is greater than the size of the view and a morphing animation is used to symbolize the long transition.

37. The user interface of claim 35, wherein the divided value is less than the size of the view and the vector is broken down into a discrete amount of steps of which the destination node'"'"'s position and size is progressively adjusted to reach those of the focus node.