Apparatus and method for distributing representative images in partitioned areas of a three-dimensional graphical environment
First Claim
1. A method for distributing representative images of a group of objects in a database for display within an area bounded by a plurality of partitions within a three-dimensional graphical environment comprising:
- scaling an image to obtain a scaled dimension for each image while maintaining its original aspect ratio;
determining image weight factors based on scaled dimensions;
determining partition weight factors based on an associated display dimension of each partition;
distributing images to successive partitions by matching each partition weight factor to one image weight factor dependent on a predetermined functional relationship.
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for distributing representative images of a plurality of data objects within a database within a partitioned three-dimensional graphical environment is described. According to the apparatus and method an environment is divided into areas bounded by partitions, and groups of representative images are distributed and displayed upon these partitions. In general, distribution of the representative images is achieved by determining weight factors for each partition bounding a given area and determining weight factors for representative images that are to be displayed within the areas upon the partitions and then distributing the images dependent on the comparison of the image weight factors to partition weight factors.
62 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for distributing representative images of a group of objects in a database for display within an area bounded by a plurality of partitions within a three-dimensional graphical environment comprising:
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scaling an image to obtain a scaled dimension for each image while maintaining its original aspect ratio;
determining image weight factors based on scaled dimensions;
determining partition weight factors based on an associated display dimension of each partition;
distributing images to successive partitions by matching each partition weight factor to one image weight factor dependent on a predetermined functional relationship. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An apparatus for distributing representative images of a group of objects in a database for display within an area defined by a plurality of partitions within a three-dimensional graphical environment comprising:
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image dimension scaler for scaling each image to obtain a scaled dimension while maintaining the aspect ratio of the image;
weight factor determiner for determining image weight factors based on corresponding scaled dimensions and for determining partition weight factors based on corresponding display dimensions; and
image distributor for distributing images to successive partitions dependent on the matching of each partition weight factor to one image weight factor dependent on a predetermined functional relationship. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of displaying representative images of a plurality of data objects in a database within a three-dimensional graphical environment comprising:
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partitioning the environment by representing a database of objects with a hierarchical tree including object nodes derived from object metadata and recursively partitioning the environment into a plurality of areas bounded by partitions such that the areas are proportional to object node weights;
distributing groups of representative images within each of the plurality of areas by;
scaling images to obtain a scaled dimension for each image in the group while maintaining its original aspect ratio;
determining image weight factors for the group of images based on scaled dimensions;
determining partition weight factors based on an associated display dimension of each partition;
distributing the group of images to successive partitions by matching each partition weight factor to one image weight factor dependent on a predetermined functional relationship. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification