Network visualization and navigation

• US 8,332,782 B1
• Filed: 02/22/2008
• Issued: 12/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Adobe Inc.
• Original Assignee: Adobe Systems Incorporated (Adobe Inc.)
• Inventors: Chang, Walter, Sakunkoo, Nathan
• Primary Examiner(s): Hailu, Tadesse
• Assistant Examiner(s): ULRICH, NICHOLAS S
• Application Number:
  US12/035,617
• Time in Patent Office: 1,754 Days
• Field of Search: 715/834, 715/853, 715/854, 715/855, 715/737, 715/738, 707/794, 707/805, 707/796
• US Class Current: 715/853
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport

Abstract

A display manager allows for visualization and navigation of a semantic network via an interactive graphical user interface. The display manager accesses a semantic network model defining relationships amongst nodes in the semantic network. Given a portion of the semantic network, the display manager renders a radial perspective to represent the node relationships in the given portion of the semantic network. The radial perspective includes a centered node, around which other displayed nodes and relationships are substantially concentrically arranged. To navigate to and view a different portion of the semantic network, the display manager allows the user to select nodes currently displayed in the radial perspective. In response to selection of one or more nodes, the display manager updates the radial perspective to represent nodes and node relationships from a different portion of the semantic network with the user-selected node as a new center node.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

based on a semantic network model defining relationships amongst multiple nodes in a semantic network, rendering a graphical user interface to include a first radial perspective of a portion of the semantic network as viewed from a first node of the semantic network;

receiving selection of a second node of the semantic network displayed in the first radial perspective; and

in response to receiving the selection, updating the graphical user interface to include a second radial perspective of a portion of the semantic network as viewed from the second node of the semantic network and providing a visual indication in the second radial perspective that the first node resides higher in a hierarchy than the second node.

2. The method as in claim 1, wherein rendering the graphical user interface to include the first radial perspective of the portion of the semantic network as viewed from the first node includes:

displaying the first node in the first radial perspective as a centroid;

displaying a set of branches emanating outward from the first node, the set of branches including;

i) a first branch extending from the first node to the second node, and ii) a second branch extending from the first node to a third node of the semantic network.

3. The method as in claim 2, wherein receiving selection of the second node displayed in the first radial perspective includes receiving input indicating to render the second node as the centroid instead of rendering the first node as the centroid of the graphical user interface;

and

wherein updating the graphical user interface to include the second radial perspective further comprises;

i) displaying the first node as one of multiple other nodes orbiting the second node, and ii) discontinuing display of the third node.

4. The method as in claim 3, wherein displaying the first node as one of multiple other nodes orbiting the second node further comprises:

providing a visual indication in the second radial perspective that the other multiple nodes orbiting the second node reside lower in the hierarchy than the second node.

5. The method as in claim 1, wherein updating the graphical user interface to include the second radial perspective includes:

displaying a center node in the second radial perspective;

displaying a set of branches emanating outward from the center node to a set of satellite nodes orbiting the center node, the satellite nodes including a first satellite node and a second satellite node; and

providing a visual indication that the first satellite node resides higher in a hierarchy than the center node and that the second satellite node resides lower in the hierarchy than the center node.

6. The method as in claim 1, wherein rendering the graphical user interface to include the second radial perspective of the portion of the semantic network as viewed from the second node includes:

displaying the second node in the second radial perspective as a centroid;

displaying a set of branches emanating outward from the second node, the set of branches including;

i) a first branch extending from the second node to the first node, and ii) a second branch extending from the second node to a third node of the semantic network.

7. The method as in claim 6, wherein displaying the set of branches emanating outward from the second node includes displaying a third branch emanating outward from the second node to a fourth node to indicate a relationship between the second node and the fourth node, the method further comprising:

displaying the fourth node to include multiple satellite nodes having respective branches to the fourth node, which is a centroid with respect to the multiple satellite nodes.

8. The method as in claim 7 further comprising:

displaying a given satellite node of the multiple satellite nodes as having multiple branches including;

a branch between the given satellite node and the fourth node as well as a branch between the given satellite node and the second node.

9. The method as in claim 7 further comprising:

providing a visual indication that the first node is a human type of resource and the fourth node represents a domain to which the first node is associated.

10. The method as in claim 7 further comprising:

providing a visual indication that the second node and third node are part of a first network of resources associated with the first node;

providing a visual indication that the nodes orbiting the fourth node are part of a second network of resources associated with the fourth node; and

providing a visual indication that the third branch defines a relationship between the first node and the fourth node.

11. The method as in claim 1 further comprising:

displaying the second radial perspective to include a first network of resources related to the second node;

displaying the second radial perspective to include a second network of resources related a domain node, the second network centered on the domain node, the resources of the second network orbiting the domain node; and

displaying a branch connecting the domain node and the second node to indicate that the second node is a member of a domain represented by the domain node, the branch thereby indicating an indirect relationship between the second node and the resources of the second network.

12. The method as in claim 11, further comprising:

allowing for selection of one of the first network and second network; and

filtering the second radial perspective to include a display of a selected network and to minimize display of an unselected network.

13. The method as in claim 1, wherein updating the graphical user interface to include the second radial perspective comprises:

displaying the first node and a set of multiple other nodes as satellite nodes with respect to the second node; and

via radial lines emanating outward from the second node, providing a visual indication in the second radial perspective;

i) that the first node resides higher in a hierarchy than the second node and ii) that each node in the set of multiple other nodes orbiting the second node reside lower in the hierarchy than the second node.

14. The method as in claim 1, comprising:

utilizing a first edge node declaration associated with the first node to identify which portion of the semantic network to display in the first radial perspective; and

utilizing a second edge node declaration associated with the second node to identify which portion of the semantic network in the second radial perspective.

15. A method comprising:

receiving selection of a resource;

utilizing a semantic network model associated with a navigable semantic network to identify expertise information and human resource information associated with the selected resource; and

displaying a portion of the navigable semantic network in a graphical user interface, the displayed portion of the navigable semantic network including the expertise information and human resource information associated with the selected resource, wherein displaying the portion of the navigable semantic network comprises displaying the selected resource as a centroid node and displaying orbiting nodes connected with branches to the centroid node, the orbiting nodes representing the expertise information.

16. The method as in claim 15, wherein displaying the portion of the navigable semantic network includes displaying a set of branches emanating radially outward from the centroid node to orbiting nodes.

17. The method as in claim 16 further comprising:

enabling selection of nodes of the navigable semantic network for viewing of documentation associated with the selected human resource at the centroid.

18. The method as in claim 15, wherein receiving the selection of the resource includes receiving selection of a human resource;

and

wherein displaying the portion of the navigable semantic network includes;

ii) displaying a first set of branches emanating radially outward from the centroid node to orbiting nodes, the orbiting nodes representing areas of expertise associated with the selected human resource; and

iii) displaying a second set of branches emanating radially outward from the orbiting nodes to illustrate corresponding multiple human resources in addition to the selected human resource that share a same area of expertise as the selected human resource at the centroid node.

19. The method as in claim 18, wherein displaying the first set of branches includes:

i) displaying a first branch from the centroid node to a first orbiting node representing a first area of expertise, and ii) displaying a second branch from the centroid node to a second orbiting node representing a second area of expertise; and

wherein displaying the second set of branches includes;

i) providing an indication that a first group of human resources share the first area of expertise with the human resource, and ii) providing an indication that a second group of human resources share the second area of expertise with the human resource.

20. The method as in claim 19 further comprising:

displaying the orbiting nodes in a first level concentric circle about the centroid; and

displaying the corresponding multiple human resources other than the selected human resource as a second level concentric circle about the centroid.

21. The method as in claim 15, wherein receiving the selection of the resource includes receiving selection of a human resource;

and

wherein initiating display of the portion of the navigable semantic network in the graphical user interface includes;

i) initiating display of the selected resource, and ii) initiating display of expertise information as a concentric set of area-of-expertise nodes around the selected resource, the method further comprising;

upon selection of an area-of-expertise node in the set, modifying the displayed portion of the semantic network model by;

i) initiating display of the selected area-of-expertise node as a centroid; and

ii) initiating display of a set of human resources in a concentric manner around the selected area-of-expertise node, the set of human resources including the selected human resource as well as other human resources sharing a same area of expertise as identified by the selected area-of-expertise node.

22. The method as in claim 15, wherein initiating display of the portion of the navigable semantic network in the graphical user interface includes displaying selectable nodes in relation to the selected resource to enable selection and viewing of documentation associated with the selected resource.

23. A computer readable medium comprising executable instructions encoded thereon operable on a computerized device to perform processing comprising:

based on a semantic network model defining relationships amongst multiple nodes in a semantic network, instructions for rendering a graphical user interface to include a first radial perspective of a portion of the semantic network as viewed from a first node of the semantic network;

instructions for receiving selection of a second node of the semantic network displayed in the first radial perspective; and

in response to receiving the selection, instructions for updating the graphical user interface to include a second radial perspective of a portion of the semantic network as viewed from the second node of the semantic network and to provide a visual indication in the second radial perspective that the first node resides higher in a hierarchy than the second node.

24. The computer readable medium as in claim 23, wherein the instructions for rendering the graphical user interface to include the first radial perspective of the portion of the semantic network as viewed from the first node include:

instructions for displaying the first node in the first radial perspective as a centroid;

instructions for displaying a set of branches emanating outward from the first node, the set of branches including;

i) a first branch extending from the first node to the second node, and ii) a second branch extending from the first node to a third node of the semantic network.

25. The computer readable medium as in claim 24, wherein the instructions for receiving selection of the second node displayed in the first radial perspective include:

instructions for receiving input indicating to render the second node as the centroid instead of rendering the first node as the centroid of the graphical user interface; and

wherein the instructions for updating the graphical user interface to include the second radial perspective further comprises;

i) instructions for displaying the first node as one of multiple other nodes orbiting the second node, and ii) instructions for discontinuing display of the third node.

26. The computer readable medium as in claim 25, wherein the instructions for displaying the first node as one of multiple other nodes orbiting the second node further include:

instructions for providing a visual indication in the second radial perspective that the other multiple nodes orbiting the second node reside lower in the hierarchy than the second node.

27. The computer readable medium as in claim 25, wherein the instructions for updating the graphical user interface to include the second radial perspective include:

instructions for displaying a center node in the second radial perspective;

instructions for displaying a set of branches emanating outward from the center node to a set of satellite nodes orbiting the center node, the satellite nodes including a first satellite node and a second satellite node; and

instructions for providing a visual indication that the first satellite node resides higher in a hierarchy than the center node and that the second satellite node resides lower in the hierarchy than the center node.

28. The computer readable medium as in claim 25, wherein the instructions for rendering the graphical user interface to include the second radial perspective of the portion of the semantic network as viewed from the second node include:

instructions for displaying the second node in the second radial perspective as a centroid; and

instructions for displaying a set of branches emanating outward from the second node, the set of branches including;

i) a first branch extending from the second node to the first node, and ii) a second branch extending from the second node to a third node of the semantic network.

29. The computer readable medium as in claim 28, wherein the instructions for displaying the set of branches emanating outward from the second node includes displaying a third branch emanating outward from the second node to a fourth node to indicate a relationship between the second node and the fourth node, the method further includes:

instructions for displaying the fourth node to include multiple satellite nodes having respective branches to the fourth node, which is a centroid with respect to the multiple satellite nodes.

30. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

a memory unit that stores instructions associated with an application executed by the processor; and

an interconnect coupling the processor and the memory unit, enabling the computer system to execute the application and perform operations of;

receiving selection of a resource;

utilizing a semantic network model associated with a navigable semantic network to identify expertise information and human resource information associated with the selected resource; and

displaying a portion of the navigable semantic network in a graphical user interface, the displayed portion of the navigable semantic network including the expertise information and human resource information associated with the selected resource, wherein displaying the portion of the navigable semantic network comprises displaying the selected resource as a centroid node and displaying orbiting nodes connected with branches to the centroid node, the orbiting nodes representing the expertise information.

31. A method comprising:

based on a semantic network model defining relationships amongst multiple nodes in a semantic network, rendering a graphical user interface to include a first radial perspective of a portion of the semantic network as viewed from a first node of the semantic network;

receiving selection of a second node of the semantic network displayed in the first radial perspective; and

in response to receiving the selection, updating the graphical user interface to include a second radial perspective of a portion of the semantic network as viewed from the second node of the semantic network and providing a visual indication that the first node is a human type of resource and that another node represents a domain to which the first node is associated.

32. A method comprising:

based on a semantic network model defining relationships amongst multiple nodes in a semantic network, rendering a graphical user interface to include a first radial perspective of a portion of the semantic network as viewed from a first node of the semantic network;

receiving selection of a second node of the semantic network displayed in the first radial perspective; and

in response to receiving the selection, updating the graphical user interface to include a second radial perspective of a portion of the semantic network as viewed from the second node of the semantic network and providing a visual indication that a second and a third node are part of the first network of resources and a visual indication that nodes orbiting a fourth node are part of a second network of resources.

33. A method comprising:

based on a semantic network model defining relationships amongst multiple nodes in a semantic network, rendering a graphical user interface to include a first radial perspective of a portion of the semantic network as viewed from a first node of the semantic network;

receiving selection of a second node of the semantic network displayed in the first radial perspective; and

in response to receiving the selection, updating the graphical user interface to include a second radial perspective of a portion of the semantic network as viewed from the second node of the semantic network, the graphical user interface displaying the first radial perspective displaying a first network of resources and the second radial perspective displaying a second network of resources.