Dynamic data item searching

• US 8,745,058 B1
• Filed: 02/21/2012
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/21/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Garcia-Barrio, Laura
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, CAM LINH T
• Application Number:
  US13/400,814
• Time in Patent Office: 833 Days
• Field of Search: 707/737, 707/999.101
• US Class Current: 707/737
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/44 Browsing; Visualisation therefor

Abstract

Methods and systems for searching and navigating through data items in a database are provided. In one example, each data item in the database is associated with attributes and attribute values. The data items in the database may be grouped according to a first selection of attributes and attribute values, forming a first data item cluster of data items associated with the first selection of attributes and attribute values. From among the attributes and attribute values associated with data items in the first data item cluster, a second selection of attributes and attribute values may be made. A second data item cluster may be formed including data items associated with the second selection of attributes and attribute values. After a desired data item is found, a computing action associated with the desired data item may then be executed.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

at least one processor;

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the at least one processor to perform functions comprising;

maintaining a data item-attribute database comprising data for a set of data items, wherein the data for a given one of the data items specifies one or more attributes from a set of attributes;

receiving first input data indicating a first selection of one or more attributes from the set of attributes;

grouping a first subset of data items from the set of data items into at least a first data item cluster, wherein each data item in the first data item cluster shares at least one of the one or more first selected attributes;

causing a display to provide a first visual indication of the first data item cluster including one or more graphical icons representative of at least one of the one or more attributes shared by each data item in the first data item cluster;

receiving second input data indicating a second selection of one or more of the graphically represented attributes associated with one or more data items in the first data item cluster;

grouping a second subset of data items from the set of data items into at least a second data item cluster, wherein each data item in the second data item cluster shares at least one of the one or more second selected attributes; and

causing the display to provide a second visual indication of the second data item cluster.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the display is a head-mounted display.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein causing the display to provide the first visual indication of the first data item cluster comprises:

causing the display to provide a visual indication of each data item in the first data item cluster.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein receiving second input data indicating the second selection of one or more attributes further comprises:

before receiving the second input data indicating the second selection, receiving scrolling input data indicating directional scrolling through the visual indication of the first data item cluster to a visual indication of a particular data item in the first data item cluster; and

receiving selection input data indicating a selection of one or more attributes of the particular data item in the first data item cluster.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein receiving scrolling input data indicating directional scrolling of the visual indication of the first data item cluster to the visual indication of the particular data item in the first data item cluster comprises:

detecting a physiological state corresponding to the directional scrolling.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein detecting the physiological state corresponding to the directional scrolling comprises:

detecting a direction of axial movement of the system.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein detecting the physiological state corresponding to the directional scrolling comprises receiving eye-tracking data indicating attention to a particular region of the display.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein receiving selection input data indicating a selection of the particular data item in the first data item cluster comprises:

detecting a physiological state corresponding to the selection of the particular data item in the first data item cluster.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein detecting the physiological state corresponding to the selection of the particular data item in the first data item cluster comprises receiving eye-tracking data indicating attention to a particular region of the first data item cluster.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one data item in the data item-attribute table is one of a picture file, a video file, an audio file, a word-processing file, and an email file.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the set of attributes includes at least a location attribute, time attribute, and data-item-type attribute of the given data item.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the data for the given one of the data items further specifies one or more attribute values associated with the given data item, the one or more attribute values indicating information associated with the one or more attributes associated with the given one of the data items.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the at least one processor to perform functions comprising:

receiving third input data indicating a selection of one or more attribute values associated with one or more data items in the second data item cluster;

grouping a third subset of the data items from the data item-attribute table into at least a third data item cluster, wherein each data item in the third data item cluster shares at least one of the one or more selected attribute values associated with one or more data items in the second data item cluster; and

causing the display to provide a third visual indication of the third data item cluster.

14. The system of claim 1, further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the at least one processor to perform functions comprising:

receiving sensory-input data indicating a new data item; and

associating the new data item with data specifying one or more new-item attributes from the set of attributes.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the data specifying one or more new-item attributes from the set of attributes further specifies one or more attribute values associated with the new data item, the one or more attribute values indicating a context of the sensory-input data.

16. The system of claim 1, further comprising program instructions stored on the non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by the at least one processor to perform functions comprising:

receiving third input data indicating a third selection of at least one data item from the second data item cluster; and

executing at least one computing action based on the third selection of the at least one data item from the second data item cluster.

17. A method comprising:

maintaining a data item-attribute database comprising data for a set of data items, wherein the data for a given one of the data items specifies one or more attributes from a set of attributes;

receiving first input data indicating a first selection of one or more attributes from the set of attributes;

grouping a first subset of data items from the set of data items into at least a first data item cluster, wherein each data item in the first data item cluster shares at least one of the one or more first selected attributes;

causing a display to provide a first visual indication of the first data item cluster including one or more graphical icons representative of at least one of the one or more attributes shared by each data item in the first data item cluster;

receiving second input data indicating a second selection of one or more of the graphically represented attributes associated with one or more data items in the first data item cluster;

grouping a second subset of data items from the set of data items into at least a second data item cluster, wherein each data item in the second data item cluster shares at least one of the one or more second selected attributes; and

causing the display to provide a second visual indication of the second data item cluster.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the data for a given one of the data items further specifies one or more attribute values associated with the given data item, the attribute values indicating information associated with the one or more attributes associated with the given one of the data items, further comprising:

receiving third input data indicating a selection of one or more attribute values associated with one or more data items in the second data item cluster;

grouping the data items from the data item-attribute table into at least a third data item cluster, wherein each data item in the third data item cluster shares at least one of the one or more selected attribute values associated with one or more data items in the second data item cluster; and

causing the display to provide a third visual indication of the third data item cluster.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions executable by a computing device to cause the computing device to perform functions comprising:

maintaining a data item-attribute database comprising data for a set of data items, wherein the data for a given one of the data items specifies one or more attributes from a set of attributes;

receiving first input data indicating a first selection of one or more attributes from the set of attributes;

grouping a first subset of data items from the set of data items into at least a first data item cluster, wherein each data item in the first data item cluster shares at least one of the one or more first selected attributes;

causing a display to provide a first visual indication of the first data item cluster including one or more graphical icons representative of at least one of the one or more attributes shared by each data item in the first data item cluster;

receiving second input data indicating a second selection of one or more of the graphically represented attributes associated with one or more data items in the first data item cluster;

grouping a second subset of data items from the set of data items into at least a second data item cluster, wherein each data item in the second data item cluster shares at least one of the one or more second selected attributes; and

causing the display to provide a second visual indication of the second data item cluster.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the instructions further comprise:

receiving sensory-input data indicating a new data item; and

associating the new data item with data specifying one or more attributes from the set of attributes.