Object transitions

• US 8,839,127 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2012
• Issued: 09/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Louch, John O., Chaudhri, Imran A., Hynes, Christopher, Bumgarner, Timothy Wayne, Peyton, Eric Steven
• Primary Examiner(s): LEE, TING ZHOU
• Application Number:
  US13/399,978
• Publication Number:
  US 20120278753A1
• Time in Patent Office: 942 Days
• Field of Search: 715/764, 715/771, 715/838, 715/781, 715/810, 345/473, 345/419, 345/660, 345/664
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

Object transitions can include providing a graphical transition of an object item that retains an aspect ratio associated with the object item while transitioning the object item into an instance of an executing object associated with the object item.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a selection of an executable object in a three-dimensional display environment, the three-dimensional display environment comprising one or more surfaces the appearance of which forms a three-dimensional visual effect, wherein at least one of the one or more surfaces includes a dock representation that appears to be on a plane that extends away from the user, the executable object having a first appearance of being placed in a foreground away from any surface of the three-dimensional display environment;

in response to the selection, moving the executable object into a surface from the foreground of the three-dimensional display environment, such that the executable object has a second appearance of being attached to at least one of the one or more surfaces, wherein during movement of the executable object, the executable object is scaled in size through a plurality of intermediate successive transition states; and

when the scaled executable object reaches a size threshold, replacing the executable object using an object item that is associated with the executable object wherein the scaling is completed with the object item.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the object item comprises a scaled version of a file represented by the object item.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising, upon completion of the scaling, providing a highlight for the object item.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each successive transition state comprises a smaller version of a copy of the object item or a smaller version of an instance of the executing object than previous transition states.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein scaling the object item in size comprises scaling an instance of the executable object to a size of an instance of the object item associated with the executable object.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the object item comprises one or more of an object icon, a customized icon, or a dock item.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a rate of scaling the object item in size is adjustable based upon user input.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the rate is adjusted by increasing or decreasing a number of transitions between the object item and a full-size instance of the executing object.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the rate is adjusted by increasing or decreasing a period between successive transitions between the object item and a full-size instance of the executing object.

10. A method performed by one or more computers, comprising:

receiving, from a user, a selection of an object item in a three-dimensional display environment, the three-dimensional display environment comprising one or more surfaces the appearance of which forms a three-dimensional visual effect, wherein at least one of the one or more surfaces includes a dock representation that appears to be on a plane that extends away from the user, the object item being associated with an executable object and having a first appearance of being attached to one of the one or more surfaces;

in response to the selection, moving the object item away from the surface to a foreground of the three-dimensional display environment, such that the object item has a second appearance of not being attached to any surface of the one or more surfaces, wherein during movement of the object item, the object item is scaled in size through a plurality of intermediate successive transition states; and

when the scaled object item reaches a threshold, replacing the object item using an instance of the executable object wherein the scaling is completed with the instance of the executable object.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein at least one of the one of the one or more surfaces has an appearance of a wall, a floor, or a ceiling.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein each successive transition state comprises a larger version of a copy of the object item or a larger version of an instance of the executing object than previous transition states.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the object item comprises one or more of an object icon, a customized icon, or a dock item.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein a rate of scaling the object item in size is adjustable based upon user input.