Method and apparatus for managing visual information

• US 9,092,128 B2
• Filed: 05/21/2010
• Issued: 07/28/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Toprani, Shyam S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sax, Steven
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fibbi, Christopher J
• Application Number:
  US12/785,408
• Publication Number:
  US 20110289427A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,894 Days
• Field of Search: 715/746, 715/768, 715/797, 715/808, 345/629
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04804 Transparency, e.g. transparent or translucent windows
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

Efficiently managing visual information by small form factor electronic devices having limited display resources using a persistent overlay is described. The persistent overlay can be formed of selected visual information from a first page and can remain viewable over subsequently displayed pages.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

presenting a first page of visual information at a display;

identifying a portion of the presented visual information for conversion to a persistent overlay;

converting the identified portion to the persistent overlay, wherein the persistent overlay corresponds to information that remains accessible on the first page and, at least in part, at a plurality of subsequently presented pages of visual information;

adding the visual information corresponding to the persistent overlay with the visual information of the first page by overlaying a corresponding portion of the first page with the persistent overlay, wherein at least some visual information displayed as the first page and overlaid by the persistent overlay remains viewable;

in response to updating the display to present a second page of the plurality of subsequently presented pages, automatically overlaying a portion of the second page with the persistent overlay such that at least some visual information displayed as part of the second page, and overlaid by the persistent overlay, remains viewable, wherein;

the persistent overlay is rendered in accordance with a relative importance of the persistent overlay to the second page;

the second page and the persistent overlay are presented as a unified visual field; and

the information presented as the unified visual field includes an area of the second page presenting an application icon arranged to initiate execution of a corresponding application, the application processing data associated with the persistent overlay corresponding to the second page.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

changing the amount of visual information of the persistent overlay that remains viewable at the plurality of subsequently presented pages in accordance with a number of pages on which the persistent overlay is presented.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

modifying the second page immediately after the second page is rendered to include the persistent overlay; and

storing a persistent overlay identifier used to identify the persistent overlay in a data storage device.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, further comprising:

associating metadata with the persistent overlay, wherein the metadata provides ancillary information about the persistent overlay.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, further comprising:

accessing the metadata associated with the persistent overlay by an application.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the adjusting the rendering comprises:

adjusting a transparency value of the persistent overlay by increasing the transparency value when the relative importance of the persistent overlay decreases and decreasing the transparency value when the relative importance of the persistent overlay increases.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the adjusting the rendering comprises:

adjusting a transparency value of the persistent overlay by increasing the transparency value in direct relation to a number of subsequent pages beyond a threshold number of pages following the first page.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein determining the relative importance value of the persistent overlay is based on meta data associated with an individual represented in the persistent overlay.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein determining the relative importance value of the persistent overlay is based on meta data describing a media item represented in the persistent overlay.

10. An electronic device arranged to present visual information at a display, comprising:

an input device; and

a processor in co-operative communication with the input device, wherein the input device provides an input signal that the processor uses to identify and process a portion of a first page of visual information presented at the display as a persistent overlay, wherein the processor further acts to;

automatically add the visual information associated with the persistent overlay to that presented as the first page by overlaying a corresponding portion of the first page with the persistent overlay, wherein at least some of the overlaid visual information of the first page remains viewable, and

add the visual information associated with the persistent overlay to that of a subsequently displayed page by overlaying a corresponding portion of the subsequently displayed page with the persistent overlay such that at least some visual information displayed as part of the subsequently displayed page, and overlaid by the persistent overlay, remains viewable, wherein the persistent overlay is rendered in accordance with a relative importance of the persistent overlay to the subsequently displayed page, and includes updateable metadata associated with the visual information corresponding to the persistent overlay, the visual content of the subsequently displayed page and the persistent overlay are presented as a unified visual field, and the information presented as the unified visual field includes an area of the subsequently displayed page presenting an application icon arranged to initiate execution of a corresponding application, the application processing data associated with the persistent overlay corresponding to the second page.

11. The device as recited in claim 10, wherein the processor further modifies a transparency factor of the persistent overlay in accordance with a number of pages on which the persistent overlay is added.

12. The device as recited in claim 10, wherein the device further comprises:

a data storage device arranged to store data that includes at least media data, wherein the processor updates the data storage device with a persistent overlay identifier used to identify the persistent overlay.

13. The device as recited in claim 12, wherein the processor displays the persistent overlay identifier at the display in the form of an interactive clipboard.

14. The device as recited in claim 10, wherein the processor determines the relative importance value of the persistent overlay is based on meta data associated with an individual represented in the persistent overlay.

15. The device as recited in claim 10, wherein the processor determines the relative importance value of the persistent overlay is based on meta data describing a media item represented in the persistent overlay.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium arranged to store a computer code executed by a processor, the computer readable medium comprising:

computer code for presenting a first page of visual information at a display;

computer code for identifying a portion of the presented visual information;

computer code for rendering the identified portion as a persistent overlay, wherein the persistent overlay allows any overlaid visual information to remain at least partially viewable;

computer code for presenting a second page subsequent to the presenting the first page; and

computer code for presenting the persistent overlay as part of the second page such that at least some visual information displayed as part of the second page, and overlaid by the persistent overlay, remains viewable, wherein the persistent overlay is rendered in accordance with a relative importance of the persistent overlay to the second page, the visual content of the second page and the persistent overlay are presented as a unified visual field, and the information presented as the unified visual field includes an area of the second page presenting an application icon arranged to initiate execution of a corresponding application, the application processing data from the persistent overlay corresponding to the second page.

17. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 16, further comprising:

computer code for presenting the persistent overlay as part of the first page immediately after the rendering; and

computer code for storing a persistent overlay identifier used to identify the persistent overlay.

18. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 17, further comprising:

computer code for associating metadata with the persistent overlay, wherein the metadata provides ancillary information about the persistent overlay.

19. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 18, further comprising:

computer code for using the metadata associated with the persistent overlay as an input to an application.

20. The computer readable medium as recited in claim 16, wherein determining the relative importance value of the persistent overlay is based on meta data associated with an individual represented in the persistent overlay, or meta data describing a media item represented in the persistent overlay.