Noisy operating system user interface

• US 20050262448A1
• Filed: 07/25/2005
• Published: 11/24/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Cheng, Lili, Guo, Baining, Kelly, Sean U., Vronay, David P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,398,475 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/767
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04815 Interaction with a metaphor-based environment or interaction object displayed as three-dimensional, e.g. changing the user viewpoint with respect to the environment or object
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 5/30 Control of display attribute

Abstract

An operating system shell provides on a display screen a graphical user interface through which a user interacts with the operating system. The operating system shell provides a background noisy display rendered on the display screen in accordance with a background physical lighting model, and an ambient notification rendered over at least a portion of the background noisy display to provide a user notification. The ambient notification is rendered in accordance with an ambient notification physical lighting model that is different from the background physical lighting model.

Claims

1. In a computer system having an operating system shell that provides on a display screen a graphical user interface through which a user interacts with the operating system, comprising:

a background noisy display rendered on the display screen in accordance with a background physical lighting model; and

an ambient notification rendered over at least a portion of the background noisy display to provide a user notification, the ambient notification being rendered in accordance with an ambient notification physical lighting model that is different from the background physical lighting model.

2. The system of claim 1 in which the ambient notification is of a temporary duration.

3. The system of claim 1 in which the ambient notification is below a just noticeable perceptual difference in the background noisy display.

4. The system of claim 1 in which the background noisy display includes a variation over time in the background physical lighting model.

5. The system of claim 1 in which the graphical user interface includes user interface objects through which the user interacts with the operating system, the ambient notification including inter-object lighting in which lighting applied to one user'"'"' interface object affects one or more adjacent user interface objects.

6. The system of claim 1 in which the graphical user interface includes user interface objects through which the user interacts with the operating system and the ambient notification physical lighting model including a light source model, the ambient notification including a shadow formed over user interface objects and modeled as an off-screen object passing in front of the light source model.

7. The system of claim 1 in which the graphical user interface includes user interface objects through which the user interacts with the operating system rendered over an underlying desktop that is modeled as having a moveable surface, the ambient notification including imparting a movement in the moveable surface of the desktop.

8. The system of claim 7 in which the moveable surface propagates imparted movements.

9. The system of claim 8 in which the propagated imparted movements are modeled as ripples.

10. The system of claim 7 in which the moveable surface does not propagate imparted movements.

11. The system of claim 10 in which the imparted movement are modeled as tracks.

12. An operating system shell graphical user interface rendering method for providing on a display screen a graphical user interface through which a user interacts with an operating system, the method comprising:

rendering a background noisy display rendered on the display screen in accordance with a background physical lighting model; and

rendering an ambient notification rendered over at least a portion of the background noisy display to provide a user notification, the ambient notification being rendered in accordance with an ambient notification physical lighting model that is different from the background physical lighting model.

13. The method of claim 12 in which the graphical user interface includes noisy graphical user interface desktop objects through which the user interacts with the operating system, the method further comprising modeling the noisy graphical user interface desktop objects as three-dimensional representations.

14. The method of claim 12 in which the background and ambient notification physical lighting models each include one or more light source representations that each include a light color, light intensity, and light direction.

15. The method of claim 12 rendering the background noisy display and the ambient notification each include a three-dimensional rendering on the display screen.

16. The method of claim 12 in which the ambient notification is of a temporary duration.

17. The method of claim 12 in which the background noisy display includes a variation over time in the background physical lighting model.

18. The method of claim 12 in which the ambient notification is below a just noticeable perceptual difference in the background noisy display.

19. A computer system that provides on a display screen a graphical user interface through which a user interacts with computer software, comprising:

a background noisy display rendered on the display screen in accordance with a background physical lighting model; and

an ambient notification rendered over at least a portion of the background noisy display to provide a user notification, the ambient notification being rendered in accordance with an ambient notification physical lighting model that is different from the background physical lighting model.

20. The system of claim 19 in which the ambient notification is of a temporary duration.