RADIAL HISTOGRAMS FOR DEPICTING PATH INFORMATION

• US 20100118032A1
• Filed: 11/10/2009
• Published: 05/13/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Goldberg, Joseph H., Helfman, Jonathan I.
• Granted Patent: US 8,390,626 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/443
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/113 for determining or recording eye movement
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: G16B 30/00 ICT specially adapted for sequence analysis involving nucleotides or amino acids

Abstract

Techniques for displaying path-related information. Techniques are provided for generating and displaying one or more graphical representations for a path. In one embodiment, a radial histogram is generated and output for a path.

Claims

1. A computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions for controlling a processor to display a graphical representation for a path, the plurality of instructions comprising:

instructions that cause the processor to determine a set of angles associated with the path;

instructions that cause the processor to group the angles in the set of angles into a set of one or more groups;

instructions that cause the processor to determine a value for each group in the set of groups based upon the angles from the set of angles that are grouped in that group; and

instructions that cause the processor to output a graphical representation for the path, the graphical representation comprising a bar for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, wherein a bar for a group has a length based upon the value determined for the group and the bar is rotated by an angle representative of the group.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the value determined for each group in the set of groups is indicative of a number of angles from the set of angles that are grouped in that group.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein:

the path comprises one or more path segments; and

the instructions that cause the processor to determine the set of angles comprise instructions that cause the processor to determine an angle each path segment makes with respect to a common absolute reference.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein:

the path comprises one or more path segments; and

the instructions that cause the processor to determine the set of angles comprise instructions that cause the processor to, for each pair of adjoining path segments in the path, determine an angle between the path segments in the pair.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises:

instructions that cause the processor to determine an average magnitude, wherein the average magnitude is equal to the average of the values determined for one or more groups in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles;

instructions that cause the processor to determine an average angle, wherein the average angle is equal to the average of the angles representative of the one or more groups in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles; and

instructions that cause the processor to output a second graphical representation based upon the aggregate magnitude and the aggregate angle.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises:

instructions that cause the processor to, for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, determine a first orthogonal and a second orthogonal for the group based upon the value determined for the group and the angle representative of the group;

instructions that cause the processor to determine an aggregate magnitude based upon the first and second orthogonals determined for the set of groups;

instructions that cause the processor to determine an aggregate angle based upon the first and second orthogonals determined for the set of groups; and

instructions that cause the processor to output a second graphical representation based upon the aggregate magnitude and the aggregate angle.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises:

instructions that cause the processor to, for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles;

determine a length for the bar for the group based upon the value determined for the group; and

determine an angle representative of the group.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 wherein the plurality of instructions further comprises:

instructions that cause the processor to, for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, scale the length of the bar for the group based upon an area available for outputting the graphical representation; and

wherein the instructions that cause the processor to output the graphical representation comprise instructions that cause the processor to, for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, display the scaled bar for the group in the graphical representation.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the path is a scanpath representing a path followed by an eye when viewing a scene.

10. A system for displaying information related to a path, the system comprising:

a display; and

a processor;

wherein the processor is configured to;

determine a set of angles associated with the path;

group the angles in the set of angles into a set of one or more groups;

determine a value for each group in the set of groups based upon the angles from the set of angles that are grouped in that group; and

cause a graphical representation to be output for the path, the graphical representation comprising a bar for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, wherein a bar for a group has a length based upon the value determined for the group and the bar is rotated by an angle representative of the group.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the value determined for each group in the set of groups is indicative of a number of angles from the set of angles that are grouped in that group.

12. The system of claim 10 wherein:

the path comprises one or more path segments; and

the processor is configured to determine an angle each path segment makes with respect to a common absolute reference.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein:

the path comprises one or more path segments; and

the processor is configured to, for each pair of adjoining path segments in the path, determine an angle between the path segments in the pair.

14. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to:

determine an average magnitude, wherein the average magnitude is equal to the average of the values determined for one or more groups in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles;

determine an average angle, wherein the average angle is equal to the average of the angles representative of the one or more groups in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles; and

output a second graphical representation based upon the aggregate magnitude and the aggregate angle.

15. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to:

for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, determine a first orthogonal and a second orthogonal for the group based upon the value determined for the group and the angle representative of the group;

determine an aggregate magnitude based upon the first and second orthogonals determined for the set of groups;

determine an aggregate angle based upon the first and second orthogonals determined for the set of groups; and

output a second graphical representation based upon the aggregate magnitude and the aggregate angle.

16. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor is further configured to:

for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles;

determine a length for the bar for the group based upon the value determined for the group; and

determine an angle representative of the group.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the processor is configured to:

for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, scale the length of the bar for the group based upon an area available for outputting the graphical representation; and

display the scaled bar in the graphical representation.

18. The system of claim 10 wherein the path is a scanpath representing a path followed by an eye when viewing a scene.

19. A computer-implemented method for displaying a graphical representation for a path, the method:

determining, by a processing system, a set of angles associated with the path;

grouping, by the processing system, the angles in the set of angles into a set of one or more groups;

determining, by the processing system, a value for each group in the set of groups based upon the angles from the set of angles that are grouped in that group; and

outputting, by the processing system, a graphical representation for the path, the graphical representation comprising a bar for each group in the set of groups comprising at least one angle from the set of angles, wherein a bar for a group has a length based upon the value determined for the group and the bar is rotated by an angle representative of the group.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the value determined for each group in the set of groups is indicative of a number of angles from the set of angles that are grouped in that group.