Gallery Application for Content Viewing

• US 20110126156A1
• Filed: 02/09/2010
• Published: 05/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cooliris Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Shoemaker, Austin W., Krishnaraj, Venkat, Bhumkar, Soujanya, Rathnam, Aditya
• Granted Patent: US 9,152,318 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/828
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/51 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/54 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/743 a collection of video files or sequences
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04804 Transparency, e.g. transparent or translucent windows
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/016 Input arrangements with force or tactile feedback as computer generated output to the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04845 for image manipulation, e.g. dragging, rotation, expansion or change of colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/80 2D [Two Dimensional] animation, e.g. using sprites
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/24 involving graphical user interfaces [GUIs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 3/18 Image warping, e.g. rearranging pixels individually

Abstract

A gallery software application enables a user to browse, view, and interact with various content items, such as still images and videos. The gallery includes a graphical user interface with two modes: stack and grid. In stack mode, images (which represent content items) are divided into groups, and a group is represented by a displayed stack of images. In grid mode, images are displayed in a grid of rows and columns. The displayed stacks and images can be scrolled. When the scrolling reaches the end of a set of stacks or images, the last stack or image is displayed with perspective distortion. In grid mode, a value is displayed for meta-data of a content item that is not currently displayed. If a user indicates the displayed value, the grid is scrolled until the content item whose meta-data matches that value is displayed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for browsing a plurality of content items, wherein a content item is represented by an image, comprising:

displaying a plurality of images in a stack mode, wherein the images are divided into groups, and wherein a group is represented by a stack of images;

receiving a first user input that indicates a first stack that represents a first group of images; and

in response to the first user input, displaying the first group of images in a grid mode, wherein the images in the first group are displayed in a grid of one or more rows and one or more columns.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first user input comprises a single tap or click on the first stack.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the first group of images in the grid mode comprises animating a position of an image from the stack of images so that the image moves from within the stack to within the grid of rows and columns.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second user input that indicates a first image; and

in response to the second user input, presenting a content item represented by the first image.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second user input comprises a single tap or click on the first image.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the content item is a static image.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the content item is a video.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second user input that comprises a tilting of a device that is displaying the first group of images in the grid mode; and

in response to the second user input, displaying the grid of rows and columns with perspective distortion.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a second user input; and

in response to the second user input, animating a position of the grid of rows and columns so that the grid scrolls.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second user input comprises a swipe gesture or a flick gesture.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising providing user feedback when an edge of the grid has been reached.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the user feedback comprises displaying the grid of rows and columns with perspective distortion.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the user feedback comprises animating the grid of rows and columns so that the grid bounces off an edge of a display screen that is displaying the grid.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the user feedback is tactile.

15. A computer-implemented method for browsing content items, wherein a content item is represented by an image, comprising:

displaying a plurality of images;

receiving a user input that indicates scrolling;

in response to the user input, determining whether a last image is being displayed; and

in response to the last image being displayed, displaying the last image with perspective distortion.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising in response to the last image being displayed, animating the last image so that the last image bounces off an edge of a display screen that is displaying the last image.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising in response to the last image being displayed, providing tactile feedback.

18. A computer-implemented method for browsing content items that are ordered according to a characteristic, wherein a content item is represented by an image, comprising:

displaying a plurality of images in a grid mode, wherein the images are displayed in a grid of rows and columns, and wherein the content items represented by the images have a first value for the characteristic;

displaying a second value for the characteristic;

receiving user input that indicates the second value; and

in response to the user input, animating the grid of rows and columns so that the grid scrolls until the grid displays images that represent content items that have the second value for the characteristic.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the images representing content items having the second value for the characteristic are not displayed at the time the second value is displayed.

20. A computer program product for browsing a plurality of content items, wherein a content item is represented by an image, the computer program product comprising a machine-readable medium storing computer program code for performing a method, the method comprising:

displaying a plurality of images in a stack mode, wherein the images are divided into groups, and wherein a group is represented by a stack of images;

receiving a first user input that indicates a first stack that represents a first group of images; and

in response to the first user input, displaying the first group of images in a grid mode, wherein the images in the first group are displayed in a grid of one or more rows and one or more columns.

21. A computer program product for browsing content items, wherein a content item is represented by an image, the computer program product comprising a machine-readable medium storing computer program code for performing a method, the method comprising:

displaying a plurality of images;

receiving a user input that indicates scrolling;

in response to the user input, determining whether a last image is being displayed; and

in response to the last image being displayed, displaying the last image with perspective distortion.

22. A computer program product for browsing content items that are ordered according to a characteristic, wherein a content item is represented by an image, the computer program product comprising a machine-readable medium storing computer program code for performing a method, the method comprising:

displaying a plurality of images in a grid mode, wherein the images are displayed in a grid of rows and columns, and wherein the content items represented by the images have a first value for the characteristic;

displaying a second value for the characteristic;

receiving user input that indicates the second value; and

in response to the user input, animating the grid of rows and columns so that the grid scrolls until the grid displays images that represent content items that have the second value for the characteristic.