3D USER INTERFACE FOR APPLICATION ENTITIES

• US 20150268831A1
• Filed: 05/30/2015
• Published: 09/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Sripada, Nagaraj
• Granted Patent: US 10,331,315 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04802 3D-info-object: information is displayed on the internal or external surface of a three dimensional manipulable object, e.g. on the faces of a cube that can be rotated by the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/017 Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures interaction based on gestures traced on a digitiser G06F3/04883
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• 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: 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 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 17/00 Three dimensional [3D] modelling, e.g. data description of 3D objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/00 Manipulating 3D models or images for computer graphics
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/003 Navigation within 3D models or images
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 19/20 Editing of 3D images, e.g. changing shapes or colours, aligning objects or positioning parts
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2219/2016 Rotation, translation, scaling

Abstract

Embodiments relate to three-dimensional user interfaces for managing and accessing applications. Applications are stored on storage of a device. A user interface is displayed on a display. The user interface includes interactively rotatable three-dimensional structures each comprised of regions, each region displaying a graphic representing a corresponding application, the applications activatable by interaction with the three-dimensional structures. Applications can be assigned to structures (volumes) manually or automatically. The three-dimensional structures may be rotated and otherwise manipulated by user input.

Claims

1. A three-dimensional user interface displayed on a display of a computing device, the user interface comprising:

a plurality of interactive three-dimensional shapes, each three-dimensional shape comprised of a plurality of faces having respective graphics corresponding to and representing applications on the computing device, wherein each three-dimensional shape is rotatable to alternatively display any of its faces as a current frontward face, wherein the current frontward face of each three-dimensional shape comprises a face to which user input is able to be directed to invoke and display an application represented by the graphic displayed for the current frontward face; and

receiving user rotation inputs directed to the three-dimensional shapes and in response interactively rotating the three-dimensional shapes according to the user rotation inputs; and

receiving system events and responding to the system events by automatically rotating faces corresponding to the system events of the three-dimensional shapes to become the current frontward faces of corresponding three-dimensional shapes, wherein the system events do not correspond to user interactions with computing device.

2. A three-dimensional user interface according to claim 1, wherein an application comprises elements and a three dimensional-shape corresponding to the application comprises faces for the respective elements, and for whichever of the faces of the three-dimensional shape is the current frontward face, interaction therewith by the user causes the corresponding application element to be activated and displayed.

3. A three-dimensional user interface according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional user interface comprises a graphical user shell for interactively activating and deactivating the applications.

4. A three-dimensional user interface according to claim 1, wherein the faces of a three-dimensional shape comprise respective polygons, the three-dimensional shape comprises a polyhedron, and the three-dimensional user interface enables the user to interactively rotate the polyhedron.

5. A three-dimensional user interface according to claim 4, wherein, automatically or by user input, the polyhedrons dynamically increase and decrease in number of sides, or the number of faces of the polyhedron dynamically increases and decreases.

6. A three-dimensional user interface according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional user interface enables the user to interactively attach or detach arbitrary applications on the computing device or elements thereof to the three-dimensional shapes and/or the faces thereof.

7. A three-dimensional user interface according to claim 1, the process further comprising saving a state of a three-dimensional shape to a network resource from which it becomes available for use on another computing device to configure a three-dimensional user interface on a second computing device communicating with the network resource.

8. Storage hardware storing information to enable a computing device to perform a process, the process comprising:

storing a plurality of applications on the storage hardware, each application having a corresponding graphic that can be interacted with by a user of the computing device to invoke the corresponding application;

displaying a user interface on a display of the computing device, the user interface comprising a plurality of interactive shapes comprising three-dimensional volumes each comprised of a respective plurality of faces, each face comprised of a respective one of the graphics, each shape having at least one rotatably changeable frontward facing face, wherein the user interface is configured to;

respond to rotation commands directed by a user of the computing device to the shapes by causing graphic three-dimensional rotations of the interacted-with shapes and corresponding different faces to become frontward facing faces of the interacted-with shapes;

respond to system events that do not correspond to user interactions with the computing device by automatically rotating the shapes to display graphics that correspond to the system events.

9. Storage hardware according to claim 8, wherein the system events comprise software updates, incoming messages, or alarms.

10. Storage hardware according to claim 8, wherein the faces of one of the shapes comprise respective other of the shapes.

11. Storage hardware according to claim 10, wherein the user interface is further configured to:

respond to user selection of a given face comprising a given shape by displaying the given shape.

12. Storage hardware according to claim 11, wherein the responding to the user selection of the given face further comprises undisplaying the one of the shapes.

13. Storage hardware according to claim 8, wherein the events comprise matches to a search inputted by the user.

14. Storage hardware according to claim 13, wherein shapes having faces containing graphics of applications determined to match the search are automatically rotated to have those faces become frontward facing faces.

15. Storage hardware according to claim 8, wherein the user interface is configured to enable the user to interactively assign user-designated graphics to user-designated faces.

16. A method performed by a computing device comprising processing hardware, a display, and storage hardware, the method comprising:

storing, by the storage hardware, applications and respective graphic representations thereof;

displaying, by the display, a user interface, the user interface displaying interactively rotatable three-dimensional user interface elements each comprised of a respective set of regions, each region displaying a respective graphic representation representing a corresponding application, windows of the applications displayable by interaction with the three-dimensional user interface elements;

responding to interactive user inputs associated with respective of the three-dimensional user interface elements by rotating the associated three-dimensional user interface elements; and

receiving events generated by respective of the applications, wherein when a given event from a given application is received, responding by automatically rotating a corresponding one of the user interface elements to cause a region containing a graphic of the given application to be displayed by the display.

17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the events are not associated with user interactions with the applications that generated the events.

18. A method according to claim 16, wherein a user interface element rotates interactively according to a corresponding user input that controls rotation of the user interface element, and wherein the user interface element rotates automatically according to an event associated an application associated with the user interface element.

19. A method according to claim 16, wherein a graphic representation comprises an interactive window of a corresponding application, wherein, while displayed by a corresponding one of the user interface elements, the graphic representation enables user interaction with the corresponding application.

20. A method according to claim 16, wherein the graphic representation comprises an application window of the corresponding application.