Method and apparatus for improving visibility and selectability of icons
First Claim
1. A method for enhancing a visual feature of a display of a menu item in an inverse relation to a distance between the menu item and a cursor image, including the steps of:
- establishing a location of said menu item on a display;
detecting a location of the cursor image on the display;
detecting a distance between said location of said menu item and said location of said cursor image;
assigning a value to an attribute data representing said visual feature, said assigned value being from a group of at least three different values, said assigned value being in a generally inverse relation to said detected distance;
displaying a menu item in accordance with said attribute data value assigned by said assigning step, so that the visual feature of the displayed menu item corresponding to said attribute is displayed in a manner selected from a group of at least three manners, each of said at least three manners corresponding to one of said group of at least three different values.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Enhanced visibility of icons and other types of menu items is provided by increasing size and or skew or both of one or more icons or menu items in a generally inverse relation to proximity of a cursor image address to particular icons or menu items. Increase of size enhances user recognition of an ordinarily small menu item or icon and simultaneously provides the effect of stabilizing cursor position during selection without affecting linearity of response to a graphic input device. Skew and repeated expansion may be used to attract user attention while repeated expansion simplifies icon manipulation by the user in determining a response to a mandatory input demand from an application.
499 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for enhancing a visual feature of a display of a menu item in an inverse relation to a distance between the menu item and a cursor image, including the steps of:
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establishing a location of said menu item on a display; detecting a location of the cursor image on the display; detecting a distance between said location of said menu item and said location of said cursor image; assigning a value to an attribute data representing said visual feature, said assigned value being from a group of at least three different values, said assigned value being in a generally inverse relation to said detected distance; displaying a menu item in accordance with said attribute data value assigned by said assigning step, so that the visual feature of the displayed menu item corresponding to said attribute is displayed in a manner selected from a group of at least three manners, each of said at least three manners corresponding to one of said group of at least three different values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification