Method and apparatus for controlling the visual presentation of data

• US 7,102,643 B2
• Filed: 09/04/2002
• Issued: 09/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/09/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Gamehancement LLC (Jeffrey M. Gross)
• Original Assignee: Vibe Solutions Group, Inc.
• Inventors: Tjeerdsma, Peter A., Kaye, Daniel A., Turcotte, Kenneth, Moore, Mike R., Granger, Mark W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Kimbinh T.
• Application Number:
  US10/234,696
• Publication Number:
  US 20030090506A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,462 Days
• Field of Search: 345/418, 345/473, 345/619, 345/730, 345/419, 345/474, 345/475, 348/594, 348/14.01, 715/730
• US Class Current: 345/473
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 13/80 2D [Two Dimensional] animation, e.g. using sprites

Abstract

According to one aspect of the invention, disclosed herein is a method of controlling a visual presentation of data to a viewer, the presentation comprising a plurality of display configuration states through which data content is presented to a viewer, the presentation being responsive to transition input to transition from a current display configuration state to a next display configuration state, the method comprising: (1) providing a plurality of transition effects; (2) for each pair of potentially successive display configuration states, associating a transition effect therewith; (3) receiving transition input indicative to transition from a current display configuration state to a next display configuration state, the transition defining a pair of successive display configuration states; and (4) during the transition from the current display configuration state to the next display configuration state, presenting to the viewer the transition effect associated with the defined pair of successive display configuration states. According to another aspect of the invention, disclosed herein is a method of controlling a visual presentation of data to a viewer, the presentation comprising a plurality of display configuration states through which data content is presented to the viewer, the method comprising: (1) providing a plurality of style guides, each style guide having a plurality of display configuration states corresponding thereto; (2) for each style guide, associating each of its corresponding display configuration states with a plurality of counterpart display configuration states in the other style guides; (3) for a presentation having a previously-defined style guide, selecting a different style guide therefor; and (4) replacing the presentation'"'"'s display configuration states with their counterparts in the different style guide.

Claims

1. With a visual presentation of data comprising a plurality of slides that are successively presented to a viewer, a method for transitioning from one presented slide to the next successive slide, the method comprising:

for each possible transition from a currently presented slide to a next successive slide, associating a transition effect therewith in response to input from a user such that the user has an option to associate a plurality of different transition effects with a plurality of transitions from the same currently presented slide; and

during a transition from a currently displayed slide to a next successive slide, presenting the transition effect associated therewith.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the presentation comprises a plurality of slides having a predetermined order of succession, wherein the predetermined order is adjustable, the method further comprising:

selecting a next slide for presentation to the viewer, the selected slide not being part of the predetermined order of successive slides;

determining which transition effect is associated with a transition from a currently presented slide to the selected slide; and

presenting the determined transition effect during the transition from the currently presented slide to the selected slide.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the presentation comprises a plurality of slides having no predetermined order of succession, the method further comprising:

selecting a next slide for presentation to the viewer;

determining which transition effect is associated with a transition from a currently presented slide to the selected slide; and

presenting the determined transition effect during the transition from the currently presented slide to the selected slide.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

selecting a style guide for the presentation from a plurality of style guides; and

applying the selected style guide to the slides of the presentation.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein each slide comprises a display configuration state through which data content is presented, wherein the transition effect associating step comprises, for each possible transition between successive display configuration states, associating a transition effect therewith.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein each slide comprises a visual display configuration state through which data content is presented, wherein each style guide has a plurality of visual display configuration states corresponding thereto, and wherein the applying step comprises:

replacing each slide'"'"'s visual display configuration state with a visual display configuration state corresponding to the selected style guide.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

for each style guide, associating each of its corresponding visual display configuration states with a plurality of counterpart display visual configuration states in the other style guides; and

wherein the converting step comprises changing each slide'"'"'s visual display configuration state to its counterpart visual display configuration state in the selected style guide.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein each style guide has a transition effect set corresponding thereto, the transition effect set comprising the transition effects available for presentation to the viewer during slide transitions, and wherein the applying step further comprises:

using the transition effects of the transition effect set corresponding to the selected style guide when performing the associating step.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein each style guide has a plurality of transition effect sets corresponding thereto, the method further comprising selecting a transition effect set from the plurality of transition effects corresponding to the selected style guide, and wherein the applying step further comprises using the transition effects of the selected transition effect set when performing the associating step.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the transition effect set selecting step comprises selecting a transition effect set from the plurality of transition effects corresponding to the selected style guide on a slide-specific basis.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the transition effect set selecting step comprises selecting a transition effect set from the plurality of transition effects corresponding to the selected style guide on a global presentation-wide basis.

12. The method of claim 5 wherein each style guide has a transition effect set corresponding thereto, the transition effect set comprising the transition effects available for presentation to the viewer during slide transitions, and wherein the applying step further comprises:

using the transition effects of the transition effect set corresponding to the selected style guide when performing the associating step.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein each style guide has a plurality of transition effect sets corresponding thereto, the method further comprising selecting a transition effect set from the plurality of transition effects corresponding to the selected style guide, and wherein the applying step further comprises using the transition effects of the selected transition effect set when performing the associating step.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the transition effect set selecting step comprises selecting a transition effect set from the plurality of transition effects corresponding to the selected style guide on a slide-specific basis.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein the transition effect set selecting step comprises selecting a transition effect set from the plurality of transition effects corresponding to the selected style guide on a global presentation-wide basis.

16. A method of controlling a visual presentation of data to a viewer, the visual presentation comprising a plurality of display configuration states through which data content is presented to a viewer, the presentation being responsive to transition input to transition from a current visual display configuration state to a next visual display configuration state, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of transition effects;

for each pair of potentially successive visual display configuration states, associating a transition effect therewith;

receiving transition input indicative to transition from a current visual display configuration state to a next visual display configuration state, the transition defining a pair of successive visual display configuration states; and

during the transition from the current visual display configuration state and the next visual display configuration state, presenting to the viewer the transition effect associated with the defined pair of successive visual display configuration states.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

providing a plurality of style guides, each style guide having a plurality of transition effects corresponding thereto;

selecting a style guide for the presentation from the plurality of provided styles guides; and

wherein the step of associating transition effects with pairs of potentially successive visual display configuration states comprises, for each pair of potentially successive visual display configuration states, associating a transition effect that corresponds to the selected style guide therewith.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein each style guide has a plurality of available visual display configuration states corresponding thereto, the method further comprising:

for each style guide, associating each of its available visual display configuration states with a plurality of counterpart visual display configuration states in the other style guides; and

in response to a style guide selection, replacing the presentation'"'"'s visual display configuration states with their counterparts in the selected style guide.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the style guide selecting step comprises selecting a style guide for the presentation from the plurality of provided styles guides in response to user input.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein the plurality of transition effects corresponding to each style guide are grouped in a plurality of transition effect sets that are available with the style guide, the method further comprising selecting a transition effect set from the selected style guide from the plurality of transition effect sets available with the selected style guide, and wherein the step of associating transition effects with pairs of potentially successive visual display configuration states comprises, for each pair of potentially successive visual display configuration states, associating a transition effect therewith that belongs to the selected transition effect set.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the transition effect set selecting step comprises selecting a transition effect set from the selected style guide from the plurality of transition effect sets available with the selected style guide on a slide-specific basis.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein the transition effect set selecting step comprises selecting a transition effect set from the selected style guide from the plurality of transition effect sets available with the selected style guide on a global presentation-wide basis.

23. The method of claim 16 wherein at least one of the transitions from a current visual display configuration state to a next visual display configuration state is an indirect transition comprising a transition from a current visual display configuration state to an intermediate visual display configuration state and a transition from the intermediate visual display configuration state to a next visual display configuration state.

24. The method of claim 16 wherein the transition input is a user action.

25. The method of claim 16 wherein the transition input is a time value.

26. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

presenting data content to the viewer within the current visual display configuration state.

27. The method of claim 16 wherein the visual presentation is a multimedia presentation comprising a plurality of slides, each slide comprising content presented through a visual display configuration state.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the multimedia presentation is a presentation delivered from a presenter computer to at least one viewer computer, the presenter computer and at least one viewer computer being interconnected via a computer network.

29. The method of claim 16 wherein the visual presentation is a video conference.

30. The method of claim 16 wherein the visual presentation is a video phone call.

31. The method of claim 27 wherein the plurality of slides has a predetermined order of succession, the predetermined order being adjustable during the visual presentation such that the slides can be displayed in an order out of the predetermined order of succession,wherein the display configuration state through which a currently presented slide is presented comprises the current display configuration state, and wherein the transition input receiving step comprises receiving a transition input indicative to transition from a currently presented slide to a next slide, the next slide being out of the predetermined order of succession, and wherein the display configuration state through which the next slide is to be presented comprises the next display configuration state.

32. An apparatus for controlling a visual presentation of data, the presentation comprising data content and a plurality of display configuration states through which the data content is visualized, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to (1) for each pair of potentially successive display configuration states, associate a transition effect therewith, (2) present to the viewer a current display configuration state and data content therefor, (3) receive transition input indicative to transition from the current display configuration state to a next display configuration state, the transition defining a pair of successive display configuration states, (4) responsive to the received transition input (a) present to the viewer the transition effect associated with the defined pair during an interval between the current display configuration state and the next display configuration state, and (b) present to the viewer the next display configuration state and data content therefor after the transition effect has been presented.

33. The apparatus of claim 32 wherein the display configuration states comprise visual display configuration states, wherein the processor is further configured to adjust the presentation'"'"'s visual display configuration states in response to style guide input that corresponds to a selection of a style guide from a plurality of style guides, each style having associated therewith a plurality of visual display configuration states.

34. The apparatus of claim 33 wherein the processor is part of a presenter computer interconnected with at least one viewer computer via a network, the viewer being stationed at the viewer computer.

35. The apparatus of claim 33 wherein the processor is part of a viewer computer interconnected with a presenter computer via a network, the viewer being stationed at the viewer computer.

36. The apparatus of claim 32 wherein the visual presentation is a multimedia presentation comprising a plurality of slides having a predetermined order of succession for display, each slide comprising a display configuration state and the data content therefor;

and

wherein the processor is further configured to display the slides in an order out of the predetermined order of succession in response to input from a user.

37. A computer readable medium for controlling a visual presentation of data, the visual presentation comprising a plurality of display configuration states presented to a viewer computer through which data content is also presented, the computer readable medium comprising:

a plurality of stored display configuration states;

a plurality of stored transition effects;

a code segment executable by a computer for associating each pair of display configuration states that can potentially be presented to the viewer in succession during the visual presentation with a stored transition effect; and

a code segment executable by a computer for presenting the visual presentation, including instructions for, during a transition from a currently presented display configuration state to a next display configuration state, presenting the transition effect associated with the current-next display configuration state pair.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 37 wherein the computer readable medium is a CD-ROM.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 37 wherein the computer readable medium is software stored on a web server accessible by a viewer computer.

40. The computer readable medium of claim 37 wherein the computer readable medium is software stored on a viewer computer.

41. The computer readable medium of claim 37 wherein the computer readable medium is software stored on a presenter computer.

42. The computer readable medium of claim 37 wherein the display configuration states comprise visual display configuration states, the computer-readable medium further comprising:

a plurality of stored style guides, each style guide having a plurality of visual display configuration states and a plurality of transition effects corresponding thereto;

a code segment executable by a computer for associating the visual presentation with a stored style guide, thereby defining that the visual display configuration states and transition effects available for the visual presentation are the visual display configuration states and transitions effects corresponding to the style guide associated with the visual presentation.

43. The computer readable medium of claim 42 further comprising a code segment executable by a computer for selecting which of the stored style guides is associated with the visual presentation in response to user input.

44. The computer readable medium of claim 43 wherein the plurality of transition effects corresponding to each style guide are grouped as a plurality of transition effect sets, the computer readable medium further comprising a code segment executable by a computer for selecting, in response to user input, a transition effect from the plurality of transition effect sets corresponding to the selected style guide, the selected transition effect set defining the transition effects that are available during transitions.

45. The computer readable medium of claim 44 further comprising a code segment executable by a computer for selecting, in response to user input, a transition effect from the plurality of transition effect sets corresponding to the selected style guide on a slide-specific basis.

46. The computer readable medium of claim 44 further comprising a code segment executable by a computer for selecting, in response to user input, a transition effect from the plurality of transition effect sets corresponding to the selected style guide on a global presentation-wide basis.

47. The computer readable medium of claim 43 further comprising:

a code segment executable by a computer for associating, for each style guide, each of its corresponding visual display configuration states with a plurality of counterpart visual display configuration states in the other style guides; and

a code segment executable by a computer for, in response to style guide selection, replacing the presentation'"'"'s display visual configuration states with their counterparts in the selected style guide.

48. The computer readable medium of claim 37 further comprising a code segment for defining at least one transition from a current display configuration state to a next display configuration state as a transition from a current display configuration state to an intermediate display configuration state and a transition from the intermediate display configuration state to the next display configuration state.

49. The computer readable medium of claim 37 wherein the visual presentation is a multimedia slideshow presentation.

50. The computer readable medium of claim 37 wherein the visual presentation is a videoconference.

51. The computer readable medium of claim 37 wherein the visual presentation is a video phone call.

52. The computer readable medium of claim 49 wherein the multimedia slideshow presentation comprises a plurality of slides not having a predetermined fixed order of succession for display, each slide comprising a display configuration state and data content presented therethrough.

53. A method of controlling a visual presentation of data to a viewer, the presentation comprising a plurality of display configuration states through which data content is presented to the viewer, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of style guides, each style guide having a plurality of visual display configuration states corresponding thereto;

for each style guide, associating each of its corresponding visual display configuration states with a plurality of counterpart visual display configuration states in the other style guides;

for a visual presentation having a previously-defined style guide, selecting a different style guide therefor; and

replacing the visual presentation'"'"'s display configuration states with their counterparts in the different style guide.

54. The method of claim 53 wherein the presentation further comprises a plurality of transition effects that are displayed during transitions between visual display configuration states, the method further comprising:

delivering the presentation by presenting to the viewer in a sequence the presentation'"'"'s visual display configuration states along with data content therefor;

for each pair of potentially successive visual display configuration states within the selected style guide, associating a transition effect therewith;

during a transition from a current display configuration state to a next visual display configuration state, presenting the transition effect associated with the current-to-next visual display configuration state pair.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein each style guide has a plurality of transition effect sets corresponding thereto, each transition effect set comprising a plurality of transition effects that are available for presentation, the method further comprising:

selecting a transition effect set from the plurality of transition effect sets corresponding to the selected style guide; and

wherein the transition effect associating step comprises, for each pair of potentially successive visual display configuration states within the selected style guide, associating a transition effect within the selected transition effect set therewith.

56. The method of claim 55 wherein the transition effect selecting step comprises selecting a transition effect set from the plurality of transition effect sets corresponding to the selected style guide on a slide-specific basis.

57. The method of claim 55 wherein the transition effect selecting step comprises selecting a transition effect set from the plurality of transition effect sets corresponding to the selected style guide on a global presentation-wide basis.

58. The method of claim 53 wherein the visual presentation is a multimedia presentation comprising a plurality of slides.

59. The method of claim 58 wherein the multimedia presentation is delivered from a presenter computer to at least one viewer computer, the presenter computer and at least one viewer computer being interconnected via a network.

60. The method of claim 53 wherein the visual presentation is a video conference.

61. The method of claim 53 wherein the visual presentation is a video phone call.

62. An apparatus for controlling a visual presentation of data, the presentation having a style guide associated therewith and comprising data content and a plurality of display configuration states through which the data content is visualized, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to (1) determine, in response to user input, a new style guide for the visual presentation from a plurality of style guides, each style guide having a plurality of display configuration states corresponding thereto that are available for use during the visual presentation, each style guide further having, for each of its corresponding display configuration states, a plurality of counterpart display configuration states in the other style guides, and (2) replace the display configuration states of the visual presentation with their counterparts in the new style guide.

63. The apparatus of claim 62 wherein the processor is part of a presenter computer interconnected with at least one viewer computer via a network, the viewer being stationed at the viewer computer.

64. The apparatus of claim 62 wherein the processor is part of a viewer computer interconnected with a presenter computer via a network, the viewer being stationed at the viewer computer.

65. A computer readable medium for controlling a visual presentation of data, the presentation comprising a plurality of display configuration states presented to a viewer through which data content is also presented, the computer readable medium comprising:

a plurality of stored visual display configuration states;

a plurality of stored style guides, each style guide having a plurality of the stored visual display configuration states corresponding thereto;

a code segment executable by a computer for associating, for each stored style guide, each of its corresponding visual display configuration states with a plurality of counterpart visual display configuration states in the other style guides;

a code segment for selecting, in response to user input, a new style guide for a presentation having a previously-defined style guide; and

a code segment for replacing the presentation'"'"'s visual display configuration states with their counterparts in the newly selected style guide.

66. The computer readable medium of claim 65 further comprising:

a plurality of stored transition effects;

a code segment for associating each pair of potentially successive visual display configuration states with a stored transition effect; and

a code segment for presenting a current visual display configuration state of the presentation to the viewer along with the data content therefor;

a code segment for determining the transition effect associated with a transition from the current display visual configuration state to a next visual display configuration state; and

a code segment for presenting the determined transition effect to the viewer prior to presenting the next visual display configuration state.

67. The computer readable medium of claim 65 wherein the computer readable medium is a CD-ROM.

68. The computer readable medium of claim 65 wherein the computer readable medium is software stored on a web server accessible by a viewer computer.

69. The computer readable medium of claim 65 wherein the computer readable medium is software stored on a viewer computer.

70. The computer readable medium of claim 65 wherein the computer readable medium is software stored on a presenter computer.

71. The computer readable medium of claim 65 wherein the visual presentation is a multimedia slideshow presentation.

72. The computer readable medium of claim 65 wherein the visual presentation is a videoconference.

73. The computer readable medium of claim 65 wherein the visual presentation is a video phone call.

74. A method of controlling the style of a visual presentation of data, the presentation comprising a plurality of successively presented visual display configuration states through which data content is presented to a viewer, the method comprising:

providing a plurality of style guides, each style guide having a plurality of visual display configuration states corresponding thereto that are available for presenting to the viewer and a plurality of transition effect sets corresponding thereto, each transition effect set comprising a plurality of transition effects that are available for presenting to the viewer during transitions between successively presented visual display configuration states;

selecting a style guide for the presentation, thereby defining the visual display configuration states that are available for presenting to the viewer and the transition effect sets that are available;

selecting a transition effect set from the plurality of transition effect sets corresponding to the selected style guide, thereby defining the transition effects that are available for presenting the viewer.

75. The method of claim 74 wherein the presentation comprises a plurality of slides, each slide having a corresponding visual display configuration state and data content presented therethrough, the method further comprising associating an available transition effect with each succession of slides in the presentation, and wherein the transition effect selecting step comprises selecting a transition effect set from the plurality of transition effect sets corresponding to the selected style guide on a slide-specific basis.

76. The method of claim 74 wherein the presentation comprises a plurality of slides, each slide having a corresponding visual display configuration state and data content presented therethrough, the method further comprising associating an available transition effect with each succession of slides in the presentation, and wherein the transition effect selecting step comprises selecting a transition effect set from the plurality of transition effect sets corresponding to the selected style guide on a global presentation-wide basis.

77. With a visual presentation of data comprising a plurality of slides that are successively presented to a viewer, a method for transitioning from a presented slide to a next successive slide, the method comprising:

maintaining a matrix that associates a transition effect with each possible transition from a currently presented slide to a next successive slide;

displaying a current slide;

determining a next successive slide for display;

accessing the matrix to determine the transition effect that is associated with a transition from the displayed current slide to the determined next successive slide; and

displaying the determined transition effect prior to displaying the determined next successive slide.

78. The method of claim 77 wherein the slides of the presentation do not have a predetermined fixed order of succession.

79. The method of claim 78 wherein the slides of the presentation are capable of being presented in any order.

80. The method of claim 77 wherein the transition effect includes a video frame.

81. The method of claim 77 wherein the transition effect is animated.