Method and apparatus for use in accessing content

• US 8,745,513 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2007
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Crystal, Steve
• Primary Examiner(s): RIEGLER, PATRICK F
• Application Number:
  US11/947,259
• Publication Number:
  US 20090144642A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,378 Days
• Field of Search: 715/708, 715/716, 715/727, 715/764, 715/853, 715/854
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/00 Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/048 Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• 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

Abstract

Some embodiments provide methods for displaying representative organizations of content. These methods display a plurality of representations, detect a command to implement a first content zoom, select first and second organizations of content associated with first and second representations, evaluate metadata associated with the first and second organizations of content to identify first levels of additional content associated with the first and second organizations of content, where the additional contents are descriptive of the first levels of detail of the first and second organizations, and display third and fourth representations of the first and second organizations of content, respectively, and the first level of the first and second additional contents.

Claims

1. A method for use in navigating through content, the method comprising:

displaying, in a first zoomed state, a plurality of representations of organizations of content;

detecting a command to implement a first content zoom while displaying the plurality of representations of content, where the detecting the command to implement the first content zoom comprises detecting an indication specified by a user extending a zoom box over a displayed area to be zoomed in on;

selecting, in response to the command to implement the first content zoom, a first organization of content associated with a displayed first representation of the plurality of representations, and selecting a second organization of content associated with a displayed second representation of the plurality of representations;

identifying first metadata directly associated with the first organization of content and identifying second metadata directly associated with the second organization of content;

evaluating the first metadata and identifying as defined in the first metadata a first level of first textual content associated with the first organization of content, where the first textual content is descriptive of a first level of detail of the first organization of content, wherein the identifying the first level of the first textual content comprises identifying a priority of metadata of the first metadata and identifying the first textual content as defined by a first priority;

evaluating the second metadata and identifying as defined in the second metadata a first level of second textual content associated with the second organization of content, where the second textual content is descriptive of a first level of detail of the second organization of content, wherein the identifying the second level of the second textual content comprises identifying a priority of metadata of the second metadata and identifying the second textual content as defined by a second priority;

displaying, in a second zoomed-in state, third and fourth representations of the first and second organizations of content, respectively, and the first level of the first and second textual contents in response to the command to implement the first content zoom;

tracking use of the first and second metadata; and

adjusting the first and second priority based on the tracking of the use of the first and second metadata,

wherein the displaying the second zoomed-in state further comprises displaying a navigation menu separate from the plurality of representations of organizations of content displayed in the first zoomed state and the third and fourth representations of the first and second organizations of content displayed in the second zoomed-in state, wherein the displayed navigation menu comprises a plurality of icons representative of organizations of content in one or more previous zoomed out states including icons representative of the plurality of representations of organizations of content displayed in the first zoomed state, wherein the plurality of icons comprise links that are configured to cause, when selected by the user, a transition to an alternative organization of content corresponding to the selected icon.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying the plurality of representations of the organizations of content comprises displaying the plurality of representations of the organizations of content through a graphical user interface (GUI);

and

the displaying the third and fourth representations of the first and second organizations of content, respectively, and the displaying the first level of the first and second textual contents comprises displaying in the GUI the third and fourth representations of the first and second organizations of content, respectively, and the first level of the first and second textual contents.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

determining a first amount of area within the GUI that is available to display additional content associated with first organization of content; and

where the evaluating of the first metadata comprises identifying additional content defined in the first metadata as being associated with the first organization of content, where the first level of first textual content comprises a plurality of textual entities representative of a plurality of content, and identifying the first level of first textual content associated with the first organization of the content from the additional content associated with the first organization of content that is displayable within the identified first amount of area such that at least a portion of each of the plurality of textual entities of the first level of first textual content is displayed in the GUI.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining the first amount of area within the GUI that is available comprises:

identifying a number of other organizations of content including the second organization of content to be represented in the GUI by a corresponding number of representations of the number of other organizations of content and additional content associated with each of the other organizations of content;

identifying a second amount of area and defining sub-areas within the second amount of area by dividing the second amount of area by a sum of the first representation of the first organization of content plus the number of other representations of the other organizations of content including the second organization of content; and

designating one of the sub-areas as the first area and each of the remaining one or more sub-areas being designated for one of the number of other organizations of content.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the first textual content comprises a plurality of textual entities where each of the textual entities displayed in the GUI is representative of and associated with one or more additional content, and each textual entity is selectable such that when selected at least the representative one or more of the additional content is displayed.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving a selection of one of the textual entities;

identifying an alternative content of the additional content directly associated with the selected one of the textual entities;

displaying a representation of the alternative content directly associated with the selected one of the textual entities and further textual content descriptive of the alternative content.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the displaying the representation of the alternative content directly associated with the selected one of the textual entities and the further textual content descriptive of the alternative content within third GUI comprises displaying the third GUI at the first level of detail.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

detecting a command to implement a second content zoom subsequent to the command to implement the first content zoom;

selecting at least a first textual entity of the first level of first textual content in response to the command to implement the second content zoom;

identifying third metadata directly associated with the first textual entity;

evaluating the third metadata and identifying a second level of textual content associated with the first entity of the first textual content and descriptive of a second level of detail of the first organization of content; and

displaying a representation of the first textual entity of textual content, and the second level of textual content in response to the command to implement the second content zoom.

9. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

detecting a command to implement a second content zoom subsequent to the command to implement the first content zoom;

selecting at least first and second textual entities of the first level of first textual content in response to the command to implement the second content zoom;

identifying third metadata directly associated with the first textual entity;

identifying fourth metadata directly associated with the second textual entity;

evaluating the third metadata and identifying a second level of textual content associated with the first entity of the first textual content and descriptive of a second level of detail of the first organization of content and evaluating the fourth metadata and identifying a second level of textual content associated with the second entity of the first textual content and descriptive of the second level of detail of the first organization of content; and

displaying a representation of the first entity of textual content, a representation of the second entity of textual content and the second level of textual content associated with the first and second entities in response to the command to implement the second content zoom.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the command to implement the first content zoom comprises detecting a user initiated drag of a scroll indicator on a content zoom scroll bar.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the identifying the first level of textual content comprises identifying a relative position of the scroll indicator along a length of the content zoom scroll bar and identifying the first level as being associated with the identified relative position of the scroll indicator along the length of the content zoom scroll bar.

12. A method of displaying content, comprising:

displaying a first zoomed state comprising multiple representations of multiple categories of content corresponding to a first zoomed level of a plurality of zoom levels;

detecting a first instruction to implement a first content zoom, where the detecting the first instruction to implement the first content zoom comprises detecting an indication specified by a user extending a zoom box over a displayed area to be zoomed in on;

selecting, in response to the first instruction to implement the first content zoom, first and second categories of content, where each of the first and second categories is associated with first and second representations, respectively, of the multiple displayed representations that represent the first and second categories of content, respectively;

parsing a first metadata associated with first content of the first category and a second metadata associated with second content of the second category, and identifying from the first metadata a first amount of additional content identified within the first metadata that is descriptive of at least some of the first content of the first category and one or more additional representations of further zoomed in levels of organizations of content corresponding to the first category, and identifying from the second metadata a second amount of additional content identified within the second metadata that is descriptive of at least some of the second content of the second category and one or more additional representations of further zoomed in levels of organizations of content corresponding to the second category, where the identifying the first amount of the first content and the one or more additional representations of further zoomed in levels corresponding to the first category comprises identifying a priority of metadata of the first metadata and identifying the first amount of the first content and the one or more additional representations of further zoomed in levels corresponding to the first category as defined by a first priority, and where the identifying the second amount of the second content and the one or more additional representations of further zoomed in levels corresponding to the second category comprises identifying a priority of metadata of the second metadata and identifying the second amount of the second content and the one or more additional representations of further zoomed in levels corresponding to the second category as defined by a second priority;

displaying a second zoomed state comprising the first and second representations representative of the first and second categories of content, respectively, and the corresponding first and second amounts of additional content in response to the first instruction to implement the first content zoom, where less than all of the multiple representations of multiple categories of content are displayed, where the displaying the first amount of additional content comprises displaying the one or more additional representations of the further zoomed in levels of organizations of content that are associated with the first category of content, and the displaying the second amount of additional content comprises displaying the one or more additional representations of the further zoomed in levels of organizations of content that are associated with the second category of content;

tracking use of the first and second metadata; and

adjusting the first and second priority based on the tracking of the use of the first and second metadata,

wherein the displaying the second zoomed state further comprises displaying a navigation menu separate from the multiple representations of multiple categories of content displayed in the first zoomed state and the first and second representations displayed in the second zoomed state, wherein the displayed navigation menu comprises a plurality of icons representative of organizations of content in one or more previous zoomed out states including icons representative of the multiple categories of content displayed in the first zoomed state, wherein the plurality of icons comprise links that are configured to cause, when selected by the user, a transition to an alternative organization of content corresponding to the selected icon.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

detecting a second instruction to implement a second content zoom;

selecting the first representation representative of the first category of content, in response to the second instruction to implement the second content zoom;

parsing the first metadata associated with the first content of the first category, and identifying from the first metadata a second amount of additional content that is not part of the first amount of additional content that is descriptive of at least a first entity of the first amount of additional content; and

displaying a third zoomed state comprising a third representation of the first category, the first entity of the first additional content and the second amount of additional content.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

detecting a selection of a representation of multimedia content of the first content where the representation is part of the second amount of additional content;

causing to be played back the multimedia content of the first content in response to the detection of the selection of the representation of the portion of the first content.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the one or more additional representations of the further zoomed in levels of organizations of content that are associated with the first category of content are not displayed in the first zoomed state, and wherein the one or more additional representations of the further zoomed in levels of organizations of content that are associated with the second category of content are not displayed in the first zoomed state.

15. A system allowing access to content, the system comprising:

a computer readable medium that stores content in a digital format and one or more computer programs;

a display; and

a processor coupled with the display and the computer readable medium, where the processor is configured to execute the one or more computer programs to;

access a least some of the content from the computer readable medium;

communicate with the display to display a first zoomed state comprising representations of the at least some of the content;

detect a first instruction to implement a content zoom, where the detecting the first instruction to implement the content zoom comprises detecting an indication specified by a user extending a zoom box over a displayed area to be zoomed in on;

select a plurality of the displayed representations in response to the first instruction to implement the content zoom;

parse a plurality of metadata with each of the plurality of metadata associated with one of the pluralities of the selected representations and selecting from each of the plurality of metadata a first amount of additional content descriptive of content associated with a corresponding one of the selected representations of content and one or more additional representations of content corresponding to the one of the pluralities of selected representations, wherein the identifying the first amount of additional content and one or more additional representations of content comprises identifying a priority of metadata of each of the plurality of metadata and identifying the first amount of additional content and one or more additional representations of content as defined by each priority of the plurality of metadata;

communicate with the display to display a second zoomed state comprising the selected plurality of representations, each of the corresponding first amounts of additional content and the one or more additional representations of content corresponding to the one of the pluralities of selected representations in response to the first instruction to implement the content zoom, wherein the displayed second zoomed state further comprises a navigation menu separate from the displayed representations of the at least some of the content and the selected plurality of representations, wherein the displayed navigation menu comprises a plurality of icons representative of organizations of content in one or more previous zoomed out states including icons identifying the displayed representations of the at least some of the content displayed in the first zoomed state, wherein the plurality of icons comprise links that are configured to cause, when selected by the user, a transition to an alternative organization of content corresponding to the selected icon;

tracking use of the priority of each of the plurality of metadata; and

adjusting the priority based on the tracking of the use of each of the plurality of metadata.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the first additional content comprises a link to activate playback of media content.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more additional representations of content comprises a graphical representation of the media content.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to parse a least a first metadata of the plurality of metadata and identify an identification of related content that is related to an entry of the first amount of the additional content descriptive of the content associated with the corresponding one of the selected representations of content where the related content is not descriptive of the content associated with the corresponding one of the selected representations of content and is descriptive of the related content, and to display the identification of the related content with the selected plurality of representations and each of the corresponding first amounts of additional content in response to the first instruction to implement the content zoom.