Method of managing user-selectable elements in a plurality of directions

• US 8,893,046 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2009
• Issued: 11/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Audet, Mathieu, Berthiaume, Yves
• Primary Examiner(s): SAX, STEVEN PAUL
• Application Number:
  US12/493,191
• Publication Number:
  US 20090288006A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,970 Days
• Field of Search: 715784-787, 715830-832, 715821-824, 715716-719, 715720-726, 715/970.1, 715848-852, 715800-805, 715/817, 715/841, 345156-167, 463/31
• US Class Current: 715/841
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/123 Storage facilities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/32 for games, toys, sports, or amusements
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99942 Manipulating data structure, e.g. compression, compaction, compilation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A method of visualizing and manipulating data on a display of a computer is provided, the method comprising retrieving a plurality of documents from a file system operably connected to the computer, each said document having at least one attribute associated therewith; graphically organizing the plurality of documents retrieved from the file system along a first substantially linear axis on the display; selecting a selected attribute associated with a selected document, the selected document being selected from among the plurality of documents organized along the first substantially linear axis; and graphically organizing a subset of the plurality of documents retrieved from the file system along a second substantially linear axis on the display, the first and second axes being organized such that the first and second substantially linear axes are non-parallel to one another, wherein the subset of the plurality of documents only includes documents having attributes associated therewith that match the selected attribute. A program, an interface and a system thereof are also provided.

Claims

1. A method for managing user-selectable content elements in multiple vectors on a display, the method comprising:

displaying a first portion of a first group of user-selectable content elements along a first vector in a first direction on the display, at least some of the user-selectable content elements including one or more characterization attributes visually indicated on the at least some of the user-selectable content elements;

receiving a selection of a characterization attribute associated with at least one user-selectable content element in the first group of user-selectable content elements;

displaying at least a subset of a second group of user-selectable content elements, in response to the selection of the characterization attribute, proximate to the at least one user-selectable content element along a second vector in a second direction on the display concurrently with the first group of user-selectable content elements, each user-selectable content element in the second group of user-selectable content elements having the characterization attribute;

wherein the second direction is at a non-zero angle relative to the first direction, and the second direction of the second vector being based at least in part on the selected characterization attribute; and

displaying multiple versions of an individual user-selectable content element stacked in a third-dimension relative to the first vector and the second vector, such that the multiple versions of the individual user-selectable content element are presented in chronological order.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second group of user-selectable content elements is adapted to be scrolled on the display.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first group of user-selectable content elements is adapted to be scrolled on the display.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user-selectable content elements are substantially equidistantly disposed along their respective vectors.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first group of user-selectable content elements intersects the second group of user-selectable content elements.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first group of user-selectable content elements and the second group of user-selectable content elements are substantially disposed at a right angle from each other.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second group of user-selectable content elements includes documents;

and displaying the second group of user-selectable elements includes displaying versions of the documents on an axis perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the selection of the characterization attribute associated with the at least one user-selectable content element from the first group of user-selectable content elements is received via an input provided with a game pad by a user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein an intersection of the first group of user-selectable content elements with the second group of user-selectable content elements is not centered on the display.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first group of user-selectable content elements along the first vector defines a borderless axis of user-selectable elements.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second group of user-selectable content elements includes displaying the user-selectable content elements along the second vector as a timeline.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least some of the user-selectable content elements from the second group of user-selectable content elements are linked to a computer file.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the user-selectable content elements are substantially equidistantly disposed along their respective vectors, the first group of user-selectable content elements and the second group of user-selectable content elements are substantially disposed at a right angle from each other, and the first group of user-selectable content elements intersects the second group of user-selectable content elements.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the selection of the characterization attribute associated with the at least one user-selectable content element from the first group of user-selectable content elements is received via an input provided from a game pad by a user;

and wherein an intersection of the first group of user-selectable content elements with the second group of user-selectable content elements is not centered on the display.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the characterization attributes include at least one of:

a set of conditions, a set of tasks, or a set of actions.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium adapted to store thereon computer-readable instructions that, when executed with a computer, provide a method for managing user-selectable content elements in multiple vectors on a display, the method comprising:

displaying a first group of user-selectable content elements along a first vector in a first direction on the display, at least some of the user-selectable content elements including one or more characterization attributes visually indicated on the at least some of the user-selectable content elements;

receiving a selection of a characterization attribute associated with at least one user-selectable content element in the first group of user-selectable content elements;

displaying at least a subset of a second group of user-selectable content elements, in response to the selection of the characterization attribute, proximate to the at least one user-selectable content element along a second vector in a second direction on the display, the at least the subset of the second group of user-selectable content elements being concurrently displayed with the first group of user-selectable content elements, the second direction being at a non-zero angle to the first direction, the second direction of the second vector being based at least in part on the selected characterization attribute, and the second group of user-selectable content elements each having the characterization attribute; and

displaying multiple versions of an individual user-selectable content element stacked in a third-dimension relative to the first vector and the second vector, such that the multiple versions of the individual user-selectable content element are presented in chronological order.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the computer is a game console.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the characterization attributes include at least one of:

a set of conditions, a set of tasks, or a set of actions.

17. A device, comprising a processor configured to present a graphical interface with user-selectable content elements in multiple vectors on a display, the graphical interface comprising:

a first display area adapted to display a first group of user-selectable content elements, the user-selectable content elements including a characterization attribute, the first group of user-selectable content elements displayed along a first vector in a first direction on the display, the characterization attribute being visually indicated on the at least some of the user-selectable content elements;

a second display area on the display adapted to receive an input selection of a characterization attribute associated with at least one user-selectable content element from the first group of user-selectable content elements; and

a third display area adapted to display a second group of user-selectable content elements in response to the input selection proximate to the at least one user-selectable content element, at least a subset of the second group of user-selectable content elements is displayed along a second vector in a second direction on the display, the at least the subset of the second group of user-selectable content elements being concurrently displayed with the first group of user-selectable content elements, the second direction being at a non-zero angle to the first direction, the second direction of the second vector being based at least in part on the selected characterization attribute, and the second group of user-selectable content elements each having the characterization attribute;

wherein multiple versions of an individual user-selectable content element are stacked, in the first display area or the third display area, in a third-dimension relative to the first vector and the second vector, such that the multiple versions of the individual user-selectable content element are presented in chronological order.

18. The device of claim 17, comprising:

an interface configured to receiving a first navigation input operable to scroll the first group of user-selectable content elements on the display, and a second navigation input operable to scroll the second group of user-selectable content elements on the display.