← Back to Patent Explorer
EP0447095A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Workspace displays

Assignee: Xerox Corp
•
Filing: 1991-03-05
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2011-03-05
📄 Original PDF 🌐 Google Patents 🔄 Sync Now

Abstract

Abstract A processor (302) presents a sequence of images of a workspace that is stretched to enable the user to view a part of the workspace in greater detail. The workspace includes a middle section (20) and two peripheral sections (22, 24) that meet the middle section on opposite edges. Each of the sections appears to be a rectangular two-dimensional surface and they are perceptible in three dimensions. When the user is viewing the middle section as if it were parallel to the display screen surface, each peripheral section appears to extend away from the user at an angle from the edge of the middle section so that the peripheral sections occupy relatively little of the screen. When the user requests stretching, the middle section is stretched and the peripheral sections are compressed to accommodate the stretching. When the user shrinking, the middle section is shrunk and the peripheral sections are expanded accordingly. The workspace includes display objects that may cross the edges from the middle section to the peripheral sections during stretching. Stretching and shrinking are performed in small steps to preserve object constancy for display objects that cross the edges. The display objects can have fixed sizes, in which case each display object is perceived as being tacked to the workspace at a point. Alternatively the display objects may stretch and shrink with the workspace, in which case additional internal detail may become visible as a result of stretching, and each display object is perceived as being glued to the workspace over its entire extent. Additional display objects can become visible as a result of stretching.

Inventors

  • 👤 George G. Robertson
  • 👤 Jock Mackinlay
  • 👤 Stuart K. Card

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-10-25 19:33
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06T; G06T11/00; G06T11/20; G06T11/26; G06T3/00; G06T3/04; G06T3/047; G06T3/40; G06T3/403

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 12
Claim 1
Independent Claim 145 words
A method of operating a processor connected for providing image data to an image output device that includes a display, the image output device presenting images on the display in response to the image data, the method comprising the steps of: providing first image data so that the image output device presents a first image ( 10) including a first plurality of display features (12, 14) that are perceptible as positioned relative to each other in a first workspace, and providing second image data so that the image output device presents a second image, the second image including a second plurality of display features (22, 24) that are perceptible as continuations of the first plurality of display features, the second plurality of display features being perceptible as positioned relative to each other in a second workspace that is a distorted continuation of the first workspace.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 38 words
The method of claim 1, in which the second image data is further provided so that the second workspace includes a stretched part that is perceptible as a stretched continuation of a stretchable part of the first workspace.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 66 words
The method of claim 2, in which the first plurality of display features includes a first display object that is perceptible as positioned in the stretchable part of the first workspace and the second plurality of display features includes a second display object that is perceptible as a stretched continuation of the first display object and as positioned in the stretched part of the second workspace.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 21 words
The method of claim 3, in which the second display object includes internal detail not included in the first display object.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 50 words
The method of claim 3, in which the second plurality of display features includes a new display object that is not perceptible as a continuation of any of the first plurality of display features, the new display object being perceptible as positioned in the stretched part of the second workspace.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 112 words
The method of claim 2, in which the first and second workspaces each include respective first and second sections that meet along a respective first edge, the first section, second section, and first edge of the second workspace being perceptible as continuations respectively of the first section, second section, and first edge of the second workspace; the first section of the first workspace including the stretchable part of the first workspace, the first section of the second workspace including the stretched part of the second workspace, the second section of the second workspace being perceptible as modified from the second section of the first workspace to accommodate stretching of the stretchable part.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 89 words
The method of claim 6, in which the first plurality of display features includes a first display feature that is perceptible as positioned in the first section of the first workspace and the second plurality of display features includes a second display feature that is perceptible as positioned in the second section of the second workspace, the second display feature being perceptible as a continuation of the first display feature through movement of the first display feature from the first section across the first edge to the second section.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 81 words
The method of claim 6, in which the first and second workspaces each further include respective third sections that meet the respective first sections along a respective second edge, the third section and second edge of the second workspace being perceptible as continuations respectively of the third section and second edge of the first workspace; the third section of the second workspace being perceptible as modified from the third section of the first workspace to accommodate stretching of the stretchable part.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 45 words
The method of claim 6, in which, in each of the first and second workspaces, the first and second sections are perceptible as surfaces that meet at an angle along the first edge so that the first and second sections are perceptible in three dimensions.
Claim 10
Independent Claim 139 words
A system for displaying information, comprising: an image output device that includes a display (306); and a processor (302) connected for providing image data to the image output device adapted to present images on the display in response to the image data; the processor operating to provide the image data so that the image output device presents a sequence of images, each image including a respective plurality of display features that are perceptible as positioned relative to each other in a respective workspace; the sequence of images including a preceding image and a following image; the respective plurality of display features of the following image being perceptible as continuations of the respective plurality of display features of the preceding image; the workspace of the following image being perceptible as a distorted continuation of the workspace of the preceding image.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 115 words
The system of claim 10, further comprising a user input device (304), the processor further being connected for receiving signals from the user input device; the sequence of images including a first image; the processor further operating to receive signals from the user input device requesting presentation of increasingly distorted versions of the respective workspace of the first image; the respective workspaces of the preceding and following images being perceptible as increasingly distorted continuations of the respective workspace of the first image in a sequence of distorted continuations leading from the respective workspace of the first step to the respective workspace of the preceding step and thence to the respective workspace of the following step.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 73 words
The system of claim 10 or 11, in which the respective plurality of display features of each of the images includes a set of display objects, the system further comprising a data structure that includes a plurality of items, each item including data for a respective one of the set of display objects in each of the images; the processor further being connected for accessing the data structure in providing the image data.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

No citation records indexed.

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.

Assigned Categories & Tags

No categories assigned to this patent yet.

Assign Category Tag