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US20020101418A1
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Circular graphical user interfaces
Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories Inc
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Filing: 2002-01-21
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2022-01-21
Abstract
Abstract A system and method provides visualization and layout schemes for a circular graphical user interface using global and local polar coordinate systems to display images. The system gives a user of the interface the full capability to relocate, re-orient, scale and layout images in the circular interface. Further, methods are provided to layout images in the Cartesian coordinate system, minimizing overlapping and crowding of images, and supporting users' focus in a group setting for group collaboration around the interface.
Inventors
- 👤 Frederic Vernier
- 👤 Chia Shen
- 👤 Neal Lesh
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 10:24
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F3/00; G06F3/14; G06F3/1423; G06F3/01; G06F3/048; G06F3/1446; G06T; G06T1/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 20
Claim 1
Independent Claim
125 words
1 . A method for visualizing a plurality of images in a circular graphical user interface, comprising: selecting the plurality of images from a database; orienting each selected image with respect to a global polar coordinate system, a local polar coordinate system, and a radial distance from the center of each image to the center of a display surface of the circular graphical user interface, a global angle a of the global polar coordinate system measuring rotation of the center of the each image around the center of the display surface, and a local angle β measuring an offset of a central axis of each image from the angle α; and rendering each oriented image on the display surface of the circular graphical user interface.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
125 words
1 . A method for visualizing a plurality of images in a circular graphical user interface, comprising: selecting the plurality of images from a database; orienting each selected image with respect to a global polar coordinate system, a local polar coordinate system, and a radial distance from the center of each image to the center of a display surface of the circular graphical user interface, a global angle a of the global polar coordinate system measuring rotation of the center of the each image around the center of the display surface, and a local angle β measuring an offset of a central axis of each image from the angle α; and rendering each oriented image on the display surface of the circular graphical user interface.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
32 words
2 . The method of claim 1 further comprising: rotating the global polar coordinate system while holding each local polar coordinate system fixed with respect to the rotated global polar coordinate system.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
24 words
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein a size of the display surface is proportional to a virtual depth of the display surface.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
29 words
4 . The method of claim 5 wherein a size of each image is proportional to corresponding virtual depth with respect to the virtual depth of the display surface.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
35 words
5 . The method of claim 1 further comprising: orienting the local angle β so that the central axis of each images is substantially oriented in the direction of the center of the display surface.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
27 words
6 . The method of claim 1 further comprising: orienting the local angle β so that the central axes of the images are parallel to each other.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
21 words
7 . The method of claim 6 further comprising: orienting the images with respect to a user viewing the oriented images.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
43 words
8 . The method of claim 1 wherein a size of a particular image automatically increases when the particular image is nearer to a periphery of the display surface and decreases when the particular image is nearer the center of the display surface.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
63 words
9 . The method of claim 8 wherein a normalized radius R of the display surface is 1.0 and a radial distance r from the center of the particular image to the periphery of the display surface is in a range 0 to 1.0, and a first scaling factor applied to the particular image is ( R 1 - r ) N .
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
11 words
10 . The method of claim 8 wherein N is 0.5.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
15 words
11 . The method of claim 8 wherein the scaling factor has a minimum threshold.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
43 words
12 . The method of claim 1 wherein a size of a particular image automatically decreases when the particular image is nearer to a periphery of the display surface and increases when the particular image is nearer the center of the display surface.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
100 words
13 . The method of claim 12 wherein a normalized radius R of the display surface is 1.0 further comprising: applying a minimum scaling factor when a particular image is near a periphery of the display surface; applying a maximum scaling factor when the particular image is near the center of the display surface; and otherwise a second scaling factor is ( MAXIMUM - MINIMUM ) × ( 1 - R ) 1 - r1 - r2 , where r1 is the minimum radius near the periphery, and r2 is the maximum radius near the center of the display surface.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
25 words
14 . The method of claim 1 further comprising: arranging the oriented images in a hierarchical manner using the global and local polar coordinate systems.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
28 words
15 . The method of claim 1 further comprising: locating a particular image that is a root node of the hierarchy near the center for the display surface.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
24 words
16 . The method of claim 1 further comprising: bookmarking a set of images with a bookmark; and redisplaying the bookmarked set of images.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
20 words
17 . The method of claim 16 wherein the bookmark includes a query used to select the set of images.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
137 words
18 . A system for visualizing a plurality of images in a circular graphical user interface, comprising: a database storing the plurality of images; a query for selecting the plurality of images; means for orienting each selected image with respect to a global polar coordinate system, a local polar coordinate system, and a radial distance from the center of each image to the center of a display surface of the circular graphical user interface, a global angle α of the global polar coordinate system measuring rotation of the center of the each image around the center of the display surface, and a local angle β measuring an offset of a central axis of each image from the angle α; and projecting means for rendering each oriented image on the display surface of the circular graphical user interface.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
137 words
18 . A system for visualizing a plurality of images in a circular graphical user interface, comprising: a database storing the plurality of images; a query for selecting the plurality of images; means for orienting each selected image with respect to a global polar coordinate system, a local polar coordinate system, and a radial distance from the center of each image to the center of a display surface of the circular graphical user interface, a global angle α of the global polar coordinate system measuring rotation of the center of the each image around the center of the display surface, and a local angle β measuring an offset of a central axis of each image from the angle α; and projecting means for rendering each oriented image on the display surface of the circular graphical user interface.
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