| Patent application number | Description | Published |
|---|
| 20080201646 | Tab Order Mapping of User Interfaces - An approach is provided to display a common display page on a variety of display devices using the item's tab order property to determine the display order. Controls that are displayed on a display device typically have a tab order. When a window that has controls is displayed, the cursor is typically placed at the control with the lowest (i.e., first) tab order. When the user presses the tab key, the cursor moves to the control corresponding to the next lowest tab order. This allows the designer to design a single window (or panel) that is displayed differently on constrained devices. However, even though the window is displayed differently, using tab order mapping maintains a consistent visible proximity between controls despite the type of display device being used by the user. | 08-21-2008 |
| 20080209310 | ANNOTATION VALIDITY USING PARTIAL CHECKSUMS - Embodiments of the present invention generally provide a system, method and article of manufacture for validating annotations describing one or more portions of a data object. In general, prior to displaying a requested annotation, a current change detection value may be calculated from current data extracted from portions of the data object described by the annotation. The current change detection value may be compared to a previously saved change detection value calculated from data extracted from the portions of the data object at the time the annotation was generated. A mismatch in the current change detection value and the previously saved change detection value indicates a change in the annotated portions of the data object, which may render the annotation invalid. The annotated portions of the data object may be continuous or discontinuous. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20080215579 | INCLUDING ANNOTATION DATA WITH DISPARATE RELATIONAL DATA - Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture that may be used for identifying and indicating annotations made for a variety of different type (i.e., heterogeneous) data objects are provided. According to some embodiments, an annotation store may be queried to identify annotations for data objects in a current view of data. For certain identifiable portions of the view (e.g., a row in a relational view), a callable function may be created that returns a set of indicia maps indicating which objects in the portions are annotated. Bits in an indicia map may correspond to different objects (e.g., individual cells in a row or the row itself). Using these indicia maps, an indication of which data objects are annotated may be provided in the view, for example, by displaying annotation icons proximate annotated objects. | 09-04-2008 |
| 20100063971 | UNIVERSAL ANNOTATION CONFIGURATION AND DEPLOYMENT - Systems and articles of manufacture for managing annotations made for a variety of different type data objects manipulated (e.g., created, edited, and viewed) by a variety of different type applications are provided. Some embodiments allow users collaborating on a project to create, view, and edit annotations from within the applications used to manipulate the annotated data objects, which may facilitate and encourage the capturing and sharing of tacit knowledge through annotations. Further, annotations may be stored separate from the application data they describe, decoupling the tacit knowledge captured in the annotations from the applications used to manipulate the annotated data. | 03-11-2010 |
| 20100070491 | Dynamic Contextual Table Headers - Techniques are disclosed for presenting users with dynamic contextual table headers when viewing database records. The dynamic contextual table header may provide a title (or other relevant information) for some columns of the table. For example, database records may be displayed along with a header generated according to a particular context—typically a row of the table selected by a user. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20100177064 | Haptic Motion Feedback Device - Embodiments of the present invention include a device and a method for providing a haptic motion feedback to user interacting with a simulated three-dimensional (“3D”) environment. In one embodiment, the device includes a base and a belt assembly, coupled to the base. The belt assembly includes a housing having an opening and a belt adapted to rotate within the housing for conveying a motion of an object moving in the simulated 3D environment. To indicate a horizontal component of object's motion, in one embodiment, the base is rotated, thus causing the belt assembly to rotate around its central axis. To indicate a vertical component of the object's motion, in one embodiment, the belt assembly is tilted. Optionally, the belt may include a plurality of protrusions and/or indentations on its surface for indicating to the user distances covered by the object within the simulated 3D environment. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100177065 | Haptic Motion Feedback Mechanism - In one embodiment, the invention is a haptic motion feedback mechanism. One embodiment of an apparatus for communicating motion in a virtual space includes a base and a feedback mechanism coupled to the base, the feedback mechanism using forced air to convey motion in the virtual space. In another embodiment, a method for communicating motion in a virtual space using a feedback mechanism includes receiving a signal indicative of user motion from a computing device on which the virtual space is running and forcing air through the feedback mechanism in order to convey the user motion. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100185985 | MANAGING RADIAL MENUS IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM - The present invention is generally related to graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and more specifically to displaying items in a radial menu. A radial menu may be displayed in a display screen including a first set of radial menu items. A screen object may also be displayed in the display screen. A second set of radial menu items may be displayed in the radial menu when a screen pointer event occurs over the screen object. | 07-22-2010 |
| 20100192101 | DISPLAYING RADIAL MENUS IN A GRAPHICS CONTAINER - Embodiments of the invention provide radial menus that allow users to quickly make selections of menu items using simple gestures. A radial menu may be displayed on a display screen in response to detecting a predefined screen pointer event such as a mouse click. Thereafter simple strokes using the screen pointer may be employed to select a desired item. The radial menus may be displayed on the display screen such that all radial menu items are visible thereon and there is sufficient space for making gestures for selecting radial menu items. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100192102 | DISPLAYING RADIAL MENUS NEAR EDGES OF A DISPLAY AREA - Embodiments of the invention provide radial menus that allow users to quickly make selections of menu items using simple gestures. A radial menu may be displayed on a display screen in response to detecting a predefined screen pointer event such as a mouse click. Thereafter simple strokes using the screen pointer may be employed to select a desired item. The radial menus may be displayed on the display screen such that all radial menu items are visible thereon and there is sufficient space for making gestures for selecting radial menu items. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100192103 | SPIRALING RADIAL MENUS IN COMPUTER SYSTEMS - The present invention is generally related to graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and more specifically to displaying items in a radial menu. The radial menu may include a first number of locations for displaying radial menu items. Embodiments of the invention facilitate displaying a second number of radial menu items in the radial menu, the second number being greater than the first number. For example, in some embodiments, performing a radial gesture may allow the second number of radial menu items to spiral through the locations of the radial menu. | 07-29-2010 |
| 20100211890 | DYNAMIC VIRTUAL DASHBOARD - Techniques are disclosed for helping users of virtual worlds and social networking applications to control personal identity data that other users have access to and to determine the type of identity data that users know about each other. Generally, identity awareness records may be used to store the personal identity data that a user has revealed to other users. When the user sends information to another user, personal identity data is mapped to appropriate aliases, depending upon which user is receiving the information. When the user is in the presence of other users, a visual dashboard indicates the types of personal identity information that the user knows about each other user, as well as the types of personal identity information that each other user knows about the user. The visual dashboard may also indicate the types of personal identity information that the other users know about each other. | 08-19-2010 |
| 20100245257 | Directional Audio Viewport for the Sight Impaired in Virtual Worlds - Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for presenting a virtual world to sight-impaired users. In one embodiment, the user may indicate an area of focus within the virtual world. The user may then be provided with audio descriptions of objects or avatars included within the area of focus. The descriptions may be provided at varying levels of detail, enabling the user to “zoom in” on particular items of interest. Further, the user may select an audio description to navigate an avatar to the location of the corresponding object. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100251179 | RADIAL MENU SELECTION WITH OVERSHOOT CAPABILITY - Embodiments of the invention are generally related to graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and more specifically to selecting items from a radial menu. More specifically, embodiments of the invention provide a complex set of gestures which, when performed using a screen pointer, facilitate fast and accurate selection of radial menu items from a radial menu. The gestures may generally involve a first movement of the screen pointer to activate a desired radial menu item, and a second predefined movement of the screen pointer to select the radial menu item. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100251180 | RADIAL MENU SELECTION WITH GESTURES - Embodiments of the invention are generally related to graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and more specifically to selecting items from a radial menu. More specifically, embodiments of the invention provide a complex set of gestures which, when performed using a screen pointer, facilitate fast and accurate selection of radial menu items from a radial menu. The gestures may generally involve a first movement of the screen pointer to activate a desired radial menu item, and a second predefined movement of the screen pointer within a predefined selection zone to select the radial menu item. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100283800 | MAGNIFYING CONTENT ON A GRAPHICAL DISPLAY - Systems, methods and articles of manufacture are disclosed for magnifying content on a graphical display. A user may specify a selection area of the graphical display to be magnified. The user may also specify a display area of the graphical display within which to output a magnified copy of the selection area. Further, the user may anchor a selection area or a display area to an application window or to content in the application window. For instance, an anchored display area may move with an application window. The user may also specify a text size for the display area. The display area may magnify text from the selection area to the specified text size. A magnification area may also display metadata from an application window or from content in the application window. A composite view may combine multiple magnification areas. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100287510 | ASSISTIVE GROUP SETTING MANAGEMENT IN A VIRTUAL WORLD - Systems, methods and articles of manufacture are disclosed for presenting a visual cue to a user in a virtual world. A cursor cycle allows the user to specify an avatar of focus by cycling through avatars in the virtual world. Visual cues of an avatar of focus are presented to the user. The user may define a cursor mask to include specific avatars. Visual cues of the cursor mask or of all avatars may be summarized and presented to the user. The user may also specify a threshold for a visual cue. A visual cue that is detected to exceed the specified threshold is presented to the user. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100287514 | ASSISTIVE CORE CONTENT IDENTIFICATION DETERMINED BY WEB PAGE CITATIONS - Systems, methods and articles of manufacture are disclosed for conveying a core section of a web page to a user. The core section may be identified based on citations of other web pages. Further, the core section may be conveyed to the user in a distinctive manner relative to other sections of the web page. For a web page with a plurality of core sections, a user may cycle through the plurality of core sections via a cycling mechanism. Information about a citing web page may also be conveyed to the user. Further, core sections may be customized by predefining criteria for identifying citations and core sections. | 11-11-2010 |
| 20100293500 | MULTI-FINGER TOUCH ADAPTATIONS FOR MEDICAL IMAGING SYSTEMS - Systems, methods and articles of manufacture are disclosed for presenting image slices in a windowing environment based on multi-touch user input, the image slices generated by an imaging system. A series of image slices may be provided that represent a view of an object. A gesture may be defined based on at least a count of fingers represented in multi-touch user input. Further, the defined gesture may be associated with a corresponding action for manipulating an image slice. Multi-touch user input may be received. Upon determining that the received multi-touch user input includes the defined gesture, the corresponding action may be performed on an image slice of the series to generate a resultant image slice. The resultant image slice may be output via an output device. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20100299637 | RADIAL MENUS WITH VARIABLE SELECTABLE ITEM AREAS - A method and apparatus for facilitating selection of items from a radial menu. Radial menu items may be differentiated from one another based on a desired difficulty of selection from the radial menu. Where it is desirable to make a radial menu item easy to select, the radial menu item may be placed in a relatively larger pie slice of the radial menu. Conversely, where it is desirable to make a radial menu item difficult to select, the radial menu item may be placed in a relatively smaller pie slice of the radial menu. | 11-25-2010 |
| 20100306366 | SYSTEM FOR ENABLING RICH NETWORK APPLICATIONS - The present invention generally provides methods, systems and articles of manufacture that provide an autonomous system for enabling rich network applications. Embodiments of the invention may monitor an existing network application and generate a profile on the network application based on what responses and data updates are triggered by various requests from a user. Embodiments of the invention may refactor the existing network application into a rich network application based on the profile created for that network application. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20110066980 | PLACEMENT OF ITEMS IN RADIAL MENUS - Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for placing menu items in a radial menu. A radial menu may be displayed in response to receiving a predefined gesture made with a screen pointer. A plurality of global menu items may be placed at predefined locations in the radial menu. A set of local menu items that are to be displayed in the radial menu be determined and displayed in the radial menu based on one or more predefined relationships between the local or global radial menu items. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110066981 | PLACEMENT OF ITEMS IN CASCADING RADIAL MENUS - Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for placing menu items in a cascading radial menu. A cascading radial menu may be displayed upon receiving a gesture that causes a screen pointer to select a radial menu item in a first radial menu. The first radial menu item may be associated with a second radial menu. One or more second radial menu items may be placed in the second radial menu based on a direction of movement of the screen pointer in the gesture to select the radial menu item in the first radial menu. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110067025 | AUTOMATICALLY GENERATING COMPOUND COMMANDS IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM - A computer system provides a way to automatically generate compound commands that perform tasks made up of multiple simple commands. A compound command generation mechanism monitors consecutive user commands and compares the consecutive commands a user has taken to a command sequence identification policy. If the user's consecutive commands satisfy the command sequence identification policy the user's consecutive commands become a command sequence. If the command sequence satisfies the compound command policy, the compound generation mechanism can generate a compound command for the command sequence automatically or prompt an administrator to allow the compound command to be generated. Generating a compound command can be done on a user by user basis or on a system wide basis. The compound command can then be displayed to the user to execute so that the command sequence is performed by the user selecting the compound command for execution. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110154178 | ANNOTATION STRUCTURE TYPE DETERMINATION - Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for organizing and selecting structures used to generate forms for capturing information as annotations made for a variety of different type data objects are provided. Some embodiments allow annotation structures to be associated with specific pairings of data object types and user roles via entries in a configuration file. When a user selects a set of one or more data objects for annotation, the configuration file may be accessed to determine a proper annotation structure for use in generating an annotation form based on the selected data objects and a role of the user. | 06-23-2011 |
