U.S. patent application number 14/281809 was filed with the patent office on 2015-02-19 for graphic-information flow method and system for visually analyzing patterns and relationships.
This patent application is currently assigned to Tavusi Data Solutions LLC. The applicant listed for this patent is Tavusi Data Solutions LLC. Invention is credited to Barbara L. Barros.
Application Number | 20150052106 14/281809 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 46323598 |
Filed Date | 2015-02-19 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150052106 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Barros; Barbara L. |
February 19, 2015 |
GRAPHIC-INFORMATION FLOW METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VISUALLY ANALYZING
PATTERNS AND RELATIONSHIPS
Abstract
A novel display control and information management system
seamlessly integrates layered and slotted formatted data from local
and remote sources to provide a highly versatile information
display. The system permits selective control of display and
display features so that complex data and data flows can be
seamlessly accessed with enhanced cognition of salient information
by a user.
Inventors: |
Barros; Barbara L.; (Boston,
MA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Tavusi Data Solutions LLC |
Wilmington |
DE |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
Tavusi Data Solutions LLC
Wilmington
DE
|
Family ID: |
46323598 |
Appl. No.: |
14/281809 |
Filed: |
May 19, 2014 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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13793789 |
Mar 11, 2013 |
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14281809 |
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11329419 |
Jan 11, 2006 |
8397177 |
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13793789 |
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10007387 |
Oct 22, 2001 |
7036085 |
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11329419 |
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09359544 |
Jul 22, 1999 |
6307573 |
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10007387 |
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60644987 |
Jan 21, 2005 |
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60642537 |
Jan 11, 2005 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
707/634 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 16/21 20190101;
G06F 16/27 20190101; G06F 3/04817 20130101; G06F 16/904 20190101;
G06F 3/04847 20130101; G06F 16/29 20190101; G06F 16/245 20190101;
G06F 3/0482 20130101; G06F 3/0484 20130101; G06F 3/0483
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/634 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/30 20060101
G06F017/30; G06F 3/0482 20060101 G06F003/0482; G06F 3/0481 20060101
G06F003/0481 |
Claims
1-133. (canceled)
134. A method comprising: maintaining a first database having a
plurality of data elements on a subject and associated graphical
information, wherein the data elements are stored in volatile
memory; automatically refreshing the first database with updated
data from a second database; receiving user commands generated from
user interaction with control icons, wherein the control icons are
individually hideable and wherein the control icons are mapped to
the data elements in the first database; responsive to receiving
the user commands, returning one or more of the data elements; and
layering, in a multi-dimensional presentation, the returned data
elements such that the returned data elements are actionable by
user selection, wherein selection of an actionable data element
causes display of a details layer over a portion of the previously
displayed layers, the details layer comprising additional
information regarding the selected element.
135. The method of claim 134, wherein automatically refreshing the
first database is performed using a public access network.
136. The method of claim 134, wherein the additional information
comprises annotation data associated with the selected data element
including at least one of: an identifier of a location, an offer, a
title, or a slogan.
137. The method of claim 134, wherein the details layer comprises
at least one of: a photograph, animation, sound, and video
footage.
138. The method of claim 134, wherein automatically refreshing the
first database with updated data from a second database comprises
updating data for a set of features which are updated dynamically
as time-sensitive information is changed in the second
database.
139. The method of claim 134, wherein display of the details layer
comprises displaying a message box configured to receive typed text
input.
140. The method of claim 134, wherein selection in a retrieval bar
separate from the details layer causes the information displayed in
the details layer to be switched to alternate information.
141. A computer readable memory storing instructions configured to,
in response to being executed by a computing device, cause the
computing device to perform operations comprising: maintaining a
first database having a plurality of data elements on a subject and
associated graphical information, wherein the data elements are
stored in volatile memory; automatically refreshing the first
database with updated data from a second database; receiving user
commands generated from user interaction with control icons,
wherein the control icons are individually hideable and wherein the
control icons are mapped to the data elements in the first
database; responsive to receiving the user commands, returning one
or more of the data elements; and layering, in a multi-dimensional
presentation, the returned data elements such that the returned
data elements are actionable by user selection, wherein selection
of an actionable data element causes display of a details layer
over a portion of the previously displayed layers, the details
layer comprising additional information regarding the selected
element.
142. The computer readable memory of claim 141, wherein
automatically refreshing the first database is performed using a
public access network.
143. The computer readable memory of claim 141, wherein the
additional information comprises annotation data associated with
the selected data element including at least one of: an identifier
of a location, an offer, a title, or a slogan.
144. The computer readable memory of claim 141, wherein the details
layer comprises at least one of: a photograph, animation, sound,
and video footage.
145. The computer readable memory of claim 141, wherein
automatically refreshing the first database with updated data from
a second database comprises updating data for a set of features
which are updated dynamically as time-sensitive information is
changed in the second database.
146. The computer readable memory of claim 141, wherein display of
the details layer comprises displaying a message box configured to
receive typed text input.
147. The computer readable memory of claim 141, wherein selection
in a retrieval bar separate from the details layer causes the
information displayed in the details layer to be switched to
alternate information.
148. A system comprising: a first database having a plurality of
data elements on a subject and associated graphical information,
wherein the data elements are stored in volatile memory; wherein
the first database is automatically refreshed with updated data
from a second database; a coupling between a user input and the
first database, configured to transfer user commands generated from
user interaction with control icons, wherein the control icons are
individually hideable and wherein the control icons are mapped to
the data elements in the first database; wherein the first database
is configured to, responsive to receiving the user commands, return
one or more of the data elements; and a multi-dimensional
presentation in which the returned data elements are layered,
wherein the returned data elements are actionable by user
selection, and wherein selection of an actionable data element
causes display of a details layer over a portion of the previously
displayed layers, the details layer comprising additional
information regarding the selected element.
149. The system of claim 148 further comprising a retrieval bar
separate from the details layer, wherein selection in the retrieval
bar causes the information displayed in the details layer to be
switched to alternate information.
150. The system of claim 148, wherein the additional information
comprises annotation data associated with the selected data element
including at least one of: an identifier of a location, an offer, a
title, or a slogan.
151. The system of claim 148, wherein the details layer comprises
at least one of: a photograph, animation, sound, and video
footage.
152. The system of claim 148, wherein the first database is
automatically refreshed with updated data from a second database
comprising a set of features which are updated dynamically as
time-sensitive information is changed in the second database.
153. The system of claim 148, wherein display of the details layer
comprises displaying a message box configured to receive typed text
input.
Description
RELATED DOCUMENT INFORMATION
[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application
Ser. No. 11/329,419, filed Jan. 11, 2006, entitled "Graphic
Information Flow Method and System for Visually Analyzing Patterns
and Relationships", now issued U.S. Pat. No. 8,397,177, which is a
continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser.
No. 10/007,387, filed Oct. 22, 2001, entitled "Graphic Information
Flow Method and System for Visually Analyzing Patterns and
Relationships", now issued U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,085, and claims
priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/642,537
filed on Jan. 11, 2005, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.
60/644,987 filed on Jan. 21, 2005. The entire disclosures of the
above-referenced applications are hereby incorporated by reference
in this application.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The invention generally relates to computer controlled
graphic display systems. More specifically, the present invention
provides systems and software for organizing and configuring large,
complex sets of graphic information for quick access and in-depth
analytical study. The invention enables the integration of
information from many sources for viewing in a layered and slotted,
interactive map format.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Throughout the ages, humans have devised ways to record,
then examine, their thoughts and mental images on paper. People
draw depictions of events, places, projects, and sets of objects.
They chart scientific processes, demographics, weather conditions,
and mechanical systems; and they diagram organizations, trade
routes, music, and inventions. These drawings aid both the
originator and subsequent audiences in picturing spatial or
symbolic relationships. Paper drawings and maps are representations
of the real world; but often the viewer must struggle to see only
what is relevant amidst too much information. Transparent overlays
can separate graphic information, but are cumbersome and
restrictive. Reference documents such as catalogues, guide books,
atlases, and encyclopedias gather together images and text
descriptions; but the user must flip back and forth between pages
to find, link, and compare information.
[0004] Today, computers are now being used to generate, compile,
and retrieve such graphic records. However, they have not as yet
enabled viewers to smoothly call forth sets of graphic data to
inform and stimulate a sustained, multi-faceted, analytical thought
process. For example, computer programs that employ graphics
layering are currently used to generate illustrations (computer
graphics), drawings of designs (CADD), and searchable and thematic
geographic maps (GIS).
[0005] Computer graphics can be used to draw lines and shapes which
may be organized into layers for overlapping and for showing and
hiding before being output as a printed or digital illustration.
CADD (Computer-Aided Design and Drafting) is used to create plans
of products, vehicles, buildings, utility systems, and other
three-dimensional objects. CADD employs layering technology to
draft and show different views of a three-dimensional object. A GIS
(Geographic Information System) plots data on a map with layers of
points, lines, and polygons representing land features. Each GIS
feature has an entry in a database with its name, a set of
coordinates (which may be real-world latitude and longitude) for
positioning the feature on the screen, and attribute data which may
be shown in a separate window and queried to determine a set of
features to be displayed.
[0006] These graphics-making programs are used primarily by
technicians to produce a singular image for publication and, in
limited ways, for interactive analysis. However,
non-technicians--the public, executives, and experts in
non-computer fields--cannot use them to easily access and
manipulate selections of layered materials. Nor can they easily
create or assemble their own sets of interactive, layered data.
[0007] GIS (Geographic Information Systems) has come furthest in
adding interactivity to computer-generated images. Drop-down menus,
graphics tools, and palettes are used for customized map
production; this slow, unwieldy process is of very limited use for
multi-faceted analysis. Networked GIS is used within corporate and
government intranets to provide staff access to data displayed on
geographic maps; it is also used on World Wide Web sites for the
public to find a street address or the location of one particular
facility or type of facility (see "Serving Maps on the Internet,"
by Christian Harder, 1998, Environmental Systems Research
Institute, Inc., Redlands, Calif., incorporated herein by reference
as if restated in full.) In addition to searching for addresses and
facilities, the interactive capabilities of current online GIS
include zooming in and out and panning within a large digital map
file.
[0008] A typical GIS often also has a large database with thematic
information for places on the map. However, current GIS does not
provide for seamless access to subset combinations from extensive
data sets. A legend, table of contents, or key shows a small
selection of themes and the symbols associated with subsets within
each theme. In some cases, entire themes may be shown or hidden by
clicking a check box next to the theme title on the legend;
however, a particular subset within a theme cannot be shown or
hidden. Current online GIS interfaces rely on the scrolling of
palette scroll bars to extend the legend and to view selections for
queries; this scrolling breaks the flow of data selection and
severely limits the organization and amount of data that can be
accessed. Sometimes scrolling is also required to view the entire
map and each subsequent iteration, further breaking the flow of the
analytical thought process. Annotational information, when
available, is provided by going to a separate Web page or window;
and thereby the material is not viewed smoothly, in direct
association with the map feature.
[0009] Beyond layering software, another relevant computer
technology is hypermedia. Hypermedia is the "linking" technology
for instantly retrieving text, images, or sounds. Its "smart"
graphics respond to commands such as mouse clicks to "hypertext" or
to a "hot" symbol on the computer screen (often referred to as a
button, object, icon, or imagemap).
[0010] From 1990 to 1993, the inventor developed a hypermedia
map-making software program ("CityView/TownView
HyperMapping--making maps and map libraries on your computer. A
Journal of Demonstration Projects" and software manual,
self-published, by Barbara L. Barros, Boston 1994, incorporated
herein by reference). This program provided an interactive tutorial
and tool with which novice computer-users could make their own map
libraries for a study of their neighborhoods, cities, or towns. The
software program used the first widely available hypermedia
software development tools; APPLE COMPUTER INC.'s two-layered
HYPERCARD. On the background layer of the map-making software was a
base map either drawn by the user or imported as a scan or
GIS-generated bitmap graphic. The user rendered sets of information
on separate top layers using paint (raster or bitmap) graphics,
text fields, and buttons which could link to new maps, paint
layers, and text. The overlays were automatically indexed in a
directory from which users could select layers to combine on a new,
aggregated map. However, the layers were then fused together, so
the map could not be used to aid a flowing analytical thought
process.
[0011] The primary intent of the "CityView/TownView" map-making
software was to enable civil servants and citizens to engage in
exercises through which they could improve their awareness of local
planning issues and opportunities. The software had several
significant limitations: (1) the map features were not objects and
could not have data or scripts attached to them, (2) map graphics
could only be in black and white which reduced legibility and
appeal, (3) the software was dependent on APPLE'S MACINTOSH
operating system having limited distribution, (4) users tended not
to have or be able to afford base map data, and (5) the large
amounts of graphic data generated could not be stored on most
personal computers or shared easily with others.
[0012] CD-ROMs and the World Wide Web are, at this time, the two
predominant means of delivering hypermedia. For organizing and
displaying material, these current hypermedia use GUI (graphical
user-interface) formats which are derivative. They draw from a
combination of print publication equivalents, software
document-creation conventions, and video presentation methods.
[0013] CD-ROMs were the first major application of hypermedia
because of the vast storage capability for graphics and sound.
These files are linked to create multi-dimensional games, training
materials, and reference sources. Current reference CD-ROMS are
organized to incrementally access graphic and text information on a
single subject, but are not presently designed to enable comparison
and to enhance prolonged, dynamic visual analysis.
[0014] The second major hypermedia application is the World Wide
Web. Presently, the technology favors lengthy text over graphics,
and graphics are commonly used as small link buttons and
illustrations rather than as the core data set. While searchable
GIS maps and ecommerce shopping sites are growing to be among the
popular image-intensive applications on the Web, the quality of
their interactivity and usefulness for visual analysis and
comparison is extremely low. A complex quest is constrained by the
slow speed of the Web's current infrastructure and its standard
presentation methods.
[0015] For example, the Web's current accepted practice of
presenting material is based on a page-to-page metaphor related to
print magazines. The magazine-like vertical layout requires the
scrolling of the page to accommodate the horizontal orientation of
the computer screen. The page is made up of magazine-like article,
illustration, and ad components. The eye roams from component to
component, viewing each separately. Text is often lengthy. To
obtain additional information, hypertext, symbols, drop-down menus,
or query forms are clicked to call up an entirely new Web page.
Often the new material is at a different Web site with a different
format. The viewer attempts, with minimal success, to carry in the
mind's eye the sequence of information, links, and pages. The
viewer must build a mental model of the findings of their inquiry,
instead of having this accomplished for them in the computer. It
was this understanding and recognition of the problems with the
prior art system that formed the impetus for the present
invention.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0016] It is an object of the present invention to provide an
interactive data flow and display system for viewing complex
information in a simplified and intuitive process.
[0017] It is another object of the present invention to provide a
method and system for studying and comparing visual representations
of multiple data sets.
[0018] It is another object of the present invention to provide a
computer system for navigating through extensive databases of
diverse multimedia wherein information is presented on an
interactive, keyed map or diagram display in selectively complex
layers optimized for user comprehension via computer- and/or
user-selected image control paradigms.
[0019] It is yet another object of the present invention to augment
the current, page-to-page World Wide Web file display metaphor with
a display logic governed by layering information densely in
response to interactive user commands.
[0020] It is still another object of the present invention to
provide a network-based browsing scheme that provides common
layering formats and layout and navigation conventions for
simplified orientation and operation.
[0021] It is another object of the present invention to provide
special control apparatus for organizing complex information sets
and for user-retrieval of selections as layered or slotted maps and
diagrams.
[0022] It is another object of the present invention to provide
annotation mechanisms to display text data and pop-up, interactive
descriptions about map and diagram objects.
[0023] It is another object of the present invention to provide the
ability to establish standard or common database formats whereby
content-providers and users can submit data for display and
comparison with other data. The data may be entered on a
traditional database interface or with editing tools on an
interface showing the relevant map or diagram.
[0024] It is a further object of the present invention to provide
an interactive display system that is connected to a network so
that remote data sources may be accessed and displayed in a
seamless manner.
[0025] It is another object of the present invention to provide a
program-controlled computer system that is interconnected to a
plurality of remote data sources so that display data includes
current information.
[0026] The above and other objects of the present invention are
realized in a program-controlled interactive data processor, such
as a personal computer, connected to and in communication with a
server and linked to a plurality of databases and associated
software. These databases, either locally or remotely located,
comprise a vast amount of diverse information on select topics. The
personal computer includes local programming to control the layout
of information displayed on the user display. The display includes
multiple, context-sensitive control panels or palettes for
manipulating the information (symbols, text, drawings, photographs,
etc.) presented on the user display in accordance with a selection
protocol. This protocol implements a data layering process, wherein
information is formatted and displayed in response to user control
inputs and stored instructions, optimizing the display layout so
that information is quickly presented in a form that is readily
comprehended despite its complexity. Only information necessary for
current assessment is presented without superfluous data elements.
Relevant information is thus presented in a seamless, streamlined
manner.
[0027] In accordance with the varying features of the present
invention, the computer system includes supplemental, back-end, and
user-tracking databases. The back-end database continuously or
periodically gathers and stores new and changeable information so
that the displayed information is always current. The user-tracking
database tracks user events on the personal computer with the
stored data used to return proper map data, to collect and archive
data for the user, to provide data to a user's intelligent agent,
and to prepare interactive map and diagram analysis reports on
anonymous, aggregated user activity patterns.
[0028] The foregoing features of the present invention may be
better understood by review of the following description of an
illustrative example thereof, taken in conjunction with the
drawings of which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0029] FIG. 1A provides a functional block diagram of the system
environment for the present invention.
[0030] FIG. 1B provides examples of alternative personal computer
devices to display the present invention.
[0031] FIG. 2A provides an exploded presentation of the primary
command and data flow between the client and the server.
[0032] FIG. 2B provides an exploded presentation of the system
components with an x, y, z coordinate slotting of the GUI
(Graphical User Interface) presented and controlled by the present
invention.
[0033] FIG. 2C provides an exploded presentation of the gridded
slotting of the GUI associated with image processing of the present
invention.
[0034] FIG. 2D provides an exploded presentation of an alternative
configuration of the components of the GUI in which special control
apparatus are inserted within a document to serve as the means of
access to data for the user to collect and view in the slots and
layers of a map.
[0035] FIGS. 3A-C provide three examples of the basic map layout
and input/output within the GUI (Graphical User Interface) for the
present invention.
[0036] FIG. 4 provides a GUI/database operations diagram of the
present invention.
[0037] FIGS. 5A-B are partial views that provide a logic flow
diagram for the present invention.
[0038] FIG. 5C is a small scale view of linked partial views 5A and
5B.
[0039] FIGS. 6A-6B are partial views that depict components of the
graphical user-interface associated with the present invention.
[0040] FIG. 6C is a small scale view of the linked partial views
6A-6B.
[0041] FIG. 6D depicts components of the graphical user-interface
associated with the invention.
[0042] FIGS. 6E-G depict alternative presentations with the
inventive system.
[0043] FIGS. 7A-7I depict a seamless stream of display screens for
the present invention.
[0044] FIGS. 8A-H depict layered indexes and keys with key
extenders and retrieval bars to organize and access a large
information set.
[0045] FIGS. 9A-F provide examples of informational advertising
integrated into the present system including an interactive
map-format user-activity report.
[0046] FIGS. 10A-H provide examples of a variety of map displays
derived from the same database.
[0047] FIG. 11 provides an example of a three-dimensional model as
an interactive map.
[0048] FIGS. 12A-12B provide examples of an alternative
configuration of the GUI components of the present invention in
which special control apparatus are inserted within a document to
serve as the means of access to data for the user to collect and
view in the slots and layers of a map.
[0049] FIGS. 12C-12F depict alternative presentations with the
inventive system for the configuration illustrated in FIG. 12A and
FIG. 12B.
[0050] FIGS. 13A-13B provide additional examples of graphical user
interface (GUI) components in which both a document with special
control apparatus and a set of symbol-list keys are the means of
access to data for the user; and the user collects and views
representations of these data in the slots and layers of several
interrelated maps which may be of different forms such as a gridded
chart, a graph, and a layered graphic.
[0051] FIG. 13C depicts an alternative presentation with the
inventive system for the configuration illustrated in FIGS.
13A-13B.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0052] First, briefly in overview, the present invention is a
computer technology employing a next-generation computer interface,
multi-media databases, and a user-tracking system to dynamically
build a customized, interactive mapset. It enables
content-producers to offer material as standard-formatted data that
can be "picked up" by users as they browse. It enables the user to
seamlessly follow a sustained, multi-faceted, analytical thought
process by manipulating "map" components, layers, and
annotations.
[0053] The graphic-information flow method and system uses layering
and hypermedia technology to maximize the flow of information,
insights, and ideas during the process of inquiry. The invention
provides an external aid to enhance reflective cognition ("Things
That Make Us Smart," by Donald A. Norman, Addison-Wesley Publishing
Company, 1993, incorporated herein by reference as if restated in
full). The present invention is a true browsing device for smoothly
pursuing a question, for analyzing, exploring, and discovering, for
comparing variations, for studying patterns and relationships, and
for reaching well-informed decisions.
[0054] The graphic-information flow method and system is designed
to enable continuous, focused concentration so that the computer
screen becomes an extension of the mind's eye. The present
invention enables the user to seamlessly follow a sustained,
multifaceted, analytical thought process by manipulating "map"
components, layers, and annotations. Just the diagram pertinent to
the moment is viewed, free of distracting, irrelevant
information.
[0055] Unlike expert and artificial-intelligence systems, here the
human being is the intelligent expert with the present invention
serving to augment the human thought process. The users of the
graphic-information flow method and system are active participants.
They gain knowledge and understanding through the hands-on process
of map-making. Users customize information sets by selecting layers
and filling slots, then by querying to refine them. Individual
analysis is further supported by providing marking tools to both
stimulate and record insights.
[0056] The invention combines hypermedia and layering technologies.
It enables layers produced by graphics, drafting, and information
systems to be organized and formatted into easy-to-use frameworks.
Non-technical producers can create multi-dimensional interactive
documents and reports for wide distribution. The maps can be
accessed by non-technical audiences either the general public or
experts in a field of study.
[0057] The map-based, graphic-information flow method and system
can be used to significantly improve the ability to study almost
any complex subject. By representing a place, topic, or thing in a
multi-dimensional map, previously-hard-to-recognize patterns and
relationships can be discovered. These would otherwise not be
apparent by attempting to view directly the place, topic, or thing
or by more traditional analytical methods.
[0058] The method and system employs what is sometimes termed
"cognitive art"-visual representations that aid the comprehension
of complex information sets. ("The Visual Display of Quantitative
Information" 1983, "Envisioning Information" 1990, and "Visual
Explanations" 1997 by Edward R. Tufte, Graphics Press, Cheshire,
Conn., incorporated herein by reference as if restated in full).
The term "map" is most commonly associated with a flat, simplified
representation of a landscape from above. A map can also be any
visual portrayal of a geographic area or imaginary place including
a cartographic, diagrammatic, photographic, perspective, or
bird's-eye-view image or three-dimensional model. As well, a map
can be a diagrammatic representation of a complex object (the human
body, a vehicle, a building). A map can also graphically portray a
topic for which a set of pictures or words are understood more
clearly in a series of subsets and in relationship to each other
(an organizational chart, a chemical sequence, or a set of scaled,
color images of possible plants for the garden of different heights
and flowering seasons).
[0059] In relation to the present invention, the important addition
to any such picture chart, diagram, or graph that makes it a "map"
is the provision of interactive keys. These keys do more than
merely define map symbols. The interactive keys enable the user to
quickly switch between views showing only selected subsets of
interest at the moment.
[0060] The resulting ability to instantaneously customize views of
information sets supports a mapping process of:
[0061] 1) setting out the significant features of a place, topic,
or thing,
[0062] 2) defining the features' relevant attributes,
[0063] 3) seeing what attributes various features have in common
and how they differ,
[0064] 4) detecting how often or rarely features and attributes
occur, and in what patterns, and
[0065] 5) noticing the significance of their real or symbolic
proximity to one another.
[0066] Understanding of the patterns and relationships often
benefits from annotations viewed temporarily in association with
map features. In the present invention, text, charts, drawings,
photographs, animations, sound, or video footage may be attached as
annotations to map features.
[0067] The present invention combines a diagrammatic map with
illustrative pop-ups. This dual-view design reflects the analytical
mind's-eye process of switching back and forth between the overview
structural image of a subject and close-up, eye-level views or
"vignettes" of particular features. To aid this mental process, two
perspectives can be seen at once. First, the content of the
overview is pulled apart and organized into layers or matrices.
Second, the descriptive feature view is shown directly in
association with the feature's place on the overview.
[0068] The overview enables examination of numerous
meta-representations of the whole place, topic, or thing. By
switching groups of features in the layers or slots, the viewer can
focus on studying patterns and relationships within particular
subsets of the whole.
[0069] Individual features can be examined "up close" via pop-up
annotations. For the same reasons that sidebars, summaries, and
sound-bytes are useful and effective, the material in these
descriptive close-ups is stripped to the essentials and
consolidated into graphic representations and short text. These
annotations are accessed in digestible chunks within "pop-up,
flip-thru storybooks." The viewer studies an introductory pop-up
card, then can click to go forward or backward in a series of
flip-cards which further describe the map feature. In the
storybooks, short flip-card animations are used to economically
create dramatic explanation. When animation and video is used in
pop-ups, it is in the form of short clips. Animation and video is
used not to purely entertain. Its purpose is to clarify or explain
the character and multi-dimensional aspects of a place or object,
product assembly procedures, or the pattern of a movement such as a
rock-climbing maneuver or a hurricane's path. Pop-up materials are
concise in order to augment and enlighten, but not distract from,
the study of the map overview.
[0070] The graphic-information flow system is perceived as a set of
"maps"--an atlas or a catalogue. Thereby the body of information
attains the feeling and credibility of a single reference object
even though materials may be pulled dynamically from many sources.
The invention enables data from these numerous sources to be stored
in a common format so that, for each user, material is gathered
during the browsing process into a personalized mapset.
[0071] The present invention provides an online alternative to
reference books such as product catalogues, yellow pages
directories, travel guidebooks, entertainment listings,
encyclopedias, natural history guides, text books, machine manuals,
and land-use planning reports. The present invention can also
provide an online specialty store where consumers can ask to see
and compare all the available offerings for a particular item from
a multitude of manufacturers and distributors. As well, the present
invention can be used to create an image-based library for
comparing similar objects such as ceramic vases, volcano eruptions,
colonial churches, and butterflies.
[0072] With the graphic-information flow system, producers of
information gain by being able to reach viewers more effectively
than by current print and electronic methods. At this time,
Internet producers put up a self-standing Web site which viewers
must learn of and locate, usually via a search engine, and then
must browse through to find one piece of information at a time. The
present invention enables the creation of digital repositories with
standardized formatting to aggregate data from many sources. With
the graphic-information flow method and system, the value of every
piece of information is increased exponentially by being easily
viewable in proximity with other related information. Viewers can
comparison shop for products, travel plans, and points-of-view.
[0073] Pop-up annotations augment without breaking the comparison
process. Each pop-up is a sidebar-like annotation to the body of
information on the main viewing area of the map; therefore viewers
are more likely to take a few moments to explore the descriptive
material without fear of getting lost. The map remains the
orientating device to come back to. Viewers feel in control and can
digest the descriptive material at their own pace. Pop-ups about
geographic sites have added power because they are seen and
remembered in association with the site's location. Pop-ups can
serve as an effective and useful advertising mechanism sought after
by prospective consumers. Unlike Web banner ads, viewers are
actually asking to see the ads or "info-tizements" because they are
associated with the topics the viewers are researching.
[0074] With the annotation and publishing tools, users of the
graphic-information flow method and system can define new features
and attributes to contribute to a mapset and can post new layers
and mapsets online to share with others. The graphic-information
flow method and system is intended to take publishing beyond the
single-source, broadcast model to the many-to-many model. At the
same time it is intended to provide the ability for respected
experts and information-integrators to create tangible, credible,
"branded" hubs that take responsibility for the quality of the
content they make available.
[0075] The graphic-information flow method and system for visually
analyzing patterns and relationships is a computerized reference
map system for assembling and integrating a set of materials about
a place, topic, or thing in order to enhance the flow of
information during the process of searching for knowledge and
insight. A database-derived "map" displays representations of a
place or a set of objects to be compared. This single, compact
computer user-interface with layered indexes, keys, and content
enables discrete sets of material from a dispersed network of
large, multimedia databases to be accessed smoothly and
repeatedly.
[0076] The method and system software uses layered and slotted maps
with clickable map keys. The viewer manipulates "map" components,
content layers, and annotations by clicking symbols. Clicking
symbols on map keys and query boxes shows and hides graphic
features with requested attributes. The features are organized in
map layers and slots. Clicking map features shows and hides text
messages and pop-up annotations about the features. The viewer
thereby easily studies features in context with other relevant
graphic information. The invention provides for smoothly calling
forth a set of graphic data to inform and stimulate a sustained,
multi-faceted, analytical thought process.
[0077] The software may be deployed as a stand alone application
and on enterprise, intranet, and interne networks. It may be used
in traditional personal computers and in future computer systems
employing screens that may be flat, wireless, and/or pressable or
pen-responsive, that may be larger or smaller than current PC
screens, and that may be as portable, thin, foldable or rollable as
a paper map or chart (see FIG. 1B).
[0078] The graphic-information flow method and system for visually
analyzing patterns and relationships is realized through computer
software. The present invention consists of template computer
software for publishing a set of materials in a format that the
user can smoothly browse. The software calls from a multimedia
database to display a graphical user-interface (GUI) and alter it
in response to user commands. The GUI has a central layered or
slotted map area surrounded by control panels.
[0079] The software employs "smart" graphics as symbols on maps and
control panels. The graphics are "smart" in that they can be
programmed to respond to user commands, calling to a database to
cause an action. Users click control panel keys and query boxes to
fill map layers and slots. Users point at and click "smart"
graphics on the maps to call forth annotational text, images,
sound, and video. Users at the back-end and front-end--create,
drag, reshape, reprogram, and otherwise change "smart" graphics
with editing tools.
[0080] The graphic-information flow system software template
consists of GUIs (graphical user-interfaces), multimedia databases,
and the software for configuring and operating the maps. The GUI is
designed to permit operation on a variety of existing and future
hardware devices; and the software can be developed using commonly
available software languages, database programs, and electronic
information systems.
[0081] Software on the server and client performs a number of
functions. The template software enables customization of the
database features, attributes, symbols, annotations, and topic
organization; of the GUI layout; and of the animation and query
configurations. GUI and database tools are provided for initial
mapset creation and subsequent editing by authorized editors,
dynamic databases, and public users. Software components include
map and database interfacing; dynamic generation of graphics,
imagemaps, and code; and user-tracking and activity-reporting.
Directory and query box formatting automatically turns text lists
into formatted top-layer graphics with retrieval bars and key
extenders as necessary. The software uses "smart" graphics to
provide for interactive keys and map features, map graphics
layering and slotting, querying, and notation and publishing tools.
The software also accommodates signaling from input/output devices
such as GPS and adaptation to future input, output, and selector
devices.
[0082] Special control apparatus are used extensively throughout
the system's graphical user-interfaces to retrieve layered indexes,
keys, and map content. These special control apparatus enhance the
ease of browsing while accommodating the size and resolution
limitations of the computer screen. These preferred special control
apparatus are designed to improve operation, but are not required
and do not preclude use of other special control apparatus.
[0083] Five special control apparatus augment the index, key, and
map configurations. First, message boxes within the map area show
updateable text data. The message is typically: 1) the name and
other tabular data for a feature in response to the cursor pointing
to the feature, or 2) data for a set of features which is updated
dynamically as time-sensitive information is changed in the
database. Small message boxes also may appear as pop-up feature
labels atop the map. Message boxes may be used for the viewer to
type text input. Second, retrieval bars are used for switching
information in indexes, keys, message boxes, and pop-ups. Retrieval
bars use graphical or alphabetical segments that provide an
improved alternative to traditional scroll bars. Third, key
extenders revise control panel and message box content via overlays
and pop-ups. Key extenders provide means for selecting additional
feature attributes and for switching topics and sets of keys or
message box contents. Keys are extended by clicking on topic titles
or arrows. Fourth, query boxes, that may be in the form of key
extenders or map area pop-ups, provide means for selecting multiple
attributes for a complex query. A query is requested by clicking a
button; and the results are returned by updating the map area.
Fifth are user editing and publishing tools along with interactive
how-to guides and tutorials that take new users through notation
and publishing procedures.
[0084] Having the foregoing objects and functionality in mind,
attention is now directed to a specific implementation of the
invention. Referring now to FIG. 1A, the inventive system is first
presented in functional block diagram form. Specifically, the
system includes one or more workstations or other personal computer
devices 10 with both local programming 11 and communication 30 to a
remote server 20. This server includes additional programming 24 to
assist operation and a central multimedia, relational database 21
and 22 containing a number of support databases stored in high
capacity memory. Exemplar memory modules include Base memory 21 and
Topical memory, 22. In this context, select mapping elements
commonly known as Base elements will be stored in the Base memory
module and the Topical elements in the Topical memory module. As
database entries, these elements are available for high speed
delivery to each of the personal computer devices, either
sequentially or concurrently, via the network link 30. A
user-tracking memory module 23 stores data about each user's
activity. To enhance this dynamic capability, the system includes
an expanded link to the Internet or other network connections 50 so
that the vast array of Internet or network source materials may be
accessed and combined with the base and topical data of the central
database and thus become available as information for mapping onto
the selective two dimensional display. In addition to the role as a
source for database information, the Internet and other network
connections permits remote process control of the database content,
including access and editing functionality via the personal
computer devices 10. FIG. 1B shows alternative personal computer
devices such as (a) high-resolution, large-scale, flat map display,
(b) large-scale, wall-mounted display, (c) wireless, portable map
and remote server, (d) portable, flexible, roll-up, flat map
display, (e) portable, fold-up, flat map display, and (f) map
expands and contracts as display is stretched or folded.
[0085] Turning now to FIGS. 2A-2C, the system components are
depicted in exploded view format. In these diagrams, arrows are
used to indicate command and data flows. FIG. 2A depicts the
primary command and data flow between the client and the server. To
permit the seamless custom data flow to the presentation, the
system display includes a map area 303 for imaging the map elements
as recalled from the server 200. To control data selection and
access, an interactive control panel with map keys 304 is displayed
on a portion of screen real estate, with selections thereon
governing the map area. When the User 301 causes a user-event such
as a mouse click to the map or control panel, a sequence of
software commands occurs reflected by the arrow to the Client-side
Software 101. A browser program 101.1 parses the request and runs
the client agent software 101.2 which may consist of HTML,
Javascript, CGI, Java, ActiveX and/or other code. The client agent
software processes the request and alters the map area image
reflected by the arrow back to the display. If a complex query,
additional graphic files, or updated information is required, the
client agent sends a request to the server software 102 and
multimedia relational database 200 that may reside on the client or
across a network on another computer. This request triggers a
sequence of events which gathers and assembles the graphic material
on the server and sends it back to the client for display.
[0086] Importantly for the invention and as is discussed in detail
in FIGS. 2B and 2C, elements comprising separate layers are stored
in addressable databases, including central server files and
databases 200 (comprising base 202 and topical 203 data sets,
graphics files 204, and user-tracking database 404) wherein the
grid depiction reflects data fields for each cell. The server
software first uses a daemon 102.1 to report to the user-tracking
system 404 in order to record the event and to retrieve relevant
information about the history and state of user's map and any files
on user preferences or from a user's intelligent agent. The server
software then calls a database access daemon 102.2 to query
attributes as necessary and to look up in the databases 202, 203
such information as feature name, symbol, x,y location, z-layer,
and annotation display data. The server then uses the results to
determine which graphic files 204 to retrieve, how to plot and
layer them, and how to reconfigure the interactivity of the
graphics such as imagemaps (the areas of the map which respond to
user events). The resulting GIF and imagemap coordinates and
scripts are sent back to the client for display.
[0087] FIG. 2B represents the various system components. At the
top, the two-dimensional information content of the display
provided to the User 301 is depicted in exploded view as layers
forming display content with the context of a geographic setting
comprising elements such as rivers, streets, parks, etc. As can be
seen, the layers are each characterized with select information
that is of varying importance to the User. The base map elements
are pulled from the base database 202 when the user first calls up
the mapset. The User interactively turns additional layers of map
data on and off to provide a more complete but concise data
presentation via interactive control panel entries as described
above in FIG. 2A. The topical database 203 provides content and
display information for "smart graphics" 309 on topical layers 306,
text in the message box 307, and pop-up annotations 308. The
interactive "smart graphics" 309 on the control panels, base,
topical, and pop-up layers are associated with user-triggered
scripts and data in the databases which govern changes in the
control panel and map area display in response to particular user
input. Additional data is retrieved dynamically from secondary and
third-party databases 504 at the back-end 502 of the system,
passing through a security device 505. Content providers and
editors 501 can alter content via back-end interactive map
interfaces 503 that send graphics files and data to back-end
databases and through security to the central server 200. The
user-tracking system 402 enables aggregated user-activity patterns
collected in the user-tracking database 404 to be viewed on a map
interface 403 by system operators 401.
[0088] FIG. 2C depicts in exploded view a slotted-format display
configuration in which base data is positioned in designated
sub-areas of the map rather than via x,y coordinates as in FIG. 2B.
This type of slotted-format can be used for any chart layout. In
the illustration, a gridded base map 305 provides the containers
for a set of "smart graphic" objects 309 to be compared. Upon
calling up the mapset, the viewer 301 may use the control panels
304 to query the database for a selection of objects that meet
certain criteria. Once these are displayed in the map area 303,
common features of the objects may be selected via the control
panel key for layering or hiliting 306. By pointing the cursor at a
selected object or feature, the viewer requests text data to be
retrieved from the database and displayed in the message box 307.
By clicking on an object or feature, the viewer requests a pop-up
annotation 306 about the object.
[0089] FIG. 2D depicts a slotted- and layered-format display
configuration 302 in an exploded view in which selected elements
are collected in the map area 303 of the viewable area and the
control panel 304 includes base data made visible in one or more
computer documents. The map's base presentation 305 and layout of
layered map slots 309 may be a slotted grid, as shown in FIG. 2D
and in FIG. 2C, or it may be a layered map as shown in FIG. 2B, or
in another chart or graphic layout. The map may be positioned
anywhere within the viewable area and may be hidden and shown as
desired. In FIG. 2D, the control panel area 310 includes one or
more documents 311 that provide the base information from which
"smart graphic" objects 312 (images or text with an ID and data
attached) can be collected to be compared or otherwise analyzed and
to enable access, at a later date, of subset elements represented
in the map by images, words, characters, and the like.
[0090] A user 301 uses special control apparatus 313 to signal (for
instance by clicking or dragging or other suitable indication
means) that a visual representation of a portion of the control
panel document should appear or be collected in the map slots 309
or subsequently removed from the map or altered within the map.
These visual representations may be words, symbols, or images or a
combination of words, symbols, images, and the like. Once these
representations are displayed in the map, additional control
apparatus 306 within the map area 303 may be used to remove or
reshow their display, change their appearance or associated data,
alter the look and/or content of the control panel document 311,
and alter the look of "smart graphic" objects 312 and special
control apparatus 313 in the map and control panel 304. By pointing
the cursor at a "smart graphic" object 312 in the map or control
panel document, a user 301 requests text or graphic data to be
retrieved from the database and displayed in the message box 307.
By clicking on a "smart graphic" word set, symbol, or image 312 in
the map or in the document, the user requests a pop-up annotation
308 about that which is represented by the word set, symbol, image.
Alternatively, clicking on a word set, symbol, or image in the map
can call forth, in the control panel area 310, enlargements,
information, text, and visual descriptions represented by the word
set, symbol, or image. A special control apparatus such as a button
314 or the like may be used to show, in the control panel area 310,
graphics and/or text for all or a portion of the set of images and
words that have been collected in the map. Once collected, the
object may be manipulated or removed, and the original document may
be redisplayed.
[0091] As shown in FIG. 2D, such an application of the present
invention provides a system for the collection of word sets,
symbols, images, or other representations while undertaking
research through many documents, reading a lengthy or complex
document, or viewing another slotted and layered map. The collected
word sets, symbols, or images remind the reader of previously
viewed content. These representations may be rearranged and have
their look changed within the map to categorize, compare, study
patterns and relationships, or otherwise analyze data or make
decisions about the data represented by the collected word sets,
symbols, or images. A word set, symbol, or image in the map may be
clicked or otherwise manipulated by the user or by additional
software to have data related to it shown in the control panel
area. Special control apparatus can be used to display data related
to all the collected word sets, symbols, or images, or subsets of
the collected word sets, symbols, or images in the control panel
area. Thereby, the document serves as a key, the user-controlled
means of access to computer data that may be collected in map slots
and layers.
[0092] The graphic information flow system can display images
representing any place, topic, or thing. Three types of map layout
within GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) are shown in FIGS. 3A-3C.
The layered map of FIG. 3A is used for sets of features with
relative spatial locations that can be positioned by x, y
coordinates. The slotted map of FIG. 3B has sets of discrete
features positioned in a grid for comparison, or in a chart with
slots placed to represent features' relationships, as in FIG. 3C.
Each layout starts with a base map and a control panel, 601. The
user clicks the key to select one topic for display, 602. Also
illustrated in 602, the user may point at a feature on the map to
view text data in the message box. To compare features, the user
selects from the key another topic or attribute subset for display
and comparison, 603; this may be repeated to show and compare other
topics; clicking the key topic a second time deletes that feature
from the display. In 604, the user clicks on a map feature to view
a pop-up annotation. The interactive pop-up appears in an area away
from, but near the feature which is now hilited.
[0093] FIG. 4 shows the basic GUI/database operations that the
database calls as a result of the GUI Input/Output sequences of
FIGS. 3A-C. The Topical Database, 203 at the center of the drawing
stores a set of feature and attribute data and is updated
dynamically from the back-end interfaces, 503 and back-end
databases, 504 at the top left of the drawing. As Users interact
with the system, activity data is recorded and stored in
user-tracking system, 404 and available for User activity reports,
403.
[0094] At the bottom of the drawing, a series of GUIs as seen above
in FIG. 3C are shown. The broken lines indicate command sequences
from the GUI to access the data via key "mouse" selection from the
Topical Database, 203. In operation 601, the User "click" to topic
"AA" on the control panel key, 612 alters the map display, 611 and
displays that topic. Specifically, the system retrieves the source
data from the topical database, 203 and determines the symbol,
pattern, and color for "AA" attribute, 210. Thereafter, the system
provides the slots or layers corresponding to the "AA" attribute,
as indicated by the "X"s in the column headed by the "AA"
designation, 214. All corresponding data items with the "AA"
attribute, 214 are then placed on the Map area, 611.
[0095] In operation 602 of FIG. 4, the user points to one feature
on the map to view text data about the feature. The software
determines the slot or coordinate of the cursor and finds the slot
designation or x, y coordinate in column 211 of the database, 203.
The software retrieves the name from column 212 and text
description of the feature from column 213. It displays this text
data in the message box, 614 and/or the name in the label, 613,
positioning the label near the feature.
[0096] In operation 603 of FIG. 4, another feature, "DD", is
selected and this is used to find corresponding entries from the
topical database, 203, as indicated by the "X"s in the column under
the "DD" attribute. These features are then presented on the
screen, available for User review.
[0097] In operation 604, a click on a feature, 615, causes the
display of an interactive pop-up annotation, 616. When the pop-up
appears, the feature on the map that was clicked is hilited to
retain the connection between the annotation and the feature. The
configuration of the pop-up, 305 is determined by the data in
columns 216 and 217, informing the software as to which graphics,
text, and sound to retrieve from the file, 218. The pop-up itself
may be interactive with mouse clicks triggering animations, 605, or
causing new pop-up cards to be displayed, 606.
[0098] In order to call forth another mapset, the user clicks an
index or a context map or diagram, 607. The context control, 617
shows the present location of the current map in the mapset.
Clicking its hilited areas calls up the master directory or
switches to other maps. The other maps may be another
representation of the same data or a related information set.
[0099] The initialization of the program, navigation to the desired
mapset, and manipulation of the interactive map are depicted
generally in the flowcharts of FIGS. 5A and 5B and begins with the
start up, 5100 when the User clicks on the program icon to enter
the system. The resulting actions include the recording of a User
ID in the user-tracking system, 5190 and the system calling up the
program from a CPU, CD-ROM, network or internet server. The
start-up screen is displayed with a base map or a directory of
available mapsets. A directory may have a text or graphic table of
contents or index; or it may be a single graphic representation of
the contents such as a world map or other overview image, or a
combination of the two. The how-to event, 5101 is optional and may
be accessed at any point. It involves the User clicking on a
"how-to" button. The program calls up a screen or animated overlay
with information about how to use the program. This is preferably a
short animated sequence on top of a view of the directory (if
applicable) or on top of a view of a base map. In the directory or
base map key, Users may be given a choice of written languages
which is noted as a variable and referenced whenever words are
displayed.
[0100] If the software includes a directory, the User may click,
5102 on a directory extender control apparatus. The directory will
then be revised. The program will call up additional subdirectory
text or zoom in on a world map or overview image. This process is
repeated until the desired mapset is identified by title or image.
The selection of the desired mapset is accomplished via event, 5110
in which the User clicks on a mapset title or image. The program
displays a base map for a mapset of a place, topic, or thing. The
selected mapset is recorded in the user-tracking system, 5190 and
subsequent user-events are also recorded, 5191-5194.
[0101] Once the base map is displayed, the User will use the
control panel key to select the first topic set for display on the
base map. The User may first need to click on the key extender,
5120 to revise the key in order to view the desired feature-set.
The User clicks on a key symbol, 5121, and the feature-set is
displayed on the map. To accomplish this, the program searches in
the database and recognizes the feature-set (layer) associated with
the x,y coordinate of the mouse click (see FIG. 4, Operation 601).
The program finds the column in the topical database for the
requested feature-set. If part of the database is designated for
symbols or a symbol is associated with the topic column, the
program notes the symbol designated to represent the topic and
finds rows with that column checked (see FIG. 4, 210). If part of
the database is designated for images or "image" is associated with
the topic column, the program notes which rows have an image. For
each checked row, the program retrieves the symbol or image from
the graphics file or cached images on the client and displays it at
the designated x, y coordinate or in the designated slot, replacing
the graphic of the base map.
[0102] If the symbol is not a rectangle, the program determines its
shape. The shape may be a set of points for a line or polygon or a
bitmap graphic with a mask. The program alters the map only for the
area within the symbol. If the symbol (typically a shape or
polygonal area) is designated as transparent, the program
calculates the alteration of the underlying map colors within the
area. For gridded slots each showing images of similar objects for
comparison, the appropriate feature of the object is hilited. For
layers or slots, a hilite may be an outline or filled shape; it may
be opaque or a transparent tone altering the color of the
underlying image.
[0103] If the User clicks on the same key symbol, 5122, the
feature-set is deleted on the map. The program repeats the actions
of 5121, but deletes the symbol or images by displaying the
appropriate portion of the base map image (stored in the
user-tracking database) in its place. If the User clicks on a
symbol or label in a query box or enters text in a query box, 5130,
the feature-set is displayed on the map by another means, as
follows. The program repeats the actions of 5121, but searches for
multiple columns to be checked or searches for text matches in a
column. It displays a symbol, image, or hilite at the designated x,
y coordinates or in the designated slot, replacing the graphic of
the base map.
[0104] The User then will click another key symbol or query, 5140
adding a new feature-set to the map. The program repeats the
actions of 5121, but does so in comparison with other symbols,
images, or hiites currently displayed (see FIG. 4, Operation 603).
If two symbols have the same coordinates or overlap, the program
uses an algorithm to adjust the placement of the symbols so that
all or part of both are visible, and determines which should be
displayed on top of the other. If the topics use patterns. colors,
or hilites as symbols, the program determines a third, combined
pattern color, or hilite to signify its representation of two
attributes or for the overlap. For an "and" query, the program will
hide previously visible symbols for features that do not have all
the attributes. This action may be repeated to add other symbols;
and keys for visible features may be clicked to hide their
symbols.
[0105] Two means of viewing annotational material about map
features are possible. First, if the User points with the cursor
(mouseOver) at a feature (symbol) on the map, 5150, a message and
label may be displayed (see FIG. 4, Operation 602). The program
searches in the database and recognizes the feature associated with
the x,y coordinate of the mouse location. If there is a message box
on the map, the program displays text from the database in the
message box of the map. If labeling is being used, the program
reads the name for the feature from the name field. It calculates
the size of the label based on the number of characters and the
width of the font being used to size the label. It displays a label
with the name next to the map symbol or in the slot. The label may
have a line that connects the symbol to the label set at a distance
to allow viewing of the area surrounding the symbol. A default
location in relationship to the map symbol or slot determines its
positioning. If the label would go outside of the map area or is
too long for the slot, the program shifts it to an acceptable
position. When the User moves the cursor away from the symbol
(mouseOut) or clicks the symbol, the label is hidden, but the
message box information may remain.
[0106] Second, if the User clicks on a map symbol, 5151, the
program displays a hilite around the map symbol and a pop-up is
displayed. The program searches in the database and recognizes the
feature associated with the x, y coordinate of the mouse click (see
FIG. 4, 604). If the row has pop-up annotations, the map symbol is
hilited and the first pop-up card is assembled as described in the
database (see FIG. 4, 305). The program calculates the quadrant or
portion of the map within which the x, y coordinates of the map
symbol are located. It then determines another appropriate quadrant
or portion of the map over which the program will display the
pop-up. It then replaces that quadrant or portion with an image
that combines the shadowed pop-up edged by the visible map graphic
surrounding the pop-up.
[0107] The pop-up itself may be interactive. If the User clicks on
a pop-up hot spot (a button, object, icon, or imagemap), 5152, the
pop-up is altered (see FIG. 4, 605). The pop-up displays additional
information including links to other graphic and text data,
animations, and sounds based on information in the database (see
FIG. 4, 216, 217). If the User clicks on a pop-up corner, 5153, the
pop-up changes to a new card. The program retrieves the next or
previous pop-up card based on information in the database (see FIG.
4, 606). For written languages that read from left to right,
clicking on the right corner calls the next pop-up card, and
clicking on the left corner displays the previous card. This may be
reversed for languages that read from right to left. Forward and
back arrow symbols may be placed on the corners.
[0108] If the User clicks on a symbol or map while the pop-up is
showing, 5154, the pop-up is hidden. The hilite of the map symbol
is deleted and the original map replaces the pop-up in the quadrant
or portion of the map. Clicking a key symbol also hides the pop-up
before altering the map display. The program may be set up so that
clicking on another visible map symbol will simply replace the
contents of the pop-up and reposition it if appropriate.
[0109] If the User clicks on a notation tool for text, lines, or
shapes in the control panel, 5160 optional, the cursor changes to
the I-beam (for text) or a cross (for a line or a shape). The User
presses on the map and types or drags. Upon release, text, line, or
shape notations are made on top of the map and recorded in the
user-tracking system. The notation layer symbol is hilited on the
key (additional notation layers may be provided). When the User
clicks on a key symbol for the notation layer, the notations are
hidden or shown.
[0110] User-editing, 5170, is optional for public users; this is
the process whereby authorized Editors add information via a
password-protected back-end interface (see FIG. 4, 503). When an
Editor or User clicks on a symbol tool in the control panel or in
an edit or tools menu, a new symbol is created. A copy of the
selected symbol is positioned on an appropriate place on the
control panel or map. The new symbol is hidden and shown several
times to call attention to it. When the Editor/User presses on the
new symbol and drags to a position on the map, the symbol is moved.
The symbol is repeatedly repositioned to the x,y coordinate of the
cursor. If the cursor moves beyond the map boundaries, the symbol
stays at the edge of the map. When the Editor/User releases, a row
is added to a database with the symbol, an ID number, and its x, y
coordinates.
[0111] Authorized Editors' changes are entered in the base map or
topical databases, as appropriate. For public users, the row is
added to the user-tracking system database within a user-added
layer associated with the User ID. A data entry dialog box appears
in which the Editor enters name, message information, and pop-up
data; this is optional for public users. When the Editor/User
enters a name and other data and clicks "OK", the data entry dialog
box disappears. The name and data are entered into the database row
of the new symbol and then are called up when the User clicks a new
symbol, 5150, 5151, 5152. If the Editor/User does not press a new
symbol or clicks "cancel" in the data entry dialog box, an alert
message appears asking the User if they want to delete the symbol.
If the User clicks "yes" or "cancel", the alert dialog box
disappears and the new symbol is deleted. If "no", the data entry
dialog box reappears. If the Editor/User clicks the delete-symbol
tool and clicks on a user-added map symbol, a symbol is deleted
from the map and the row is deleted from the database. An "Are you
sure?" dialog may appear before doing so and the User may thereby
cancel the deletion.
[0112] Editing may also be done via a database interface. If the
Editor/User clicks on "view database" in the control panel or in
the edit or tools menu, the appropriate portion of the database
appears in the map area. Any fields that may not be edited are
grayed. The Editor/User may add rows and enter text in the
database. The Editor/User may toggle between the database interface
and the revised map to view and modify changes.
[0113] Users may save, print, and publish their mapsets, 5180. When
the User clicks on the "save" button or menu, the mapset is saved.
When the User clicks on the "print" button or menu, the mapset is
printed. When the User clicks on the "publish" button or menu, the
mapset is published online.
Examples
[0114] An exemplar GUI (Graphical User-Interface) layout and its
components shown in FIG. 6A is designed to organize information
from an extensive, complex data set. The special control apparatus
maximize ease in retrieving subsets from the database. The
navigation to the desired map can be accomplished via an optional
index, 6901-6904, on the left by clicking on bar segments and list
items. Retrieval Bar, 6101, for switching categories of mapsets and
Retrieval Bar, 6102, for switching subcategories of mapsets call
forth clickable lists of mapsets, 6103, within the selected
category and subcategory. The example shows a list organized in
alphabetical order. Retrieval Bar, 6104, is used for calling forth
additional list information. The hilited segment designates the
portion of the list that is displayed; clicking another letter
calls up the portion of the list starting with that letter.
Clicking on a map name in the list brings its base map into the Map
Area. Orientation and navigation within a set of maps is
accomplished via the Context Map, 6205 in lower right, which shows
the location of the present map within the next higher level map.
Clicking outside its toned area, calls forth the next higher level
map (zoom-out). Zoom-in capabilities, 6205a, are provided via a
key-accessed layer showing clickable zoom-in areas on the main map.
Clicking on the "Home" icon, 6206 upper right, retrieves the
top-level map of the mapset.
[0115] Upon retrieving the desired mapset with its basemap visible
in the Map Area, the user may click on the Topic Selector, 6207, to
retrieve site or object information for a particular topic in
several ways. Clicking the underlined topic name will replace the
base key with a topic-related key. Clicking on the box to the left
of the topic name will call forth a query box in the key or as a
pop-up (see FIG. 6B). Clicking on the down arrowhead will replace
the topic list with a list of subtopics. The retrieval bar above
the list shows the number of levels of topics and subtopics
including and above the current subtopics list; clicking a segment
will return to the higher-level topics list. Clickable keys are
used to show and hide overlays to the basemap in the Map Area. The
key, 6208, shows a set of symbols; when a symbol is clicked, the
software calls to the database to show all that type of site or
object positioned properly on the map. Keys for additional types of
site or object are accessed by clicking on the "next" and "back"
arrowheads at upper right of key, as shown in FIG. 8A.
[0116] The central Map Area displays the content as sets of map
symbols. Map symbols, 6109, for sites and objects with information
in the database are "hot." Pointing at a symbol will call forth
into the message box, 6110, the site/object's name and descriptive
material. The message box is also used as a title bar to display
the mapset title and subcategory title, as shown in FIG. 10A.
Clicking on a map symbol will cause it to become hilited and a
pop-up, 6211, to appear in a part of the map other than that in
which the symbol is located. The pop-up has interactive,
annotational material about the site or object. The material in the
pop-up may be presented on multiple cards that are retrieved via
the segmented retrieval bar, 6212, at the bottom of the pop-up.
Special theme keys, 6113, may be provided below the map. Sponsor
name and message, 6214, may also appear in this belowbar.
Publisher, editor, and access to use, restrictions, and other
reference information, 6215, may be located in the key or
belowbar.
[0117] FIG. 6D shows a pop-up query box. The retrieval bar, 6301,
is clicked to call forth lists of attributes. The attribute list,
6302, is clicked to select attributes which appear in the
selections list, 6303. Clicking the "plot" button, 6304, causes the
query box to disappear, the requested query to occur, and symbols
representing sites or objects that have the selected attributes to
appear in the map area.
[0118] FIG. 6E shows an embodiment of the GUI layout with each of
the components diagrammed in FIG. 6A-6B. FIG. 6F shows another
embodiment of the GUI layout within a World Wide Web browser. The
user has undertaken a search for a selection of hotels by clicking
the box to the left of the topic "Lodging" and thereby called up
the "Lodging" query box for selection of query criteria, as shown
in FIG. 6G. A list of applicable hotels with a retrieval bar then
appeared in the key area; this list may be clicked to have a
particular hotel hilited on the map. The User has also clicked the
key and special theme selector in FIG. 6F to view subway stops,
trolley-boat tours, and scenic views. The user has then clicked on
a hotel symbol on the map to view annotational material in the
message box and pop-up, as shown in FIG. 6F.
[0119] In FIGS. 7A-7G an example is provided depicting the use of
the present system for assessing sophisticated geographic
information. The series illustrates how a vast amount of
information can be organized within a single, small screen and how
its layered data can be retrieved by means of exemplar special
control apparatus; The sequence begins with a user browsing a
series of interconnected, geographic maps. Beginning with screen
display, FIG. 7A, a base map of the world is provided in a
two-dimensional presentation. This interactive, layered map can be
easily reconfigured by the user. In this display, the control panel
includes the following topics specific to the first base map:
[0120] 1. Current Events
[0121] 2. Environment
[0122] 3. People of the World
[0123] 4. History/Geography
[0124] 5. Metro Areas/Cities
[0125] 6. Travel Planning
[0126] In this example, the User has selected the "Current Events"
topic in the control panel, resulting in a second key of
subtopics:
[0127] 1. Time/Sun-Shadow
[0128] 2. Weather
[0129] 3. Geography & News
[0130] a. Government
[0131] b. Science/Nature
[0132] c. Business
[0133] d. People
[0134] The user wishes to view the time in different cities of the
world, weather, and news. As new data are called for, the system
pulls from third-party databases and public information Web sites;
and it dynamically refreshes the display with the most current
entries. Pointing at a "hot news" symbol has called forth a
headline in the message box; clicking it would call forth an
interactive map of the news site in place of the world map. Further
maps on weather as well as geographic information on news stories
can be called up by clicking on the Current Events key. In FIG. 7B,
the user changes the cities on the clock and map by clicking on a
city name to call forth an overlay selector-list. The viewer
selects a new city by clicking "Athens" on the list; the city
circle moves to the position of Athens and the name and time of
Athens replaces those of the previous city from that portion of the
world map. Clicking the clock name again hides the
selector-list.
[0135] The interactive world map is also used as a directory to an
extensive map atlas. The world map can be clicked to zoom into
regional mapsets; or the index listing the map locations (to left
of map) can be used (see FIG. 6A, 6101-6104). The index can be
clicked to show other world maps; the retrieval bar at its top can
call up lists of continent, country, state, and region maps. In
this scenario, the user clicks "Travel Planning" on the topic index
(to right of map) and the related key appears below, shown in FIG.
7C. The user then clicks "Travel Packages" in this key. FIG. 7D
shows that a new control panel has now replaced the key (it can be
hidden by clicking the topic selector "Travel Planning"). The >
and < arrowheads in the key can be clicked to flip forward and
backward to view additional travel packages. The user has selected
a city of origin and a week by clicking on the up and down
arrowheads. Symbols then appeared on the world map showing
available trips. Pointing at the Hawaii map symbol has caused
descriptive information to appear in the message box and belowbar
(below the map). Clicking on the belowbar > arrowhead would call
forth data on additional packages. Clicking on "View" would place
interactive descriptive maps, images, and text on top of the world
map; clicking "View" again would hide the description. Clicking on
a continent name below the map would call forth a continent map
showing travel packages.
[0136] The user now clicks on Hawaii on the world map or the index
of FIG. 7D. Note that an alphabetical retrieval bar can be used on
the bottom of the location index (at left) to scroll through the
list. The user has proceeded from a full map of the islands to a
map of the Big Island of Hawaii, FIG. 7E by clicking on the context
map at lower right. Clicking on the Beach symbol on the key has
caused symbols for beaches to appear on the map. Clicking on the
belowbar special theme selector has called forth an overlay showing
the area covered by rainforest. Pointing at a natural-features
symbol (for Akaka Falls) on the map causes its name to appear in
the message box; clicking the map symbol pops up a description. The
pop-up itself has several interactive features. Clicking the
speaker symbol on the pop-up would run an audio/video clip of the
waterfall in place of the photograph. Clicking on plant names would
cause an image of the plant to appear in place of the waterfall.
The retrieval bar at the bottom of the pop-up shows that there are
four cards in the pop-up with the first showing; clicking other
segments would call forth other interactive cards about the
subject.
[0137] In FIG. 7F the user has clicked to zoom into a nature
reserve and intersects with the mapset and database of the
naturalists studying the area. The visitor can get a picture of
what the hiking trails are like and learn about the ecosystems. The
scientists create and study the interactive maps to discern
relationships between various elements of the environment. In the
example, a biologist compares overlays showing the location of
plants and animals to study how they coexist. The biologist has
selected specific insects and plants for display via the categories
at the top of the key. He has chosen to view only the territory of
one insect and one plant to study their interrelationship and their
relationship to the general land form. Numerous other layers can be
shown and hidden quickly via the key. In this way, only the set of
material of interest at the moment is viewed, without distraction
of irrelevant information. The biologist has clicked on the "Plant
Species" key box to access the database. The query box has appeared
and is being used to identify and map other species having certain
criteria. The characteristics are clicked on the list at the left
of the query box and they appear as selections at right. The
retrieval bar at the bottom left of the query box calls forth other
choices. Once all criteria are selected, clicking on the "plot
query" button maps species that meet the criteria. A clickable list
appears in place of the key, FIG. 7G; the list can be hidden and
recalled by clicking on the "Plant Species" key label.
[0138] The results of the plant species query may also be viewed in
a slotted map by clicking on the "Grid" or "Graph" selectors in the
key, as shown in FIGS. 7G and 7H, shows a comparable display for a
selection of insects. This type of slotted map serves as a
catalogue for viewing and comparing objects side by side. The
interactive key enables further queries and the showing and hiding
of features. The hilite capability can call out a particular common
feature on each image (e.g., the thorax, the wing's subcosta vein)
and may gray the rest of the image. The material in the slots may
be layered to show cross-sections of things such as an insect's
internal anatomy. An interactive pop-up, flip-thru storybook
provides descriptive material about each object; note the
subject-headed retrieval bar. The biologist views images of plants
and insects collected in the study area along with those that have
been archived. The biologist can also access via the internet other
researchers' information on similar species from islands around the
world. Over the years, a database is compiled from field
investigations. Weather data is collected and updated dynamically
from field stations. The scientists have used the back-end
interface to add their research data via both a database interface
and a map interface. The biologist views a chart of weather data,
FIG. 7I, onto which can be layered time periods related to
biological processes. He looks for cause and effect by studying the
hatching of an insect, the blooming of a flower, and the patterns
of sunny, rainy, and foggy days via the species key below and the
pattern analysis key at right.
[0139] FIGS. 8A-8H show the use of layered indexes and keys with
key extenders and retrieval bars to organize and access a large
information set. FIG. 8A shows a sidebar panel with topics list and
a symbol key. The > arrowhead on the key for FIG. 8A can be
clicked to retrieve the key in FIG. 8B whose > arrowhead can
access further keys and go back to the first key. If "Environment"
is clicked on the topics list of FIG. 8A or FIG. 8B, the subtopics
list of FIG. 8C appears. If the down arrow to the right of "Animal
Species" is clicked on this list, subtopics list FIG. 8D appears.
If the down arrow to the right of "Birds" is clicked on this list,
subtopics list shown in FIG. 8E appears. The retrieval bars at the
top of the subtopics lists indicate how many levels down the
current subtopic list is; the bars can be clicked to move back up
the hierarchy of lists. Clicking on the underlined subtopic titles
in a list will show and hide its special key as shown in FIG. 8F
and FIG. 8G. The retrieval bar at the bottom of the key in FIG. 8G
and FIG. 8H alphabetically retrieves features. The retrieval bar
switches features lists by other means, in this case by Common or
Latin name, by month of the sightings, and by showing either the
Full Listing of features or those from any one of three
queries.
[0140] FIGS. 9A-9F show examples of informational advertising
integrated into the present system. In FIGS. 9A and 9B, a pop-up
flip-thru storybook appears when the viewer clicks a "Lodging"
symbol on the map; clicking on the pop-up's index replaces the
pop-up with new cards as shown below. In another form of integrated
advertising, FIG. 9C, the belowbar contains the key for a special
theme, "Walking Sydney," while providing a "brought-to-youby"
message of the walking shoe sponsor and a link to related product
information and online ordering. Here the viewer has clicked on the
sponsor's message and a map has appeared showing available walking
shoes appropriate to a set of sites. In FIGS. 9D-9E, a slotting
system is used in an online catalogue to present for comparison a
category of products from many producers. In FIG. 9D, when the
viewer called forth the "Birds" subtopics under the "Environment"
topic, a binocular distributor's special theme selector and message
appeared; then when the word "info" was clicked, a slotted map of
binoculars appeared. In FIG. 9E, clicking a slot calls up an
informational pop-up. FIG. 9F shows an interactive map-format
report that plots information about viewers of ads that sponsored
the world map illustrated in FIG. 7A. When a user entered the map
atlas site, an id number was assigned to return the proper map
layers; this system is also useful as a market analysis tool. The
user-tracking system records anonymous user-activity that can be
configured as such an interactive map-based report.
[0141] FIGS. 10A-10H show a variety of map displays derived from
the same database. In FIG. 10A, the components of the graphical
user-interface of the present invention are depicted as active
regions on the screen of a User's workstation, 10001. In this
context, the system provides frame components shown in FIG. 10B,
including Map area (a), message box and pop-up label (b1 & b2),
right control panel (c), bottom control panel (d), left control
panel (e), corner control panel (f), and finally the pop-up
storybook (g). A portion of a topical database is illustrated in
FIG. 10C; five examples of maps created from this same database are
illustrated in FIGS. 10D-10H: exemplary use of the framework
components are provided in the slotted map (FIG. 10D), layered map
(FIG. 10E), slotted and layered graph map (FIG. 10F), gridded
matrix and use of pop-up storybook (FIG. 10G), and layered and
slotted map with use of pop-up query box (FIG. 10H) for selective
display of information relating to gardening. FIG. 11 shows an
example of a three-dimensional model that can be rotated. With the
addition of a topics list and key, it becomes a "map" and has
feature and attribute data that can be shown and hidden, hilited,
queried, and annotated.
[0142] FIGS. 12A-12F show a second exemplar GUI (Graphical
User-Interface) layout and its components that are designed to aid
users in collecting, organizing, and studying information while
viewing and manipulating one or more documents. With the present
invention, the document's function and usefulness are expanded to
serve as the map's control panel or key. The control panel with the
document depicted in FIG. 12A block 1201A is in a portion of the
display while the map area shown in FIG. 12A block 1201B is in
another portion of the display. The document in the control panel
may have an index or directory, as described in FIG. 6 6101-6104
for retrieving different documents for display. As well, the map
may have an index as described in FIG. 6 6205-6208a. The slotted
and layered map is used to hold symbols that represent portions of
content from the documents as the user searches or studies the
documents. The document in the control panel has special control
apparatus and "smart graphics" that make the document a variation
on a clickable key. As with a layered, symbol-list key illustrated
in FIGS. 2-4 and FIGS. 6-11, by using special control apparatus
inserted into the document, the user requests "smart graphics" with
data attached to fill slots and layers of the map area.
[0143] In FIG. 12A, the user signals the request to collect a
symbolic representation of a portion of the document's content by
clicking a checkmark button 12104b, dragging an image 12101 or text
12102 up to the map area 12112, or by some other method. The symbol
then appears in a layer or slot 12105 in the map; and the system
alters the look of associated graphics such as hilites, checkmarks
12106 in the map area 12112 and checkmark 12104 in the control
panel area 12000a, and labels in the map area 12112 and the control
panel area 12000a. The user can then study, rearrange, and change
the look of the collected symbols to aid the analytical thought
process and gain insights regarding patterns and relationships of
the represented content. Because the map contains "smart graphics"
carrying data about the collected items, the user can request, for
instance by clicking on a symbol or on a button, to have related
data displayed in the control panel area 12000a in place of the
existing document. These data may be previously viewed content,
representations of the collected content, an altered formatting of
the content in the document, or a layered and slotted map. The
special control apparatus such as checkmarks 12104, 12104a, 12104b
and buttons in the control panel area 12000a and map area 12112
maximize the ease and flow of collecting and altering map symbols
and then in altering the content or look of the control panel area
and its document.
[0144] The collected image and text symbols may be organized in a
set of slots 12105 in the map area 12112 as shown or in another
slotted and layered layout. These "smart graphic" symbols carry
data about the content they represent. They may be "hot" in that
user actions towards them using devices such as a cursor, keyboard,
or touch screen will trigger a change in the display. Pointing at a
smart graphic symbol may call forth into the message box 12107 a
name, title, or other descriptive material associated with the
content represented. Clicking on a map symbol may bring forth
additional information by one of several means. Clicking may cause
a slotted and layered pop-up to appear as described in conjunction
with FIG. 6A, and with FIGS. 11-12F. It may also cause a smaller,
movable document to appear in front of the control panel area, or
cause a change of content and/or look in the control panel area
12000a document. Pressing on different keys in the keyboard or some
other user-input apparatus may be used to switch between these
different means of accessing annotational data in varying
formats.
[0145] The "smart graphics" symbols can inform an intelligent agent
to bring more data like those data previously collected in the map
into the control panel area or otherwise transform the content
and/or look of the document in the control panel area based on what
has been collected. The intelligent agent may also employ fuzzy
logic to bring similar data into the control panel area if the data
does not strictly match the previously-collected data. The degree
of matching may be set by the user, by software, or by other
suitable means.
[0146] Due to the unique identifier (ID) and data attached to or
associated with the symbols, the user may explicitly request the
display in the control panel area of a set of data represented by
the symbols collected. For example, to collect a set of
representations to be isolated for study as shown in FIG. 12A, the
document in the control panel area 12000a consists of a number of
pages accessed by a document paging system 12109. In this example,
each page contains several items; each item may have its own image
12101, name 12102, and description 12103. A "Save in My Collection"
checkmark 12104 is included for each item, thereby turning the
document into a control panel or key. This checkmark 12104 is a
"smart graphic" in that it has data attached relating to the item,
for instance its database ID and categories, its name, price, and
other descriptive data along with the path and name of its image
and link to its product page. When the checkmark 12104 is created
as the page is drawn or when the checkmark 12104 is clicked, this
data is inserted into a database for use by the system of the
present invention.
[0147] In the process of viewing each page of the document, the
user has checked "Save in My Collection" checkmark 12104 associated
with content items in the document on three different pages. Each
of these user actions has filled a slot 12105 in the map with a
"smart graphic" symbol representing the content (image, name, and
description) for each item. The symbol may be the item's name, its
image, a smaller version of its image, or another representation.
The user can drag symbols between slots to rearrange them as part
of the analytical thought process. To remove an item from the
collection, the user can uncheck a hilited checkmark, for example,
"collected" checkmark 12104a or "Page 4 Item 5" checkmark 12106, or
another button or label. Alternatively, a symbol for a removal area
(such as a trash bin) may be provided into which the user can drag
the item to clear it from the collection. Instead of completely
deleting a collected item, unchecking it can cause the system to
place a layer with a white or colored screen 12108 above the image
or text in the slot. By "greying out" the symbol or diminishing its
clarity in some other way, the symbol remains in view in case the
user changes their mind; then they can click the "put back in
collection" checkmark 12104b or re-select checkmark 12106a again to
fully reinstate the symbol in the collection. When all the
collection slots are filled, new items to be collected can be
inserted into the greyed out slots. Limiting the number of slots
available for collecting items can cause the user to hone their
search by having to make choices in a process of elimination.
Alternatively, the impression of having extra spaces to save items
can be provided by using clickable arrows or another method to
bring additional items into the slots to give the sense of
scrolling through a set of items longer than the number of slots.
As another alternative, additional slots may appear when the slots
initially provided are filled or the map area may be enlarged to
show additional slots.
[0148] Referring also to FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B, a shopper may wish
to view an enlargement of an item's image 12101 or additional text
or images relating to the item. On a typical World Wide Web site, a
shopper expects to click the image 12101, its name 12102, or a
similar button to go to a product page with more in-depth
descriptions and access to an ordering system. In this environment,
a product page would replace the document in the control panel area
12000a, so that the map showing collected items is still in view
for reference. From the product page, an item may be collected in
or removed from the map, for instance via a checkmark inserted into
the product page.
[0149] By a means such as clicking the "Show My Collection in 1
Page" button 12110 in the map area 12012 or control panel 12000a,
the user can request the control panel area 12000a to be filled
with the image, name, and description of each of the collected
items, as depicted in FIG. 12B. Thereby, the user can further study
the patterns and relationships of the collected items to gain
insights and make choices while viewing all of the items together
and without the distraction of other information. The control panel
document can be a slotted and layered map, enabling the user to
drag symbols between slots to rearrange them and remove or grey out
items as part of the analytical thought process.
[0150] Multiple map collections may be created by a user and
interchanged smoothly. The navigation to the desired map may be
accomplished via an optional slotted and layered map index 12111 as
described in conjunction with FIG. 6A, 6101-6104 or via another
suitable indexing system such as a row or rows of file-like tabs. A
slotted and layered topic selector and key as described in FIG. 6B,
6207-6208 and a pop-up query box as described in FIG. 6D may also
be included. A slot for a title 12012 within the map area is used
to display the mapset title and subcategory title.
[0151] FIG. 12C shows an embodiment of the GUI layout for a World
Wide Web site with each of the components shown in FIG. 12A. The
same method and system could apply to shopping across numerous web
sites. While browsing through pages of items, the shopper collects
possibilities in the map area slots. As the shopper proceeds from
page to page, they can view the smaller representations and message
box text to be reminded of what has been collected from previous
pages. They then can view all those items collected in the map at
their original size in the control panel area for comparison to
make a final selection. If the control panel document is a slotted
and layered map, the shopper can press and drag to switch items
within the slots and study particular images next to each
other.
[0152] FIG. 12D illustrates an example of a digital document
library, a World Wide Web site, or an Internet or intranet search
and collect tool. In any of these cases, a user searches for
documents containing requested content and is presented with a list
of documents of potential interest. From this list, the user can
expect to call forth a document to view, replacing the displayed
list with the individual document. With the addition of a map area,
map index, and control apparatus such as checkmarks within the
search results document, the library, web site, or search tool
becomes another embodiment of the GUI layout. By providing a
control apparatus such as the selection of a checkmark or dragging
the listing text into a slot in the map area, the present invention
enables the user to save (in the map area) a representation of a
document in the list. This representation may be all or a portion
of one of the search listings or "links". It may also be a visual
representation of the document such as a thumbnail screen shot or
one or more graphics or colors symbolizing categories and topics.
Clicking a hilited checkmark will grey out an item or remove it
from the collection. Upon clicking a link and viewing the actual
document, the link may be collected via a checkmark inserted into
the document, by dragging the document into the map, or by another
method. Additional features such as a map index and marking tools
further enhance the Link Collector as a facilitator of research and
analysis.
[0153] In the two examples of a search for products and information
depicted in FIGS. 12C and 12D, the users are seeking a match or set
of matches to something they have in mind. As with current document
and World Wide Web searches, they go from page to page scanning
images, lists, or text looking for potential matches. However, with
the present invention, users may collect visual representations of
possibilities in the map area slots instead of having to try to
remember them in their mind's eye and getting overwhelmed, lost,
and confused. This ability to see representations of possible
matches as they search improves the flow of their thought,
decision-making, or shopping process. The ability to reposition and
alter the look of certain slots and of their content (e.g. color,
greying, bolding) aids the process of categorization, comparison,
and selection. An intelligent agent, informed by what is being
collected, can bring more like those collected into subsequent
pages to further enhance the flow, quality, and success of the
quest. The present invention may also be used to collect items or
links while searching across several digital collections or World
Wide Web sites.
[0154] FIG. 12E shows yet another embodiment of the GUI layout with
the map area to the right of the control panel area that displays a
set of pattern variations. In going from set to set, the user has
looked for and collected patterns that "go together" to create a
collection of items with a particular look. FIG. 12F illustrates
how, after accessing a second control panel configuration, a user
can change the content or look of the control panel area via the
collected data. In this case the user has clicked on the "Go to
Design Grid" link. In place of the search document in the control
panel area, a second map consisting of a blank grid of slots is
displayed. The user drags images into and between the slots in
order to design a quilt from collected fabric swatches or a floor
layout from collected tiles. This method of collecting
possibilities and then designing or studying alternative
combinations within a second slotted and layered map that replaces
the control panel may be applied to other analytical, creative, and
educational activities such as: 1) collecting furniture, then
moving the pieces into and around a two- or three dimensional floor
plan in a second map to design a room; 2) collecting plants,
paving, and garden features, then moving the elements into and
around a two- or three dimensional site plan in the second map to
design a landscape; 3) collecting images of different articles of
clothing, then placing and viewing them on a paperdoll-like
diagram, photograph, or three-dimensional model in the second map
to put together an outfit; and 4) collecting images of ancient
pottery shards, then placing them within a timeline chart depicting
different civilizations in the second map to do a lesson or to gain
new insights about history.
[0155] FIGS. 13A-13C show a third exemplar GUI (Graphical
User-Interface) layout and its components that is a complex
embodiment of the present invention providing the ability to study
and interconnect documents and several maps as part of a research
and analytical thought process. Data for the maps is accessed via
both symbol-list keys and documents with special control apparatus.
The maps are illustrated as a gridded chart or matrix, a graph, and
a layered graphic in the form of a geographic map. The system of
the present invention provides for using the key-enabled document
and the symbol-list keys for accessing data and showing its
representations in different forms in one or more of the maps.
[0156] The display is divided into several parts as shown in FIG.
13A: a control panel area containing a control panel document A
with its document navigation system 13101 at top right and three
map areas 13102, 13103, and 13104. The layout described in FIG. 13A
is further detailed in FIG. 13B, with the right hand side of the
display having a control panel document 13105 and a map area 13102
in which data from the document is collected. As in the examples
illustrated in FIGS. 12A-12F, in FIG. 13B, by engaging a "hot" text
link 13201 or image inserted within the document, that text or
image or a representation of it 13203 appears in one of the map
slots 13202 in map area 13102 and carries data along with it. If
adding graphics such as checkmarks beside links is not desirable,
pressing a text link and dragging it into the map area 13102 may
accomplish collecting the link in the map. Alternatively, this may
be accomplished by clicking the link while holding down a
designated key on the keyboard, by clicking a button to change
modes, or by some other user-input means to override the default of
going to the link page upon clicking the link. In this illustrative
diagram, the map in map area 13102 is shown as a gridded chart with
five over four slots. A document index 6104 related to the document
navigation system 13101 and a map index 6205 as described in FIG. 6
6101-6104 are shown to the left of the map area 13102. At the top
of the right side, the document title 13206 appears along with the
document navigation system 13207 for searching, finding, and paging
through documents. Special control apparatus 13208 for manipulating
the map appears to the upper right of the map area 13102 for the
gridded chart; for instance a slot may be emptied of its contents
by dragging it into the "x" or a trash can symbol, the number of
slots for collecting links may be extended through scrolling using
the back and forth arrowheads, a color palette may be provided so
that the user can color code different sets of slots to organize
them.
[0157] The left hand side of the display diagrammed in FIG. 13B
contains two additional maps 13103 and 13104 along with the mapset
title 13209. This illustration depicts, in the upper left, a map
area 13103 with horizontal slots in the form of a graph and in the
lower left, a map area 13104 with a layered graphic. A simple
symbol-list key 13210 and a layered symbol-list key 13211, as
described in FIGS. 6A-G and 8A-H, are shown. The simple symbol-list
key 13210 shows the most basic and commonly used data items and
special control apparatus. The layered symbol-list key 13211 shown
here organizes access to a large information set and collects a
layered list of the items that have been selected 13214. The user
chooses a topic from the topics list shown in FIG. 12A by clicking
on an arrowhead; subtopics for that topic appear below in the
layered list as shown in FIG. 12B. This subtopics list has a
retrieval bar as shown in FIG. 12C that can be clicked to view
additional subtopics. By clicking on a subtopic in the subtopics
list shown in FIG. 12B, a layered symbol-list key 13213 for that
subtopic appears to its right. Clicking on the subtopic key's
retrieval bar, causes additional items to be accessed. Clicking on
an item in the subtopic key causes a representation of its data to
appear in the map area 13104. As well, the symbols and label for
the item appear in the layered selections list 13214 of the key.
From this selections list 13214 items can be removed from the map
area D and then easily re-shown. Items that are removed or "hidden"
from the map area D may be greyed in the selections list, or
otherwise altered graphically so as to signal that they are no
longer visible in the map area. A larger number of selections can
be shown by clicking on the key extender 13215 that will pop up a
longer selections list on top of the document in the control panel
13105. As the user at this point is focusing on the map or maps in
the left side of the display, this pop up selections list does not
interfere with viewing the document in the control panel. It can be
hidden when the user focuses back on the document. As the user
focuses on one section of the display, it may be desirable to
increase the size of that section temporarily. Devices may be
provided that enable the map areas and their maps to be enlarged,
such as having the margin lines 13216 between areas draggable so
that the user can press on one and move it as if pulling to extend
one area into another. Search capabilities such as a "keyword
plotter" 13217 may be provided to match text in the document with
place names and topics, including themes, people, and objects, that
are available to be plotted or inserted into slots in geographic
map layers, timelines, grid-formatted image catalogs, or other
charts.
[0158] These interactive capabilities diagrammed in FIG. 13B are
further illustrated in the scenario described in FIG. 13C. In this
scenario, a student is researching a thesis about the relationship
between the urban poor and wetlands in various cities. She is
reading through documents to find data relevant to her research.
She collects and reformats data in one or more of her maps, then
manipulates the representations to better analyze patterns and
relationships between the collected data. The three maps into which
she collects interrelated data are 1) a "Link Collector" in a
gridded chart; 2) a timeline in a graph with horizontal slots; and
3) a geographic map atlas in a layered graphic.
[0159] As part of organizing her documents to be viewed in the
control panel document, she has created a list of "Sources"
(Original, Books, Journals, Web, Photos, Maps) as her document
index. When she clicks on one of the items in the document index
for "Sources", its document navigation system appears above. In
this case, she has clicked on "Web" and a Web browser bar has
appeared. She uses this navigation system to search and locate
World Wide Web-based documents. For other source types, an index
linked to a set of archives of those source materials might appear
in the document navigation system area.
[0160] The researcher is searching through documents and collecting
data and links in a gridded chart called her "Link Collection" in a
method similar to that described in FIGS. 12A, 12C, and 12D. As she
searches through sources, the researcher has identified different
cities with relevant case studies; therefore, she has organized her
Link Collections map index by city. She clicks the + plus sign next
to the title "Cities" to add and name a new Link Collection for
that city; and its name automatically is inserted alphabetically in
the map index, and the retrieval bar is adjusted accordingly
showing the initials of the first and last items of the list in
each layer of the index. To remove an item from the map index, she
presses and drags it to the "X" mark at the upper right of the map
index. As she searches, the researcher collects links in her "Link
Collection" for a particular city. If she has the Manhattan
collection in the map slots and sees a link about Brooklyn, she can
click on "Brooklyn" in her map index and the slots will be filled
with her Brooklyn collection into which she can save the new
Brooklyn link. Then she can go back to the Manhattan collection by
clicking the word "Manhattan" in her map index.
[0161] The researcher is interested in the historic development of
the area of lower Manhattan that originally was a pond and
wetlands. At the point illustrated in FIG. 13C, the researcher is
going through World Wide Web pages that have been specially
formatted with "smart graphics" text or "links" and is viewing a
document about the history of New York City's water supply. She has
the ability to have the document searched for keywords that can be
matched to a list of place names and topics, including themes,
people, and objects; if she selects to do so these will be plotted
on her geographic map, timeline, or other chart and their symbols
brought to the top of her map key. She can also have the control
panel document replaced by a "catalog"--a grid or matrix map of
images associated with the keywords from which she can view images
and choose to collect them into her image collection which she
accesses by toggling the tab from "Link Collection" to "Image
Collection."
[0162] The document is a control panel because it has been
specially formatted with "smart graphics" text or "links" related
to the set of slotted maps. When the researcher drags hilited text
up to a slot, the look of the hilited text in the document changes
to show that it has been collected. Not only will the hilited text
in the document link to pages of additional information related to
the word or phrase; but the link is configured so the additional
information or the access path to it can be picked up as the
researcher drags the hilited words up to the Link Collection map.
Subsequently, by clicking on a slot, the additional information
will appear in the control panel document. Additional information
may be passed so that it can be used by the system in other ways.
It may inform an intelligent agent to search for more web pages
like those collected and to bring into the key or layers of the
geographic map atlas features related to that which has been
collected. The passed information may cause the system to change
the content or look of one or more of the maps. For instance, the
data passed might include a date that can determine positioning in
the timeline or an address or geographic coordinates to determine
positioning in a geographic map. The configuration of the link may
also include an abbreviated version of the word or phrase so that
it will fit into the space provided in the Link Collection map
slots. Alternatively, the user may be given the ability to save the
link with a label of her own choosing that will best remind her of
that particular data set. In addition, instead of collecting one
item per slot, the system shown allows the researcher to deposit
numerous "smart" graphics links relating to a particular subject
into the same slot. The researcher has collected the word "cholera"
in the slot named "disease." New terms and subjects such as
"KalchHook" and "Manhattan Company" she drags into empty slots to
create new categories; the phrase "Manhattan Company" is
automatically shortened to "Manhattan Co." to fit the slot. Then
she can click on one of these slots to ask to view in the control
panel area a particular set of information associated with the
collected links, such as: 1) all of that category's links, 2) all
of its data, 3) a list of all of the original documents from which
the links were collected, or 4) all of the document sections such
as paragraphs surrounding those links in the original documents.
She may also choose, via the Keyword Plotter, to have her
collection of place names and topics, including themes, people, and
objects, plotted in the geographic map, time line, or other chart.
She may choose to see the images associated with these places and
topics in the catalog format in place of the document control
panel; she can then toggle between the text document and her image
collection by means of the tabs at the top of the Link
Collection.
[0163] As the researcher progresses in finding relevant data for
her research project, she can rearrange the words in her Link
Collection slots as she organizes and thinks about the subject
matter. In addition, some of the patterns and relationships
regarding the collected data can be better understood in
relationship to time and space. Therefore the system enables the
researcher to have selected data formatted for viewing in a
timeline graph and a geographic map. She can drag a "smart graphic"
with a date attached from the Link Collection into the timeline. If
the "smart graphic" has an address or geographic coordinates
attached, it can be dragged into the geographic map; and if it also
has a date, it can be located within the correct history map
layers. The system enables the researcher to select a symbol and
label for the data to be displayed in the timeline and in the
geographic map. The timeline and geographic map have data for
layers and slots in one or more databases that are accessed through
symbol-list keys. The timeline has a scrolling date retrieval bar
at the bottom so that the researcher can position and view data for
particular eras. To enlarge the timeline, she can press on the
right hand edge, the bottom edge, or the bottom right corner to
drag and extend the size of the timeline into more of the display
area.
[0164] The geographic map is connected to an atlas of map layers,
data, and images. Keys are provided to access this data. This map
has a simple symbol-list key in the upper right corner through
which basic features can be easily shown or hidden. At the bottom
it has a layered symbol-list key. The researcher has previously
brought forth layers including those of population density (persons
per acre), historic development, and districts (Civic Center and
Chinatown); and they show in the Selections list. The Selections
list has special symbols to the right of the map feature symbols
through which the researcher can alter how the feature is
displayed. For example, the districts default is a solid pattern;
but the "X" enables the street pattern to show, the square enables
the district outline to show, and the "L" enables labels to show.
The researcher can select any combination of formats for each
feature. In the map of Manhattan shown in the illustration, the
researcher has selected to show the shoreline, water bodies, and
streets from 1660 along with the present day major streets with
labels and the streets of the Civic Center and Chinatown. From the
timeline, she has dragged down the "5-Points" symbol into the map
area for the geographic map so that it will be properly located by
the software program based on the x,y coordinates of its latitude
and longitude in the database. She can then study the district's
relationship to the original pond and its subsequent filling for
development. She can click on the symbol for the "5-Points" and a
gridded-map catalog of historic and present-day images of the
district will appear in the control panel area, replacing the
document. She can switch from her links- to her images-collection
to collect images from the image catalog or from a document by
clicking the "Image Collection" tab below the navigation bar. Via
other tabs she can hide the image catalog and go back to her
document in the control panel. As she has been reading the
document, she has learned about reservoirs associated with the pond
and she is in the process of looking up "reservoir" in the map
atlas key to see the location of the reservoir described in the
text. She will then click "Zoom In" to have that portion of the map
fill the map area so that she can study that area of the city more
closely. She can also click "3-D Model" to view her selected layers
draped on top of a three-dimensional view of the area in order to
study the data related to topographic changes in elevation.
[0165] By the method and system described in this scenario, the
researcher smoothly gathers and analyzes data, organizes her
conclusions, and then goes on to use the system of interactive
charts, graphs, and maps to present and publish the thesis in an
interactive format.
[0166] Although the invention has been described in detail for the
purpose of illustration. It is to be understood that such detail is
solely for that purpose and that variations can be made therein by
those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and
scope of the invention.
* * * * *