KR20070043495A - User interface serving multi level menu and method for controlling thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a user interface for providing a multi-level menu and a method of controlling the same. The present invention relates to a menu structure consisting of at least one step based on the selected menu by detecting a menu movement and a menu selection according to a user's selection. The upper menu is located at a distance based on the center of the fan, and the lower menu is located at a distance, and at least one submenu dependent on the currently selected menu surrounds menus of the same level as the selected menu. By being arranged and configured, it is possible to perform faster menu movement and grasp the menu structure at a glance.

Description

User Interface Serving Multi Level Menu and Method for Controlling Thereof}

1A and 1B are views showing the appearance of an MP3 player to which a conventional user interface is applied.

Figure 2a is a diagram showing a first embodiment of a terminal to which the user interface according to the present invention is applied.

Figure 2b is a view showing a second embodiment of a terminal to which the user interface according to the present invention is applied.

3 is a view showing a preferred embodiment of a menu structure according to the first embodiment of a terminal to which the present invention is applied.

Figure 4a is a diagram showing a preferred embodiment of a fan-shaped menu structure according to the first embodiment of the terminal to which the present invention is applied.

Figure 4b is a view showing a preferred embodiment of a fan-shaped menu structure according to the second embodiment of the terminal to which the present invention is applied.

5 is a view showing a video playback screen on a first embodiment of a terminal to which the present invention is applied.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

11: scroll 12: rotation scroll

110: display unit 120, 121: user input unit

130: Cancel button 140: OK button

The present invention relates to a user interface for providing a multi-level menu and a method of controlling the same. More specifically, a fan-shaped menu display is performed on a user interface that must provide a menu structure of three or more levels according to the complexity of the terminal technology. A user interface for providing a multi-level menu for providing a user input unit in a form suitable for the same and a control method thereof.

The user interface has been improved to allow horizontal scrolling by improving the vertical touch scroll interface applied to existing portable MP3 players. This makes it possible to easily search for menu items of three or more levels, beyond the limitation of the conventional two-step menu search.

1A and 1B show an MP3 player to which a conventional user interface is applied.

The scroll 11 of FIG. 1A is implemented such that the menu operates in response to the up and down movement using a finger or the like. On the other hand, the scroll 12 of FIG. 1B is moved in the form of a circle, rather than moving up and down or left and right by rotating scrolls. That is, the menu can be moved according to the movement of the rotating scroll. This operation of FIGS. 1A and 1B is performed by detecting a pressure applied by a finger or the like on the sensor of the scroll, and corresponding menu movements are performed.

This interface, which is mainly used for navigation between menus, shows the limitations of operation as the functions implemented in portable terminals or MP3 players are advanced and complicated. As the number of functions increases, the integration process between menus is necessary so that the user can use it intuitively, which is inevitable in the multi-level menu structure rather than the one-level menu structure.

For example, for MP3 players, it is easy to navigate and store folders by music genres such as pop songs, classics, and jazz under the MP3 menu, and in the case of mobile communication terminals, receive messages, outgoing messages, and pending messages under the message menu. It is convenient to put submenu items such as.

In order to move between menus and submenus using the existing interface, the menu must be highlighted by scrolling up and down, and then a sub-menu item is displayed by pressing an OK button or a selection button or waiting for a certain time. In the former case, it is cumbersome to press the button again, and the latter has a frustrating problem because it cannot perform a quick operation. Also, in most cases, when performing two or more levels of menu navigation, it was very cumbersome for the user to determine where he or she currently belongs in the menu structure. For example, in the case of a normal search in the mobile communication terminal, even though you have to enter the menu through the steps of "Message-> Sentence Box" and "Message-> Outgoing Message-> Pending Message", the sentence is stored. You may be mistaken that you are in "Message-> Pending Message" due to the nuance between the message and the pending message. This is a malfunction that can occur frequently unless you are very familiar with the menu system.

Accordingly, there is a need for an interface that enables the user to easily grasp the position of the current menu on the overall menu structure while moving between menus of the user.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a user interface that effectively displays a multi-level menu using a fan shape and receives a user's selection using a cross scroll or a touch pad to easily move between displayed menus. For that purpose.

A user interface according to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, provides a menu structure consisting of at least one step, and the user input unit and the menu for detecting the menu movement and menu selection according to the user's selection And a display unit configured to receive information about movement between the menu and menu selection, and to display a menu structure consisting of at least one step based on the selected menu in a fan shape.

The user input unit may take the form of a cross scroll capable of scrolling up / down and left / right.

The user input unit may take the form of a touch pad that can move in all directions.

The display unit, based on the center of the fan shape, the upper menu is located at a short distance, the lower menu is arranged at a distance.

The fan is configured by arranging at least one submenu dependent on the currently selected menu in such a manner as to surround menus having the same level as the selection menu.

In the cross scroll, the up / down or left / right scroll moves between upper menus, and the remaining scrolls move between lower menus of the upper menu except for scrolls that move between upper menus.

The user interface may further include a selection button for changing the level of the upper menu to the level to which the selected menu belongs and changing the level of the lower menu according to the changed upper menu.

The display unit moves between the menus on the sector to correspond to the movement of the user input from the touch pad.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a terminal includes a user interface for providing a menu composed of at least one step, and detects menu movement and menu selection according to a user's selection, and moves and selects the detected menu. According to a menu, a menu structure consisting of at least one step around the selected menu is displayed in a fan shape.

The user interface, in the form of a cross scroll capable of scrolling up / down, left / right, receives a user input unit for detecting menu movement and menu selection according to a user's selection, and information about movement between the menu and menu selection. And a display configured to display a menu structure consisting of at least one step based on the selected menu in a fan shape.

The user interface may further include a user input unit that detects movement between menus and menu selections according to a user's selection, and information regarding movement between menus and menu selections in a touch pad that can be moved in all directions. It may include a display unit for displaying a menu structure consisting of at least one step on the basis of the selected menu in a fan shape.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a user interface, the method comprising: detecting a movement between menus and a menu selection according to a user's selection, and displaying a menu structure consisting of at least one step based on the selected menu in a fan shape And displaying the same.

The step of detecting the movement between the menu and the menu selection according to the user's selection is characterized by the user input unit in the form of a cross scroll capable of scrolling up / down, left / right.

The step of sensing movement between menus and menu selection according to the user's selection may also be performed through a user input unit having a shape of a touch pad that can move in all directions.

In the displaying step, an upper menu is located at a short distance and a lower menu is arranged at a distance based on the center of the fan shape.

The fan is characterized in that at least one sub-menu dependent on the currently selected menu is arranged in a form surrounding the menus of the same level as the selection menu.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Figure 2a shows a first embodiment of a terminal to which the user interface according to the present invention is applied.

The terminal shown in the embodiment of FIG. 2A is largely composed of a display 110, a user input 120 responsible for navigation between menus, a cancel button 130, an OK button 140, and the like.

The user input unit 120 of FIG. 2A includes a scroll capable of moving in both horizontal and vertical directions. In this case, the scroll is not a button type but has a form capable of analog movement. When the user moves the scroll up / down or left / right by using a finger or the like, movement between menus displayed on the display 110 is also performed accordingly. The motion sensor, which senses the pressure and movement applied to the scroll, reports the moving direction and distance to the controller (or CPU) of the terminal, and the controller calculates a corresponding menu movement to display the menu structure and movement. (110).

The OK button 140 and the cancel button 130 are provided for the user to navigate between menus, find a menu related to the application he / she wants to select, and select the menu or cancel the selected menu.

2B illustrates a second embodiment of a terminal to which a user interface according to the present invention is applied.

Like FIG. 2A, the terminal of FIG. 2B also includes a display 110, a user input 121 responsible for navigation between menus, a cancel button 130, an OK button 140, and the like. The terminal illustrated in FIG. 2B is different from the terminal of FIG. 2A in the form of a user input unit 121 for menu selection. That is, although the user input unit 120 of FIG. 2A is implemented to recognize only movement of up / down and left / right in a cross shape, the user input unit 121 shown in FIG. 2B has a touch pad in which movement in all directions is free. Form.

In addition to the shapes of the user input units 120 and 121 described with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, various types of user input units may be considered. It is difficult to say which form is the most preferable, and the preferred form of the user input unit will be determined according to what kind of application mainly used in the terminal.

For example, if the terminal performs only the function of the MP3 player, the related menu will not be varied, and it will be possible to quickly and easily move between menus only by scrolling up / down, left / right as shown in FIG. 2A. This type of scrolling not only reduces costs compared to touch pads, but also reduces software implementation difficulties.

On the other hand, in the case where a single terminal has multiple functions such as a mobile phone, a media player, and a game machine, a multi-layered menu is required. In this case, cross-layer menus can be moved only by cross scrolling in up / down and left / right directions. This is expected to be inconvenient. In this case, it would be appropriate to adopt a user input unit in the form of a touch pad free to move in all directions.

3 shows a preferred embodiment of a menu structure according to the first embodiment of a terminal to which the present invention is applied.

The embodiment of FIG. 3 illustrates a menu structure in the case of a terminal to which the user input unit of the up / down, left / right scroll type described with reference to FIG. 2A is applied. In the present embodiment, it is intended to show that the menu consisting of two steps is simultaneously navigated.

In the case of Figure 3, the up / down scroll is responsible for the movement between the upper menu, the left / right scroll is responsible for the movement between the lower menu. When the user moves between upper menus by moving up / down scrolls, lower menus are displayed for each upper menu selected according to the movement. In this state, if the user moves the left / right scroll, the sub menu can be moved. That is, the user may directly search the sub menu item without pressing the OK button 140 in the upper menu item. In addition, it is possible to grasp the current position being searched from the menu displayed by up / down.

4A illustrates a preferred embodiment of a fan-shaped menu structure according to the first embodiment of a terminal to which the present invention is applied.

The embodiment of FIG. 4A is an embodiment applied to the same terminal as that of the terminal of FIG. 3, but the menu structure is different from that of FIG. 3. That is, the menu structure shown in the display unit 110 of FIG. 4A has a fan shape.

Referring to FIG. 4A, it can be seen that the upper menu is located at a short distance based on the center of the fan shape, and the lower menu is located at a far distance. In FIG. 4A, submenus corresponding to menu # 2 are displayed while menu # 2 is selected among upper menus. When the up / down scroll is set for the upper menu control, the upper menu selected according to the movement of the up / down scroll is inverted and displayed. As the selected upper menu is changed, lower menus belonging to the upper menu are also changed.

Although only two levels of menus are shown in FIG. 4A, when using a fan-shaped menu display, even a menu structure of several levels can be expressed as long as the size of the screen allows. In the second-level menu, even if the user input unit of the up / down / left / right cross scroll type is used, there is no problem in moving between menus. By using the OK button 140 and the cancel button 130 properly, it is possible to move between menus even in a menu structure of three or more levels. For example, assuming that the first menu is controlled by up / down scrolling, and the second menu is controlled by left / right scrolling, the user enters the second menu via the first menu and enters the OK button. When pressing, the up / down scroll is set for the two-stage menu control, and the left / right scroll is set for the three-stage menu control.

However, in the case of a three-stage or more multi-level structure, there is a disadvantage in that the menu movement becomes cumbersome only by cross scrolling. Therefore, a more effective embodiment will be described when used in the three-stage or more multi-stage menu structure in FIG. 4B.

Figure 4b shows a preferred embodiment of a fan-shaped menu structure according to a second embodiment of a terminal to which the present invention is applied.

The user input unit 121 used in the terminal of FIG. 4B has a form of a touch pad. That is, the movement is not limited to up / down, left / right, but freely moves in all directions. The menu structure shown on the display 110 has a total of three stages, in which menu # 2 is currently selected from the first menu, and menu # 4 of the second menu is included in the second menu. The menus are displayed. If the user wants to move between menus of the same level at the current level, the user may move in the b direction on the touch pad 212. In addition, when the movement between different levels is desired, it may move in the a direction.

As illustrated in FIG. 4B, when a menu of three or more levels is represented, an effective user interface may be provided when the menu is expressed in a fan shape and the user input unit 121 in the form of a touch pad is used as in FIG. 4B.

5 shows a video playback screen on a first embodiment of a terminal to which the present invention is applied.

5 shows how to use the user interface when playing content on the first embodiment of the terminal according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5, when the left and right scrolls of the user input unit 211 in the form of a cross scroll are moved while the video file is being played, the position in the content currently being played is changed. That is, the user can move to the position of the video to be watched. In addition, the up / down scroll can be used for volume adjustment. If you want to stop playback and return to the previous menu, select the cancel button 130. Which function to control what kind of scroll is to be determined at the time of manufacture of the terminal, the implementation of the other forms of exceptions shown in FIG.

The present invention, by applying the interface of the upper / lower, left / right scrollable interface or touch pad type and by displaying a menu consisting of a multi-step in the form of a fan on one screen, to perform faster menu movement Has the effect of grasping the menu structure at a glance.

Claims (18)

In a user interface providing a menu structure consisting of at least one step, A user input unit configured to detect menu movement and menu selection according to a user's selection; Wow And a display unit configured to receive information regarding movement between menus and menu selections, and to display a menu structure consisting of at least one step based on the selected menu in a fan shape. The method of claim 1, The user input unit, User interface characterized in the form of a cross scroll that can be scrolled up / down, left / right. The method of claim 1, The user input unit, User interface characterized in that it takes the form of a touch pad that can move in all directions. The method of claim 1, The display unit, The user interface, characterized in that the upper menu is located at a short distance and the lower menu is located at a distance based on the center of the sector. The method of claim 4, wherein The fan is, And at least one submenu dependent on the currently selected menu is arranged to surround menus having the same level as the selected menu. The method of claim 2, The cross scroll, Wherein the up / down or left / right scroll moves between upper menus, and the remaining scrolls move between lower menus of the upper menu except for scrolls that move between upper menus. The method of claim 6, And a selection button for changing the level of the upper menu to the level to which the selected menu belongs, and for changing the level of the lower menu according to the changed upper menu. The method of claim 3, The display unit, And move between menus on the sector to correspond to the movement of the user input from the touch pad. In a terminal having a user interface for providing a menu consisting of at least one step, A user interface for detecting movement between menus and menu selection according to a user's selection, and displaying a menu structure consisting of at least one step around the selected menu according to the detected movement between menus and a selection menu in a fan shape; Including a terminal. The method of claim 9, The user interface, A user input unit configured to detect movement between menus and menu selection according to a user's selection in the form of a cross scroll capable of scrolling up / down and left / right; Wow And a display unit configured to receive information about the movement between menus and menu selections, and to display a menu structure consisting of at least one step based on the selected menu in a fan shape. The method of claim 9, The user interface, A user input unit which detects movement between menus and menu selections according to a user's selection in a touch pad type capable of moving in all directions; Wow And a display unit configured to receive information about the movement between menus and menu selections, and to display a menu structure consisting of at least one step based on the selected menu in a fan shape. The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein The display unit, An upper menu is located at a short distance and a lower menu is arranged at a distance based on the center of the fan. The method of claim 12, The fan is, And at least one submenu dependent on the currently selected menu is arranged in a form surrounding the menus having the same level as the selected menu. In the user interface control method for providing a menu structure consisting of at least one step, Detecting menu movement and menu selection according to a user's selection; Wow And displaying a menu structure consisting of at least one step based on the selected menu in a fan shape. The method of claim 14, The step of detecting the movement between the menu and the menu selection according to the user's selection, A user interface control method comprising a user input unit in the form of a cross scroll capable of scrolling up / down and left / right. The method of claim 14, The step of detecting the movement between the menu and the menu selection according to the user's selection, The user interface, characterized in that made through the user input unit in the form of a touch pad that can move in all directions. The method of claim 16, The display step, And a lower menu is disposed at a short distance and a lower menu is located at a distance based on the center of the fan. The method of claim 17, The fan is, The at least one submenu dependent on the currently selected menu is arranged in a form surrounding the menus having the same level as the selected menu.

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