EP1118059A1

EP1118059A1 - Method for producing navigation tools

Info

Publication number: EP1118059A1
Application number: EP99940327A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Roy Stringer
Original assignee: Amaze Ltd
Current assignee: Amaze Ltd
Priority date: 1998-08-14
Filing date: 1999-08-16
Publication date: 2001-07-25
Also published as: AU5432399A; WO2000010102A1

Abstract

A computer system for producing a navigation tool is described comprising: a display unit, an input unit, a memory unit and a digital processing unit wherein: the display unit displays, in the form of an image on a screen, a form into which categories of information may be entered using the input unit such that each category of information is grouped with the closest categories of information to provide an associated grouping and wherein each associated grouping is connected to a grouping the contents of which are mutually associated but which are different from the categories in the first grouping; a processing unit which, on completion of the form, places the categories onto points of the three dimensional structure such that the combined grouping lies on a common plane, rotates the planes to allow the user to verify the arrangement of the categories to assess whether the category at each point is related to each of its nearest neighbours; and allows the user to reposition categories within the groupings or between groupings until an acceptable navigation tool is produced.

Description

METHOD FOR PRODUCING NAVIGATION TOOLS

The present invention relates to a method for producing a navigational tool. In particular, it relates to a method of producing a tool which enables a user to navigate through a database or other digitally stored information or collection of data and which is accessed via a computer program or other means.

As the power, processing speed and availability of digital computers has increased their popularity in the work place, in educational establishments and in the home has increased. Thus, computers have become the preferred tool by which information is provided to end-users. For example, information, which was previously provided in book form, is now commonly provided by means of digital media such as via CD-Roms. CD-Roms are particularly attractive since large amounts of information, which conventionally may have required several books, can now be stored on a single disk.

In the same way that reference books have an index to enable the user to locate the relevant information, data provided digitally, such as on CD-Roms, is commonly "indexed" by means of menus that enable a user to access the information that is relevant to him. Often there is a main menu listing a plurality of choices. When one selection is made, there is often then a further menu asking the user to further refine his selection. If the wrong selection is made, or the user requires additional or related information, he must usually return to the main menu to make a fresh selection.

The general public's acceptance of the Internet in the form of the World Wide Web has ensured that it is now becoming the preferred means of disseminating information. In general, information is provided to the user via a website, which normally comprises a number of pages each containing discrete but related information. These pages may contain links to other pages within the website or indeed links to other websites. It will therefore be understood that navigation around the website and linked websites to the topics of interest can be difficult and the user may become confused and eventually lost, that is to say they may become unable to navigate back to the start point. Navigation through the data is believed to be particularly difficult since in databases, CD-Roms, the Internet and other electronic data sources, the information is generally arranged as a hierarchical linear arrangement. This means that when a user reaches the bottom level of the hierarchy he must retrace his steps either to an intermediate level or in some cases to the top level before he can access information located at other bottom locations in the hierarchy. The hierarchy may further incorporate branch structures which, rather than assisting in comprehension, can cause the reader to become disorientated such that his ability to locate information that is pertinent to him is hampered. This difficulty becomes more pronounced where, for example, there may be tens or even hundreds of different levels to the hierarchy which is often the case with digital media such as the world wide web or digital television services, particularly interactive television services.

Various pseudo-hierarchical systems have been suggested to overcome these difficulties. One such system is that described in International Patent Application WO 98/20436. In this arrangement, a graphical user interface is provided in which the main topic of interest to the user is displayed as a central "thought" with associated topics arranged around it such that parent thoughts are located above and child thoughts are located below the central thought. However, whilst this arrangement goes some way to assisting the user to visualise the information and thereby navigate through it, it is generally still necessary to return from a child thought to the central thought to access a related child thought.

An improved navigation system is one in which the data is not arranged in a hierarchical manner, for example where it can be visualised as interrelated points on the surface of an imagined three-dimensional solid. Providing the navigation tool as a self-contained three-dimensional information structure in which related information categories or topics are adjacent one another allows the user to successively choose appropriate information which is of interest to their requirements rather than having to browse sequentially through the whole website or disc until a satisfactory level of detail has been obtained. This structure also means that once the user has accessed one topic, he can readily move to related topics and where required return to the originally viewed topic without having to revert to a top level of a hierarchy.

Since digital computers and similar processing equipment may be used for a variety of purposes, it may be difficult for a user to locate his own files on a particular subject and also locate information on that subject located in, for example, databases and/or websites on the Internet.

An improved navigational system visualised as interrelated points on the surface of the imagined three-dimensional solid is particularly advantageous as will be described below, for grouping together various sources relating to a particular subject and allowing the user to readily access that subject and more importantly readily navigate to associated subjects.

Whilst the arrangement described above is particularly advantageous, arranging the information categories such that all related topics are located adjacent to one another or in mutual close-proximity is extremely difficult.

We have now produced a method which allows a navigation tool of this type to be readily provided. A tool produced by the method of the invention provides the user with improved visualisation of the location of the information and allows for ready navigation through the data and wherein the information can be readily organised such that all related topics are located adjacent to one another or in close-proximity thereto is extremely difficult.

It will be understood that in the content of this application "information" may mean data, text, graphics, video or audio files or may mean files, links to websites and the like.

Thus according to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer system for producing a navigation tool comprising: a display unit, an input unit, a memory unit and a digital processing unit wherein: the display unit displays, in the form of an image on a screen, a form into which categories of information may be entered using the input unit such that each category of information is grouped with the closest categories of information to provide an associated grouping and wherein each associated grouping is connected to a grouping the contents of which are mutually associated but which are different from the categories in the first grouping; a processing unit which, on completion of the form, places the categories onto points of the three dimensional structure such that the combined grouping lies on a common plane, rotates the planes to allow the user to verify the arrangement of the categories to assess whether the category at each point is related to each of its nearest neighbours; and allows the user to reposition categories within the groupings or between groupings until an acceptable navigation tool is produced.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the input form is arranged such that the most associated categories are located adjacent to each other and are located opposite to the most different categories.

The input unit is preferably a keyboard associated with the processing unit.

In a particular preferred arrangement, the grouping is a pair such that the processing unit places the categories such that the paired groups lie on a common plane.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of producing a navigation tool utilising a computer system comprising the steps of: selecting a number of categories, wherein the number corresponds to the number of points of the navigation tool; arranging the categories in a form provided on a user interface such that associated categories are grouped together; combining each group with one other group of non-associated categories; causing the computer system to place the categories from the grid onto points of the three dimensional structure whereby each of the combined groupings are on a common plane; reviewing the structure to verify the positions of the categories on the points; allowing the planes of the structure to rotate such that the verification of the positions can be continued; if required, moving the position of categories such that the category at each point relates closest to the points adjacent to it and least with those separated from it.

The navigation tool is preferably three dimensional.

In a particularly preferred arrangement, the grouping is a pair such that the combined pair lie on a common plane.

In a particularly preferred arrangement, the computer system of the first, or utilised in the second, aspect of the present invention includes in the processing unit means for assisting the user to verify the correct location of the categories. For example, where a category pair is combined with the opposite pair, the computer system may allow for the words of the first pair of categories to be compared with the words of the second pair to with reference to data bases such as dictionaries, thesaurus and encyclopaedia and notify the user if the categories selected are not opposites. In a particularly preferred arrangement, the computer system provides the user with a selection of alternative words.

For improved visualisation of the navigation tool, the system may allow for icons to be used as category headings. Similarly, where a user enters a word in the form as a category, the computer system may select an appropriate icon to represent the word.

Once a category has been entered, the user is asked by the structure to specify the properties of the category as represented by the point. Where the point is to relate to information alone, the "properties" will comprise that information, which may comprise one or more of text, graphic, video and audio files. In one alternative the information specified at the point could include file names, operating system commands, website URLS and/or hypertext links.

The computer system for providing the navigation tool may also allow statistical data associated with the navigation tool to be collated. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer program, provided on a computer readable medium for use in a method of producing a navigation tool in the form of a three dimensional structure, said computer program comprising means for moving information from a data input form provided as a graphical user interface, to points of the three dimensional structure whereby each of paired groups of information are on a common plane; causing the planes of the structure to rotate such that the verification of the positions can be continued; facilitating the movement of categories can be organised such that the category at any one point most closely relates to the points adjacent to it and least closely with those separated from it.

The computer system, program and the method may allow various arrangements of the groups, pairings and the positioning thereof on the three-dimensional information structure to be stored such that the various iterations of the tool can be compared. This will assist the operator to choose the most appropriate arrangement.

It will be understood that the reference to computer system is not limited and encompasses, computer hardware and associated media, such as that provided by interactive television technology. Further, although reference is made to a three- dimensional structure, it will be understood that this will be presented as a two- dimensional image of a three-dimensional structure. The structure is preferably displayed on a computer or television screen and may be broken down and represented as points on the assumed surface of the structure, as the structure itself or as a plurality of intersecting planes. In a particular preferred arrangement, the categories are located on the points of the structure represented by the corners of the planes, thus the corners of the planes correspond to the location of the points in the three dimensional structure. In a particularly preferred arrangement there are three orthogonal planes.

It will be understood that categories located at the points of the three-dimensional structure may be in the form of display information per se or may provide one or more pathways to allow the user to access information falling within the selected category. Thus, a path to a file, a hyperlink or a website address may be provided. Once the user is satisfied with the navigation tool, it is exported from the computer system in which it was produced and/or modified to the use destination. For example, it may form part of the operating software for a CD-Rom or may be used to organise a users files and therefore, for example in a Windows based operating system may be located on the users desktop either directly or as a popup screen.

The navigation tool produced in accordance with the present invention, allows the categories of information to be arranged, if desired, on a three dimensional structure of any size provided that the structure has a symmetrical arrangement of points for mapping the categories whereby each point on the structure has an opposite point and each face of the structure has an opposite face.

Preferably, the three-dimensional structure is in the form of an icosahedron, having twelve points and ten pairs of parallel faces. It will be understood that in this arrangement, when navigation tool produced in accordance with the above aspect of the invention, each point will have five nearest neighbours, and each plane will have four points allowing a pair of closely related categories to be located at one end of the plane with an opposing pair at the other end of the plane. However, smaller or larger three-dimensional structures as navigation tools may be used in the structure, method and program of the present invention.

It will be understood, that, the term "point" preferably means a "comer" of the three-dimensional structure. For example, structures having 6 (octahedron), 8 (cube) or 20 (dodecahedron) points may be provided. Any suitable size of structure may be used and it will be understood that, for example, sixty symmetrical points may be provided. However, it will be understood that as the number of points increases, the number of steps from one point to a point located on the far side of the structure increases and the efficiency of the navigational tool may be reduced. The input form provided will be altered to reflect the number of points which are to be present in the finished structure.

The three dimensional structure preferably has a symmetrical arrangement of points to allow a regular arrangement of the information categories over the surface thereof. The size of the structure will determine the number of neighbours that each point has and the number of steps required to get from one point to an opposite point on the structure. It will be understood that minimising the number of steps from one point to any other point is particularly advantageous.

Although the navigational tool produced in accordance with the method of the above-aspects of the present invention allows for substantial numbers of category points to be present, there is a limit to the number of points due to the restriction on the number of categories which may be located on the surface of the three- dimensional surface while maintaining clarity of view.

Thus a further aim of this invention is to provide an improved navigation tool that allows more categories of information to be managed and navigated through than has been possible heretofore in non-hierarchical systems and which allows the information to be arranged and accessed via digital media.

According to a fourth aspect there is a provided a navigation tool which comprises a structure for mapping the categories to be displayed wherein the two-dimensional visualisation of the structure has a number of spaced points, each point corresponding to one category and where each point is linked, directly or indirectly to every other point to form a fractal symmetrical closed topography whereby the number of points directly linked to each category is the same. By this means, no one point is more than a fixed number of moves from any other point. Thus, in use in a standard computer system, no one point is more than a fixed number of "clicks" from any other point.

Preferably, the points for arrangement of the information categories are spaced around the circumference of a circle for visualisation purposes, more preferably they are spaced at even intervals. Preferably, one of the points is defined as the starting point or origin to provide a reference point in the structure.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer system for producing a navigation tool in accordance with the above fourth aspect comprising: a display unit, an input unit, a memory unit and a digital processing unit wherein; the display unit displays, as a user interface in the form of an image on a screen, a circle; on provision of the data corresponding to the number of points to be provided, the processing unit positions the points around the circumference of the circle; and the system, when provided with the number of links from each point to each other point, connects each point with each other point by no more than fixed number of links.

In a preferred arrangement, the points are positioned such that they are spaced equally around the circumference of the circle.

A link is a direct path between two points contained with the discrete symmetrical structure. Links and points may be used to define the structure in terms of "Distance", "Maximum Distance" or "Depth", "Volume" and the "Retention" of the structure.

The "Distance" between two points is the smallest number of links connecting them. The "Maximum Distance" or "Depth" is the maximum number of links which exist between any two points in the structure.

The "Volume" of the structure is the total number of links to each of the other points from a given point such as the origin or start point.

The "Retention" of the structure is defined as [the total number of points that are two links from either the origin or one link from the origin] divided by [the total number of two links between different points].

The value for the Distance, Depth, Volume, and Retention of a structure will be dependent upon a particular number and arrangement of points in the closed symmetrical structure. The desired arrangements of points will relate to the intended end purpose of the structure which will dictate the number of categories to be arranged within the closed typography and the interrelationship therebetween. The navigation tool, once constructed, is displayed on a display screen such as computer monitor or television screen. In general, this will not be displayed in the circular manner used in the method of production. Preferably, the point corresponding to the information category of interest is displayed at the centre of the screen and points directly linked to this point surround the central point. Selecting one of the surrounding points brings that point to the centre of the screen and also brings the points which are directly connected to that point into view on the screen, thereby facilitating navigation through the large volume of information that this organised using the navigation tool. Thus, in use, only a portion of the tool is visible to the user.

The number of moves required to allow viewing of each point mapped on the closed symmetrical structure will depend upon the size of structure but in general the structure allows navigation from one point to any other point in as few moves as possible.

Operation around the finished navigation tool is by means of an appropriately programmed computer.

In the method for forming this navigational tool, once the points of the structure have been located, they can then be assigned the categories which are to be organised. In a particularly preferred arrangement, the categories to be arranged on the points of the structure by means of the computer system. Preferably, the system proposes different iterations of the categories on the screen to allow the user to select the most suitable one for a particular purpose.

The points which are directly linked to each other may display related or non- related information depending upon the type of information displayed.

The structures of the present invention are particularly suitable for viewing and accessing information via digital media, such as via the World Wide Web, digital television services, CD-ROMs and DOS-systems. Accordingly, the present invention further provides a digital medium having a navigation system for organising and viewing information, the navigation system comprising a discrete symmetrical structure as hereinbefore described.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the following drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a three dimensional structure for arrangement produced in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of the x, y and z planes of the structure shown in Figure 1 ; Figure 3 is a view of a user interface illustrating the input form with the categories 1 to 12 in place on the corners of the three orthogonal planes; Figure 4 is a view of a user interface illustrating the navigation tool with data grid; Figure 5 is a flow diagram of the steps involved in the method of the present invention; Figure 6 is an example of the navigation tool of Figure 1 with categories displayed thereon according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7 is an example of a pop-up menu illustrating the use of the navigational tool; Figure 8 is a diagram of a closed navigation structure according to one embodiment of the present invention; Figures 9a to 9c are diagrams illustrating the method of forming the closed navigation structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 9d is a diagram illustrating the on-screen visualisation of the points one step from the origin of the closed navigation structure of Figures 9a to 9c Figure 10 is a diagram of a closed navigation structure of a further embodiment of the present invention; Figure 1 1 is a diagram illustrating the formation of the structure of Figure 10; Figure 12 is a diagram of a partially completely closed structure according to a further embodiment; Figure 13 is a diagram of a partially completely closed structure according to a further embodiment; Figure 14 is a diagram of the complete closed structure of

Figure 12; Figure 15 is a diagram of the complete closed structure of Figure 13;

Figure 16 is a diagram of the construction of a structure according to a further embodiment of the present invention; Figure 17 is a diagram of the completed structure of Figure 16; and

Figure 18 is a diagram of a further embodiment of the structure in accordance with this invention.

The navigation tool made in accordance with the first and second aspects of the present invention is presented in a three-dimensional arrangement of points preferably symmetrical, such as the twelve comers of an icosahedron. Any point is surrounded by a plurality of nearest neighbours, five in the case of an icosahedron, and the information is grouped in such a way that information at any point is related to the information at any of the nearest neighbours. In this manner, moving from one point to another provides access to a related category of information.

This allows the user of the information site to choose easily which related category of information he wishes to view, thereby providing means for logical and convenient navigation around an information structure, be it a website or other information display system.

Figure 1 illustrates one example of the three dimensional navigational tool produced in accordance with the present invention. The three-dimensional object is in the form of an icosahedron which has twelve symmetrical points 2 and twenty faces 4. Each point can be regarded as being connected to five surrounding points (e.g. see point A in Figure 1) and the information or categories of information should be arranged such that the central point A is surrounded by five points displaying related information or for providing access to related information. This non-linear format of arranging information or information access sites allows the user to move very easily to any one of the adjacent points from the site he is viewing or accessing. Furthermore, the user is also able to access the least closely related sites in a minimum number of movements whereas previously this would have necessitated a large number of steps down a linear hierarchy.

Arranging closely related topics next to each other in the three dimensional structure would normally be a formidable task, there being factorial 12 (i.e., 12 x 11 x 10 x 9 x 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1) or 479001600 ways of arranging the twelve categories of information on the twelve points. If the information is arranged and it is then decided that one category has been placed in the wrong position, the arbitrary movement of this category to another position will most likely destroy the whole integrity of the arrangement. Hence, prior hereto, it has been extremely difficult to produce a navigation tool of this kind.

In the method and systems of the present invention a satisfactory or preferable arrangement can be readily achieved. In this method, categories representing the data through which the user needs to navigate are identified. These can then be inserted into a graphical user interface such as that illustrated in Figure 3 such that a pair of associated categories (1 3) is combined with the least related pair of associated categories i.e., its opposing group (2 4). When placed onto the points of the planes, closely-related categories of information are grouped together and each like pair is combined with their least closely related opposing pair for arrangement on the x, y or z plane of the three-dimensional arrangement of points.

Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings illustrates how the icosahedron may be broken down into the three x, y and z planes to provide three planes each having four comers points, the twelve resulting points being in the same location as those on the icosahedron.

The method and computer system of the present invention allows the construction of such a three dimensional arrangement within a relatively short time period thus making their use both practical and economically feasible. Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings illustrates the points as they appear on the icosahedron with an accompanying data grid. The steps of the method of the present invention for arranging information onto each of these points to provide a user-friendly navigation tool conveniently, represented be a self contained three dimensional system are illustrated in Figure 5. Firstly in step 1 the information, or information to be accessed, is divided into a number of categories corresponding to the number of symmetrical points in the three dimensional structure. For example, in Figure 5 twelve topics are identified to be arranged on the twelve points of the icosahedron shown in Figures 1 and 4. For ease of description in the example the twelve topics are designated by the letters of the alphabet A through L. The categories are then separated into pairs, having the most closely related categories paired together. There are six pairs in the example AB, CD, EF, GH, IJ and KL.

Each pair is then combined with another pair which is the least related thereto, i.e., their opposing pair thereby forming three sets of four categories (step 3). The three sets are referenced x, y and z in the figure and, as part of the method, they are displayed on a computer screen to facilitate assessment of the pairings. They are given the references x, y and z as they are provisionally assigned to be allocated to the four points which fall into each of the x, y and z planes. The computer system may facilitate the selections of pairings by comparing the categories with ones in the same pairing and in the associated pairing by reference to data bases such as dictionaries, thesauruses and encyclopaedia (all provided in digital form) and alerting the user of any inconsistencies.

The position of the pairs may be swapped to improve the arrangement of the topics. It is then possible to check all three sets to check that all like pairs and opposing pairs are arranged in the most satisfactory manner. Each like pair and its opposing pair are then arranged as three orthogonal planes of the icosahedron, as shown in the illustration accompanying step 4 in Figure 5. This arrangement is referred to as a first orthogonal set and is arranged to be viewed on screen. The arrangement is saved to memory. The positions of the categories making up a pair may be swapped to improve the arrangement (step 5). The swapping may be carried out either by moving categories in the grid or by "drag and drop" techniques on the points of the planes. Additionally, the orthogonal set viewed may be switched to view alternative arrangements of the planes. _. In this respect, if any point is considered, there are five sets of three orthogonal planes for each point corresponding to each of the connections to the five nearest neighbours - see lines a, b, c, d and e in relation to A in the illustration along side step 4. Each of the orthogonal sets can be viewed by rotating the three dimensional representation and each has corresponding sets of opposing pairs (step 6). These can be extracted and viewed.

The illustration alongside Step 6 shows a second of five orthogonal sets for the point A. Thus, if point A is considered, rotating 72° clockwise about the axis w intersecting A and H, compared with the illustration alongside step 4, places the letters A F K H at the comers of the z plane, the letters I E D L at the comers of the y plane and the letters C B G J at the comers of the x plane. This set is illustrated along side step 6 in Figure 3. Making successive rotations creates further orthogonal sets (five in total). Each of the sets is saved to memory. All the opposing pairs for all the sets are preferably estimated and displayed on screen simultaneously or as successive displays for each set and checked for appropriateness of the opposite pairs. The rotation of the planes will be carried out by the managing program.

The relationship of each of the points can then be considered in turn in relation to each of its nearest neighbours on the three dimensional representation of the information structure displayed on a computer screen.

The positioning of the points in a pair may also be swapped to improve the arrangement (step 5) and the revised arrangement saved to memory. The five orthogonal sets for the revised arrangement may then be viewed and stored in memory as a second pass. The relationships are then considered and saved as another pass. The various passes are reviewed and the optimum set selected. If none of the sets appears appropriate when viewed as a whole, then the selected topics are reviewed and revisions made which could result in a satisfactory set when the procedure is repeated.

The aforementioned sequence is implemented by means of computer software or hardware, for example using .machine-executable instructions. A general purpose microprocessor may be programmed with instructions to perform the steps of the present invention. Thus the positioning of the pairs is viewed on a display screen and the operator can switch rapidly between the different orthogonal sets to determine whether the optimal arrangement has been obtained. Additionally, the pairs may be swapped over by a simple manoeuvre. Thus, a logical aπangement of information can be presented on the three dimensional structure within a relatively short period of time. Furthermore, a number of prefened anangements may be saved, for example, on a computer disc and then viewed side-by-side to determine which anangement is the most appropriate.

Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings illustrates an example of the final structure of the icosahedron having the title for a particular topic of information displayed at each point. It will be noted that the five points which surround each point, i.e., its nearest neighbours, are more closely related to the central point than those which are remote from the central point. Appropriate computer software is provided to allow rotation of the icosahedron about its centre point on the display screen. This allows all the categories arranged on the points of the structure to be viewed quickly and easily by rotation of the structure. Selection of a point which is not the central point, for example by means of a cursor positioned over the point, has the effect of bringing the points surrounding this point into view on the display screen.

Figure 7 provides one example of the navigation tool in use as a pop up menu on a computer screen.

It is to be appreciated that, although the method and apparatus has been described herein in relation to a three dimensional structure having twelve symmetrical points, it is equally applicable to structures having more or fewer points where an aid to visualisation of and access to information is required. Depending upon the size of the structure, each point will have more or less nearest neighbours to those existing in the icosahedron.

The present invention provides a closed system for the anangement of information. The information is ananged within a limited space to allow logical and easier movement around a particular information site, such as a website, CD-Rom or an interactive display system. The anangement removes the hierarchical set up of the information which creates a large distance between certain points of the information resulting in it being difficult to logically review all of the information contained in the hierarchy. All the information points arranged by the method using the apparatus of the present invention have few steps therebetween to allow easier visualisation of the whole of the information system, the user being able to move side to side, up and down and diagonally to view all the possible categories of information, rather than just up and down as is provided by the hierarchical system.

When viewing the website or other information system, it is the personal choice of an individual which determines which topic of information should next be viewed, and which subset of the whole is sufficient for his requirements. Previously, the user was only able to move up or down or to the next web page or across arbitrarily structured links and thus has had limited means of determining their choice. However, with the present system the user is presented with, in the case of an icosahedron three-dimensional anangement, five possible selections to view from any cunent selection and hence, the user can select the one of personal preference. This will then present five further selectables to choose from thereby providing the user friendly system. Previously, such a system was not possible because it was not considered practical to map all the information coherently on a three- dimensional structure. The arrangement of the information into like pairs with opposing like pairs onto the planes of the structure allows association of the most appropriate pairs relatively easily and quickly.

Where more points are required than may be visualised on the three-dimensional structure of the above-mentioned embodiment, the navigation tool of the fourth and subsequent embodiments is prefened. Figure 8 illustrates a closed information structure according to the present invention. The structure eliminates the requirement for categories to be organised into levels of hierarchical classification and ensures that the user of the system is always as close as possible to the categories which may be of interest given the particular location in the structure. This is achieved by the navigation tool having a specified number of topics (30 in Figure 8) which are ananged at equal intervals in a circle and are then linked, in any one of a number of ways, to a given number of categories around the circle. This results in any one category being directly linked to a specific number of other categories in the circle and greatly reduces the number of steps required to go between two categories which are not directly linked.

The structures are fractal objects rather than the three-dimensional structures described heretofore which allow a far higher number of categories to be linked via a closed navigation system. The structure may be displayed on a computer monitor or television screen and allows each category to be sunounded by the same number of categories which may be accessed directly from the selected category. These "nearest neighbours" may be closely related categories or non- related depending upon the end use of the navigation system.

For example, if 20 separate television channels were to be linked in such a way as to ensure that channels showing a particular category of programme were connected (for example, to enable a user to view the movies on offer and select their preferred choice) the nearest neighbours would all be of a related category, such as channels showing movies. However, in other situation, the viewer may wish to access an unrelated category if the one cunently being viewed is not considered to be relevant, for example, the viewer may wish to exit "Movies" channels and access "Current Affairs".

The fractal navigation tool of the present invention enables the categories displayed on the screen to be linked, for example by URL or other means, enabling the user to bring a chosen topic into view on the screen, a task which was not possible using conventional hierarchical systems. One method of constructing a structure according to the present invention will now be described with reference to Figures 9a to 9c of the accompanying drawings. The total number of information categories or topics to be ananged for accessing via a navigation system is identified and a conesponding number of points are placed, evenly spaced, around the circumference of a circle. In the present example, twenty information categories need to be linked via the navigation system and therefore twenty points are mapped around a circle, as shown in Figure 9a. For descriptive purposes, one of the points is marked as the origin, O.

The next step is to choose an appropriate number of direct links that are required from each category or topic to suit the purpose of the application or the limitations of the means for accessing the categories. For example, a television remote control may only have a limited number of buttons available to enable selection of only a small number of topics and thus the number of topics that are linked to another will be the number of buttons available. In Figure 9b, six links L are chosen for each topic. Starting with the origin, half of the links are connected in one direction from the origin and the other half are connected in the other direction as an exact reflection of the first. Thus, Figure 9b shows six lines L (or links) with intervals, 1, 2 and 3 from the origin. However, any set of intervals may be used.

Further links are then made at corresponding intervals for each of the twenty points around the circle thereby completing the network, as shown in Figure 9c which is a closed symmetrical network having six bi-directional intervals of 1, 2 and 3. The completed structure has six points at a single step from the any one point, six points at two steps from a given point, six points at three steps from a given point and one point which is the maximum of four steps away from a given point.

The points which are one step from the origin sunound this point when it is being viewed on a display screen, as shown in Figure 9d of the accompanying drawings. The origin O is directly linked by a single step (or single hyperlink) to six points which are visible around the O on the screen and therefore are available for selection by the user. Any one particular structure will possess its own particular properties, defined as the "Depth" , the "Volume" and "Retention" of the structure. The "Depth" is the minimum number of steps between the points which are separated by the highest number of links in the stmcture. Thus, in Figure 9c, the Depth is 4. The Volume is the total of the number of steps to each of the other points from a given point. In Figure 9c, the Volume will be (6xl)+(6x2)+(6x3)+(lx4) which is 40. Finally, the Retention of the stmcture is defined as [Total number of 2-step journeys that end either on the origin or one step from the origin] divided by [all possible two step journeys]. Thus, in the stmcture shown in Figure 9c, there are 36 two-step journeys, 24 of which re-connect to either the origin or one step from the origin, giving a Retention of 0.667. This property relates to the similarity of the points which are viewed from each point (i.e., being those which are one step away from a given point.)

Figures 10 and 11 illustrate another information stmcture for producing a navigation system according to the present invention. Again, there are twenty categories (identified by dots in the Figure) which are arranged evenly around the circumference of a circle but the links L are provided at intervals of 2,5 and 7, as shown in Figure 11. This reduces the Volume to 34, the Depth to 3 and the Retention to 0.5.

Every possible closed symmetrical stmcture that may be used for ananging information has a particular combination of the three properties mentioned above. The choice of a particular stmcture for the anangement of semantic terms, such as information categories, on the points will be determined by the precise needs of the application and intended users. For example, if twenty television channels were to be linked in such a way as to ensure similar channels were closely connected to each other, a stmcture which provided a small value for the Volume, Depth and Retention would be used. However, for an educational CD-ROM, where the author wishes to ensure that topics are introduced gradually whilst retaining links to related materials such that the student can easily review materials previously studied, an information stmcture having higher values for the Volume, Depth and Retention may be used. The examples described above use an even number of links on an even number of points. However, the fractal stmctures of the present invention which are used for ananging information to be viewed by digital media may also be constmcted using an odd number of points, wherein the number of links should be even. Additionally, stmctures may be constmcted which have an even number of points but an odd number of links.

For example, the origin and each point that is an even number of steps way from it may be connected to another point which is an odd number of steps way from it, ensuring that each link travels in the same direction around the circle. This ensures that each point is connected only once. Examples of such constructions are shown in Figures 12 and 13 of the accompanying drawings. In Figure 12 each even point is connected at another point five steps away in an anti-clockwise direction. In Figure 13, the even points are connected to points that are nine steps in an anti- clockwise direction. The configuration shown in Figure 12 can be added to Figure 9c to form the completed stmcture shown in Figure 14. This is a closed symmetrical stmcture having six paired intervals (at 1, 2 and 3) and one odd/even link (at 5). Similarly, the configuration shown in Figure 13 may be added to that shown in Figure 10 to produce a closed symmetrical stmcture having six paired intervals (at 2, 5 and 7) and one odd/even link of 9, as illustrated in Figure 15.

The method of introducing an additional odd link leads to a more generalized methodology for creating a set of links where the number of topics that are being connected is even. Again, the points conesponding to the number of topics are placed to form the outline of a circle, with one point marked as the origin. The desired number of links connecting the origin to any of the other topics are then drawn in, the only constraint being that any line which connects an even-spaced topic in one direction must be paired by a minored line connecting the same distance in the opposite direction but any odd-spaced topic in one direction may or may not be paired with a mirrored connection.

Referring to Figures 16 and 17 of the accompanying drawings, twenty points are placed in a circle and each is directly linked to six other points. Figure 16 shows lines at intervals of 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9 with the first being minored because it is an evening spacing. Each topic is then connected to the minored pair links and every even spaced topic with the non-minored link. This results in the stmcture shown in Figure 10 which has a Depth of 4, a Volume of 40 and a Retention of 0.6667.

The symmetrical closed systems of the present invention do not provide obvious properties and any set of connections must be individually analyzed. For example, by making a slight alteration to the stmcture of Figure 12 by placing a mirrored pair at one interval from the origin rather than two, the stmcture shown in Figure 18 is obtained. This results in the set of properties where the Volume is 36, the Depth is 3 and the Retention is 0.1667. This is the lowest possible figure for the Retention (6/36) wherein every topic at distance one is connected back to the origin O but not to any of the other topics whose distance is one. Thus, apart from the topic being cunently viewed, this stmcture would show a completely new set of information topics each time a different topic was selected on the screen.

A further point to note about the configuration shown in Figure 18 is that it has a special property of super-symmetry wherein each of the links from any single point has exactly the same properties as every other link from that point. Thus, the full set of two-step points from any single one-step point has exactly the same set of distances from the origin as each of the other one-step links. In this case, each of the one-step links from the origin connects to one O-step link (the origin) and five two-step links. Such super-symmetrical configurations may be thought of as platonic solids, where all line-lengths and all angles are equal. Although these stmctures cannot be constmcted in three dimensions (the tetrahedron, octahedron, cube, icosahedron and dodecahedron are the only platonics that can exist in three- dimensions) each of them may be constmcted in its own fractal-dimensional space that may be easily created in a computer-generated virtual environment. As such, the information stmctures described herein are novel navigational machines, or mechanisms, which may only be constmcted in a virtual universe inside a computer.

The closed symmetrical systems of the present invention offer a clear framework for the organization of information to be displayed by means of a television screen or computer monitor. This enables the production and maintenance of the information service to be easily controlled and managed. Also importantly, it provides a closed symmetrical system that allows the reader to move logically through the information system that is similar in appearance from all points. Additionally, the stmctures always allow the reader to be as close as possible to the categories which are most likely to be of interest following the viewing of one particular topic provided on a point of the stmcture.

In each of the embodiments of the present invention, the categories will be provided with properties. Where the point representing the category is to relate to information alone, the "properties" will comprise that information, which may comprise one or more of text, graphic, video and audio files. In one alternative the information specified at the point could include file names, operating system commands, website URLS and or hypertext links.

Claims

1. A computer system for producing a navigation tool comprising: a display unit, an input unit, a memory unit and a digital processing unit wherein: the display unit displays, in the form of an image on a screen, a form into which categories of information may be entered using the input unit such that each category of information is grouped with the closest categories of information to provide an associated grouping and wherein each associated grouping is connected to a grouping the contents of which are mutually associated but which are different from the categories in the first grouping; a processing unit which, on completion of the form, places the categories onto points of the three dimensional stmcture such that the combined grouping lies on a common plane, rotates the planes to allow the user to verify the anangement of the categories to assess whether the category at each point is related to each of its nearest neighbours; and allows the user to reposition categories within the groupings or between groupings until an acceptable navigation tool is produced.

2. A computer system according to Claim 1 wherein the input form is ananged such that the most associated categories are located adjacent to each other and are located opposite to the most different categories.

3. A computer system according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein the input unit is a keyboard associated with the processing unit.

4. A computer system according to any one of Claims 1 and 3 wherein the processing unit places the categories such that the paired groups lie on a common plane.

5. A method of producing a navigation tool utilising a computer system comprising the steps of: selecting a number of categories, wherein the number conesponds to the number of points of the navigation tool; ananging the categories in a form provided on a user interface such that associated categories are grouped together; combining each group with one other group of non-associated categories; causing the computer system to place the categories from the grid onto points of the three dimensional stmcture whereby each of the combined groupings are on a common plane; reviewing the stmcture to verify the positions of the categories on the points; allowing the planes of the stmcture to rotate such that the verification of the positions can be continued; if required, moving the position of categories such that the category at each point relates closest to the points adjacent to it and least with those separated from it.

6. A method according to Claim 5 wherein the navigation tool is three dimensional.

7. A method according to Claims 5 and 6, wherein the grouping is a pair such that the combined pair lie on a common plane.

8. A computer system according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 or the method of any one of Claims 5 to 7 where the computer system includes in the processing unit means for assisting the user to verify the correct location of the categories.

9. A computer program provided on a computer readable medium for use in a method of producing a navigation tool in the form of a three dimensional stmcture, said computer program comprising means for moving information from a data input form provided as a graphical user interface, to points of the three dimensional stmcture whereby each of paired groups of information are on a common plane; causing the planes of the stmcture to rotate such that the verification of the positions can be continued; facilitating the movement of categories can be organised such that the category at any one point most closely relates to the points adjacent to it and least closely with those separated from it.

10. A navigation tool which comprises a stmcture for mapping the categories to be displayed wherein the two-dimensional visualisation of the stmcture has a number of spaced points, each point conesponding to one category and where each point is linked, directly or indirectly to every other point to form a fractal symmetrical closed topography whereby the number of points directly linked to each category is the same.

11. A navigation tool according to Claim 10 wherein the points for anangement of the information categories are spaced around the circumference of a circle for visualisation purposes.

12. A navigation tool according to Claim 11 wherein the points are spaced at even intervals.

13. A computer system for producing a navigation tool according to Claim 11 or 12 comprising: a display unit, an input unit, a memory unit and a digital processing unit wherein; the display unit displays, as a user interface in the form of an image on a screen, a circle; on provision of the data corresponding to the number of points to be provided, the processing unit positions the points around the circumference of the circle; and the system, when provided with the number of links from each point to each other point, connects each point with each other point by no more than fixed number of links.