KR20070034340A - Apparatus and method for providing a 3D graphical user interface - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus and method for providing a three-dimensional graphic user interface are provided.

An apparatus for providing a 3D graphic user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a storage module for storing motion information of a component including a first information plane and a second information plane, and information displayed on the first information plane according to the motion information. Displaying an information mapping module for mapping information associated with the second information plane, a motion processing module for processing a motion for displaying the second information plane, and a first information plane of the component according to a user's command, And a display module for continuously displaying a display change from the first information plane of the component to the second information plane according to a result processed by the motion processing module.

Three Dimensional, Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Description

Apparatus and method for providing 3-dimensional graphic user interface

1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a conventional user interface.

2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a 3D graphical user interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3A is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for providing a 3D graphic user interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating the user interface module of FIG. 3A in more detail.

4A to 4F are views illustrating a 3D graphic user interface provided by the apparatus for providing a 3D graphic user interface shown in FIG. 3.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a 3D graphic user interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

6A through 6C illustrate a three-dimensional graphical user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention when the component is a dialog box.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

310: input module 320: storage module

330: control module 340: output module

350: user interface module

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for providing a 3D graphic user interface, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for providing a 3D graphic user interface that can efficiently use a display space and enable a user to intuitively understand a relationship between information. It is about a method.

BACKGROUND In general, a digital user interface (GUI) is used to facilitate the use of a digital device and to deliver information to a user quickly and intuitively. The user may use the input device to move the pointer and instruct the digital device of the desired action by selecting the icon indicated by the pointer.

1A and 1B illustrate screens provided by a conventional GUI, and FIG. 1A illustrates menu items provided by a conventional GUI, and FIG. 1B illustrates a case in which a predetermined submenu is selected from the menu items of FIG. 1A. FIG. 1 illustrates a screen on which information related to a menu is displayed. As illustrated, when a predetermined submenu, for example, 'Brightness' is selected by operating a direction key or the like in the menu item window as shown in FIG. 1A, a window indicating brightness information of a screen is displayed as shown in FIG. 1B.

As described above, in the conventional GUI, the screen is disconnected when displaying information related to a lower menu. Therefore, it is not easy for the user to intuitively recognize the relationship between the information and the flow of information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for providing a 3D graphic user interface that enables a user to more intuitively understand the relationship between information and the flow of information.

However, the objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus for providing a 3D graphic user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a storage module for storing motion information of a component including a first information plane and a second information plane, and wherein An information mapping module for mapping information associated with the information displayed on the first information surface to the second information surface, a motion processing module for processing a motion for displaying the second information surface, and a first component of the component according to a user's command And a display module for displaying an information plane and continuously displaying a display change from the first information plane of the component to the second information plane according to a result processed by the motion processing module.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing a 3D graphical user interface according to the motion information of at least one component including a first information surface and a second information surface. Mapping information associated with the information displayed in the second information plane of the component, displaying the first information plane of the component, and for displaying the second information plane of the component according to a user's command. Processing the motion and continuously displaying a display change from the first information plane to the second information plane of the component in accordance with the processing result.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings, and the advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings.

However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be embodied in various different forms, and the present embodiments merely make the disclosure of the present invention complete and common knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention belongs. It is provided to fully inform the person having the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to block diagrams or process flowcharts for explaining an apparatus and method for providing a 3D graphic user interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. At this point, it will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and combinations of flowchart illustrations may be performed by computer program instructions. Since these computer program instructions may be mounted on a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing equipment, those instructions executed through the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing equipment may be described in flow chart block (s). It will create means to perform the functions. These computer program instructions may be stored in a computer usable or computer readable memory that can be directed to a computer or other programmable data processing equipment to implement functionality in a particular manner, and thus the computer usable or computer readable memory. It is also possible for the instructions stored in to produce an article of manufacture containing instruction means for performing the functions described in the flowchart block (s). Computer program instructions It is also possible to mount on a computer or other programmable data processing equipment, so that a series of operating steps are performed on the computer or other programmable data processing equipment to create a computer-implemented process to perform the computer or other programmable data processing equipment. It is also possible for the instructions to provide steps for performing the functions described in the flowchart block (s).

In addition, each block may represent a portion of a module, segment, or code that includes one or more executable instructions for executing a specified logical function (s). It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of order. For example, the two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending on the corresponding function.

In addition, the term 'module' as used herein refers to a hardware component such as software or a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and performs certain roles. However, 'module' is not meant to be limited to software or hardware. The module may be configured to be in an addressable storage medium and may be configured to execute one or more processors. Thus, as an example, a 'module' may include components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, processes, functions, properties, procedures, Subroutines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuitry, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. In addition, the functionality provided in each component may be combined into a smaller number of components or further separated into additional components.

Hereinafter, an apparatus and method for providing a 3D graphic user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, Figure 2 is a view showing the overall configuration of a three-dimensional graphical user interface applied to an embodiment of the present invention. The 3D graphic user interface applied to an embodiment of the present invention is a UI concept that can build a more dynamic GUI environment through a 3D environment. The three-dimensional graphical user interface environment is composed of the following elements.

1. 3D space

2. Component

3. Component Presentation

4. Camera view

5. Information side of components

First, the 3D space 200 is a space region for constructing a 3D environment, and is divided into an active space 210 and an inactive space 220 according to the characteristics of the space. The space that can be used when designing the UI is the active space 210.

The component 230 refers to a configuration object that provides information while interacting with a user in a three-dimensional environment. Component 230 includes one or more information planes. Herein, the information plane refers to a surface that can represent information for delivery to a user, and can control information on a menu item or each submenu that can be controlled through the information plane. The shape of this component 230 may be represented by, for example, a polyhedron solid figure such as a hexagonal column, a square column, a triangular column, or a cylinder.

In addition, each component 230 may generate a unique motion in the three-dimensional space. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, if there is a hexahedral component 230 in three-dimensional space, the hexahedral component 230 is clockwise or counterclockwise relative to each of the x, y, and z axes. Rotation and the like are possible. At this time, the hexahedron component is rotatable at any angle. For example, the components 230 may rotate by 90 degrees each time.

The method of presenting a component is a method in which one or more components are grouped in an information space, which determines how they are manipulated, how they occur during the manipulation process, and how they are arranged on the screen.

Camera view refers to a view point in three-dimensional space. The camera view can be moved in three-dimensional space, where the movement of the camera view means navigation within the space.

3A is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus 300 for providing a 3D graphic user interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The apparatus for providing a 3D graphic user interface 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention may be configured as a digital device. A digital device is a device having a digital circuit for processing digital data, such as a computer, a printer, a scanner, a pager, a digital camera, a fax machine, a digital copier, a digital home appliance, a digital telephone, a digital project, a home server, a digital video recorder, Examples include TV broadcast receivers, digital satellite broadcast receivers, set-top boxes, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and cellular phones.

The apparatus for providing a 3D graphic user interface 300 illustrated in FIG. 3A includes an input module 310, a display module 340, a storage module 320, a control module 330, and a user interface module 350.

The input module 310 receives data related to the operation of the component from the user, that is, data for accessing the component or selecting a predetermined component. The input module 310 may include a mouse, a key mode, a keypad, a touch pad, a joystick, and the like. For example, when the input module 310 is implemented as a keypad, the input module 310 may display a key for outputting a screen adjustment menu, a direction key for moving the focus to a submenu included in the screen adjustment menu, and a focused key. It may be equipped with selection keys to select a submenu. The input module may be integrated with the 3D graphic user interface providing apparatus 300 or may be implemented as a separate module.

The display module 340 visually expresses the command processing result. When the 3D graphical user interface is displayed through the display module 340, the user may select a predetermined component using the input module 310. The display module 340 may be implemented independently of the input module 310 or may be implemented in combination with the input module 310 such as a touch screen and a touch pad.

The storage module 320 stores information about attributes of the component. For example, it stores information on whether or not the surface constituting the component is an information surface, and information on the color and transparency of the information surface. In addition, the storage module 320 stores location information of components disposed in the active space. For example, the screen adjustment menu may include sub-menus such as contrast, brightness, and color. The sub-menus may be composed of individual components, which may be configured with predetermined position information when the screen adjustment menu is executed. Are arranged in the active space. The storage module 320 may include a nonvolatile memory device such as a read only memory (ROM), a programmable ROM (EPROM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, and a flash memory. It may be implemented as at least one of a volatile memory device such as a random access memory (RAM) or a storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD).

The control module 330 connects and manages components in the 3D graphical user interface providing apparatus 300. For example, the control module 330 processes the key signal input through the input module 310 to control the operation of the user interface module 350.

Meanwhile, the user interface module 350 serves to provide a 3D graphical user interface using a component. 3B illustrates the configuration of the user interface module 350 in more detail. The illustrated user interface module 350 includes an information mapping module 351, a motion processing module 352, and a component management module 353. .

The information mapping module 351 maps the information to the information plane of the component. At this time, the information mapping module 351 maps the corresponding information to the information surface of the component according to the correlation between the motion information of each component and each information, so that when the motion occurs in the corresponding component, the user may Make the flow more intuitive.

For example, in the screen adjustment menu 410 illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4F, the 'brightness' item may include a control bar for adjusting the brightness menu as a lower item. Here, the component 420 for the 'brightness' item is a rectangular plate shape having a first information surface 421 and a second information surface 422, and when the information has a motion of rotating about the y-axis, The mapping module 351 displays the name of the corresponding submenu, ie, brightness, on the first information surface 421 of the component 420, and displays the name of the corresponding submenu on the second information surface 422 adjacent to the first information surface 421. It displays detailed information about 'brightness', that is, a control bar to adjust the brightness of the screen. In this case, when the user selects the component 420 for 'brightness', the control bar displayed on the second information surface 422 is displayed as motion occurs in the component 420. Therefore, the user can more intuitively grasp the relationship between the information displayed on the information surface of the component 420 for the 'brightness' item.

The motion processing module 352 processes the motion of the component in the active space 210 according to the command received through the input module 510. For example, the data required to rotate the selected component is processed and the result is displayed via the display module 340.

When the user selects a predetermined component in the group through the input module 310, the component management module 353 processes to highlight the selected component. For example, the user highlights the selected component by forming or inverting a border around the selected component. Alternatively, the user may highlight the component selected by changing the display of other components that are not selected. For example, when the component 420 for 'brightness' is selected in the screen adjustment menu 410 illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4F, the component management module 353 may select a non-selected component, that is, a component for contrast. 430 and the component 440 for color are translucent so that the user's gaze can be focused on the selected component, ie, the component 420 for 'brightness'.

The data processed by the information mapping module 351, the motion processing module 352, and the component management module 353 described above is displayed by the display module 340 via the control module 330.

Next, a method of providing a 3D graphic user interface according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A to 5. 4A to 4F illustrate screens provided by the apparatus for providing a 3D graphic user interface 300, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a 3D graphic user interface providing process according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

First, when a command is input through the input module 310, the control module 330 provides the input command to the user interface module 350. For example, when the screen adjustment menu 410 execution key is applied through the input module 310, the control module 330 provides the input command to the user interface module 350.

Thereafter, the information mapping module 351 of the user interface module 350 displays information related to motion information of each component constituting the screen adjustment menu 410 and information to be displayed on the first information surface of each component. The second information surface 422 is mapped (S510).

For example, the 'brightness' item may include a control bar for adjusting brightness as detailed information. Here, the component 420 for the item 'brightness' may be configured as a rectangular plate shape including a first information surface 421 and a second information surface 422 having a rotational motion. In this case, The information mapping module 351 maps the name of the menu to the first information surface 421 of the component 420 for the 'brightness' item, and the information dependent on the menu on the second information surface 422, that is, Map the control bar to adjust the brightness.

Thereafter, the information mapping module 351 stores the information stored in the storage module 320, that is, the components of the submenus constituting the screen adjustment menu 410, the location information between the components, and the components. Based on the attribute information, the user interface is configured and then output through the display module (S520). At this time, each component is displayed on the first information surface 421 as shown in Figure 4a.

When a command for moving the focus is input while the screen as shown in FIG. 4A is output, the component management module 353 of the user interface module 350 performs a process of emphasizing the focused component. For example, when the component 420 for the 'brightness' item is focused, the component management module 353 may fix the first information plane 421 of the component 420 for the 'brightness' item as shown in FIG. 4B. Inversion allows the user's eyes to focus on the focused component. Alternatively, the unfocused components may be translucently processed to emphasize the focused component.

Thereafter, when a command for selecting the focused component is input, the motion processing module 352 of the user interface module 350 processes the motion for the corresponding component (S530). In other words, it processes the motion for displaying the second information plane of the focused component. For example, when a selection command is input while the 'brightness' item is focused, the motion processing module 352 of the user interface module 350 rotates the component 420 for the 'brightness' item about the y axis. Let's do it.

The result processed by the motion processing module 352 is output through the display module 340. That is, the process from the first information plane 421 of the component 420 to the second information plane 422 for the 'brightness' item is continuously displayed through the display unit as shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D ( S540). As illustrated in FIG. 4E, the second information surface 422 displaying detailed information on the 'brightness' item, that is, a control bar for adjusting the brightness, is output through the display module 340 by the motion processing module 352. (S550). In this case, the component 420 may be rotated about the y-axis or the x-axis, and the rotation direction of the component 420 may be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise about the y-axis or, in some cases, both directions. Can be. 4C and 4D show the component 420 rotating clockwise about the y axis. Also, the angle at which the component can rotate at one time may vary depending on the shape of the component. For example, the component of the above-described 'brightness' item is a rectangular plate shape including the first information surface 421 and the second information surface 422, and thus the component may rotate 180 degrees at a time.

As shown in FIG. 4E, when the second information surface 422 displaying the control bar for adjusting the brightness is output, the control module 330 adjusts the brightness of the screen according to the type of command input through the input module 310. . For example, when the right key is applied, the brightness value is increased, and when the left key is applied, the brightness value is decreased.

Thereafter, when the selection command is input again, the motion processing module 352 rotates the component 420 for the 'brightness' item again about the y axis, and as shown in FIG. 4F, the first information of the corresponding component 420. Display face 421. At this time, the component 420 for the 'brightness' item may be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise about the y axis. Preferably it is rotated in the same direction as the direction of rotation for displaying the second information surface 422 of the component.

As mentioned, when information related to each other is displayed on the information surface of the component according to the motion type of the component and motion is generated on the component, the information displayed on the information surface of the component by the motion is visually maintained. Is displayed. Therefore, the user can more intuitively recognize the relationship between the information displayed on the information surface of the component and the flow of information.

In the above-described example, the case in which the information displayed on the information surface of the component has a dependency relationship with each other has been described as an example. However, the present invention may be applied to the case where the information displayed on the information surface of the component has a mutual relationship with each other. For example, the present invention can also be applied when displaying information that is related to each other using a dialog box.

More specifically, when the apparatus for providing a 3D graphic user interface 300 according to the present embodiment is implemented as a digital TV, a command for storing a channel currently being watched in the channel list through the input module 310 is input. 6A, the information mapping module 351 displays a dialog box 450 on which the information requesting whether to register a channel is displayed on the first information surface 451.

Subsequently, when a channel registration command is input, the motion processing module 352 rotates the channel registration dialog box 450 as shown in FIGS. 6B and 6C to display the information on the channel registration state as shown in FIG. 6D. Information plane 452 is displayed.

As such, when the second registration screen 452 is displayed by rotating the channel registration dialog box and the information on the channel registration status is displayed, the information in the step of receiving a request for channel registration and displaying information on the registration status is displayed. Displayed with visual continuity, allowing users to perceive the flow of information more intuitively.

Although the apparatus and method for providing a 3D graphic user interface according to the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings illustrated as above, the present invention is not limited by the embodiments and drawings disclosed herein, Of course, various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technical idea.

As described above, the apparatus and method for providing a 3D graphic user interface according to the present invention have one or more of the following effects.

First, by placing related information on the information surface of the same component and continuously displaying the flow of information using the motion of the component, the user can more intuitively recognize the association between the information displayed on the information surface. There is an advantage.

Second, there is an advantage that the user's emotion can be satisfied by flexibly expressing the information displayed on the information surface.

Claims (5)

A storage module for storing motion information of the component including the first information plane and the second information plane; An information mapping module for mapping information associated with information displayed on the first information surface to the second information surface according to the motion information; A motion processing module for processing a motion for displaying the second information surface; And A display for displaying a first information plane of the component according to a user's command, and continuously displaying a display change from the first information plane of the component to the second information plane according to a result processed by the motion processing module 3D graphical user interface providing apparatus comprising a module. The method of claim 1, And the information displayed on the second information surface of the component is detailed information on the information displayed on the first information surface of the component. The method of claim 1, And information displayed on the second information surface of the component is information subsequently displayed on the information displayed on the first information surface of the component. The method of claim 1, And a component management module for emphasizing the focused component when the component is focused. Mapping information associated with the information displayed on the first information plane of the component to the second information plane of the component according to motion information of one or more components including a first information plane and a second information plane; Displaying the first information plane of the component; Processing a motion to display the second information surface of the component according to a user's command; And And continuously displaying a display change from the first information plane to the second information plane of the component in accordance with a result of the processing.

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