Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
  • G06F3/048—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
  • G06F3/0484—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
  • G06F3/04847—Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
  • G06F3/048—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI]
  • G06F3/0481—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
  • G06F3/03—Arrangements for converting the position or the displacement of a member into a coded form
  • G06F3/033—Pointing devices displaced or positioned by the user, e.g. mice, trackballs, pens or joysticks; Accessories therefor
  • G06F3/0354—Pointing devices displaced or positioned by the user, e.g. mice, trackballs, pens or joysticks; Accessories therefor with detection of 2D relative movements between the device, or an operating part thereof, and a plane or surface, e.g. 2D mice, trackballs, pens or pucks
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
  • G06F3/16—Sound input; Sound output

Definitions

• the invention relates to the field of graphical user interfaces for receipt of user input data for use in controlling a system having data processing capability.
• the values xi, x 2 , B , x n are components of the total value A and the parameters ai, a 2 , B , a n are weights of the respective components.
• the equation may be a literal description of the system or it may be a conceptual description of the system, in the sense that it may describe how the user feels intuitively about the system rather than an actual mathematical relationship.
• the user In controlling a system described by such an equation, the user will want to adjust the input parameters and the total value. It is an object of the invention to provide a user-friendly interface for input and adjustment of the parameters, and optionally also of the total value.
• the object is achieved by a user interface comprising a geometrical shape.
• the geometrical shape is composed of sub-regions. Relative sizes of the sub-regions are adjustable in response to movement of a user pointer device. The relative sizes determine relative values of the input parameters.
• the geometrical shape is a circle and the sub-regions are pie-shaped slices of the circle.
• EP 564 278 shows a graphical user interface with a pie diagram on a touch sensitive screen. Input parameters are deduced from position of a user touch relative to the pie diagram. The user does not adjust the relative sizes of the pie slices or the total size of the pie.
• US 5,627,951 shows a graphical user interface with a pie diagram.
• the pie diagram displays results of user color specifying inputs.
• the inputs themselves come from knobs located beside the screen.
• Fig. 1 shows a processor based system in which a user interface in accordance with the invention could be useful.
• Fig. 2 shows a screen with a display in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention.
• Fig. 3 shows a flow chart of the operation of the user interface in accordance with the invention.
• Fig. 4 shows an audio system equipped with a user interface in accordance with the invention.
• Fig. 5 shows a dance hall system controlled by an interface in accordance with the invention.
• Fig. 6 shows an operating system controlled by an interface in accordance with the invention.
• Fig. 1 shows a processor based system on which the invention might be useful.
• the system comprises a display 101, a user pointer device 102, and an element 103 with the system functionality.
• the element 103 includes a processor 104 and typically some other element 105 which contributes to the system functionality, as will be explained further below.
• Element 105 could also be an external system controlled by parameters aj and A.
• the display is shown as a CRT in the drawing, but it could perfectly well be any other type such as a liquid crystal display or a small display located directly on element 103.
• the pointer device is shown as a mouse on a mouse pad, but it could be any other type of pointer device such as a track ball, a stylus, or a touch sensitive element within the display 101.
• the processor 104 is shown as an on-board microprocessor, but it could be any processor including a large stand alone computer.
• Fig. 2 shows a screen displaying a user interface in accordance with the invention.
• the interface includes a pie diagram 204.
• the pie diagram includes sub-regions 201, 202, and 203 representing the relative sizes of input parameters a ⁇ , a 2 , B, a n , respectively.
• the sub-regions are displayed as slices of a pie. In the drawing, there are three pie slices, but that number is purely arbitrary. There can be any number of pie slices suitable to the functionality of the system to be controlled.
• the relative sizes of the sub-regions can be changed by dragging on the sub- region boundaries with the pointer device.
• Arrow 206 shows motion of a sub-region boundary in accordance with the invention.
• the remaining sub- regions will adjust according to the linear equation that governs the particular system that is being controlled.
• the change to the remaining sub-regions may be spread uniformly over all the remaining sub-regions.
• the change may be absorbed entirely by the sub- region adjacent to the boundary moved.
• the amount of adjustment to the remaining sub-regions may be a function of the angular distance of those sub-regions from the boundary that has been moved.
• Those of ordinary skill in the art will be able to design other functions for adjusting the remaining sub-regions in response to the movement at 206.
• the total size of the pie diagram represents the total value A.
• the total size of the pie diagram can be changed by dragging on the outer boundary of the pie.
• the arrow 205 shows the direction of motion of the outer boundary of the pie diagram in response to a user input requesting change of the total value A.
• the invention is shown in terms of a pie diagram, but other geometrical shapes could be used as well and the sub-regions can have any shape that is convenient.
• Fig. 3 shows a flow chart of the operation of the user interface in accordance with the invention.
• the system retrieves values of a 1 ⁇ a 2 , B , a n , and A stored in a previous use of the system. Alternatively, the system might set these parameters to default levels.
• the graphical device which is the user interface in accordance with the invention, is displayed based on the parameters determined in box 301.
• the system outputs are calculated based on the parameters.
• the system checks for a user interaction with a graphic device. If, at 305, the boundaries have not changed then control returns to 304. If the boundaries have changed, the graphical device and the parameters ai, a 2 , B , a n , and A are adjusted at 307, according to the changed boundaries, and are stored.
• the procedure here is illustrated as an infinite loop, but one of ordinary skill in the art can easily add some exit to the loop.
• the loop can be terminated by a system interrupt or by turning the system off.
• Fig. 4 shows an audio system with a user interface in accordance with the invention.
• the audio system includes a CD player 401 with a CD slot 402 and speakers 404.
• the audio system also includes a touch sensitive liquid crystal display 403 with an interface in accordance with the invention.
• the interface is a pie diagram with pie slices representing a treble range of frequencies T, a bass range of frequencies B, and a middle range of frequencies M.
• the total size of the pie represents the total audio volume. If the user wants to increase the total audio volume, s/he must drag on the outer boundary of the pie in accordance with arrow 205. If the user wants to adjust the balance of the various frequency ranges, the boundaries between the pie slices must be moved per arrow 206.
• Fig. 4 is illustrated as a CD player, but any other type of audio system could use the user interface described herein. More pie slices could be added if finer levels of frequency control are desired.
• Figs. 5 a and 5b show a disco dancing room with a control interface in accordance with the invention.
• Fig. 5a shows a wide angle view of the room.
• the walls W and the ceiling C are covered with LED's of various colors.
• the floor is transparent with colored lights underneath.
• Fig. 5b shows a station for a DJ.
• the station includes an audio system 503, a microphone 502, and an interface 501 according to the invention on a touch sensitive screen for controlling how many lights of which color are on at any one time.
• the interface includes a pie diagram where the total size of the pie indicates the total number of lights on.
• Each of the slices of the pie indicate a respective color of light.
• the relative sizes of the slices indicate in a relative way how many lights of each color are on.
• an error message will have to be displayed if the user specifies control parameters which cannot physically be executed by the system.
• Fig. 6 shows a work station for a system operator of a large multitasking mainframe.
• the work station includes a user interface 601 in accordance with the invention for controlling CPU utilization.
• the system operator may drag on the boundaries of the user interface using the mouse 602.
• the user interface might be used to control different aspects of CPU utilization.
• One copy of the interface might be used to control current percentage of CPU allocated to different processes.
• Each slice of the pie would represent one of the processes currently running. If a large number of processes are running there will be many pie slices.
• the total size of the pie might represent total percentage of CPU utilization.
• one of the slices of the pie might represent unallocated portion.
• the system operator can then change the percentage of CPU utilization allocated to a process by dragging on the boundary of the slice representing that process in accordance with arrow 206.
• Another copy of the interface might be used to control the percentage of the day which a given user can take. Again, each user who consumes significant time could be represented by a respective slice. The system operator could then control what percentage of the day a user can get by adjusting the size of that user's slice in accordance with arrow 206.
• the screen of Fig. 2 might also be used to control a heating system with several zones, where the pie slices represent a share of heating resources allocated to a particular zone and the total size of the pie represents the total heating resources allocated.
• the heating control system has not been redrawn, because it would look just the same as the screen of figure 2.
• the actual heating control would then be part of element 105 in Fig. 1.
• the screen of Fig. 2 might also be used to control feature weighting in a database search system.
• a query of the database might include sample brightness, color, and texture indicators for matching with objects in the database.
• the interface according to the invention might then be used for weighting the importance of the indicators in the query.
• the parameter ai might represent the relative importance of the brightness indicator
• a might represent the relative importance of the color indicator
• a 3 might represent the relative importance of the texture indicator.
• the parameter "A" might represent the desired strength of the total feature match in retrieved objects. Strength might be calculated by using a distance threshold in an n- dimensional feature space, where a candidate-object distance is the & weighted sum of feature distances.
• the object(s) retrieved from the database would then be that one or ones whose features best matched the indicators in the query based on the weighting specified by the user interface. More information about feature spaces in image retrieval can be found in Abdel- Mottaleb et al., "Aspects of Multimedia Retrieval", Philips Journal of Research, Vol. 50, No. 1/2, 1996, pp. 227-251.
• the screen of Fig. 2 might also be used to control a photo retouching system in which the sub-regions represent color balance in photographic images.
• the output images might be illustrated on the screen, or output on an appropriate printer, corresponding to element 105 in Fig. 1.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Audiology, Speech & Language Pathology (AREA)
• General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• User Interface Of Digital Computer (AREA)
• Processing Or Creating Images (AREA)
• Controls And Circuits For Display Device (AREA)

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Publications (1)

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Citations (4)

• 1998
  • 1998-09-03 JP JP53467399A patent/JP2001516481A/ja active Pending
  • 1998-09-03 CN CN98804607A patent/CN1253640A/zh active Pending
  • 1998-09-03 EP EP98939790A patent/EP0961964A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 1998-09-03 KR KR1019997007879A patent/KR20000075806A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1998-09-03 WO PCT/IB1998/001373 patent/WO1999034280A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1998-12-28 TW TW087121723A patent/TW402712B/zh not_active IP Right Cessation

Patent Citations (4)

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