WO2011029055A1 - Appareils, procédés et systèmes pour constructeur de requêtes visuelles - Google Patents

Appareils, procédés et systèmes pour constructeur de requêtes visuelles Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2011029055A1
WO2011029055A1 PCT/US2010/047897 US2010047897W WO2011029055A1 WO 2011029055 A1 WO2011029055 A1 WO 2011029055A1 US 2010047897 W US2010047897 W US 2010047897W WO 2011029055 A1 WO2011029055 A1 WO 2011029055A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
search
search result
result display
display objects
vqb
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2010/047897
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Steve Mason
Ammon Haggerty
Michael Harville
Patrick Connolly
Original Assignee
Obscura Digital, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from US12/553,966 external-priority patent/US8730183B2/en
Priority claimed from US12/553,962 external-priority patent/US9274699B2/en
Priority claimed from US12/553,959 external-priority patent/US20110055703A1/en
Priority claimed from US12/553,961 external-priority patent/US20110050640A1/en
Application filed by Obscura Digital, Inc. filed Critical Obscura Digital, Inc.
Publication of WO2011029055A1 publication Critical patent/WO2011029055A1/fr

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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
    • G06F3/017—Gesture based interaction, e.g. based on a set of recognized hand gestures
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F16/00—Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
    • G06F16/90—Details of database functions independent of the retrieved data types
    • G06F16/903—Querying
    • G06F16/9032—Query formulation
    • G06F16/90324—Query formulation using system suggestions
    • G06F16/90328—Query formulation using system suggestions using search space presentation or visualization, e.g. category or range presentation and selection
    • 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]
    • G06F3/0487—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
    • G06F3/0488—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
    • G06F3/04883—Interaction techniques based on graphical user interfaces [GUI] using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
    • G06F2203/00—Indexing scheme relating to G06F3/00 - G06F3/048
    • G06F2203/041—Indexing scheme relating to G06F3/041 - G06F3/045
    • G06F2203/04104—Multi-touch detection in digitiser, i.e. details about the simultaneous detection of a plurality of touching locations, e.g. multiple fingers or pen and finger

Definitions

  • the present invention is directed generally to apparatuses, methods, and systems for search engine interfaces, and more particularly, to APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR A VISUAL QUERY BUILDER.
  • APPARATUSES METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR A VISUAL QUERY BUILDER.
  • Keywords Users manually enter keywords into public search engines such as Google or local databases such as Microsoft Access to obtain search results. Users refine their search queries by iteratively modifying the choice of keywords, either accepting automated modification suggestions from the search engine or local database, or entering additional or alternative keywords into these information retrieval sources. Search engines typically accept textual entry for retrieval of both web pages and media such as images and video.
  • VQB VISUAL QUERY BUILDER
  • the APPARATUSES, METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR A VISUAL QUERY BUILDER take user gesture inputs on displayed objects, and transform them via VQB components into search results display objects arranged by search relevance in proximity to the displayed objects.
  • the VQB obtains an object-manipulating gesture input, and correlates the object-manipulating gesture input to a display object.
  • the VQB then classifies the object-manipulating gesture input as a specified type of search request.
  • the VQB generates a search query according to the specified type of search request using metadata associated with the display object, and provides the search query to search engine(s) and/or database(s).
  • the VQB obtains, in response to providing the search query, search result display objects and associated search result display object relevance values.
  • the VQB displays the search result display objects Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 3 arranged in proximity to the display object such that search result display objects are arranged according to their associated search result display object relevance values.
  • FIGURES lA-K are of block diagrams illustrating various exemplary aspects of visual query building in some embodiments of the VQB;
  • FIGURE 2 is of a data flow diagram illustrating exemplary aspects of implementing aggregated multi-search engine processing of visually built queries in some embodiments of the VQB;
  • FIGURE 3 is of a block diagram illustrating various exemplary visual query builder components in some embodiments of the VQB;
  • FIGURES 4A-B are of logic flow diagrams illustrating exemplary aspects of visually building queries to submit for aggregated multi-search engine processing in some embodiments of the VQB, e.g., a Visual Query Builder ("VQB") component;
  • FIGURE 5 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating exemplary aspects of correlating complex multi-dimensional, multi-user input to visual display objects in some embodiments of the VQ
  • VQB VISUAL QUERY BUILDER
  • FIGURES lA-K are of block diagrams illustrating various exemplary aspects of visual query building in some embodiments of the VQB.
  • a user 105 may be utilizing a device 101 including a visual display unit and a user interface, e.g., a trackpad, (3D; stereoscopic, time-of-flight 3D, etc.) camera- recognition (e.g., motion, body, hand, limb, facial expression and/or gesture recognition), touchscreen interface etc., for the user to provide gesture input manipulating objects displayed on the visual display unit.
  • a user interface e.g., a trackpad, (3D; stereoscopic, time-of-flight 3D, etc.) camera- recognition (e.g., motion, body, hand, limb, facial expression and/or gesture recognition), touchscreen interface etc.
  • the user may be utilizing a touchscreen smartphone.
  • the user may be utilizing a large-screen multi-user touchscreen Liquid Crystal Display (“LCD”) display unit, such as described in the following patent applications: United States application serial no. 12/553,966 filed September 3, 2009, entitled “Large Scale Multi-User, Multi-Touch System”; United States application serial no. 12/553,961 filed September 3, 2009, entitled “ Calibration for a Large Scale Multi-User, Multi-Touch System”; United States application serial no. 12/553,959 riled September 3, 2009, entitled “ Spatial Apportioning of Audio in a Large Scale Multi-User, Multi -Touch System”; and United States application serial no.
  • LCD Liquid Crystal Display
  • the display unit may display various display objects including, but not limited to: web pages, text, graphical images, movies, video, and/or the like. A user may be able to manipulate Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 6
  • 2 may be able to, e.g., select, de-select, move, scale, rotate, flick, filter and join objects via
  • the user may have selected an object, e.g., 102, as being an object
  • VQB issuing a database SELECT command.
  • the VQB may perform a
  • Each object may have an associated data structure0 having keywords, metadata and data (e.g., audio, images, video, text, hyperlinks,1 multimedia, etc.) related thereto.
  • the VQB may obtain the2 search result information, and convert the information (e.g., news clippings, text, blogs,3 pictures, video, etc.) obtained via the search into display objects themselves, and may4 display these search result display objects 103 in the vicinity of the display object5 selected by the user.
  • the VQB may arrange the search related objects 1036 in a circle around the user-selected display object 102. 7 [ 0017]
  • the user may control the characteristics of the8 search related objects displayed on the visual display unit.
  • the user may like the attributes of two separate objects displayed on the0 visual display unit, e.g., display object 106 and display object 107.
  • the user may wish to1 view, e.g. 108, search related display objects similar to the display objects 106 and 107.2
  • the user may select the display objects 106 and 107, e.g., by3 applying pressure on the touchscreen on top of the display objects 106 and 107.
  • the user may then move the two objects towards each other by, e.g., providing a
  • the VQB may implement one or more proximity
  • the VQB may initiate one proximity JOIN search query for display object
  • the VQB may, to perform the1 initiated searches, obtain metadata related to the display objects 106 and 107, e.g., from2 the results of a prior search that resulted in display objects 106 and 107 being displayed3 on the visual display unit.
  • the VQB may determine proximity (separation) of the4 display objects 106 and 107 to each other upon identifying that the user is dragging the5 two display objects 106 and 107 towards each other.
  • the VQB may determine, e.g., how much of the metadata for7 display object 107 should be utilized in the search for display objects that will surround8 display object 106. Similarly, the VQB may determine how much of the metadata for9 display object 106 should be utilized in the search for display objects that will surround0 display object 107. In some implementations, such cross-over of metadata from one1 display object into the search query for another display object may increase as the two2 objects are moved closer together by the user.
  • the user may not like, e.g. 110, the attributes of
  • a display object e.g., 109, being displayed on the visual display unit.
  • the user may select the display object 109, and may apply a user filter
  • the user may flick the display object 109 out of the field of view displayed on
  • the VQB may identify that the user
  • the VQB may identify the metadata attributes and/or attribute values that were unique
  • the VQB Upon identifying the necessary metadata attributes and/or attribute values, the VQB
  • the VQB may, in the initiated modification
  • a 17 display object may include a number of search result display objects surrounding it.
  • the VQB may have generated the search result display objects based on a
  • the search result display objects generated may include a
  • the VQB may remove the keywords "purple” and "shoes” from the list of metadata keywords used to generate the search result display objects as part of the FILTER command.
  • the VQB may then generate a modified FILTER search query based only on the metadata keywords "horse,” “guitar,” and “blues", and may provide the modified (based on the FILTER command) search query to the search engine(s) and/or database(s).
  • the VQB may update the search result display objects for each of the main display objects on the screen to reflect the user's desire to filter "purple" and "shoes" out of the search results. [ o o 2 o ]
  • the VQB may obtain a large number of relevant search results in response to an initiated search.
  • the VQB may not yet have initiated searches, and may be displaying objects selected from among a variety of topics that may be of interest to the user.
  • the user may wish to browse through a number of display objects that may not be initially displayed on the visual display unit, yet may be of interest to the user.
  • the VQB may provide the user with a mechanism to refresh the view of display objects being presented on the visual display unit.
  • the VQB may arrange, e.g. in, the initial palette of display objects around a refresh display object.
  • the initial palette of display objects may be floating around the refresh display object.
  • the user may activate the refresh button/object, e.g., by pressing/selecting 113 the refresh display object.
  • the VQB may obtain additional display objects relevant to the display objects palette that the user applied the refresh gesture input, and may replace/cycle, e.g.
  • the display objects initially surrounding the refresh display object with new display objects that may be relevant to the user may be relevant to the user.
  • a display object may already have related search result display objects surrounding it displayed on the display unit.
  • the VQB may refresh the search results associated with the display object (e.g., a database REFRESH command).
  • the VQB may cycle through other related search result display objects not previously displayed in proximity to the display object (e.g., analogous to receiving a second web page of search results in a text-based search engine interface).
  • a user may be interested in a display object that appeared upon the user providing a refresh gesture input, or one that appeared as a search result display object for a search performed by the VQB.
  • the user may select 114 such a display object, e.g., 115.
  • the VQB may, in response to the user selection of the display object 115, initiate a search based on the attributes of the display object 115.
  • the VQB may arrange the display object 115 at the center of the search result display objects, and may arrange the search result display objects around the selected display object 115.
  • the VQB may move the selected display object 115 to replace the refresh display object (or prior display object for which the VQB performed the search) at the center of the arrangement.
  • the VQB may then arrange search result display objects, e.g. ii7a-c, around the selected display object 115.
  • the VQB may perform a search related to a display object, e.g. 118, using metadata, e.g. 119, associated with the display object.
  • the VQB may obtain metadata related to the display object based on the results of a previous search initiated by the VQB.
  • the user may specify metadata attributes for a display object that the user would like to see displayed on the visual display unit.
  • the VQB may provide the user with a virtual keyboard into which the user may type in metadata attributes and/or other keywords based on which the VQB may initiate a search for display objects.
  • the metadata may include a variety of attributes (or fields) having attribute values.
  • the metadata may include fields such as, but not limited to: class, type, designed, genre, agency, model, year, rating, stores, pricing, accessories_list, and/or the like.
  • the VQB may obtain display object metadata as a data structure encoded according to the eXtensbile Markup Language ("XML").
  • XML eXtensbile Markup Language
  • search_parent_obj ect f74nc72n ⁇ / search_parent_obj ect>
  • the VQB may initiate a search for display objects based on metadata obtained about a display object being selected by the user.
  • the VQB may generate one or more search queries based on the obtained metadata, and provide the generated queries to one or more search engines.
  • the VQB may provide queries to a variety of search result sources, including, but not limited to: local and/or remote database(s) using Structured Query Language (“SQL”) commands, provide application programming interface (“API”) calls to local and/or external search engines and/or the like, as discussed further below with reference to FIGURE 2.
  • the VQB may obtain search results from the various search sources that it queried, and may aggregate the responses from the sources.
  • the VQB may determine the relevance of each search result to the queries, and may, in some implementations, generate a search ranking of the returned search results from the various sources.
  • the VQB may utilize the search rankings and/or relevance to determine the selection and/or arrangement of search result display objects in proximity to the display object for which the VQB initiated the search.
  • the VQB may Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 1 3 arrange the centroids of the search result display objects along the circumference of one or more circles centered on the centroids of display object for which the search was initiated.
  • the display objects may be circling, e.g., in an orbital path around the display object, along the circumference of one or more concentric circles around the display object.
  • selecting objects may stop the orbiting trajectories allowing for easier user interaction.
  • a user may have selected display object 120.
  • the VQB may initiate a search for search result display objects using the metadata related to display object 120.
  • the VQB may obtain search results, and generate search result objects i2ia-f based on the received search results.
  • the VQB may also obtain metadata for the search result objects i2ia-f.
  • the VQB may determine the relative relevance and/or search rankings of the search result objects i2ia-f to the display object 120 based on a comparison of the metadata of the objects and/or any relevance and/or ranking data provided by the search engine(s) which provided the search results. The VQB may then arrange the search result objects i2ia-f according to the search relevance and/or rankings. For example, the VQB may determine that search result object i2ia-c are more relevant to the display object 120 then search result objects I2id-f.
  • the VQB may, in some implementations, arrange the search result objects as illustrated in FIGURE lF, wherein the more relevant and/or higher ranked search result objects i2ia-c are arranged closer to selected display object 120 than the less relevant and/or lesser ranked search result objects i2id-f.
  • the VQB may generally arrange the search result display objects such that the distance between the centroids of the search result objects and the selected Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 14 display object increases as the relevance and/or ranking of search results objects with respect to the selected display object decreases.
  • the VQB may implement proximity JOIN search queries for two or more display objects upon detecting that the user wishes to initiate proximity JOIN queries for the display objects.
  • the VQB may be displaying two main display objects, e.g., 124 and 125, along with search result objects i26a-f and i27a-f related to display objects 124 and 125 respectively. Initially, the distance separation between the centroids/outer boundaries of the display objects 124 and 125 may be larger than a threshold value to initiate proximity JOIN search queries related to the display objects 124 and 125.
  • the user may not yet have selected the display objects 124 and 125 in such a manner as to convey to the VQB that the user wishes to perform a proximity JOIN search query.
  • the VQB may utilize only the metadata I24a-j of display object 124 to generate a query for the search result display objects I26a-f surrounding display object 124.
  • the VQB may utilize only the metadata I25a-j of display object 125 to generate a query for the search result display objects I27a-f surrounding display object 125. Accordingly, at an initial time, the VQB may not have implemented cross-over influence of metadata from one display object to another display object's search results.
  • the user may select the objects 124 and 125, and, e.g., may drag them towards each other, as depicted in FIGURE lH.
  • the VQB may continuously monitor the separation between the display objects 124 and 125. Upon detecting that the monitored separation is less than a threshold value, the VQB may determine that the user wishes for the VQB to perform proximity JOIN search queries related to the display objects 124 and 125. Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 1 5 Based on the separation between the display objects 124 and 125, the VQB may determine an amount of metadata cross-over to incorporate into the proximity JOIN search queries.
  • the user may moved the display objects 124 and 125 closer to each other.
  • the VQB may determine, based on the (reduced) separation between the display objects 124 and 125, that three metadata fields (i24a-c, i25a-c respectively) from each display object may be utilized to generate search queries for search result display objects that may surround the other display object.
  • the VQB may choose the metadata fields that are to be crossed over in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to: (i) randomly; (ii) the fields that are most in common between the two display objects; (iii) the fields that are least in common between the two display objects; (iv) highest priority values associated with the fields of the metadata of the display objects; (v) lowest priority values associated with the fields of the metadata of the display objects; (vi)prior user interactions with the display objects 124 and 125; (vii) combinations of (i)-(vi) thereof; etc.
  • the VQB may generate the proximity JOIN search queries using the appropriate metadata fields, and provide the generated proximity JOIN queries for the search engines.
  • the search engines may provide the search results based on the proximity JOIN queries, using which the VQB may generate appropriate search result display objects, e.g., i28a-f and i29a-f.
  • the VQB may arrange the search results display objects around the display objects 124 and 125 according to the search relevance and/or rankings of the search result display objects with respect to both display objects 124 and 125. For example, two search results objects 128b and i28f may be considered equally relevant to display Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 16
  • search result object 128b may be considered more relevant to
  • the VQB may arrange
  • search result object 128b closer to display object 125 than search result object 1281 " ,
  • the VQB may arrange a search result object of display object 125
  • the VQB may arrange the search result
  • the VQB may display a plurality of display
  • the user may move the display objects 124 and
  • VQB VQB
  • 19 may determine that the display objects 124 and 125 are sufficiently close (e.g., by
  • search result objects For example, display objects 124 and 125 share search result
  • the VQB may determine, based on the proximity of the display objects
  • the VQB may determine that half of the metadata (e.g., i24a-e, i25a-e) of each display object is to be utilized in query generation for search result objects for the other display object.
  • the VQB may generate proximity JOIN queries for the two display objects 124 and 125 using significant metadata cross-over for each of the display objects.
  • the VQB may provide the search queries for the search engines, and obtain the search result objects, e.g., i3oa-d, i3ia-d and i32a-c. Of these, the VQB may consider the search result objects i32a-c to be equally relevant to both display objects 124 and 125. Accordingly, the VQB may arrange the search result objects I32a-c such that they are equidistant (or nearly equidistant) between the display objects 124 and 125.
  • the VQB may arrange the other search result objects, i3oa-d and i3ia-d (that are distinguished as being more relevant to display objects 124 and 125 respectively), according to the procedure as discussed previously with reference to FIGURES lF-H.
  • the user may select display objects 124 and 125 and move them further closer to each other.
  • the VQB may determine that the user wishes to perform a complete JOIN operation on the two display objects. For example, the VQB may determine that a complete JOIN operation is requested when the boundaries of the two display object 124 and 125 are within a specified threshold, or once they touch each other, overlap, etc.
  • the VQB may generate a composite display object comprising the two display objects 124 and 125, e.g., as illustrated in FIGURE lJ.
  • the VQB may then consider the combined metadata of the two display objects 124 and 125, to be the metadata for the composite display object.
  • the VQB may accordingly generate a single unified JOIN query for the composite object Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 18
  • the VQB may generate a single relevancy and/or ranking that assesses the
  • the VQB may
  • the VQB may
  • the user may pull the
  • VQB may decompose the composite object such that the display objects have their own
  • a user may retrace his or her previous search query states by selecting any of the
  • FIGURE lJ 17 miniature bread crumbs and restore that search state to visual prominence, as for is example, depicted in FIGURE lJ back to FIGURES 1I1G.
  • the user may, for example, apply a user filter
  • gesture input e.g., such as flicking an object away
  • the VQB may identify that the user wishes Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 19
  • the VQB may identify metadata attributes of the composite display object to
  • the VQB may generate new search queries excluding these
  • search result object 133d is most relevant to metadata attributes
  • the VQB may generate new search queries excluding these metadata
  • the VQB may modify the search result display objects
  • FIGURE 2 is of a data flow diagram illustrating exemplary aspects of
  • a user 201 15 built queries in some embodiments of the VQB.
  • a user 201 15 built queries in some embodiments of the VQB.
  • a visual display unit of a client may wish to interact with the objects displayed on a visual display unit of a client, e.g.,
  • the user may provide input, e.g., user touch input 211 into the client
  • the user input may include, but not be
  • the client may identify the user Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 20
  • the client may identify a user
  • the client may, in response, generate one or more search queries, e.g.,
  • the client may then provide the search queries for processing, e.g., SELECT search
  • search engine(s) e.g., 204, and/or
  • the client server may provide a (Secure) HyperText
  • HTTP(S) Transport Protocol
  • the HTTP(S) POST message may include in
  • the client may provide search queries to a plurality of search engines.
  • the search engines may perform a search within the7 database(s) to which the search engines are connected.
  • Some of the search engines may8 access local storage, database(s) and/or local network resources (e.g., internal financial Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 21 transaction databases, document databases, etc.), while other search engine(s) may perform searches over other domains, e.g., the Internet, external market databases, etc.
  • the search engine may access an search index database, and identify candidate media (documents, images, video etc.) in a search engine database based on the search of the index database, determine rankings for the results, and provide the results, e.g., via HTTP(S) POST messages similar to the example above to the client.
  • the client may aggregate the results from all the search engines and generate rankings for the top results from the aggregated pool of results.
  • the client may select a subset of the search results for which to generate display objects for display on the visual display connected to the client.
  • the client may from generate display objects corresponding to the search results using the data provided by the search engines.
  • the client may generate a data structure representative of a scalable vector illustration, e.g., a Scalable Vector Graphics ("SVG") data file.
  • the data structure may include, for example, data representing a vector illustration.
  • the data structure may describe a scalable vector illustration having one or more objects in the illustration.
  • Each object may be comprised of one or more paths prescribing, e.g., the boundaries of the object.
  • each path may be comprised of one or more line segments.
  • a number of very small line segments may be combined end-to-end to describe a curved path.
  • a plurality of such paths may be combined in order to form a closed or open object.
  • Each of the line segments in the vector illustration may have start and/or end anchor points with discrete position coordinates for each point.
  • each of the anchor points may comprise one or more control handles.
  • the control handles may describe the slope of a line Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 22 segment terminating at the anchor point.
  • objects in a vector illustration represented by the data structure may have stroke and/or fill properties specifying patterns to be used for outlining and/or filling the object. Further information stored in the data structure may include, but not be limited to: motion paths for objects, paths ,line segments, anchor points, etc.
  • the data structure including data on the scalabale vector illustration may be encoded according to the open XML-based Scalable Vector Graphics "SVG" standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (“W3C").
  • SVG Scalable Vector Graphics
  • the client may render, e.g. 215, the visualization represented in the data structure for display to the user.
  • the client may be executing an Adobe® Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 23 Flash object within a browser environment including ActionScriptTM 3.0 commands to render the visualization represented in the data structure, and display the rendered visualization for the user.
  • ActionScriptTM 3.0 Exemplary commands, written substantially in a form adapted to ActionScriptTM 3.0, for rendering a visualization of a scene within an Adobe® Flash object with appropriate dimensions and specified image quality are provided below: // import necessary modules/functions
  • BitmapData new BitmapData ( sketch_mc . width, sketch_mc . height) ; // capture snapsot of movie clip in bitmap
  • JPGEncoder new JPGEncoder ( 85 ) ;
  • the client may continuously generate new scalable vector illustrations, render them in real time, and provide the rendered output Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 24
  • the VQB may contain a library of pre-rendered images and visual objects indexed to be
  • FIGURE 3 is of a block diagram illustrating various exemplary visual
  • the VQB may include a plurality of components to transform the
  • search engine results into a visual display objects for the user to manipulate.
  • the VQB may include a user input component 301 to accept raw user input
  • An input-display 12 e.g., touch-based input on a touch-sensitive trackpad, screen etc.
  • An input-display e.g., touch-based input on a touch-sensitive trackpad, screen etc.
  • object correlator 302 may obtain the user input, map the input to a pixel subarea within
  • the display identify a visual display object associated with the pixel subarea, and assign
  • a user gesture classifier 15 the user input to the object associated with the pixel subarea.
  • 16 303 may obtain all user inputs assigned to a visual display object, and classify the user
  • 19 classifier may identify the type of gesture that the user is performing on the visual
  • the object property calculator 304 may calculate the geometrical
  • VQB must apply to the visual display object based on the user gesture classified by the
  • a display rendering engine 305 may obtains the geometrical Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 25 transformations calculated by the object property calculator, and generate a data structure representative of the new object geometrical properties. The display rendering engine may then render a new visual rendered output for display to the user. The visual display unit 306 may project the rendered output for visualization by the user.
  • a search trigger generator 307 may continuously monitor the user gestures classified by the user gesture classifier, and the object geometrical properties (e.g., position, acceleration, velocity, etc.) to determine whether the user wishes for a search to be performed.
  • the search trigger generator alerts a search query generator 307 to generate the required search queries and provide the information required for the search query generator to generate the required search queries.
  • the search query generator 307 generates the search queries using the object metadata and object geometrical properties obtained from the search trigger generator, and provide the generated search queries to one or more search engine(s), which may reside on the client and/or server side of the VQB.
  • the search engine(s) may return search results for the client-side processing.
  • a search results aggregator 309 may obtained the returned search results, aggregate them into a pool of search results, and determine relevancy information and ranking information for each search result in the pool of search results.
  • the search results aggregator may also record a log of the searches submitted to the search engines, and may maintain a retraceable record of the searches and search results produced.
  • the search results aggregator may provide the display object 304 generator with the current and/or prior search results for generating renderable display objects.
  • the display object generator 304 may generate new display object (e.g., Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 26 generating an XML-encoded SVG data structure) using the search results provided by the search results aggregator.
  • the display object generator 304 may provide the generated display objects for the object property calculator 304, thereby introducing new visual display objects into the rendered output provided to the user via the visual display 306.
  • FIGURES 4A-B are of logic flow diagrams illustrating exemplary aspects of visually building queries to submit for aggregated multi-search engine processing in some embodiments of the VQB, e.g., a Visual Query Builder ("VQB") component 400.
  • visual display objects may be displayed 401 in the display system.
  • the visual display system may be displaying news feed, top stories from news aggregators, popular websites, images, videos and/or the like, results of the most popular searches, etc.
  • a user may provide an input 402 into the VQB.
  • the user may provide a SELECT, JOIN, FILTER, drag, flick, rotate, scale and/or other gesture to the VQB.
  • the gesture may include a single finger press, single finger swiping motion, multi-touch slide, swipe, drag, finger-spread, typing into a displayed virtual keyboard, and/or the like.
  • the VQB may determine whether the input is text input, e.g., into a manual/ virtual keyboard. If the input is a text entry (e.g., 404, Option Yes), the VQB may directly generate search queries and provide them to the search engines. If the user input is determined to be a non-textual entry (e.g., 404, Option No), the VQB may determine the number of input signals 405. For example, the VQB may determine the number of fingers on a touch-sensitive surface based on the output of the digitizer operatively connected to the touch-sensitive surface (e.g., LCD digitizer on Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 27
  • the VQB may assign 406 the user inputs to a displayed object. For example,
  • the VQB may utilize the pixels positions provided by the digitizer to correlate
  • the VQB may determine if a user gesture (if any) was
  • the VQB may then calculate the VQB
  • geometrical transformation 408 e.g., rotation, scaling, x-position, y-position, x-velocity
  • the VQB may determine whether any one of the displayed objects. 11 the geometrical positions of the displayed objects, the VQB may determine whether any one of the displayed objects. 11 the geometrical positions of the displayed objects, the VQB may determine whether any
  • the VQB may obtain the object metadata and/or any user textual entries,
  • the VQB may provide 412 the generated search queries to search engine(s),
  • API application programming interface
  • the VQB may aggregate 414 the search results, and generate Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 28 overall search ranks.
  • the VQB may determine 415 the top N (N being an integer) ranked search results for each of the search queries that were sent to the search engines.
  • the VQB may aggregate the search results, and apply a ranking procedure to determine the most relevant search results for the user.
  • the VQB may, in some implementations, utilize a learning algorithm (e.g., artificial neural network) to mine the search history of the user to learn the most popular searches performed by user(s) and the display objects that receive the greatest number of hits from the user(s).
  • a learning algorithm e.g., artificial neural network
  • the VQB may utilize a combination of the search relevance indicators from the search engines and the VQB's ranking procedure to determine the top N search results.
  • the VQB may convert 416 the determined top N search results into display objects (e.g., by obtaining snapshots of text, images, video, etc.
  • the VQB may then generate 418 the scalable vector graphics (e.g., XML-encoded SVG data structure), render 419 the scalable vector graphics into a visual output (e.g., bitmap frame), and provide the rendered output to the visual display unit of the VQB for display 420 to the user.
  • the VQB may also generate display objects 416 by selecting from a library of indexed, pre- rendered images and visual objects to associate with search results 413.
  • the VQB may further generate display objects by extracting hyperlinks from the obtained search Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 29 results, and downloading/streaming the content associated with the hyperlinks.
  • FIGURE 5 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating exemplary aspects of correlating complex multi-dimensional, multi-user input to visual display objects in some embodiments of the VQB, e.g., an Input-Display Object Correlation ("IDOC") component 500.
  • IDOC Input-Display Object Correlation
  • the VQB may assign each user-provided physical input (e.g., finger swipe) to an object displayed on the visual display unit.
  • the VQB may obtain 501 a user input signal and determine (e.g., by obtaining x and y pixel information from a digitizer of an LCD touchscreen of a smartphone) a display pixel subarea that confines the user input signal origin.
  • the VQB may identify an object that encompasses the display pixel subarea, e.g., by correlating the x and y pixels position of the user input to the object positions (e.g., from an XML-encoded SVG data structure) render on the visual display.
  • the VQB may add a field to a display object data structure indicating the assignment of the user input to the display object.
  • FIGURE 6 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating exemplary aspects of classifying into gestures the multi-dimensional, multi-user inputs correlated to visual display objects in some embodiments of the VQB, e.g., a User Gesture Classification ("UGC") component 600.
  • the VQB may analyze the user inputs assigned to each object displayed on the visual display unit to determine if any user gesture was provided to the displayed object, and the nature of the gesture Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 30 provided by the user to the displayed object.
  • the VQB may select 601 a display object and identify 602 the number of user input signals (e.g., representative of the number of fingers) assigned to the selected display object.
  • the VQB may obtain an input classification rule 603 from a memory resource (e.g., instructions stored in client-side read-only-memory) based on the number of user input signals (e.g., number of fingers).
  • the VQB may analyze 604 the input signals (e.g., are the fingers diverging/converging? What is the rate of motion of the fingers?, etc.), and determine 605 the user gesture based on applying the classification rule to the user input signals assigned to the select display object.
  • the VQB may repeat the above procedure until all display objects have either been processed according to the above procedure.
  • FIGURE 7 is of a logic flow diagram illustrating exemplary aspects of triggering generation and submission of user input gesture derived queries in some embodiments of the VQB, e.g., a Search Trigger Generation ("STG") component 700.
  • the VQB may generate queries based on the user gesture inputs provided by the user. If there are no user gestures provided by the user, the VQB may exit the STG component procedure (e.g., 701, Option No). If there is at least one user input gesture, the VQB may continue the procedure.
  • the VQB may select 702 a display object having at least one user gesture assigned to it, and analyze the gesture assigned to the display object.
  • the VQB may generate a search query based on the metadata of the object and store the query in a database. If the VQB determines that a MOVE gesture (e.g., user dragging/pushing object on screen) is present (e.g., 705, Option Yes), the VQB may compare the position of the selected display objects against all other display objects that have also been assigned MOVE Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 31
  • the VQB may iteratively perform the below procedure in such a case.
  • the VQB may select 706 another display object also assigned a MOVE
  • the VQB may calculate 707 the distance between the two objects (e.g., distance
  • VQB may obtain the x and y pixel values of the centroid of the two display objects.
  • the VQB may calculate the initial distance between the centroids of
  • the VQB may calculate the new distance as ((801-55) 2 + (400-
  • the VQB may compare the raw
  • threshold 15 proximity difference against a set of threshold values (e.g., threshold to begin metadata
  • thresholds for 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, etc. metadata crossover threshold for 20%
  • the VQB may determine an amount of metadata
  • the VQB may calculate a raw proximity difference (e.g., of 1207 - 746 or 461 pixels for the example above), and calculate a percentage change (e.g., as (i207-746)*ioo/i207 or 38% for the example above). The VQB may utilize these proximity difference and/or percentage change values to determine the amount of metadata crossover.
  • a raw proximity difference e.g., of 1207 - 746 or 461 pixels for the example above
  • a percentage change e.g., as (i207-746)*ioo/i207 or 38% for the example above.
  • the VQB may utilize these proximity difference and/or percentage change values to determine the amount of metadata crossover.
  • the VQB may also determine whether the distance is greater than a filter threshold value, in which case the VQB may determine the object being filtered out based on the object positions within the display (e.g., filtered object may be outside the pixel value boundaries for display).
  • the VQB may also determine the type of metadata to filter out from the search queries, and may store the filtering data in a database.
  • the VQB may generate search queries 710 based on the determination of the crossover/filtering amount.
  • the VQB may repeat the above procedure iteratively (e.g., 711, Option Yes) until all other display objects assigned with a MOVE user gesture are compared against the selected display object to determine whether an proximity JOIN/FILTER search queries need to be generated.
  • the VQB may repeat a similar procedure for SELECT, MOVE, and FILTER gestures for all display objects (e.g., 712, Option Yes), thereby generating all required SELECT, proximity JOIN and FILTERed search queries.
  • FIGURE 8 illustrates inventive aspects of a VQB controller 801 in a block diagram.
  • the VQB controller 801 may serve to aggregate, process, store, search, serve, identify, instruct, generate, match, and/or facilitate interactions Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 33 with a computer through enterprise and human resource management technologies, and/or other related data.
  • users which may be people and/or other systems, may engage information technology systems (e.g., computers) to facilitate information processing.
  • computers employ processors to process information; such processors 803 may be referred to as central processing units (CPU).
  • CPU central processing units
  • processors 803 may be referred to as central processing units (CPU).
  • processors 803 may be referred to as central processing units (CPU).
  • CPU central processing units
  • CPUs use communicative circuits to pass binary encoded signals acting as instructions to enable various operations. These instructions may be operational and/or data instructions containing and/or referencing other instructions and data in various processor accessible and operable areas of memory 829 (e.g., registers, cache memory, random access memory, etc.). Such communicative instructions may be stored and/or transmitted in batches (e.g., batches of instructions) as programs and/or data components to facilitate desired operations. These stored instruction codes, e.g., programs, may engage the CPU circuit components and other motherboard and/or system components to perform desired operations.
  • One type of program is a computer operating system, which, may be executed by CPU on a computer; the operating system enables and facilitates users to access and operate computer information technology and resources.
  • Some resources that may be employed in information technology systems include: input and output mechanisms through which data may pass into and out of a computer; memory storage into which data may be saved; and processors by which information may be processed. These information technology systems may be used to collect data for later retrieval, analysis, and manipulation, which may be facilitated through a database program. These information Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 34
  • the VQB controller 801 may be connected to and/or
  • VQB controller 801 may
  • Networks are commonly thought to comprise the interconnection and5 interoperation of clients, servers, and intermediary nodes in a graph topology.
  • server refers generally to a7 computer, other device, program, or combination thereof that processes and responds to8 the requests of remote users across a communications network. Servers serve their9 information to requesting "clients.”
  • client refers generally to a0 computer, program, other device, user and/or combination thereof that is capable of1 processing and making requests and obtaining and processing any responses from2 servers across a communications network.
  • a computer, other device, program, or3 combination thereof that facilitates, processes information and requests, and/or Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 35 furthers the passage of information from a source user to a destination user is commonly referred to as a "node.”
  • Networks are generally thought to facilitate the transfer of information from source points to destinations.
  • a node specifically tasked with furthering the passage of information from a source to a destination is commonly called a "router.”
  • There are many forms of networks such as Local Area Networks (LANs), Pico networks, Wide Area Networks (WANs), Wireless Networks (WLANs), etc.
  • the Internet is generally accepted as being an interconnection of a multitude of networks whereby remote clients and servers may access and interoperate with one another.
  • the VQB controller 801 may be based on computer systems that may comprise, but are not limited to, components such as: a computer systemization 802 connected to memory 829. Com puter Systemization
  • a computer systemization 802 may comprise a clock 830, central processing unit (“CPU(s)” and/or “processor(s)” (these terms are used interchangeable throughout the disclosure unless noted to the contrary)) 803, a memory 829 (e.g., a read only memory (ROM) 806, a random access memory (RAM) 805, etc.), and/or an interface bus 807, and most frequently, although not necessarily, are all interconnected and/or communicating through a system bus 804 on one or more (mother)board(s) 802 having conductive and/or otherwise transportive circuit pathways through which instructions (e.g., binary encoded signals) may travel to effect communications, operations, storage, etc.
  • the computer systemization may be connected to an internal power source 886.
  • a cryptographic processor 826 may be connected Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 36 to the system bus.
  • the system clock typically has a crystal oscillator and generates a base signal through the computer systemization's circuit pathways.
  • the clock is typically coupled to the system bus and various clock multipliers that will increase or decrease the base operating frequency for other components interconnected in the computer systemization.
  • the clock and various components in a computer systemization drive signals embodying information throughout the system. Such transmission and reception of instructions embodying information throughout a computer systemization may be commonly referred to as communications.
  • the CPU comprises at least one high-speed data processor adequate to execute program components for executing user and/or system-generated requests.
  • processors themselves will incorporate various specialized processing units, such as, but not limited to: integrated system (bus) controllers, memory management control units, floating point units, and even specialized processing sub-units like graphics processing units, digital signal processing units, and/or the like.
  • processors may include internal fast access addressable memory, and be capable of mapping and addressing memory 829 beyond the processor itself; internal memory may include, but is not limited to: fast registers, various levels of cache memory (e.g., level 1, Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 37 2, 3, etc.), RAM, etc.
  • the processor may access this memory through the use of a memory address space that is accessible via instruction address, which the processor can construct and decode allowing it to access a circuit path to a specific memory address space having a memory state.
  • the CPU may be a microprocessor such as: AMD's Athlon, Duron and/or Opteron; ARM's application, embedded and secure processors; IBM and/or Motorola's DragonBall and PowerPC; IBM's and Sony's Cell processor; Intel's Celeron, Core (2) Duo, Itanium, Pentium, Xeon, and/or XScale; and/or the like processor(s).
  • the CPU interacts with memory through instruction passing through conductive and/or transportive conduits (e.g., (printed) electronic and/or optic circuits) to execute stored instructions (i.e., program code) according to conventional data processing techniques. Such instruction passing facilitates communication within the VQB controller and beyond through various interfaces.
  • VQB Distributed VQB
  • mainframe multi-core
  • parallel and/or super-computer architectures
  • PDAs Personal Digital Assistants
  • features of the VQB may be achieved by implementing a microcontroller such as CAST'S R8051XC2 microcontroller; Intel's MCS 51 (i.e., 8051 microcontroller); and/or the like.
  • VQB Voice Call Identity
  • embedded components such as: Application-Specific Integrated Circuit ("ASIC"), Digital Signal Processing (“DSP”), Field Programmable Gate Array (“FPGA”), and/or the like embedded Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 38 technology.
  • ASIC Application-Specific Integrated Circuit
  • DSP Digital Signal Processing
  • FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array
  • any of the VQB component collection (distributed or otherwise) and/or features may be implemented via the microprocessor and/or via embedded components; e.g., via ASIC, coprocessor, DSP, FPGA, and/or the like.
  • some implementations of the VQB may be implemented with embedded components that are configured and used to achieve a variety of features or signal processing.
  • the embedded components may include software solutions, hardware solutions, and/or some combination of both hardware/ software solutions.
  • VQB features discussed herein may be achieved through implementing FPGAs, which are a semiconductor devices containing programmable logic components called “logic blocks", and programmable interconnects, such as the high performance FPGA Virtex series and/or the low cost Spartan series manufactured by Xilinx.
  • Logic blocks and interconnects can be programmed by the customer or designer, after the FPGA is manufactured, to implement any of the VQB features.
  • a hierarchy of programmable interconnects allow logic blocks to be interconnected as needed by the VQB system designer/administrator, somewhat like a one-chip programmable breadboard.
  • An FPGAs logic blocks can be programmed to perform the function of basic logic gates such as AND, and XOR, or more complex combinational functions such as decoders or simple mathematical functions. In most FPGAs, the logic blocks also include memory elements, which may be simple flip-flops or more complete blocks of memory.
  • the VQB may be developed on regular FPGAs and then migrated into a fixed version that more resembles ASIC implementations. Alternate or coordinating implementations may Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 39 migrate VQB controller features to a final ASIC instead of or in addition to FPGAs. Depending on the implementation all of the aforementioned embedded components and microprocessors may be considered the "CPU" and/or "processor" for the VQB. Power Source
  • the power source 886 may be of any standard form for powering small electronic circuit board devices such as the following power cells: alkaline, lithium hydride, lithium ion, lithium polymer, nickel cadmium, solar cells, and/or the like. Other types of AC or DC power sources may be used as well. In the case of solar cells, in one embodiment, the case provides an aperture through which the solar cell may capture photonic energy.
  • the power cell 886 is connected to at least one of the interconnected subsequent components of the VQB thereby providing an electric current to all subsequent components.
  • the power source 886 is connected to the system bus component 804.
  • an outside power source 886 is provided through a connection across the I/O 808 interface. For example, a USB and/or IEEE 1394 connection carries both data and power across the connection and is therefore a suitable source of power. Interface Adapters
  • Interface bus(ses) 807 may accept, connect, and/or communicate to a number of interface adapters, conventionally although not necessarily in the form of adapter cards, such as but not limited to: input output interfaces (I/O) 808, storage interfaces 809, network interfaces 810, and/or the like.
  • cryptographic processor interfaces 827 similarly may be connected to the interface bus.
  • the interface bus provides for the communications of interface adapters with one another as well as Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 40 with other components of the computer systemization.
  • Interface adapters are adapted for a compatible interface bus. Interface adapters conventionally connect to the interface bus via a slot architecture.
  • Storage interfaces 809 may accept, communicate, and/or connect to a number of storage devices such as, but not limited to: storage devices 814, removable disc devices, and/or the like.
  • Storage interfaces may employ connection protocols such as, but not limited to: (Ultra) (Serial) Advanced Technology Attachment (Packet Interface) ((Ultra) (Serial) ATA(PI)), (Enhanced) Integrated Drive Electronics ((E)IDE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394, fiber channel, Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), Universal Serial Bus (USB), and/or the like.
  • Network interfaces 810 may accept, communicate, and/or connect to a communications network 813. Through a communications network 813, the VQB controller is accessible through remote clients 833b (e.g., computers with web browsers) by users 833a.
  • Network interfaces may employ connection protocols such as, but not limited to: direct connect, Ethernet (thick, thin, twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T, and/or the like), Token Ring, wireless connection such as IEEE 8o2.na-x, and/or the like.
  • connection protocols such as, but not limited to: direct connect, Ethernet (thick, thin, twisted pair 10/100/1000 Base T, and/or the like), Token Ring, wireless connection such as IEEE 8o2.na-x, and/or the like.
  • distributed network controllers e.g., Distributed VQB
  • architectures may similarly be employed to pool, load balance, and/or otherwise increase the communicative Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 41 bandwidth required by the VQB controller.
  • a communications network may be any one and/or the combination of the following: a direct interconnection; the Internet; a Local Area Network (LAN); a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN); an Operating Missions as Nodes on the Internet (OMNI); a secured custom connection; a Wide Area Network (WAN); a wireless network (e.g., employing protocols such as, but not limited to a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), I-mode, and/or the like); and/or the like.
  • a network interface may be regarded as a specialized form of an input output interface.
  • multiple network interfaces 810 may be used to engage with various communications network types 813. For example, multiple network interfaces may be employed to allow for the communication over broadcast, multicast, and/or unicast networks.
  • I/O 808 may accept, communicate, and/or connect to user input devices 811, peripheral devices 812, cryptographic processor devices 828, and/or the like.
  • I/O may employ connection protocols such as, but not limited to: audio: analog, digital, monaural, RCA, stereo, and/or the like; data: Apple Desktop Bus (ADB), IEEE I394a-b, serial, universal serial bus (USB); infrared; joystick; keyboard; midi; optical; PC AT; PS/2; parallel; radio; video interface: Apple Desktop Connector (ADC), BNC, coaxial, component, composite, digital, Digital Visual Interface (DVI), high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), RCA, RF antennae, S-Video, VGA, and/or the like; wireless: 802.na/b/g/n/x, Bluetooth, code division multiple access (CDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), WiMax, etc.; and/or the like.
  • ADC Apple Desktop Connector
  • DVI Digital Visual Interface
  • HDMI
  • One typical output device may include a video display, which typically comprises a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) or Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) based monitor with an Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 42 interface (e.g., DVI circuitry and cable) that accepts signals from a video interface, may be used.
  • the video interface composites information generated by a computer systemization and generates video signals based on the composited information in a video memory frame.
  • Another output device is a television set, which accepts signals from a video interface.
  • the video interface provides the composited video information through a video connection interface that accepts a video display interface (e.g., an RCA composite video connector accepting an RCA composite video cable; a DVI connector accepting a DVI display cable, etc.).
  • a video display interface e.g., an RCA composite video connector accepting an RCA composite video cable; a DVI connector accepting a DVI display cable, etc.
  • User input devices 811 may be card readers, dongles, finger print readers, gloves, graphics tablets, joysticks, keyboards, mouse (mice), remote controls, retina readers, trackballs, trackpads, and/or the like.
  • Peripheral devices 812 may be connected and/or communicate to I/O and/or other facilities of the like such as network interfaces, storage interfaces, and/or the like.
  • Peripheral devices may be audio devices, cameras, dongles (e.g., for copy protection, ensuring secure transactions with a digital signature, and/or the like), external processors (for added functionality), goggles, microphones, monitors, network interfaces, printers, scanners, storage devices, video devices, video sources, visors, and/or the like.
  • the VQB controller may be embodied as an embedded, dedicated, and/or monitor-less (i.e., headless) device, wherein access would be provided over a network interface connection.
  • Cryptographic units such as, but not limited to, microcontrollers, processors 826, interfaces 827, and/or devices 828 may be attached, and/or communicate with the VQB controller.
  • a MC68HC16 microcontroller manufactured by Motorola Inc., may be used for and/or within cryptographic units.
  • the MC68HC16 microcontroller utilizes a 16-bit multiply-and-accumulate instruction in the 16 MHz configuration and requires less than one second to perform a 512-bit RSA private key operation.
  • Cryptographic units support the authentication of communications from interacting agents, as well as allowing for anonymous transactions.
  • Cryptographic units may also be configured as part of CPU. Equivalent microcontrollers and/or processors may also be used.
  • Typical commercially available specialized cryptographic processors include: the Broadcom's CryptoNetX and other Security Processors; nCipher's nShield, SafeNet's Luna PCI (e.g., 7100) series; Semaphore Communications' 40 MHz Roadrunner 184; Sun's Cryptographic Accelerators (e.g., Accelerator 6000 PCIe Board, Accelerator 500 Daughtercard); Via Nano Processor (e.g., L2100, L2200, U2400) line, which is capable of performing 500+ MB/s of cryptographic instructions; VLSI Technology's 33 MHz 6868; and/or the like.
  • Memory e.g., L2100, L2200, U2400
  • any mechanization and/or embodiment allowing a processor to affect the storage and/or retrieval of information is regarded as memory 829.
  • memory is a fungible technology and resource, thus, any number of memory embodiments may be employed in lieu of or in concert with one another.
  • the VQB controller and/or a computer systemization may employ various forms of memory 829.
  • a computer systemization may be Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 44
  • CPU memory e.g., registers
  • RAM random access memory
  • memory 829 will include ROM 806, RAM 805,
  • a storage device 814 may be any conventional computer
  • Storage devices may include a drum; a (fixed and/or removable)
  • the memory 829 may contain a collection of program and/or database
  • operating system component(s) 815 components and/or data such as, but not limited to: operating system component(s) 815
  • 21 components may be stored and accessed from the storage devices and/or from storage
  • the operating system component 815 is an executable program
  • the operating system may be a highly fault tolerant, scalable, and
  • BSD FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and/or the like
  • Linux FreeBSD, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and/or the like
  • An operating system may communicate to and/or with other components in a
  • the operating system may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or
  • the operating system once executed by the CPU, may enable the
  • the operating system may Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 46 provide communications protocols that allow the VQB controller to communicate with other entities through a communications network 813.
  • Various communication protocols may be used by the VQB controller as a subcarrier transport mechanism for interaction, such as, but not limited to: multicast, TCP/IP, UDP, unicast, and/or the like.
  • An information server component 816 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU.
  • the information server may be a conventional Internet information server such as, but not limited to Apache Software Foundation's Apache, Microsoft's Internet Information Server, and/or the like.
  • the information server may allow for the execution of program components through facilities such as Active Server Page (ASP), ActiveX, (ANSI) (Objective-) C (++), C# and/or .NET, Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts, dynamic (D) hypertext markup language (HTML), FLASH, Java, JavaScript, Practical Extraction Report Language (PERL), Hypertext Pre-Processor (PHP), pipes, Python, wireless application protocol (WAP), WebObjects, and/or the like.
  • ASP Active Server Page
  • ActiveX ActiveX
  • ANSI Objective-
  • C# C#
  • CGI Common Gateway Interface
  • D hypertext markup language
  • FLASH Java
  • JavaScript JavaScript
  • PROL Practical Extraction Report Language
  • PGP Hypertext Pre-Processor
  • the information server may support secure communications protocols such as, but not limited to, File Transfer Protocol (FTP); HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP); Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), Secure Socket Layer (SSL), messaging protocols (e.g., America Online (AOL) Instant Messenger (AIM), Application Exchange (APEX), ICQ, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), Microsoft Network (MSN) Messenger Service, Presence and Instant Messaging Protocol (PRIM), Internet Engineering Task Force's (IETF's) Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), open XML-based Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 47 (XMPP) (i.e., Jabber or Open Mobile Alliance's (OMA's) Instant Messaging and Presence Service (IMPS)), Yahoo!
  • FTP File Transfer Protocol
  • HTTP HyperText Transfer Protocol
  • HTTPS Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol
  • SSL Secure Socket Layer
  • the information server provides results in the form of Web pages to Web browsers, and allows for the manipulated generation of the Web pages through interaction with other program components.
  • DNS Domain Name System
  • a request such as http://123.124.125.126/myInformation.html might have the IP portion of the request "123.124.125.126” resolved by a DNS server to an information server at that IP address; that information server might in turn further parse the http request for the "/my Information.html” portion of the request and resolve it to a location in memory containing the information "myInformation.html.”
  • other information serving protocols may be employed across various ports, e.g., FTP communications across port 21, and/or the like.
  • An information server may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like.
  • the information server communicates with the VQB database 819, operating systems, other program components, user interfaces, Web browsers, and/or the like.
  • Access to the VQB database may be achieved through a number of database bridge mechanisms such as through scripting languages as enumerated below (e.g., CGI) and through inter-application communication channels as enumerated below (e.g., CORBA, WebObjects, etc.). Any data requests through a Web browser are parsed Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 48 through the bridge mechanism into appropriate grammars as required by the VQB.
  • the information server would provide a Web form accessible by a Web browser.
  • Entries made into supplied fields in the Web form are tagged as having been entered into the particular fields, and parsed as such.
  • the entered terms are then passed along with the field tags, which act to instruct the parser to generate queries directed to appropriate tables and/or fields.
  • the parser may generate queries in standard SQL by instantiating a search string with the proper join/select commands based on the tagged text entries, wherein the resulting command is provided over the bridge mechanism to the VQB as a query.
  • the results are passed over the bridge mechanism, and may be parsed for formatting and generation of a new results Web page by the bridge mechanism.
  • Such a new results Web page is then provided to the information server, which may supply it to the requesting Web browser.
  • an information server may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses.
  • Automobile operation interface elements such as steering wheels, gearshifts, and speedometers facilitate the access, operation, and display of automobile resources, functionality, and status.
  • Computer interaction interface elements such as check boxes, cursors, menus, scrollers, and windows (collectively and commonly referred to as widgets) similarly facilitate the access, Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 49 operation, and display of data and computer hardware and operating system resources, functionality, and status. Operation interfaces are commonly called user interfaces.
  • GUIs Graphical user interfaces
  • GUIs such as the Apple Macintosh Operating System's Aqua, IBM's OS/2, Microsoft's Windows 2000/ 2003/ 3.1/ 95/ 98/ CE/ Millenium/ NT/ XP/ Vista/ 7 (i.e., Aero), Unix's X- Windows (e.g., which may include additional Unix graphic interface libraries and layers such as K Desktop Environment (KDE), mythTV and GNU Network Object Model Environment (GNOME)), web interface libraries (e.g., ActiveX, AJAX, (D)HTML, FLASH, Java, JavaScript, etc.
  • KDE K Desktop Environment
  • GNOME GNU Network Object Model Environment
  • web interface libraries e.g., ActiveX, AJAX, (D)HTML, FLASH, Java, JavaScript, etc.
  • a user interface component 817 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU.
  • the user interface may be a conventional graphic user interface as provided by, with, and/or atop operating systems and/or operating environments such as already discussed.
  • the user interface may allow for the display, execution, interaction, manipulation, and/or operation of program components and/or system facilities through textual and/or graphical facilities.
  • the user interface provides a facility through which users may affect, interact, and/or operate a computer system.
  • a user interface may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the user interface communicates with operating systems, other program components, and/or the like.
  • the user interface may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 50 program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses.
  • a Web browser component 818 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU.
  • the Web browser may be a conventional hypertext viewing application such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. Secure Web browsing may be supplied with I28bit (or greater) encryption by way of HTTPS, SSL, and/or the like.
  • Web browsers allowing for the execution of program components through facilities such as ActiveX, AJAX, (D)HTML, FLASH, Java, JavaScript, web browser plug-in APIs (e.g., FireFox, Safari Plug-in, and/or the like APIs), and/or the like.
  • Web browsers and like information access tools may be integrated into PDAs, cellular telephones, and/or other mobile devices.
  • a Web browser may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the Web browser communicates with information servers, operating systems, integrated program components (e.g., plug-ins), and/or the like; e.g., it may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses.
  • information servers operating systems, integrated program components (e.g., plug-ins), and/or the like; e.g., it may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses.
  • a combined application may be developed to perform similar functions of both. The combined application would similarly affect the obtaining and the provision of information to users, user agents, and/or the like from the VQB enabled nodes.
  • the combined application may be nugatory on systems employing standard Web browsers. Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 51
  • a mail server component 821 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU 803.
  • the mail server may be a conventional Internet mail server such as, but not limited to sendmail, Microsoft Exchange, and/or the like.
  • the mail server may allow for the execution of program components through facilities such as ASP, ActiveX, (ANSI) (Objective-) C (++), C# and/or .NET, CGI scripts, Java, JavaScript, PERL, PHP, pipes, Python, WebObjects, and/or the like.
  • the mail server may support communications protocols such as, but not limited to: Internet message access protocol (IMAP), Messaging Application Programming Interface (MAPI)/Microsoft Exchange, post office protocol (POP3), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), and/or the like.
  • the mail server can route, forward, and process incoming and outgoing mail messages that have been sent, relayed and/or otherwise traversing through and/or to the VQB.
  • Access to the VQB mail may be achieved through a number of APIs offered by the individual Web server components and/or the operating system.
  • a mail server may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, information, and/or responses.
  • a mail client component 822 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU 803.
  • the mail client may be a conventional mail viewing application such as Apple Mail, Microsoft Entourage, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, Mozilla, Thunderbird, and/or the like.
  • Mail clients may support a number of Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 52 transfer protocols, such as: IMAP, Microsoft Exchange, POP3, SMTP, and/or the like.
  • a mail client may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like.
  • the mail client communicates with mail servers, operating systems, other mail clients, and/or the like; e.g., it may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, information, and/or responses.
  • the mail client provides a facility to compose and transmit electronic mail messages.
  • a cryptographic server component 820 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU 803, cryptographic processor 826, cryptographic processor interface 827, cryptographic processor device 828, and/or the like.
  • Cryptographic processor interfaces will allow for expedition of encryption and/or decryption requests by the cryptographic component; however, the cryptographic component, alternatively, may run on a conventional CPU.
  • the cryptographic component allows for the encryption and/or decryption of provided data.
  • the cryptographic component allows for both symmetric and asymmetric (e.g., Pretty Good Protection (PGP)) encryption and/or decryption.
  • PGP Pretty Good Protection
  • the cryptographic component may employ cryptographic techniques such as, but not limited to: digital certificates (e.g., X.509 authentication framework), digital signatures, dual signatures, enveloping, password access protection, public key management, and/or the like.
  • the cryptographic component will facilitate numerous (encryption and/or decryption) security protocols such as, but not limited to: checksum, Data Encryption Standard (DES), Elliptical Curve Encryption (ECC), International Data Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 53 Encryption Algorithm (IDEA), Message Digest 5 (MD5, which is a one way hash function), passwords, Rivest Cipher (RC5), Rijndael, RSA (which is an Internet encryption and authentication system that uses an algorithm developed in 1977 by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman), Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA), Secure Socket Layer (SSL), Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), and/or the like.
  • the VQB may encrypt all incoming and/or outgoing communications and may serve as node within a virtual private network (VPN) with a wider communications network.
  • the cryptographic component facilitates the process of "security authorization" whereby access to a resource is inhibited by a security protocol wherein the cryptographic component effects authorized access to the secured resource.
  • the cryptographic component may provide unique identifiers of content, e.g., employing and MD5 hash to obtain a unique signature for an digital audio file.
  • a cryptographic component may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like.
  • the cryptographic component supports encryption schemes allowing for the secure transmission of information across a communications network to enable the VQB component to engage in secure transactions if so desired.
  • the cryptographic component facilitates the secure accessing of resources on the VQB and facilitates the access of secured resources on remote systems; i.e., it may act as a client and/or server of secured resources.
  • the cryptographic component communicates with information servers, operating systems, other program components, and/or the like.
  • the cryptographic component may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses.
  • Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 54 The VQB Database
  • the VQB database component 819 may be embodied in a database and its stored data.
  • the database is a stored program component, which is executed by the CPU; the stored program component portion configuring the CPU to process the stored data.
  • the database may be a conventional, fault tolerant, relational, scalable, secure database such as Oracle or Sybase.
  • Relational databases are an extension of a flat file. Relational databases consist of a series of related tables. The tables are interconnected via a key field. Use of the key field allows the combination of the tables by indexing against the key field; i.e., the key fields act as dimensional pivot points for combining information from various tables. Relationships generally identify links maintained between tables by matching primary keys.
  • VQB database may be implemented using various standard data-structures, such as an array, hash, (linked) list, struct, structured text file (e.g., XML), table, and/or the like. Such data-structures may be stored in memory and/or in (structured) files.
  • an object-oriented database may be used, such as Frontier, ObjectStore, Poet, Zope, and/or the like.
  • Object databases can include a number of object collections that are grouped and/or linked together by common attributes; they may be related to other object collections by some common attributes. Object-oriented databases perform similarly to relational databases with the exception that objects are not just pieces of data but may have other types of functionality encapsulated within a given object. If the VQB database is implemented as Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 55 a data-structure, the use of the VQB database 819 may be integrated into another component such as the VQB component 835. Also, the database may be implemented as a mix of data structures, objects, and relational structures. Databases may be consolidated and/or distributed in countless variations through standard data processing techniques.
  • the database component 819 includes several tables 8i9a-k.
  • a Users table 819a may include fields such as, but not limited to: user_ID, first_name, last_name, middle_name, suffix, prefix, device_ID_list, device_name_list, device_type_list, hardware_configuration_list, software_apps_list, device_IP_list, device_MAC_list, device_preferences_list.
  • a Metadata table 819b may include fields such as, but not limited to: class, type, designer, agency, year, model, rating, stores, price, accessories_list, genre, style, and/or the like.
  • a SearchResults table 819c may include fields such as, but not limited to: object_ID_list, object_relevance_weight, object_search_rank, aggregate_search_rank, and/or the like.
  • An ObjectProprty table 8i9d may include fields such as, but not limited to: size_pixels, resolution, scaling, x_position, y_position, height, width, shadow_flag, 3D_effect_flag, alpha, brightness, contrast, saturation, gamma, transparency, overlap, boundary_margin, rotation_angle, revolution_angle, and/or the like.
  • An ObjectProximity table 8i9e may include fields such as, but not limited to: objecti_list, object2_list, proximity_list, and/or the like.
  • a SearchTrigger table 8i9f may include fields such as, but not limited to: metadata_depth_list, threshold_list, object_type, trigger_flags_list, and/or the like.
  • a PositionRules table 8i9g may include fields such as, but not limited to: offset_x, Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 56 offset_y, search_relevance_object_ID_list, search_rank_object_ID_list, and/or the like.
  • An ObjectTransformation table 819I1 may include fields such as, but not limited to: acceleration, velocity, direction_x, direction ⁇ , orientation_theta, orientation_phi, object_mass, friction_coefficient_x, friction_coefficient_y, friction_coefficient__theta, friction_coefficient_phi, object_elasticity, restitution_percent, terminal_velocity, center_of_mass, moment_inertia, relativistic_flag, newtonian_flag, and/or the like.
  • a PhysicsDynamics table 8191 may include fields such as, but not limited to: collision_type, dissipation_factor, , and/or the like.
  • a Gestures table 8i9j may include fields such as, but not limited to: gesture_name, gesture_type, assoc_code_module, num_users, num_inputs, velocity_threshold_list, acceleration_threshold_list, pressure_threshold_list, and/or the like.
  • a CompositeObjects table 819k may include fields such as, but not limited to: object_ID_list, metadata_include_array, metadata_exclude_array, and/or the like.
  • One or more of the tables discussed above may support and/or track multiple entity accounts on a VQB. [0076] In one embodiment, the VQB database may interact with other database systems.
  • queries and data access by search VQB component may treat the combination of the VQB database, an integrated data security layer database as a single database entity.
  • user programs may contain various user interface primitives, which may serve to update the VQB.
  • various accounts may require custom database tables depending upon the environments and the types of clients the VQB may need to serve. It should be noted that any unique fields may be designated as a key field throughout. In an alternative embodiment, these tables have been Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 57 decentralized into their own databases and their respective database controllers (i.e., individual database controllers for each of the above tables).
  • the VQB may be configured to keep track of various settings, inputs, and parameters via database controllers.
  • the VQB database may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the VQB database communicates with the VQB component, other program components, and/or the like. The database may contain, retain, and provide information regarding other nodes and data.
  • the VQB component 835 is a stored program component that is executed by a CPU.
  • the VQB component incorporates any and/or all combinations of the aspects of the VQB discussed in the previous figures. As such, the VQB affects accessing, obtaining and the provision of information, services, transactions, and/or the like across various communications networks.
  • the VQB component may take user gesture inputs on displayed objects, and transform them via VQB components into search results display objects arranged by search relevance in proximity to the displayed objects, and/or the like and use of the VQB.
  • the VQB component 835 takes inputs (e.g., user actions 108, Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 58 no, 113, 115, user input 211, and/or the like) etc., and transforms the inputs via various components (e.g., VQB 823a, IDOC 823b, UGC 823c, STG 823d, and/or the like), into outputs (e.g., objects refresh 114, objects moves to center of search results 116, search results i2ia-f, i26a-f, i27a-f, i28a-f, i29a-f, i3oa-f, i3ia-f, i33a-h, i3a*-h* search queries 2i3a-n, search results 2i4a-n, visual display 216, and/or the like), as shown in FIGURES 1-7, as well as throughout the specification.
  • inputs e.g., user actions
  • the VQB component enabling access of information between nodes may be developed by employing standard development tools and languages such as, but not limited to: Apache components, Assembly, ActiveX, binary executables, (ANSI) (Objective-) C (++), C# and/or .NET, database adapters, CGI scripts, Java, JavaScript, mapping tools, procedural and object oriented development tools, PERL, PHP, Python, shell scripts, SQL commands, web application server extensions, web development environments and libraries (e.g., Microsoft's ActiveX; Adobe AIR, FLEX & FLASH; AJAX; (D)HTML; Dojo, Java; JavaScript; jQuery(UI); MooTools; Prototype; script.aculo.us; Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP); SWFObject; Yahoo!
  • Apache components Assembly, ActiveX, binary executables, (ANSI) (Objective-) C (++), C# and/or .NET
  • database adapters CGI scripts
  • Java JavaScript
  • mapping tools procedural and object
  • the VQB server employs a cryptographic server to encrypt and decrypt communications.
  • the VQB component may communicate to and/or with other components in a component collection, including itself, and/or facilities of the like. Most frequently, the VQB component communicates with the VQB database, operating systems, other program components, and/or the like.
  • the VQB may contain, communicate, generate, obtain, and/or provide program component, system, user, and/or data communications, requests, and/or responses.
  • any of the VQB node controller components may be combined, consolidated, and/or distributed in any number of ways to facilitate development and/or deployment.
  • the component collection may be combined in any number of ways to facilitate deployment and/or development. To accomplish this, one may integrate the components into a common code base or in a facility that can dynamically load the components on demand in an integrated fashion.
  • the component collection may be consolidated and/or distributed in countless variations through standard data processing and/or development techniques. Multiple instances of any one of the program components in the program component collection may be instantiated on a single node, and/or across numerous nodes to improve performance through load-balancing and/or data-processing techniques.
  • single instances may also be distributed across multiple controllers and/or storage devices; e.g., databases. All program component instances and controllers working in concert may do so through standard data processing communication techniques.
  • VQB server (s) and database(s) may all be localized within a single computing terminal.
  • the VQB components may be localized within one or more entities (e.g., hospitals, pharmaceutical companies etc.) involved in coordinated patient management.
  • the configuration of the VQB controller will depend on the context of system deployment. Factors such as, but not limited to, the budget, capacity, location, and/or use of the underlying hardware resources may affect deployment requirements and configuration.
  • data may be communicated, obtained, and/or provided.
  • Instances of components consolidated into a common code base from the program component collection may communicate, obtain, and/or provide data. This may be accomplished through intra-application data processing communication techniques such as, but not limited to: data referencing (e.g., pointers), internal messaging, object instance variable communication, shared memory space, variable passing, and/or the like.
  • component collection components are discrete, separate, and/or external to one another, then communicating, obtaining, and/or providing data with and/or to other component components may be accomplished through inter-application data processing communication techniques such as, but not limited to: Application Program Interfaces (API) information passage; (distributed) Component Object Model ((D)COM), (Distributed) Object Linking and Embedding ((D)OLE), and/or the like), Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), local and remote application program interfaces Jini, Remote Method Invocation (RMI), SOAP, process pipes, shared files, and/or the like.
  • API Application Program Interfaces
  • DCOM Component Object Model
  • D Distributed) Object Linking and Embedding
  • CORBA Common Object Request Broker Architecture
  • Jini Remote Method Invocation
  • SOAP process pipes, shared files, and/or the like.
  • a grammar may be developed by using standard development tools such as lex, yacc, XML, and/or the like, which allow for grammar generation and parsing functionality, which in turn may form the basis of communication messages within and Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 61 between components.
  • a grammar may be arranged to recognize the tokens of an HTTP post command, e.g.:
  • parsing mechanism may process and/or parse structured data such as, but not limited to: character (e.g., tab) delineated text, HTML, structured text streams, XML, and/or the like structured data.
  • inter-application data processing protocols themselves may have integrated and/or readily available parsers (e.g., the SOAP parser) that may be employed to parse communications data.
  • the parsing grammar may be used beyond message parsing, but may also be used to parse: databases, data collections, data stores, structured data, and/or the like. Again, the desired configuration will depend upon the context, environment, and requirements of system deployment. [0087]
  • Non-limiting exemplary embodiments highlighting numerous further advantageous aspects include: Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 62
  • a processor-implemented visual querying method embodiment comprising: obtaining an object-manipulating gesture input;
  • a visual querying system embodiment comprising:
  • a memory disposed in communication with the processor and storing processor- executable instructions, the instructions comprising instructions to:
  • A17 The system of embodiment A12, wherein the search result display objects are arranged in at least one concentric circles about a centroid of the display object.
  • A18 The system of embodiment A12, wherein the object-manipulating gesture input is obtained via a touch-sensitive input module. Attorney Docket No.: 20644-005PC 66 A19.
  • the instructions further comprising instructions to:
  • a processor-readable medium embodiment storing processor-executable visual querying instructions, the instructions comprising instructions to:
  • A26 The medium of embodiment A23, wherein the specified type of search request is a FILTER request.
  • A27 The medium of embodiment A23, wherein one of the search result display objects having relevance value higher than another of the search result display objects is arranged closer to the display object.
  • A28 The medium of embodiment A23, wherein the search result display objects are arranged in at least one concentric circles about a centroid of the display object.
  • A29 The medium of embodiment A23, wherein the object-manipulating gesture input is obtained via a touch-sensitive input module.
  • A30 The medium of embodiment A29, wherein the touch-sensitive input module is comprised within a touchscreen display system.
  • the instructions further comprising instructions to:
  • a processor-implemented visual query building method embodiment comprising:
  • search result display object relevance data indicating relevance of the search result display objects to each of the plurality of display objects
  • a visual query building system embodiment comprising:
  • a memory disposed in communication with the processor and storing processor- executable instructions, the instructions comprising instructions to:
  • search result display object relevance data indicating relevance of the search result display objects to each of the plurality of display objects
  • a processor-readable medium embodiment storing processor-executable visual query building instructions, the instructions comprising instructions to:
  • search result display object relevance data indicating relevance of the search result display objects to each of the plurality of display objects
  • the invention is directed to apparatuses, methods and systems for a mobile healthcare management system.
  • the entirety of this application (including the Cover Page, Title, Headings, Field, Background, Summary, Brief Description of the Drawings, Detailed Description, Claims, Abstract, Figures, Appendices and/or otherwise) shows by way of illustration various embodiments in which the claimed inventions may be practiced.
  • the advantages and features of the application are of a representative sample of embodiments only, and are not exhaustive and/or exclusive. They are presented only to assist in understanding and teach the claimed principles. It should be understood that they are not representative of all claimed inventions. As such, certain aspects of the disclosure have not been discussed herein.
  • VQB may be implemented that enable a great deal of flexibility and customization. It is to be understood that, depending on the particular needs of the VQB and/or characteristics of the hardware, software, network framework, monetization model and/or the like, various embodiments of the VQB may be implemented that enable a great deal of flexibility and customization.
  • the instant disclosure discusses example implementations of the VQB within the context of visually-driven general searching. However, it is to be understood that the system described herein can be readily configured for a wide range of other applications and/or implementations.
  • implementations of the VQB can be configured to operate within the context of financial services, inventory management, supply chain management, online shopping, travel agency services, office collaboration, online media sharing, and/or the like.
  • Alternate implementations of the system may be utilized in various contexts outside touchscreen LCDs and/or smartphones, including, but not limited to: desktop computers, tablet computers, gaming consoles, financial trading devices, home/office appliances (e.g., scanners, fax machines, all-in-one office machines, local network search appliances), and/or the like.
  • home/office appliances e.g., scanners, fax machines, all-in-one office machines, local network search appliances
  • the VQB may be further adapted to various other implementations.

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Abstract

L'invention porte sur la prise d'entrées de geste d'utilisateur sur des objets affichés et sur la transformation de ceux-ci par l'intermédiaire de composants de constructeur de requêtes visuelles (VQB) en objets d'affichage de résultats de recherche agencés par pertinence de recherche à proximité des objets affichés. Dans un mode de réalisation, le VQB obtient une entrée de geste de manipulation d'objet, et corrèle l'entrée de geste de manipulation d'objet avec un objet d'affichage. Le VQB classe ensuite l'entrée de geste de manipulation d'objet en tant que type spécifié de requête de recherche. Le VQB génère une interrogation de recherche conformément au type spécifié de requête de recherche à l'aide de métadonnées associées à l'objet d'affichage, et fournit l'interrogation de recherche à un ou à des moteurs de recherche et/ou à une ou à des bases de données. Le VQB obtient, en réponse à la fourniture de l'interrogation de recherche, les objets d'affichage de résultats de recherche et des valeurs de pertinence d'objet d'affichage de résultats de recherche associées. Le VQB affiche les objets d'affichage de résultats de recherche agencés à proximité de l'objet d'affichage de telle sorte que les objets d'affichage de résultats de recherche sont agencés conformément à leurs valeurs de pertinence d'objet d'affichage de résultats de recherche associées.
PCT/US2010/047897 2009-09-03 2010-09-03 Appareils, procédés et systèmes pour constructeur de requêtes visuelles WO2011029055A1 (fr)

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US12/553,966 US8730183B2 (en) 2009-09-03 2009-09-03 Large scale multi-user, multi-touch system
US12/553,959 2009-09-03
US12/553,961 2009-09-03
US12/553,966 2009-09-03
US12/553,962 US9274699B2 (en) 2009-09-03 2009-09-03 User interface for a large scale multi-user, multi-touch system
US12/553,959 US20110055703A1 (en) 2009-09-03 2009-09-03 Spatial Apportioning of Audio in a Large Scale Multi-User, Multi-Touch System
US12/553,962 2009-09-03
US12/553,961 US20110050640A1 (en) 2009-09-03 2009-09-03 Calibration for a Large Scale Multi-User, Multi-Touch System

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