Fractal computer user centerface with zooming capability
US5341466A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 9, 1991 |
| Grant date | Aug 23, 1994 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 9, 2011 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F2203/04805
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A computer user interface that represents information stored in a computer as reprentation objects located on at least one reference surface is disclosed. A user can magnify or reduce the displayed information by "zooming" in or out. The magnification operation displays a smaller portion of a particular surface, but each object that remains in view is displayed in greater size and/or detail. Similarly, the reduction operation displays a larger portion of a given surface, but each object within such surface is displayed in a smaller size and/or less detail. In order to view one part of the surface from another part of the surface or from another surface, a special type of an object, called a representation portal object, is provided. A graphical description of each object is physically stored in computer memory essentially as a sequence of compressed image representations. The first image in the sequence is a bit-mapped representation of an object as it was created, and each subsequent image is a reduced copy of the first image.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.