Digital image browser
US7725837B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 31, 2005 |
| Grant date | May 25, 2010 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Nov 12, 2026 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F16/54
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present subject matter describes a browser for efficiently presenting and browsing a large digital photograph collection. The browser includes a graphical interface—referred to as a time quilt—that combines a wrappable timeline with a space filling layout. Thumbnails representing individual images or clusters of images are laid out chronologically in columns, from top to bottom. When the bottom of a column is reached, a new column is started to the right of the existing column(s). Semantic zooming is used wherein zooming in on a thumbnail image that represents a cluster renders thumbnails of images in the cluster when the thumbnails of the images can be rendered in a legible size. Tiered zooming is also described, which is semantic zooming on multiple levels—representative thumbnails give way to clusters of representative thumbnails that each represent an image or a cluster of images.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.