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IIII US005528735A United States Patent (19) 11 Patent Number: 5,528,735 Strasnick et al. (45) Date of Patent: Jun. 18, 1996 (54) METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR Structural Dynamics Research Corporation News Release, DISPLAYING DATA WITHINA "SDRC Announces Software Translator Between CADAM THREE-DMENSIONAL INFORMATION and I-DEAS', Mar. 31, 1992. LANDSCAPE BYTE, "The Ultimate User Interface', by Bob Jacobson, dated Apr., 1992, pp. 175-182. 75 Inventors: Steven L. Strasnick, Mountain View; "An Easier Interface', by Mark A. Clarkson, dated Feb., Joel D. Tesler, Cupertino, both of Calif. 1991, BYTE, pp. 277-282. BYTE Advertisement, "See Your Act Contacts Geographi (73) Assignee: Silicon Graphics Inc., Mountain View, cally", dated Mar. 1992, p. 78. Calif. BYTE Advertisement, "Unix Graphics, Mail, and More", dated Mar. 1992, p. 78. 21) Appl. No.: 42,801 BYTE Advertisement, "Project Management with Motif GUI", dated Mar. 1992, p. 78. 22 Filed: Mar 23, 1993 BYTE Advertisement, "Forecast Like a Pro', dated Mar. (51) Int. Cl. ............................................. G06T 15/20 1992, p. 78. 152 U.S. Cl. ............................................. 395/127; 395/160 “PC GIS: Expect Gain But Also Some Pain', by Alan 58 Field of Search ..................................... 395/119, 120, Radding, dated Feb. 17, 1992, Computer world, p. 89. 395/127, 154, 160 (List continued on next page.) 56 References Cited Primary Examiner-Mark K. Zimmerman U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox 3,816,726 6/1974 Sutherland et al. ................ 395/127 X 57) ABSTRACT 4,868,771 9/1989 Quicket al. ............................ 364/578 A method and apparatus are presented for displaying three 4,928,247 5/1990 Doyle et al. ... ... 364/518 dimensional navigable display space containing an aggre 4,994.989 2/1991. Usami et al. ... ... 364/522 5,043,920 8/1991 Malm et al. ... ... 364/521 gation of graphical objects and an overview of the aggre 5,072,395 12/1991 Bliss et al....... ... 364/443 gation of display objects. An altered perspective is provided 5,150,457 9/1992 Behmet al. ... 395/19 by compressing the horizontal dimension of the displayed 5,164,904 11/1992 Sumner ............... ... 364/436 objects so that a user can see a representative overview of 5,295,243 3/1994 Robertson et al ... 395/60 the entire aggregation of display objects that have been 5,307,456 4/1994 MacKay .................................. 395/154. selected for display together on a display screen. The compressed component is expanded so that the objects OTHER PUBLICATIONS appear wider as a navigator approaches the displayed Carlbom et al., “A Hierarchical Data Structure For Repre objects. A spotlight shines down on objects responsive to a senting The Spatial Decomposition Of 3-D Objects', IEEE data query. The spotlight serves as a navigation aid to the Computer Graphics & Applications, Apr. 1985, pp. 24-31. navigator so that highlighted items are visible from a dis Carlbom et al., “Planar Geometric Projections And Viewing tance and can be easily located. The user's view of the Transformations', Computing Surveys, vol. 10, No. 4, Dec. display space is altered so that the navigator perceives that 1978, pp. 465-502. he is traveling in a straight line when approaching a display "Virtual Reality Gets Real”, by Tony Reveaux, dated Jan., object in a display space in which the horizontal dimension 1993, New Media, pp. 32-34. of displayed objects is compressed in accordance with the IEEE Proceedings, Visualization 91, "Tree-Maps: A Space apparent distance between a displayed object and the navi -Filing Approach to the Visualization of Hierarchical Infor gator. mation Structures', by Brian Johnson and Ben Shneiderman, dated Oct., 1991. 30 Claims, 22 Drawing Sheets 22160---- people, &\" 140 - r ages: 1 wik 2wk 1 mo 3 mo 6 mo 1 yr > yr Monitored 5,528,735 Page 2 OTHER PUBLICATIONS "A Map For All Reasons,” advertisement, Strategic Map "GIS Vital In Utility's Duel With Competitor', by Carol ping, Inc., San Jose CA 95117 (page, date unknown). Hilderbrand, dated Jan. 20, 1992, Computerworld, p. 43. News Release, Company: Information Builders, DateLine: "GIS Eases Redistricting Worry", by Christopher Lindquist, Pacific Palisades, CA, "Remarkable 3D Main-Frame dated Oct. 7, 1991, Computer world, p. 65. Graphics Available For PC Users,” (Feb. 1985). "GIS Sprouting Corporate Wings', by Michael Alexander, News Release, Company: Honeywell Bull, Dateline: Palm dated Jul. 22, 1991, Computerworld, p. 20. Desert, CA, "Information Builders Announces Release 3.0 Grinstein, G., et al., "Visualization for Knowledge Discov of PC/FOCUS DBMS,” (Jun. 1, 1987). ery,” Intl. J. Intelligent Systems 7: 637-648 (1992). News Release, Company: Silicon Graphics, Dateline: Bile Fuller, J. E., Using Autocad, 3d Ed., Chapter 17, Viewing rica, MA"Relational Software System Increases Integration, 3-D Drawings, pp. 17-1-17-14, and Tutorial, pp. Productivity for Honeywell Bull Users,” (Jul. 17, 1987). 19-15-19–16, Delmar Publishers, Inc., Albany, N.Y. 12212. News Release, Company: Alliant Computer Systems, Date Alexander, M., "GIS Sprouting Corporate Wings.” Comput Line: San Diego, CA, "TGS Figaro To Be Marketed With erworld, p. 20 (Jul. 22, 1991). Silicon Graphics,” (Jul. 8, 1988). Anthes, G. H., "GIS Eases Redistricting Worry,” Comput News Release, Company: Alliant Computer Systems, Date erworld, p. 65 (Oct. 7, 1991). Line: San Diego, CA, "TGS Figaro To Be Marketed With Benedikt, M., ed., “Cyberspace: First Steps.” The MIT Silicon Graphics,” (Jul. 8, 1988). Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1992), pp. 1-436. News Release, Company: Alliant Computer Systems Cor Beveaux, T. and Graves, G. L., "Virtual Reality Three-Di poration, DateLine: Atlanta, GA, "Alliant Debuts New Class mensional Gets Real,” New Media, pp. 32-41 (Jan. 1993). of System The Visual Supercomputer,” (Aug. 2, 1988). Clarkson, M.A., “An Easier Interface,” BYTE, pp. 277-282 News Release, Company: Virtus, DateLine: Pleasanton, CA, (Feb. 1991). "Individual Software Introduces Training for Microsoft Exel Forrest, D., "Seeing Data in New Ways,' Computerworld, 3.0 Windows and Macintosh Versions,' (Jul. 31, 1991). pp. 85-86 (Jun. 29, 1992). News Release, Company: Virtus Corporation, DateLine: Hildebrand, C., "GIS Vital in Utility's Duel With Competi Cary, NC, "Virus Walkthrough Releases Quicktime Com tor," Computerworld, p. 43 (Jan. 20, 1992). ponent,” (Nov. 1, 1991). Jacobson, B., "The Ultimate User Interface,” BYTE, pp. News Release, Company: Alias Research, Dateline: Tor 175-176 (Apr. 1992). onto, Ontario, "Alias ships Sketch!, Freeform 3D Illustration Johnson, B. et al., "Tree-Maps: A Space-Filling Approach and Design Program,” (Nov. 15, 1991). To The Visualization Of Hierarchical Information Struc News Release, Company: Structural Dynamics Res Intl. tures," IEEE Processing Visualization, '91 San Diego, CA, Business Machines, DateLine: Boston, MA, "Alias Sketch pp. 284–291 (Oct. 21–25, 1991). (TM) Resumes Shipping: Freeform 3D illustration and Newquist, H. P., "Virtual Reality's Commercial Reality.” design tool, (Feb. 19, 1992). Computerworld 26 (3):93-95. News Release, Company: Structural Dynamics Research Radding, A., “PC GIS: Expect Gain But Also Some Pain.” Corporation, DateLine: Milford, OH Structural Dynamics Computerworld, p. 89 (Feb. 17, 1992). Research Corporation, "SDRC Announces Software Trans "Atlas Software: A New dimension in Data Management,” lator Between CADAM and I-DEAS,” (Mar. 31, 1992). advertisement, Atlas Software, Strategic Mapping, Inc., San Pollack, A., “The 2-D Screen Gives 3-D World,' New York Jose, CA 95117 (page, date unknown). Times (date unknown). "News: What's New-Business Software' BYTE, p. 78 Wilder, C., "Virtual Reality Seeks Practicality,” Computer (Mar. 1992). world 26 (17), p. 26 (Apr. 27, 1992). U.S. Patent Jun. 18, 1996 Sheet 1 of 22 5,528,735 Session Show Display Directory Fie Help Fsn: a 3D Fle System Navigator /usr/people/joel/signature -rw-r-r- 19 bytes. 724 days old, :156:plain textfile -2/5//Deople160--r / SSex 120 130 140--- ages: 1 wk 2 wk 1 mo 3 mo 6 mo 1 yr > 1 yr Monitored FIGURE U.S. Patent Jun. 18, 1996 Sheet 2 of 22 5,528,735 Help reset At-R Dbn: a 3D Sales Data Base Navigator Acme inc:International:Europe: go back Alt+B Acneic Domestic International pct target:<60 60-75 75-90 90-100 100-110 110-130 >130 250 FIGURE 2A U.S. Patent Jun. 18, 1996 Sheet 3 of 22 5,528,735 Session Show Display Directory Fie Fsn: a 3D File System Navigator fisk2loe/ - drwor-xr-x7 directories, 14 files birds eye front View Tilt Height K- -X dbu. neuhier/usr/people / Joel dov test A gift ages: 1 wk 2 wik 1 mo 3 mo 6 mo 1 yr > 1 yr Monitored FIGURE 2B U.S. Patent Jun. 18, 1996 Sheet 4 of 22 5,528,735 FIGURE 3 U.S. Patent Jun. 18, 1996 Sheet 5 of 22 5,528,735 410 FIGURE 4A U.S. Patent Jun. 18, 1996 Sheet 6 of 22 5,528,735 450 FIGURE 4B U.S. Patent Jun. 18, 1996 Sheet 7 of 22 5,528,735 FIGURE 4C U.S. Patent Jun. 18, 1996 Sheet 8 of 22 5,528,735 FIGURE 5A U.S. Patent Jun. 18, 1996 Sheet 9 of 22 5,528,735 FIGURE 5B U.S. Patent Jun. 18, 1996 Sheet 10 of 22 5,528,735 Preference Panel This panel is for testing and determining optimum resource walues. Change at your own risk. shrinkC)nzoom useViewer flashOnWarp useGouraud compressDatabase D spaceballTilt beamOnMove propagatemonitor {XgroundColor {XwarpCircolor KXfarGroundColor {XspecialDirColor FIGURE 6 U.S. Patent Jun. 18, 1996 Sheet 11 of 22 5,528,735 Display Controls Quarter KX First {X Second KX. Third KX Fourth Product KO All {X Gadget {X Widget {x Gizmo () Dohicky Major Axis Product {X Quarter Data Blocks Wisible Targets Cell Flat Colored FIGURE 7 U.S. Patent Jun. 18, 1996 Sheet 12 of 22 5,528,735 FIG.