Patent Application
20070188520
The present invention relates to user interfaces and more particularly to a method of providing a user interface providing dynamic document navigation within applications.
Data access, retrieval and presentation have always been an important aspect of business, research, marketing, and sales, amongst other activities. Over the years many different data retrieval and data display models have been proposed, starting with original hardcopy printed documents through to today's softcopy documents for being distributed and viewed using computers. However, despite the dramatically increased processing capabilities of such computers most software and application designers have returned to one or other traditional means of presenting information, due to the perceived benefits of their simplicity, ease of use, and user comprehensibility.
In this traditional group of formats the most common model is a sequential based model, wherein the individual or group of individuals preparing information for presentation and dissemination generate an outline, and provide a sequential series of pages, be they hardcopy or softcopy, to present the information. As such this sequential model mirrors the common book format. Recently, applications providing such presentation material to the user have incorporated other elements of the book format and provide an index and section headings allowing the user to navigate according to the traditional method.
However, a presentation of data, including items such as analysis results, project plans, and business decisions, etc by an individual, or by a group of presenters, to a reviewing or a knowledge seeking group of additional individuals is a very dynamic event. Typically, many factors influence the actual flow of the presentation and discussions that ensues between the presenters and reviewers to be different to that envisioned by the presenters and for which their presentation has been prepared. Such factors can be simply that the reviewers already know a section of the presentation, that they wish to discuss an aspect in detail before moving forward generally, or that an assumption employed by the presenters is challenged and modified during the presentation. Typically such factors result in a chaotic “flipping” of pages of the softcopy document to move to and from appropriate sheets of the document being presented, or obsoleting the remainder of the presentation when an assumption is flawed or incorrect.
It would be beneficial for a presenter to have the ability to create and use a softcopy document, in a manner that allows the presenter to adjust dynamically to the situation that is unfolding during the presentation, and to modify either the flow of the presentation or the content of the presentation during the course of the presentation without having to exit the application that is running the document presentation. It would be further beneficial if the user interface of the document presentation application provided for the dynamic inclusion of additional presentation materials, such additional materials addressing possible paths of the discussion but avoiding the requirement for the presenter to merge every possible variant thread of the presentation into the initial presentation materials.
Beneficially, the dynamic linking within the navigation of the document also provides a means for ensuring that the information contained within a presentation is accurate, verified, corporately approved and up to date. These latter aspects typically hinder businesses when, for example, a business with 100 sales personnel has them all using corporate organization charts, which naturally vary, but today every sales person's organization chart is based upon the timing of and the location of the source material they loaded within their presentation.
It would be advantageous to provide a method and a user interface that overcome at least some of the above-mentioned limitations.
According to at least one embodiment of the instant invention there is provided a method and a user interface for supporting dynamic navigation of documents being presented.
According to at least one embodiment of the instant invention there is provided a method and a user interface for supporting on-the-fly incorporation of other materials into an existing presentation, on an as-needed basis.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a method comprising: providing presentation data relating to a presentation, the presentation including a plurality of slides, the slides for being traversed in an order, the order relating to links between slides; displaying a slide from the plurality of slides, the slide comprising at least a three dimensional representation of a portion thereof within a three dimensional space; navigating within the three dimensional space of the three dimensional portion; selecting within the three dimensional space a representation therein; and, displaying another slide from the plurality of slides, the other slide selected in dependence upon the selected representation, different other slides displayed for different selected representations.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for a method of providing a user interface, the user interface comprising:
providing presentation data relating to a presentation, the presentation including a plurality of slides, the slides for being traversed in an order, the order relating to links between slides;
displaying a slide from the plurality of slides, the slide comprising at least a three dimensional representation of a portion thereof within a three dimensional space;
navigating within the three dimensional space of the three dimensional portion;
selecting within the three dimensional space a representation therein; and, displaying another slide from the plurality of slides, the other slide selected in dependence upon the selected representation, different other slides displayed for different selected representations.
In accordance with the invention there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for a method of providing a user interface, the user interface comprising:
In accordance with the invention there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for providing a user interface, the user interface comprising:
Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the following drawings, in which similar reference numerals designate similar items:
The following description is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments disclosed, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed herein. It would be evident to one with knowledge in the art that whilst the embodiments are described hereinbelow with particular reference to a visual presentation tool such as Microsoft™ PowerPoint®, the invention is applicable to other applications, including but not limited to spreadsheets, graphical presentations, word processors, computer aided engineering, computer aided design, media players, contact management and personal databases.
Referring to
If during the presentation there is a need to move quickly from one part of the presentation slide-deck 100 to another, then the presenter either repeatedly selects the appropriate one of page down 140 or page up 130 repeatedly, thereby creating a chaotic series of fractional or complete images that is displayed to the audience, or the presenter exits the display mode and enters a slide-sorter mode 200 as shown within
It will be appreciated that, unless the icon images 210-240 are very small, which unfortunately makes it more difficult to select a desired display sheet 110 from the slide sorter view, a presentation with a large number of display sheets 110 still requires the presenter to move through multiple views of the slide sorter to find a desired display sheet 110. Accordingly, typically the prior art solutions are designed for non-interactive presentations that are pre-designed. In fact, many of these presentations could be pre-recorded. Options available to a presenter during a presentation are limited and unless a predetermined flow is followed, these options are unsatisfactory, being awkward to use and disruptive to the flow of the presentation.
In the event that a presenter guesses a flow of the discussion for each audience, for example a sales person making presentations to different clients or potential clients, then an approach according to
Whilst the approach described in
As such the presenter upon creating the slide-deck has associated slides 314, 317 and 311 as transition links from the first slide 310. Subsequently, the presenter has linked slides 313, 312 and final slide 321 in sequence from slide 311 to form a first sequence. Then a second sequence has been created from 317 using slides 318, 319, and 320 wherein the presentation links to the final slide 321. Finally the third sequence comprises slides 315 and 316, followed with a further transition from slide 316 to final slide 321. However, in entering the linkage of slide 315 to slide 316 the presenter has also considered it a likely jump in discussions to move from the product slide 315 to either circuit board slide 319 or wireless PDA slide 320. These are displayed upon the cone slide surface 410 as dot-dash links 440, rather than the primary solid links 430.
In accordance with the approach provided by this embodiment the cone display surface 410 may optionally be shown blank to the presenter with a linear series of icon images of the slide deck visible. In this manner the presenter may link slides within the slide deck, using for example cursor or typed instructions, and the displayed image of the cone display surface 410 would then be recalculated and redisplayed to show the presenter the current paths within the presentation that have been established, and the slides not currently included.
Optionally, the cone display surface 410 can be varied for the visualization of the linkages between elements of the presentation, such variants including, but not limited to spheres, cylinders, 3D organizational charts, and cubes, according to optionally the presenter or the application. Such visualizations may further be dynamically remapped from one visualization surface to another, for example under presenter direction or automatically, allowing improved ergonomics of the interface to the presenter.
Such a visual indication of the presentation structure allows for rapid adjustment of the presentation flow either for a subsequent presentation or during a presentation that is already in progress. For instance, the display icon images on the cone display surface 410 are double-clicked as with prior art displays to jump directly to the selected image, from which point the embedded link sequence are executed.
Further, during the execution of the presentation by the presenter the display optionally prompts the presenter to select which link they wish to pursue with the ongoing presentation. Hence, upon displaying for example slide 310 as linked within the exemplary embodiment of
Referring to
As such the first field 510 highlights a portion of the display, shows a first link arrow 515 and first link slide 314. Selection of an element of this chain triggers the presentation software to jump to the first link slide 314. Similarly shown are second field 520, second link arrow 525, and second link slide 311. Finally, the third field 530, third link arrow, and third link slide 317 are shown. Whilst this image is presented to the presenter, the display screen for the audience is showing only the first slide 310. Based upon the presentation activities the presenter can therefore select the appropriate link to follow.
Many variants of this approach are employed without departing from the scope of the invention. Optionally, with a single display only the first slide 310 is displayed and three small windows 510, 520, and 530 are provided within the first slide 310. The motion of a cursor or another selection tool causes an icon image of the linked slide being displayed temporarily within the currently active window. Keyboard, mouse or other command entry would then cause the presentation to transition to the selected slide. As such, a cursor moving across window 510 causes an icon image of slide 314 to be displayed, the cursor within window 520 causing an image of slide 311 to be shown, and cursor placement within window 530 results in displaying the image of slide 317. A command selection at this point would transition the displayed image to slide 317. Such variants of the general principles described supra allow a presenter to operate with a single screen, such as using a single laptop or computer with a group.
According to
As shown, “California” 620 relating to a manufacturing location of “Dynamic Manufacturing Ltd” is linked to slide 316 portraying audio-visual equipment which represents the primary business of “California” 620. A second bulleted item of text “Shenzhen” 630 is linked to slide 312 portraying DRAM modules, which may be the primary business product line of the “Shenzhen” manufacturing operations of “Dynamic Manufacturing Ltd”. Next the third bulleted item “PDAs” 640 links to a product slide 320 as part of the wireless product portfolio of “Dynamic Manufacturing Ltd”.
The fourth identified bullet 650 representing “2007-2012 Plan” links to a financial slide 660. Prior to this point the slide links have all represented links to slides 310 through 321 of the same slide-deck 300 for ease of associating embodiments of the invention with the prior art. However, bullet “2007-2012 Plan” 650 represents a link to a different slide-deck, other than slide-deck 300. As such, for example, whilst a sales person would typically use only their slide-deck 300 they may occasionally require additional materials, such as in presenting to a company's procurement management group rather than the engineers specifying products. In this scenario providing financial data is appropriate and the exemplary embodiment allows the presenter to move smoothly from one presentation document to another without apparently changing any aspect of the presentation.
Such a linkage of presentations allows optionally a presenter to have a small, quickly accessed and displayed presentation outline from which they access one or more other presentations. Such an approach would for example, address the issue of providing a consistent organization chart as the presenter only has the link within their presentation and upon selection the appropriate document is accessed. Hence, a centralized copy of the organization chart may be updated and maintained and is the only source copy of the information. Such an embodiment provides enhanced security as rather than the information being permanently within a presentation slide-deck on a laptop, or other computing device, it is only loaded when the presenter is connected in a secure manner to the source slides.
Now with reference to
In operation the selection of one or other of the toggle pair triggers the adjustment of the frequency and prompts redisplay of the resulting 3D visualization 710. Optionally, the toggle pair 730 and 740 is be replaced with a field into which a value or wireless standard is entered. If no other visualization is required, other than the one initially presented, there is no requirement to have generated, stored and linked multiple 3D visualizations 710.
This dynamic adjustment of the presentation information in relation to the audience participation and input into the presentation allows the presentation to incorporate decisions and variations arising from the discussion. For example, a presentation on financial planning for a business that reacts to a comment from one participant which results in adjustment of a projected revenue stream, cost of goods, supply chain issue, etc.
Maintaining such adjustments as the basis for further elements of the presentation is extremely beneficial, as this avoids the need for the meeting to adjourn, for the recalculation of all figures, for generation of a new presentation, and for the recommencement of the discussion.
Also shown within the 3D visualization 710 of slide 700 is a locator cursor 750 that is under control of the presenter. Motion of the locator cursor 750 for example, providing a numerical display to adjust on the slide 700, not shown for clarity, in providing specific values to members of the audience in response to queries. Further, as shown in
Now in relation to the movement of the locator cursor to a first position 812 and selection thereof, the displayed 3D visualization in the exemplary embodiment shifts to a localized 2D or 3D contour plot 820. If the presenter had instead moved the locator cursor to the second position 814, then upon selection of this location a different localized 2D or 3D contour plot 860 would have been displayed. Finally, a third position 816 of the locator cursor would have generated a third localized 2D or 3D contour plot 840.
Next in relation to
The navigation of elements of, or optionally complete, documents using three dimensional mapping is presented in a fifth embodiment of the invention described below in reference to
Next in relation to
Also shown within the cone display image 1100 are links between slides, such as solid reference link 1130 between slides 320 and 311, and dotted reference link 1140 between slides 316 and 321. As indicated within the first button icon “Reference #1” solid reference links 1130 display the slide sequence associated with a first frame of reference, such that the slide sequence is 310, 314, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 311, 313, 312 and 321.
As indicated within the second button icon “Reference #2” 1120 dotted reference links 1140 display the slide sequence associated with a second frame of reference, such that the slide sequence would alternatively be 310, 311, 313, 312, 317, 318, 319, 320, 314, 315, 316, and 321. As such, the presenter can upon beginning the presentation select a frame of reference that aligns with the audience for this presentation. Optionally, upon reaching other points within the presentation the presenter may be provided with secondary frame of references, such that upon entering a product overview section of their presentation after completing a corporate overview they can select the frame of reference, and hence product sequence, matching their needs at that point.
It would be evident that the frames of reference can combine many of the embodiments presented supra, as well as allowing omission of elements of the document, linking to externally stored documents within some frames of reference and not others, and selecting different external document within different frames of reference.
Numerous other embodiments may be envisioned without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/762,128, filed on Jan. 26, 2006, and 60/762,514, filed on Jan. 27, 2006, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60762128 | Jan 2006 | US | |
| 60762514 | Jan 2006 | US |
