Method and system for enhanced detail-in-context viewing

1. A method for generating a presentation of a region of interest in an original image for display on a display screen, comprising:

applying a lens to a border region of the region of interest in the original image by displacing the border region onto the lens and projecting the displacing onto a plane in a uniform direction aligned with a viewpoint, wherein the lens remains constant while transitioning between first and second locations for the region of interest in the original image; and,

displaying the presentation on the display screen.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the viewpoint remains constant while transitioning between the first and second locations.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the lens has a magnified region for the border region.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the magnified region has a diminishing magnification.

5. A system for generating a presentation of a region of interest in an original image for display on a display screen, comprising:

a processor coupled to memory and the display screen; and, modules within the memory and executed by the processor, the modules including:

a module for applying a lens to a border region of the region of interest in the original image by displacing the border region onto the lens and projecting the displacing onto a plane in a uniform direction aligned with a viewpoint, wherein the viewpoint remains constant while transitioning between first and second locations for the region of interest in the original image; and,

a module for displaying the presentation on the display screen.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein the lens remains constant while transitioning between the first and second locations.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the lens has a magnified region for the border region.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the magnified region has a diminishing magnification.

9. A system for displaying a region of interest while transitioning between first and second locations for the region of interest within visual information on a display screen, comprising:

a processor coupled to memory and the display screen; and, modules within the memory and executed by the processor, the modules including:

a module for applying a transformation to a border region of the region of interest in the visual information to improve visual detail in the border region of the region of interest by:

establishing a lens surface for the border region having a lens surface shape; and, generating a presentation by overlaying the visual information on the lens surface and projecting the lens surface with the visual information onto a plane in a uniform direction aligned with a viewpoint, wherein at least one of the lens surface shape and the viewpoint remain constant during the transitioning between the first and second locations; and, a module for displaying the presentation on the display screen.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the transformation transforms only a portion of the visual information in the region of interest.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the portion is the border of the region of interest.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the border region is a periphery of the region of interest.

13. The system of claim 9 wherein the lens surface for the border region is defined by a distortion function.

14. The system of claim 9 wherein the lens surface for the border region is defined by a predetermined portion of a lens surface for rendering the region of interest.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the predetermined portion is a border region of the lens surface for rendering the region of interest.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the predetermined portion is a periphery of the lens surface for rendering the region of interest.

17. The system of claim 14 wherein the lens surface for rendering the region of interest is defined by the distortion function.

18. The system of claim 9 and further comprising a module for establishing a path between the first and second locations for the region of interest.

19. The system of claim 18 wherein the path is established automatically by a predetermined program.

20. The system of claim 18 wherein the path is established by user selection.

21. The system of claim 9 and further comprising a module for at least one of: increasing resolution of the visual information in the region of interest; and, decreasing resolution of the visual information outside the region of interest.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the transformation provides a smooth transition to the region of interest from an adjacent region by blending increased and decreased resolution visual information in predefined regions adjacent to the region of interest.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the blending is performed by averaging the increased and decreased resolution visual information.

24. The system of claim 22 wherein the blending is performed by admixing the increased and decreased resolution visual information.

25. The system of claim 9 and further comprising a module for transmitting the presentation over a network to a remote computer.

26. The system of claim 9 wherein the visual information includes a portable document format (PDF) document.

27. The system of claim 26 and further comprising a module for scaling the visual information to fit on the display screen.

28. The system of claim 9 wherein the region of interest, the lens surface, and the lens surface shape include a plurality of regions of interest, a plurality of lens surfaces, and a plurality of lens surface shapes, respectively.

29. The system of claim 9 wherein the visual information includes one or more of newspapers, magazines, telephone directories, and maps.

30. The system of claim 9 wherein the visual information includes web page content.

31. The system of claim 9 wherein the display screen is contained in a handheld device.

32. The system of claim 9 wherein the visual information is a newspaper page.

33. The system of claim 32 wherein the newspaper page includes one or more of a plurality of headlines, columns, articles, graphics, and advertisements.

34. The system of claim 33 wherein the region of interest includes one or more of a headline, a column, an article, a graphic, and an advertisement.

35. The system of claim 34 wherein the lens surface shape has a shape corresponding to that of the region of interest.

36. The system of claim 35 wherein the lens surface shape has a shape corresponding to a column.

37. The system of claim 36 wherein the transformation increases the font size within a portion of the column.

38. The system of claim 37 wherein the lens surface shape is tapered to provide a continuous transition on at least one side of the portion of the column to undistorted text.