Speed dependent displaying of information items in a graphical user interface
View Patent ↗Electronic device with a display screen and a navigational input device places information items in a string along a path on the display screen. The user can move the string of information items along the path at a variable speed by using the navigational input means. The shape of the path is changed in relation to the speed at which the string of information items is moved along the path. At low speeds the path is substantially rectangular and follows the outline of the rectangular display screen. At higher speeds the path becomes more and more curved.
1. An apparatus with a graphical user interface, said apparatus comprising:
a processor;
a display screen coupled to said processor;
a navigational input device coupled to said processor;
wherein the processor is configured to:
display a plurality of information items on the display screen;
position the information items on the display screen as a string of information items along a path;
move the string of information items along said path in response to input from said navigational input device; and
change a shape of said path in relation to a speed at which the string of information items moves along the path by including only straight sections at zero speed of movement of the string of information items and including one or more curves at increased speeds of movement of the string of information items.
2. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said display screen has a substantially rectangular outline.
3. An apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the path becomes increasingly curved with increasing speed of movement of said string and vice versa.
4. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the path is U-shaped or rectangular at zero speed of movement of the string of information items, and wherein the path gradually or stepwise becomes substantially elliptic with increasing speed of movement of the string of information items and vice versa.
5. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said processor is configured to equally space the information items in said string along said path at a distance that is varied in relation to the speed at which the string moves.
6. An apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the distance between neighboring information items is decreased with increasing speed of movement of said string of information items and vice versa.
7. An apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein said neighboring information items do not overlap one another at zero speed of movement of said string of information items, and wherein said neighboring information items overlap one another at increased speeds of movement of said string of information items.
8. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the shape of the outline or the size or the color of at least one of the information items in said string of information items changes in relation to the speed of movement of said string of information items.
9. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said path is a closed path that fits within the boundaries of the display screen, so that all information items in said string are displayed simultaneously on said display screen.
10. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said path is a closed path that does not fit within the boundaries of said display screen, and wherein only a portion of the information items in said string of information items is displayed at any given point of time on said display screen.
11. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said information items are icons in a menu application or thumbnails of pictures in a gallery application.
12. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein one of said information items is highlighted for selection.
13. An apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the highlighted information item is displayed larger than the other information items in the string.
14. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the information items are selectable items.
15. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the information items are objects of the graphical user interface.
16. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the information items are menu items or virtual command buttons.
17. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the navigational device is a navigation key, a navigation plus select key, a scrollbar, a touchpad, a scroll wheel, a rotator, a joystick or a touch sensitive scroll ring.
18. A method for operating a graphical user interface of an apparatus that is provided with a display screen and a navigational input device, said method comprising:
displaying a string of information items on the display screen along a path;
moving said string of information items along said path in response to input from said navigational input device; and
changing a shape of said path in relation to a speed at which the string of information items moves along the path by including only straight sections at zero speed of movement of the string of information items and including one or more curves at increased speeds of movement of the string of information items.
19. A method according to claim 18 , wherein said path assumes an increasingly curved shape with increasing speed of said string of information items, and wherein said path assumes an increasingly straight shape with decreasing speed of said string of information items.
20. A method according to claim 18 , wherein the speed of movement of said string of information items is controlled by the navigational input device.
21. A method according to claim 18 , wherein a contour or shape of the information items is changed in relation to the speed of the movement of said string of information items.
22. A method according to claim 18 , wherein a distance between neighboring information items in the string of information items is changed in relation to the speed of movement of the string of information items.
23. A software product embodied in a computer readable storage medium for use in an apparatus that is provided with a processor, a display screen and a navigational input device, said software code configured to cause said processor to:
display a string of information items on the display screen along a path,
move said string of information items along said path in response to input from said navigational input device, and
change a shape of said path in relation to a speed at which the string of information items moves along the path by including only straight sections at zero speed of movement of the string of information items and including one or more curves at increased speeds of movement of the string of information items.
24. An apparatus comprising:
means for displaying a string of information items on a display screen of the apparatus along a path,
means for moving said string of information items along said path in response to input from a navigational input device of the apparatus, and
means for changing a shape of said path in relation to a speed at which the string of information items moves along the path by including only straight sections at zero speed of movement of the string of information items and including one or more curves at increased speeds of movement of the string of information items.