Apparatus and Method for Generating and Outputting an Interactive Image Object
An apparatus and method are presented for generating and outputting an interactive image object for display using a graphical user interface. The interactive image object is associated with a computational workflow having a sequence of computational operations. A processor device is configured to determine a required computational operation for the workflow based upon a task request wherein the operation requires a user input. The processor generates the interactive image object.
1 . An apparatus for generating and outputting an interactive image object for display using a graphical user interface, the interactive image object associated with a computational workflow comprising a sequence of computational operations, the apparatus comprising a processor device configured to:
determine a required computational operation for the workflow based upon a task request, the operation requiring a user input;
generate the interactive image object based upon one or both of the determined computational operation or required user input;
by applying, based on context data associated with the workflow, one or more object generation rules determining the configuration of the interactive image object; and
output the interactive image object for display.
2 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the interactive image object, when displayed by the graphical user interface, appears as a graphical image object comprising an interactive graphical image element for receiving the user input.
3 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the object generation rules at least determine the graphical configuration of the interactive graphical image element within the graphical image object.
4 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the processor device is configured to determine the relative positions of a plurality of interactive graphical elements within the graphical image object.
5 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the task request is based on a previously received user data input.
6 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the processor device is configured to determine the context data using the task request.
7 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine a plurality of required computational operations;
assign a priority value to each of the plurality of operations; and
generate the interactive image object based on the priority.
8 . The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a communication device for transmitting the interactive image object to a remote device for display.
9 . A method for generating and outputting an interactive image object for display using a graphical user interface, the interactive image object associated with a computational workflow comprising a sequence of computational operations, the method comprising:
determining a required computational operation for the workflow based upon a task request, the operation requiring a user input;
generating, using a processor, the interactive image object based upon any one or more of, the determined computational operation or required user input;
by applying, based on context data associated with the workflow, one or more object generation rules determining the configuration of the interactive image object; and,
outputting the interactive image object for display.
10 . The method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the interactive image object, when displayed by the graphical user interface, appears as a graphical image object comprising an interactive graphical image element for receiving the user input.
11 . The method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the object generation rules at least determine the graphical configuration of the interactive graphical image element within the graphical image object.
12 . The method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the processor device is configured to determine the relative positions of a plurality of interactive graphical elements within the graphical image object.
13 . The method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the processor device is configured to determine the context data using the task request.
14 . The method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the processor is configured to determine the required computational operation using the context data.
15 . The method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine a plurality of required computational operations;
assign a priority value to each of the plurality of operations; and
generate the interactive image object based on the priority.
16 . The method as claimed in claim 9 further comprising the step of transmitting the interactive image object to a remote device for display using a communication device.
17 . A computer readable medium comprising computer readable instructions configured to give effect to the method as claimed in claim 9 .