Virtual monocle interface for information visualization
A virtual monocle interface system comprising multiple interfaces for accessing, presenting, and interacting with multi-dimensional information objects is described. The information objects are visualized in multiple formats across multiple different display units, and displayed for the user to see in two dimensional, two-and-one-half dimensional, or three dimensional forms. The information objects can also be visualized using virtual reality.
1. A computer-implemented method for visualizing a structured, multi-dimensional dataset on multiple display units, comprising:
(a) receiving, from a database, datasets according to a user request, the datasets comprising a plurality of information objects, wherein the plurality of information objects are a set of records linked or related using a mathematical relationship defined in a multi-dimensional space and wherein each information object comprises structured data including sub-objects;
(b) displaying, on a first graphical user interface of a first device, a first visualization of the plurality of information objects;
(c) determining, by one or more processors, which subset of the plurality of information objects to be displayed on a second graphical user interface based at least on user information, user inputs, and information obtained from the first device and a second device, wherein the information comprises one or more members selected from the group consisting of a position, distance, and orientation of the second device with respect to the first device once the first device is connected to the second device; and
(d) displaying, on the second graphical user interface of the second device, a second visualization of the subset of the information objects, the second visualization different in form from the first visualization.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first visualization is in a three-dimensional space.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the second visualization is in a two-dimensional space.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first visualization or the second visualization is in a virtual reality environment.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of information objects are represented in the three-dimensional space using aerial projections.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the subset of the plurality of information objects are represented in a two-dimensional space, wherein the subset of the plurality of information objects are flattened into a two-dimensional space and additional contextual information related to the information objects are introduced on the second graphical user interface.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the information objects have different geometric shapes based at least on the type of the information, the importance of the information, and user feedback or input.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the geometric shapes comprise barrels, cones, cubes, cylinders, ellipsoids, polygons, and pyramids.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the more important information objects have larger sized geometric shapes compared to less important information objects.
10. The method of claim 5 , wherein the correlation among information objects is visualized using edges, wherein the edges comprise lines or arrows.
11. The method of claim 5 , wherein the information objects are repositioned and highlighted for visualization of contextual information.
12. The method of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of information objects are represented in a cityscape visual format, wherein each information object is represented by a building structure and the structured data within each information object is represented as floors of the building structure.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the first visualization includes building structures and the second visualization includes floors.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first graphical user interface is larger than the second graphical user interface.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second device is a mobile device.
16. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first device is a head-mounted display configured to project the plurality of objects in the virtual environment and wherein the subset of the plurality of information objects are determined based at least on the orientation and eye-movement of a user of the head-mounted display.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second device is a head-mounted display configured to project the subset of the plurality of objects in a virtual environment.
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information obtained by the first device and the second device comprises orientation and motion data, wherein the orientation and motion data is obtained from sensors onboard the first device and second device.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the dataset further comprises a context array, the context array comprising data on the user including the user's identity, historic activity, and preferences, and wherein the first visualization and the second visualization are based at least on the context array.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user inputs comprise gestures.
21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the gestures comprise tap, double-tap, drag, pinch, press, swipe.
22. A virtual monocle interface system for visualizing information, comprising:
a database configured to store a plurality of information objects, wherein the plurality of information objects are a set of records linked or related using a mathematical relationship defined in a multi-dimensional space and wherein each information object comprises structured data including sub-objects;
a first device comprising a first graphics user interface;
a second device comprising a second graphical user interface; and
one or more processors in communication with a computer readable medium storing software instructions that are executable by the one or more processors in order to cause the virtual monocle interface system to:
receive, from the database, the plurality of information objects corresponding to a user request;
display, on the first graphical user interface of the first device, a first visualization of the plurality of information objects;
determine, by the one or more processors, which subset of the plurality of information objects to be displayed on the second graphical user interface based at least on user information, user inputs, and information obtained from the first device and the second device, wherein the information comprises one or more members selected from the group consisting of a position, distance, and orientation of the second device with respect to the first device once the first device is connected to the second device; and
display, on the second graphical user interface of the second device, a second visualization of the subset of the information objects, the second visualization different in form from the first visualization.
23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the first visualization is in a three-dimensional space.
24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the second visualization is in a two-dimensional space.
25. The system of claim 22 , wherein the first visualization or the second visualization are in a virtual reality environment.
26. The system of claim 23 , wherein the plurality of information objects are represented in the three-dimensional space using aerial projections.