IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,797,632
Granted Patent B2
US 11,797,632 · App. 17/188,941 · Granted Oct 24, 2023

Image reranking and presentation for visual exploration

Inventors: Nikita Astrakhantsev (Bellevue, WA); Parthasarathy Govindarajen (Sammamish, WA); Nektarios Ioannides (Seattle, WA); Arun Sacheti (Sammamish, WA); Alexander Jack Sunell (Seattle, WA); Avinash Vemuluru (Sammamish, WA); Xiaodong Fan (Bellevue, WA); Dong Han Wang (Bellev, WA); Alexandra Victoria Foote (Bellevue, WA); Jun Liu (Bellevue, WA); Elena Usinskiene (Seattle, WA); Diane Ash Shambaugh (Redmond, WA); Qianyue You (Renton, WA); Liang Tang (Bothell, WA); Souvick Sarkar (Redmond, WA); Jeffrey Roger Devries (Seattle, WA); Adam Jeffrey Curtis (Seattle, WA)
Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
G06F16/9538G06F16/538G06F40/106G06F40/14G06T11/60
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,797,632
App. No.
17/188,941
Filed
Mar 1, 2021
Granted
Oct 24, 2023
Kind
B2
Art Unit
3668
USPC
715/234
Abstract

The present disclosure relates to systems, devices, and methods for a visual exploration of search engine results. The systems, devices, and methods may present, in response to receiving the search engine results for a query to perform a task, a search result webpage with a cascading waterfall layout that includes a plurality of images from a plurality of webpages included in the search results. The search result webpage may also present, adjacent to the plurality of images, structured data corresponding to a selected image from the plurality of images where the structured data includes details from the webpage to complete the task.

Claims (57)

1. A method for presenting structured data with search engine results on a display of a device, comprising:

receiving a query from a user, wherein the query identifies a multi-step task and comprises a request for task details for completing the task;

providing the query to a search engine;

responsive to providing the query, receiving results from the search engine, wherein the received results include identification of a plurality of webpages, wherein each webpage of the plurality of webpages includes details to complete the task;

presenting on the display a search result webpage responsive to receiving the results, the search result webpage including a plurality of images from the plurality of webpages, wherein the plurality of images are presented in a cascading waterfall layout that includes a plurality of columns by placing one image of the plurality of images into each column of the plurality of columns and continuing to place images into each column based on an available number of pixels in a column until a predetermined number of images are displayed in the cascading waterfall layout;

receiving a user selection of an image from the plurality of images; and

responsive to the user selection:

presenting, adjacent to the plurality of images on the search result webpage, structured data corresponding to the image, the structured data comprising details from the webpage to complete the task; and

adjusting the presentation of the cascading waterfall layout based on the selection of the image, wherein the adjusting includes at least one of: resizing a column of the plurality of columns, and rearranging an ordering of images within at least one column of the plurality of columns.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein adjusting the presentation of the cascading waterfall layout occurs without issuing a new search request to the search engine or changing the query from the user.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a number of columns selected for the cascading waterfall layout is based on a size of the display; and

wherein adjusting the presentation of the cascading waterfall layout further includes reducing the number of columns displayed and rearranging a position of the plurality of images to fit within the reduced number of columns.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein displaying the plurality of images further comprises:

determining which column has a least number of pixels from a top of the search result webpage;

placing a next image of the plurality of images into the column with the least number of pixels; and

continuing to determine which column has the least number of pixels from the top of the search result webpage and placing another image of the plurality of images into the column with the least number of pixels until a predetermined number of images are displayed in the cascading waterfall layout.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the structured data is presented at a position on the display, and wherein the position of the structured data on the display remains constant while a user is scrolling through rows of the plurality of images in the cascading waterfall layout.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cascading waterfall layout is displayed at a top portion of the search result webpage and textual search results for the query are presented below the cascading waterfall layout.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one webpage of the plurality of webpages includes a video describing task details; and

wherein the cascading waterfall layout includes the plurality of images and the video, wherein at least one display attribute of the video is visually distinct from display attributes of the plurality of images.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the structure data includes one or more of the following from the webpage: steps for performing the task, step-by-step images for performing the task, a list of materials needed for performing the task, an estimated time required to complete the task.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the structured data includes one or more of the following from sources other than the webpage: estimated cost of materials for the task, local availability of materials for the task, substitute materials for the task, or an aggregation of information from different webpages for the task.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the search result webpage includes filter options for filtering the cascading waterfall based on the structured data associated with each image.

11. A device, comprising:

one or more processors;

memory in electronic communication with the one or more processors; and

instructions stored in the memory, the instructions executable by the one or more processors to:

receiving a query from a user, wherein the query identifies a multi-step task and comprises a request for task details for completing the task;

providing the query to a search engine;

responsive to providing the query, receiving results from the search engine, wherein the received results include identification of a plurality of webpages, wherein each webpage of the plurality of webpages includes details to complete the task;

presenting on a display a search result webpage responsive to receiving the results, the search result webpage including a plurality of images from the plurality of webpages, wherein the plurality of images are presented in a cascading waterfall layout that includes a plurality of columns by placing one image of the plurality of images into each column of the plurality of columns and continuing to place images into each column based on an available number of pixels in a column until a predetermined number of images are displayed in the cascading waterfall layout;

receiving a user selection of an image from the plurality of images; and

responsive to the user selection:

presenting, adjacent to the plurality of images on the search result webpage, structured data corresponding to the image, the structured data comprising details from the webpage to complete the task; and

adjusting the presentation of the cascading waterfall layout based on the selection of the image, wherein the adjusting includes at least one of: resizing a column of the plurality of columns, and rearranging an ordering of images within at least one column of the plurality of columns.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to adjust the presentation of the cascading waterfall layout without issuing a new search request to the search engine or changing the query from the user.

13. The device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to select a number of columns for the cascading waterfall layout based on a size of the display; and

adjust the presentation of the cascading waterfall layout by reducing the number of columns displayed and rearranging a position of the plurality of images to fit within the reduced number of columns.

14. The device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to display the plurality of images by:

determining which column has a least number of pixels from a top of the search result webpage;

placing a next image of the plurality of images into the column with the least number of pixels; and

continuing to determine which column has the least number of pixels from the top of the search result webpage and placing another image of the plurality of images into the column with the least number of pixels until a predetermined number of images are displayed in the cascading waterfall layout.

15. The device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions are further executable by the one or more processors to present the structured data at a position on the display, and wherein the position of the structured data on the display remains constant while a user is scrolling through rows of the plurality of images in the cascading waterfall layout.

16. The device of claim 11 , wherein at least one webpage of the plurality of webpages includes a video describing task details; and

wherein the cascading waterfall layout includes the plurality of images and the video, wherein at least one display attribute of the video is visually distinct from display attributes of the plurality of images.

17. The device of claim 11 , wherein the structure data includes one or more of the following from the webpage: steps for performing the task, step-by-step images for performing the task, a list of materials needed for performing the task, an estimated time required to complete the task.

18. The device of claim 17 , wherein the structured data includes one or more of the following from sources other than the webpage: estimated cost of materials for the task, local availability of materials for the task, substitute materials for the task, or an aggregation of information from different webpages for the task.

19. The device of claim 11 , wherein the search result webpage includes filter options for filtering the cascading waterfall based on the structured data associated with each image.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a computer device, comprising:

at least one instruction for causing the computer device to receive a query from a user, wherein the query identifies a multi-step task and comprises a request for task details for completing the task;

at least one instruction for causing the computer device to provide the query to a search engine;

at least one instruction for causing the computer device to receive results from the search engine, responsive to providing the query, wherein the received results include identification of a plurality of webpages, wherein each webpage of the plurality of webpages includes details to complete the task;

at least one instruction for causing the computer device to present on a display a search result webpage responsive to receiving the results, the search result webpage including a plurality of images from the plurality of webpages, wherein the plurality of images are presented in a cascading waterfall layout that includes a plurality of columns by placing one image of the plurality of images into each column of the plurality of columns and continuing to place images into each column based on an available number of pixels in a column until a predetermined number of images are displayed in the cascading waterfall layout;

at least one instruction for causing the computer device to receive a user selection of an image from the plurality of images; and

responsive to the user selection:

at least one instruction for causing the computer device to present, adjacent to the plurality of images on the search result webpage, structured data corresponding to the image, the structured data comprising details from the webpage to complete the task; and

at least one instruction for causing the computer device to adjust the presentation of the cascading waterfall layout based on the selection of the image, wherein the adjusting includes at least one of: resizing a column of the plurality of columns, and rearranging an ordering of images within at least one column of the plurality of columns.

Assignments (3)
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE NINETH INVENTOR'S NAME PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 055453 FRAME: 0767. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSINGMENT. Recorded Feb 22, 2022
From: ASTRAKHANTSEV, NIKITA; GOVINDARAJEN, PARTHASARATHY; IOANNIDES, NEKTARIOS; SACHETI, ARUN; SUNELL, ALEXANDER JACK; VEMULURU, AVINASH; FAN, XIAODONG; FOOTE, ALEXANDRA VICTORIA; LIU, JUN; USINSKIENE, ELENA; SHAMBAUGH, DIANE ASH; YOU, QIANYUE; TANG, LIANG; SARKAR, SOUVICK; DEVRIES, JEFFREY ROGER; CURTIS, ADAM JEFFREY
To: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
Reel/Frame 059352/0955 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 2, 2021
From: WANG, DONG HAN
To: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
Reel/Frame 055454/0207 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 1, 2021
From: ASTRAKHANTSEV, NIKITA; GOVINDARAJEN, PARTHASARATHY; IOANNIDES, NEKTARIOS; SACHETI, ARUN; SUNELL, ALEXANDER JACK; VEMULURU, AVINASH; FAN, XIAODONG; FOOTE, ALEXANDRA VICTORIA; LIU, JUNE; USINSKIENE, ELENA; SHAMBAUGH, DIANE ASH; YOU, QIANYUE; TANG, LIANG; SARKAR, SOUVICK; DEVRIES, JEFFREY ROGER; CURTIS, ADAM JEFFREY
To: MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING, LLC
Reel/Frame 055453/0767 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20220277056A1 · Sep 1, 2022
Cited By (1)
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