User intent during object scrolling
View Patent ↗Particular embodiments arrange a plurality of objects in a hierarchy, the hierarchy having one or more layers and each layer having at least one of the objects; display a portion of a sequence of first objects on a screen of a user device, the sequence of first objects all belong to a first layer in the hierarchy, each first object having as its children one or more second objects belonging to a second layer immediately below the first layer in the hierarchy; in response to a user scrolling through the sequence of first objects, estimate which specific first object in the sequence the user is likely to be viewing at a predetermined time in the future based on an acceleration of the user scrolling through the sequence of first objects; and preload the second objects that are children of the specific first object.
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
loading, into a memory of a user device, at least a first set of a plurality of objects in a hierarchy upon opening of the first set of the objects, the hierarchy having one or more layers and each layer having at least one of the objects,
wherein the loaded objects comprise a first set of parent objects and, for at least one of the parent objects, a set of child objects associated with the parent object in the hierarchy,
wherein the first set of parent objects comprises a table of contents section that comprises a plurality of thumbnails, and
wherein the table of contents section and the corresponding thumbnails are loaded into the memory of the user device;
displaying a subset of the loaded objects on a screen of the user device, the displayed objects comprising:
at least one parent object of the first set of parent objects, wherein the loaded parent objects are successively presented in a sequence when scrolling input is received with respect to the displayed parent objects; and
one or more child objects, each of the displayed child objects being associated with one of the displayed parent objects; and
in response to receiving the scrolling input with respect to the displayed parent objects, preloading a second set of a plurality of objects in the hierarchy different from the first set of the plurality of objects to be displayed after the displayed subset of loaded objects based on the acceleration of the received scrolling input through the sequence of parent objects such that
when the acceleration of the received scrolling input is less than or equal to a predetermined acceleration, the preloading of the second set of the plurality of objects includes preloading and storing one or more child objects associated with at least one of the loaded parent objects; and
when the acceleration of the received scrolling input is more than the predetermined acceleration, the preloading of the second set of the plurality of objects includes preloading and storing a second set of parent objects different from the first set of parent objects and concurrently preloading and storing one or more child objects associated with at least one parent object of the second set of parent objects.
2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:
the user scrolls through the displayed parent objects by swiping across the screen of the user device; and
the acceleration of the user scrolling is determined based on a speed the user swipes across the screen of the user device.
3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein when the user scrolls through the displayed parent objects at the acceleration that is greater than the predetermined acceleration, the second set of the plurality of objects in the hierarchy are further, in position, from the displayed parent objects currently displayed on the screen of the user device.
4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein when the user scrolls through the displayed parent objects at the acceleration that is less than or equal to the predetermined acceleration, the second set of the plurality of objects in the hierarchy are closer, in position, to the displayed parent objects currently displayed on the screen of the user device.
5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein preloading the child objects associated with at least one of the loaded parent objects comprises downloading the child objects from a remote device to the user device.
6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein preloading the child objects associated with at least one of the loaded parent objects comprises rendering the child objects for display.
7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein each parent object is a photo album and each child object is a photo belonging to a specific photo album.
8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein each parent object is a section of a digital book and each child object is a page belonging to a specific section.
9. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed to:
load, into a memory of a user device, at least a first set of a plurality of objects in a hierarchy upon opening of the first set of the objects, the hierarchy having one or more layers and each layer having at least one of the objects,
wherein the loaded objects comprise a first set of parent objects and, for at least one of the parent objects, a set of child objects associated with the parent object in the hierarchy,
wherein the first set of parent objects comprises a table of contents section that comprises a plurality of thumbnails, and
wherein the table of contents section and the corresponding thumbnails are loaded into the memory of the user device;
display a subset of the loaded objects on a screen of the user device, the displayed objects comprising:
at least one parent object of the first set of parent objects, wherein the loaded parent objects are successively presented in a sequence when scrolling input is received with respect to the displayed parent objects; and
one or more child objects, each of the displayed child objects being associated with one of the displayed parent objects; and
in response to receiving the scrolling input with respect to the displayed parent objects, preloading a second set of a plurality of objects in the hierarchy different from the first set of the plurality of objects to be displayed after the displayed subset of loaded objects based on the acceleration of the received scrolling input through the sequence of parent objects such that
when the acceleration of the received scrolling input is less than or equal to a predetermined acceleration, the preloading of the second set of the plurality of objects includes preloading and storing one or more child objects associated with at least one of the loaded parent objects; and
when the acceleration of the received scrolling input is more than the predetermined acceleration, the preloading of the second set of the plurality of objects includes preloading and storing a second set of parent objects different from the first set of parent objects and concurrently preloading and storing one or more child objects associated with at least one parent object of the second set of parent objects.
10. The media of claim 9 , wherein:
the user scrolls through the displayed parent objects by swiping across the screen of the user device; and
the acceleration of the user scrolling is determined based on a speed the user swipes across the screen of the user device.
11. The media of claim 9 , wherein when the user scrolls through the displayed parent objects at the acceleration that is greater than the predetermined acceleration, the second set of the plurality of objects in the hierarchy are further, in position, from the displayed parent objects currently displayed on the screen of the user device.
12. The media of claim 9 , wherein when the user scrolls through the displayed parent objects at the acceleration that is less than or equal to the predetermined acceleration, the second set of the plurality of objects in the hierarchy are closer, in position, to the displayed parent objects currently displayed on the screen of the user device.
13. The media of claim 9 , wherein preload the child objects associated with at least one of the loaded parent objects comprises download the child objects from a remote device to the user device.
14. The media of claim 9 , wherein preload the child objects associated with at least one of the loaded parent objects comprises render the child objects for display.
15. A system comprising:
one or more processors; and
a memory coupled to the processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors operable when executing the instructions to:
load, into a memory of a user device, at least a first set of a plurality of objects in a hierarchy upon opening of the first set of the objects, the hierarchy having one or more layers and each layer having at least one of the objects,
wherein the loaded objects comprise a first set of parent objects and, for at least one of the parent objects, a set of child objects associated with the parent object in the hierarchy,
wherein the first set of parent objects comprises a table of contents section that comprises a plurality of thumbnails, and
wherein the table of contents section and the corresponding thumbnails are loaded into the memory of the user device;
display a subset of the loaded objects on a screen of the user device, the displayed objects comprising:
at least one parent object of the first set of parent objects, wherein the loaded parent objects are successively presented in a sequence when scrolling input is received with respect to the displayed parent objects; and;
one or more child objects, each of the displayed child objects being associated with one of the displayed parent objects; and
in response to receiving the scrolling input with respect to the displayed parent objects, preloading a second set of a plurality of objects in the hierarchy different from the first set of the plurality of objects to be displayed after the displayed subset of loaded objects based on the acceleration of the received scrolling input through the sequence of parent objects such that
when the acceleration of the received scrolling input is less than or equal to a predetermined acceleration, the preloading of the second set of the plurality of objects includes preloading and storing one or more child objects associated with at least one of the loaded parent objects; and
when the acceleration of the received scrolling input is more than the predetermined acceleration, the preloading of the second set of the plurality of objects includes preloading and storing a second set of parent objects different from the first set of parent objects and concurrently preloading and storing one or more child objects associated with at least one parent object of the second set of parent objects.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein:
the user scrolls through the displayed parent objects by swiping across the screen of the user device; and
the acceleration of the user scrolling is determined based on a speed the user swipes across the screen of the user device.
17. The system of claim 15 , wherein when the user scrolls through the displayed parent objects at the acceleration that is greater than the predetermined acceleration, the second set of the plurality of objects in the hierarchy are further, in position, from the displayed parent objects currently displayed on the screen of the user device.
18. The system of claim 15 , wherein when the user scrolls through the displayed parent objects at the acceleration that is less than or equal to the predetermined acceleration, the second set of the plurality of objects in the hierarchy are closer, in position, to the displayed parent objects currently displayed on the screen of the user device.
19. The system of claim 15 , wherein preload the child objects associated with at least one of the loaded parent objects comprises download the child objects from a remote device to the user device.
20. The system of claim 15 , wherein preload the child objects associated with at least one of the loaded parent objects comprises render the child objects for display.