HK1094064B - Improved presentation of large objects on small displays - Google Patents

Description

Improving the display of large objects on small displays

Technical Field

The invention relates to a method, a computer program product, a device and a system for displaying at least a part of an object on a display.

Background

The miniaturization of multimedia devices such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) or mobile phones, which is in progress in recent years, appears to be limited only by the perception of human users. This applies in particular to devices for the display of multimedia devices, a clear trend of which is to increase the relative area of the device consumed by its display. However, the display size of, for example, a handheld device must be much smaller than what is typically designed for content. If content such as the World Wide Web (WWW), i.e. web pages formatted according to the hypertext markup language (HTML) or derivatives thereof (e.g. extensible HTML (xhtml)), is displayed on the display of a handheld device, it must be taken into account that these web pages typically have the original presentation size for display on a computer monitor, which is often much larger than the display size of a handheld device such as a mobile phone.

Viewing a web page on a small display requires horizontal and vertical scrolling with a scroll bar, which is generally uncomfortable or even annoying for the user.

Thus, most browsers installed on e.g. handheld devices for interpreting web page content provide the possibility to view web pages in a format optimized for the display size of the handheld device. This is typically accomplished by fitting the web page to the width of the device display.

This method of fitting a page to the width of the display of a device creates the following problems:

the generated page becomes very tall and so requires many vertical scrolls.

The structure of the web page remains poorly after this rendering, e.g. form members like input fields often become far apart if aligned using a form.

The original layout mode is required as an additional viewing method, since all pages are not available for conversion to high and narrow format.

In the original layout mode, the web page is displayed in its original representation size, i.e. the objects of the web page have a size indicated by the object format (e.g. image or text format) and/or the mark-up language. Even when such an original layout mode is provided by a browser, the following problems further arise:

because the web page area is large, many moves and zooms are required to view all the content of the web page.

On small displays it is difficult to calculate the structure of a large page, i.e. the browser may lose the profile of the entire web page.

The text sections in the original layout are usually larger than the width of the display, so these sections in the original layout pattern on small displays are often difficult to read.

A very similar problem is encountered when not two-dimensional (2D) objects, such as pages, but three-dimensional (3D) objects are displayed on a display. An example of such a 3D object is a 3D map of a town, e.g. viewing a Virtual Reality Markup Language (VRML) or a 3D calendar representation in which days, months or years may be represented by cubes placed correspondingly to each other. There is currently no technique for displaying such objects, typically large 3D, on a small display.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method, a computer program product, a device and a system for improving the display of large objects on small displays.

There is provided a method of displaying at least a portion of an object, comprising at least partially segmenting at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects, displaying the plurality of sub-objects in a first representation, making at least one sub-object of the plurality of sub-objects an active sub-object, and in response to a user operation on the at least one active sub-object, displaying at least one of the at least one active sub-object in a second representation.

The at least one object comprises content that may be composed or organized, for example, the object may contain a graphic, a table, a paragraph of text, a form, a 3D block, or similar element. The layout and size of the at least one object may be optimized for display on a computer monitor or television screen. In order to allow at least a part of the at least one object to be displayed, for example on a display whose display size, such as the display diagonal or the height and width of the display, may be substantially smaller than the size of a computer monitor or a television screen, the at least one object is at least partially segmented into a plurality of sub-objects. For example, if the at least one object is configured as a table, a table cell may represent the sub-objects, and/or if the at least one object contains a graphic, the graphic may represent the sub-objects.

The at least one object is at least partially segmented into the plurality of sub-objects. The entire object or only a part of the object is divided into sub-objects. In the case of several objects, the objects may be completely divided into the partial objects or only a part of each object may be divided into the partial objects. The portions may be equal for the objects, e.g. only the content of a central area or a specific frame on each object or the portions of the objects may be different.

The at least one object may be segmented into different types of sub-objects, wherein each type is characterized by different degrees of detail, different sizes, or different appearances, and wherein the different types of sub-objects may be related to each other. The object may for example be a map of a town, the sub-objects of the first type may be buildings of the town, and the sub-objects of the second type may be rooms of a building, wherein the rooms may then be associated with the building. The plurality of sub-objects may then have a hierarchical structure.

According to the invention it is also possible that several objects are partially segmented into sub-objects. These several objects may be, for example, pages of a text document, a displayed slide, several web pages, several 3D objects, or any other collection of information-bearing objects. When the several objects are divided into the component objects, each component object does not necessarily correspond to one object. For example, several objects may correspond to sub-objects, or only portions of objects may correspond to sub-objects. The method comprises the steps of at least partially dividing the several objects into sub-objects displayed in a first representation, and then, when operated by a user, displaying an overview that enables the user to comfortably obtain information that is spread across the several objects and thus difficult to perceive naturally, at least partially in a second representation.

The plurality of sub-objects is then displayed in a first representation. This may for example be a small representation, i.e. the sub-objects are reduced in size compared to their original representation size, wherein the original representation size of the sub-objects depends on the original representation size of the at least one object of which the sub-object is a part. The original representation size of the at least one object may for example be the size of the at least one object as specified by the format of the object, such as a 2D or 3D image or text format or a markup language, and may for example be in pixels or inches. In the first representation, the sub-objects of the plurality of sub-objects may be reduced to a smaller size, for example, by reducing the height and/or width and/or depth of the original representation size of the sub-object, or may be cropped by cutting out a portion of the sub-object and displaying the remaining portion, for example, the content in the upper left corner of the 2D sub-object, or may be indicated with an icon using an image or an input field, for example. Different size reduction techniques may be used for different sub-objects of the plurality of sub-objects, such as shrinking, cropping, using icons, or any combination thereof. The first representation may also include sub-objects that are completely empty of objects if the sub-object is determined to not contain relevant information or if it is desired to remove an advertisement or other unwanted content. In the first representation, the actual content of the sub-objects displayed in the first representation may no longer be clearly discernible. However, active elements within the sub-object, such as hyperlinks, live images, forms or similar elements, may still work properly (or at least be identifiable) in the first representation.

Since the plurality of sub-objects are displayed in the first representation, the original representation size of at least one object can be reduced to a size at which it is itself displayed on the small display. However, even in this first representation, 1D, 2D or 3D scrolling (one, two or three dimensions of a cartesian or spherical coordinate system, respectively) may be required to search for sub-objects of the plurality of sub-objects displayed in the first representation. Even when the content of one or more sub-objects displayed in said first representation is no longer clearly visible, the viewer gets an overview of the structure and content of at least one object, wherein the number of required 1D, 2D or 3D scrolls may disappear or at least be reduced. The same applies to displaying more than one object by segmenting the object into sub-objects and displaying the sub-objects in a first representation and a second representation, which allows the user to obtain a structural overview of the information that extends across several objects.

When the plurality of sub-objects are displayed in the first representation, at least one of the sub-objects is an active sub-object, i.e. it is made selectable, for example, for a viewer or a browser. The user action on the at least one activity point is then a selection action and the selected at least one activity point becomes a selected point.

The at least one active sub-object may be focused prior to the selection operation. Focusing may be implemented so that the emphasis mark can be navigated within the active sub-object, e.g. via a cursor, and by pressing a key or button, the active sub-object currently emphasized/focused is selected. As an alternative to the selection operation, each activity sub-object may be assigned a number, letter or symbol, which can then be selected by pressing a key with the corresponding number, letter or symbol or entering a command into the user interface. Further alternatively, the selection may be accomplished through the use of a stylus or pointer on the touch screen display, or tapping on the active sub-object using a mouse pointer if mouse functionality is provided in the device, or through eye tracking, voice control, or similar non-contact techniques that allow identification of the selected sub-object. In this case, the user interaction may then simply be an eye movement or speaking.

The selection may also be done automatically by the device or application based on predefined selection information, e.g. a sub-object containing new content or a sub-object containing a frame may be selected automatically, or alternatively the active sub-object may be highlighted automatically, e.g. by placing a focus or cursor over it instead of selecting automatically.

At least one of the at least one movable sub-object is then displayed in a second representation. If the user action is to select the at least one active sub-object, the at least one active sub-object displayed in the second representation then corresponds to the selected sub-object. In the second representation, which may be a large representation for example, the selected sub-object may be enlarged to a larger format than in the first representation, or may be cropped less, or both, so that its content may be viewed and used more accurately. If the selected sub-object is indicated by an icon displayed in the first representation, its actual content may be displayed in the second representation. In the second representation, the selected sub-object may be scaled to fit at least one dimension of the display, such as the width of the display (which may be scaled to display text, for example, in full representation size but force it to the width of the wrapped display), or it may be scaled to the size it originally represents (possibly causing all text within the sub-object to be forced to the width of the wrapped display and, for example, left justified). However, it may still be necessary to view the selected sub-objects displayed in the second representation in their entirety. In the second representation, the selected sub-object may be displayed alone or together with adjacent sub-objects, wherein active adjacent sub-objects or active and inactive adjacent sub-objects may be displayed. It is possible to scroll from the selected sub-object to the adjacent sub-object by interaction of a viewer or a browser. The at least one selected sub-object and possibly the adjacent sub-objects displayed in the second representation and the sub-objects displayed in the first representation can also be displayed simultaneously. For example, when the plurality of sub-objects displayed in the first representation are displayed, a selection of an active sub-object may result in a magnification of the selected sub-object, wherein the selected sub-object is then displayed in the second representation together with the plurality of sub-objects displayed in the first representation, but the first representation of the selected sub-object may not appear, the selected object now being displayed in the second representation. In order to maintain the layout of the at least one object when the first representation and the second representation are mixed, sub-objects having at least partially the same height or width or depth as the selected sub-object are also displayed in the second representation, which sub-objects have at least the same height or width or depth as the selected sub-object, for example, in a 2D table layout, with their enlargement depending on the size or scaling of the selected sub-object represented in said second representation. For these sub-objects with the same height/width/depth, the enlargement can also be done in one dimension, e.g. only increasing the width of the sub-objects above/below the selected sub-object. By de-selecting the selected sub-object, the plurality of sub-objects is then displayed again in the first representation and a different active sub-object may be selected for closer viewing. When an active sub-object is selected, the user may scroll the display on which it is displayed, causing one or more adjacent sub-objects to become visible, where these adjacent sub-objects may be displayed in either the first representation or the second representation. The user may then directly select any adjacent sub-objects, after which the newly selected sub-object is displayed in the second representation and the other sub-objects (including the sub-objects previously displayed in the second representation) are displayed in the first representation.

Alternatively, when the adjacent sub-object is selected, the adjacent sub-object and the previously selected sub-object are displayed in the second representation. In this manner, at a time, the user may select more than one sub-object to be displayed in the second representation. The user may also deselect the partial objects one by one to return them to being displayed in the first representation.

The invention notably allows to improve the display of large objects on a small display, displayed in a clear first representation, by dividing at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects, by making it possible to make the viewer see a structural overview of at least one object, by selecting, possibly via user operation, an active sub-object displayed in said first representation and then viewing said selected sub-object displayed in a second representation, and by making it possible to display the relevant sub-objects of at least one object in a sufficient size. In contrast to the prior art, it is possible to eliminate the need for a complex layout pattern. The number of scrolling, moving and zooming required to obtain a profile of at least one object and to search its content can be greatly reduced, requiring less user interaction and facilitating one-handed use.

According to the method of the invention, said at least one object and said sub-objects are 3D objects. The at least one object may for example be a 3D map, which may for example comply with a Virtual Reality Markup Language (VRML) or a 3D calendar or any other information displayed under exploitation of the third spatial dimension. The sub-objects may for example be blocks or buildings of a town if the 3D object is a 3D map of the town, or rooms of a building if the 3D object is a building. If a 3D object is to be displayed, the display may be a special display, such as a 3D display or a standard display, which is particularly suitable for displaying 3D objects.

According to the method of the invention, said at least one object is a page and said sub-objects are regions. The at least one object and the sub-object are 2D objects. The page may be, for example, a page of a text document, a slide representation, or a web page.

According to the method of the invention, in the user operation, at least one of the at least one active sub-object is selected, and wherein at least the selected sub-object is displayed in the second representation.

According to the method of the invention, at least two sub-objects of the plurality of sub-objects are made to be movable sub-objects. The viewer may then select at least one of the two active sub-objects to be displayed in the second representation.

According to the method of the invention, the step of at least partially segmenting the at least one object into the plurality of sub-objects is based on a structure of at least a part of the at least one object. The structure may be based on the appearance of at least a part of the at least one object, and if the at least one object is a picture containing several elements, the elements may be assigned to respective sub-objects. In the case of several objects, the structure may be based at least in part on the order in which the objects are logically connected, such that, for example, the several objects are partitioned into a plurality of sub-objects, where each sub-object contains some consecutive objects or the like. The structure may also be based on a format defining the object. For example, if the object is a web page that conforms to the Hypertext markup language (HTML) or similar language format, the object is inherently constructed from HTML elements such as frames, tables, paragraphs, images, and hyperlinks. When the object is divided into the plurality of elements, HTML tags marking the start and end of HTML elements can be searched. The same is true if the object is, for example, a 3D object that complies with virtual reality language (VRML). The splitting may be performed, for example, by a browser or any other application installed in the device or by a content optimization server in the network, i.e. a server located between the client and the server providing the object. The data traffic passes through a content optimization server that may be able to modify objects to make them more suitable for mobile clients.

According to the method of the invention, said step of at least partially segmenting said at least one object into said plurality of sub-objects is based on a segmentation algorithm. The segmentation algorithm may be based on predetermined rules and perform a partial or complete segmentation of the at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects according to these rules. If the object is an object with a hierarchical structure, the structure may be considered in the segmentation algorithm. Otherwise, the object may be segmented into a certain size, such as a certain rectangle for a 2D object and a certain parallelepiped for a 3D object.

According to the method of the invention, in the first representation, at least one sub-object of the plurality of sub-objects is reduced to a size smaller than the original representation size of the respective sub-object. The original representation size of the sub-object depends on an original representation size of the at least one object of which the sub-object is a part. The original representation size of the at least one object may for example be the size of the at least one object as specified by the format of the object, such as a 2D or 3D image or text format or a markup language, and may for example be in pixels or inches. The original representation size of the at least one object may be substantially different from an original size of content of the at least one object. For example, if the at least one object is an image, the content (or drawing) of the image may be substantially larger or smaller than its own representation in the image, i.e. the image may contain a reduced or enlarged representation of the content.

The scaling may refer to a height, a width, and/or a depth of the original representation size of the sub-object. The scaling may also include image processing techniques, for example to improve the appearance of the sub-objects in the first representation after scaling, or in combination with cropping techniques. Each of the plurality of sub-objects may be equally scaled, or may employ different scaling methods and scaling amounts. For example, if a partial object becomes active and/or is focused in the first representation, different zoom amounts may be applied to the partial object displayed in the first representation, wherein partial objects close to the active/focused partial object and the active/focused partial object are zoomed by a first zoom factor, and the remaining partial objects displayed in the first representation are zoomed by a second zoom factor, wherein the first zoom factor is smaller than the second zoom factor in zoom scale. The active/focused sub-object and the adjacent sub-object are then displayed in a larger size than the remaining sub-objects. It is also possible that the zoom factor of each sub-object gradually increases or decreases as the distance of the respective sub-object from the active/focused sub-object increases.

According to the method of the present invention, in the first representation, at least one sub-object of the plurality of sub-objects is cut. The cutting includes cutting a specific portion of the divided object, for example, an upper left portion or a central portion of the divided object or a particularly important portion may be displayed, wherein the important portion may be automatically determined. The cropping may be combined with scaling and/or image processing.

According to the method of the invention, in the first representation, at least one sub-object of the plurality of sub-objects is indicated by an icon. For example, a sub-object containing an image may be indicated by an image icon. The size of the icon may be smaller than the original representation size of the sub-object. It is also possible that when the user puts focus on a sub-object displayed in said first representation (zoom or/and crop), a small icon may be displayed on a corner of the sub-object to indicate to the user that the object is to be enlarged when the selection is made. If the user moves the focus away from the split object, the icon is also taken away. The icon may also be drawn through so as not to hide the content too much behind it. The icon may be a 2D or 3D icon.

According to the method of the invention, the sub-objects of the plurality of sub-objects having an information content greater than the size threshold and/or containing more than the information threshold become active sub-objects. The size threshold may be, for example, an original representation size of a sub-object, or the size of the sub-object displayed in the first representation or the second representation, and the information threshold may be the number of characters in a text region. The information threshold can also be defined quantitatively, in that the information quantity represented by the sub-object is lower than the information threshold if the sub-object contains, for example, only the input field or similar elements without further text. In the case of a 3D sub-object, the information threshold may also refer to the resolution of the 3D sub-object, e.g. the number of pixels comprised therein.

According to the method of the invention, at least one of the at least one sub-object is automatically focused and/or selected according to a selection criterion. The active sub-objects may be determined, for example by an instance in the device, according to the selection criteria, which selection criteria may for example specify that the first active sub-object of the object must be focused and/or selected, or that the first active sub-object with the input field or image or text or other characteristic content must be focused and/or selected, or that the first sub-object containing new information must be focused and/or selected. The partial objects containing new information may be determined, for example, by comparing information of the current object and the previous object. Also the size of the moving sub-objects may be used as selection criteria.

According to the method of the invention, in said second representation said at least one active sub-object is enlarged to a size larger than the size it is displayed in said first representation. In the first representation, the selected sub-object is scaled, cropped or indicated by an icon, or modified according to any combination of these techniques, wherein the size of the first representation of the selected sub-object may be smaller than the original representation size of the selected sub-object, so as to allow for a compressed display of the object (or portion thereof) on the display. In contrast, in the second representation, the selected sub-object is enlarged or zoomed in to the size of the selected sub-object displayed in the first representation manner, thereby possibly improving the display of the selected sub-object content. In the second representation, the content of the sub-objects may additionally be scaled down or enlarged. The scaling may be such that the response is to the size of the sub-object content displayed in the second representation. Alternatively, the scaling may be applied to all sub-objects (in the first representation and the second representation). In addition, this may be a separate zoom for the sub-objects displayed in the first representation.

According to the method of the invention, in at least one of said sub-objects displayed in said first representation, it is possible for the user to select an element directly. The elements may be, for example, hyperlinks, buttons, parts of 3D objects, or similar elements. In this case, the user can individually select at least one sub-object containing the element to be displayed in the second representation.

According to the method of the invention, the plurality of sub-objects consists of sub-objects of different types, and wherein at least one group of sub-objects of a second type is associated with at least one sub-object of a first type. The types may for example be different levels of detail, size or appearance of the sub-objects. For example, if the object is a 3D object, such as a 3D map of a city filling, the object is segmented into a plurality of sub-objects, where one type of the sub-objects may be houses and a second type of the sub-objects may be rooms of the houses. The house then constitutes a set of sub-objects of said second type associated with a house, which is a sub-object of said first type. The plurality of sub-objects may then have a hierarchical or graduated structure.

According to the method of the invention, the at least one active sub-object displayed in the second representation is the at least one sub-object of the first type, wherein the at least one group of sub-objects of the second type related to the at least one sub-object of the first type is displayed in response to a further user operation on the at least one sub-object of the first type. For example, if the object is a 3D object that is divided into a first type of sub-object, i.e. a house, and a second type of sub-object, i.e. a room of the house, and if one of the houses is displayed in the second representation, the house may be made active and subsequently selected by the user, and then a group of rooms associated with the house may be displayed as the second type of sub-object group. At least one of the rooms may then be further animated and one of the animated rooms selected to obtain a more detailed or larger view of the room.

A computer program with instructions operable to cause a processor to perform the above-described method steps is also provided. The computer program may be implemented, for example, in a device or may be operated in or contained in a browser for use by the device. The program may also be on a server that stores the object or on a content optimization server.

A computer program product is also provided comprising a computer program with instructions operable to cause a processor to perform the above-mentioned method steps. The computer program product may for example be any type of storage medium suitable for cooperating with an electronic device accommodating the display, such as a flash memory card or a magnetic disk. The computer program may be loaded from the computer program product into the internal memory of the digital processor of the device and then processed.

There is also provided an apparatus for displaying at least a portion of an object, comprising: the system comprises means for at least partially segmenting at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects, means for displaying the plurality of sub-objects in a first representation, means for making at least one sub-object of the plurality of sub-objects an active sub-object, and means for displaying at least one of the at least one active sub-object in a second representation. The device may for example be a handheld electronic device, such as a PDA or a mobile phone, or be part of such a device.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the sub-objects are displayed on a display of the portable electronic device.

There is further provided a system for displaying at least a portion of an object, comprising means for at least partially segmenting at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects, means for displaying the plurality of sub-objects in a first representation, means for making at least one sub-object of the plurality of sub-objects an active sub-object, and means for displaying at least one of the at least one active sub-object in a second representation.

The system may comprise several logically or physically separate instances which may together or separately implement means for at least partially segmenting at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects, means for displaying the plurality of sub-objects in a first representation, means for making at least one of the plurality of sub-objects an active sub-object, and means for displaying at least one of the at least one active sub-object in a second representation. For example, the system may include a content optimization server that segments an object received from the server into a plurality of sub-objects and a client on which the sub-objects are then displayed in a first representation and a second representation.

These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiment(s) described hereinafter.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is an exemplary hypertext markup language HTML page, according to the prior art;

FIG. 2a is the HTML page of FIG. 1 rendered to fit the width of the display, according to the prior art;

FIG. 2b is the HTML page of FIG. 1 displayed in a prior art layout mode, according to the prior art;

FIG. 3 is a segmentation of the HTML page of FIG. 1 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4a is the HTML page of FIG. 3 displayed in a small representation in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4b is a selected area of the HTML page of FIG. 3, shown in a large representation, in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4c is a diagram of selected regions of the HTML page of FIG. 3, shown in a large representation, in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4d is a selected area of the HTML page of FIG. 3, shown in a large representation, in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5a is a further example of an HTML page displayed in a small representation in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5b is a diagram of selected regions of the HTML page of FIG. 5a, shown in large representation, in accordance with a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5c is a further selected area of the HTML page of FIG. 5a, shown in large representation, according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flow chart of an algorithm for segmenting a page into a plurality of regions in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7a is an example 3D map of a town;

FIG. 7b is an example of the 3D map of FIG. 7a segmented into 3D sub-objects and displayed on a display in a small representation in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7c is a 3D segmented object selected from the 3D map of FIG. 7b segmented in a large representation displayed on a display in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an exemplary flow chart of a method according to the present invention; and

fig. 9 is an exemplary setup of the device according to the invention.

Detailed Description

The present invention provides a method, a device, a computer program product for representing at least a part of an object, wherein at least one object is at least partially segmented into a plurality of sub-objects, wherein the plurality of sub-objects is represented as a first representation, wherein at least one sub-object of the plurality of sub-objects is made an active sub-object, and wherein, in response to a user operation on the at least one active sub-object, at least one of the at least one active sub-object k is displayed in a second representation. Wherein the object may be a 2D or 3D object, which is segmented into a 2D segment object and a 3D segment object, respectively.

In fig. 1 to 6, a preferred embodiment of the invention, which is suitable for representing 2D objects, will be explained. Wherein, the 2D object is represented as a page, and the sub-objects are represented by areas. With reference to fig. 7a and 7b, a preferred embodiment of the invention, suitable for representing 3D objects, will be explained. Finally, fig. 8 and 9 show a flow chart of the method and apparatus according to the invention, both for 2D and 3D objects.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary Hypertext markup language HTML page 1, consisting essentially of a table having 4 rows and 4 columns. The HTML page 1 is given in the original presentation size and is defined in the HTML format. For example, the HTML format may specify a font size and an image size in pixels. The contents of this HTML page 1 are related to information on the car, and each of the last three rows of the table contains a picture, a Dimension (Dimension) parameter, an Engine (Engine) parameter, and a Performance (Performance) parameter for a particular type of car. It is to be noted that the text information in the table elements is described only symbolically.

Fig. 2a depicts the HTML page of fig. 1 adapted to display 2 widths according to the prior art. Since the HTML page 1 is too large for display on the display 2 of a portable device, such as a mobile phone, the page has to be rendered, as a result of which only the upper quarter of the HTML page is visible on the display 2 after a slight reduction. To avoid at least horizontal scrolling, the upper right quarter of the HTML page 1 is now placed under the upper left quarter visible in the display 2 and can be viewed by vertical scrolling using the vertical scroll bar 3a. This is illustrated in fig. 2a by a dashed box 2a located in the lower part of the display 2. Further vertical scrolling then moves the lower left quarter of HTML page 1 into display 2 and finally the lower right quarter of HTML page 1 is moved into display 2.

The prior art rendering technique obviously destroys the layout of the table contained in the HTML page 1. However, the viewer can easily assign the size parameters shown in the display window 2 of fig. 2a to the car in the first row of the table, since the required tags of the rows and columns of the table are still available in the part of the HTML page visible in the display 2, whereas for the engine parameters and performance parameters in the upper right quarter of the HTML page 1, this clear assignment is no longer possible when the HTML page 1 is drawn and displayed on the display 2 as indicated by the dashed box 2a in fig. 2 a. This is because the row labels, in this case the pictures of the cars whose parameters are listed in the respective rows, are not described again in the dashed box 2a of fig. 2 a. It can be easily seen that also when displaying the lower left and lower right quarters of the HTML page 1 on the display 2, it is not possible to clearly assign text information to the tags of the rows and/or columns of the table. Therefore, the rendering techniques in the prior art destroy the structure of the table and deteriorate the understanding of the contents of the HTML page 1.

In order to allow the viewer to view the entirety of the HTML page 1 without destroying its structure, as is the case with the rendering technique shown in fig. 2a, prior art devices with small displays typically provide the original layout mode. This original layout mode, as shown in fig. 2b, gives up drawing and scaling of the page and therefore requires a vertical 3a and a horizontal 3b scroll bar so that all parts of the HTML page 1 can be moved into the display 2, making the understanding of the HTML page 1 complex and slow.

Fig. 3 depicts the partitioning of the HTML page 1 of fig. 1 according to the present invention. The 16 table elements of the table contained in HTML page 1 are assigned to the respective regions 101.. 116. This may be performed, for example, by a browser or a device in the device operating the display that is to display the HTML page 1. The process of segmenting this HTML page 1 into regions 101. For example, the structure of HTML page 1 can be examined for specific HTML tags that define the beginning and end of the HTML element by searching through the HTML page 1.

FIG. 4a depicts the HTML page of FIG. 3 displayed in a first representation according to the present invention, wherein the first representation is selected as a small representation throughout the exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The area 101.. 116 obtained by the segmentation of the HTML page 1 is converted into an area 101a.. 116a displayed in a small representation. For the areas 101a, 105a, 109a, and 113a, this conversion is achieved by reducing the size of the areas 101, 105, 109, and 113 of the HTML page 1, which originally represents the size, to a smaller size. For regions 102a, 103 and 104a, this conversion is achieved by scaling and cutting the combination of regions 102, 103 and 104. Finally, the regions 106a.. 108a, 110a.. 112a and 114a.. 116a are each assigned a text (text) icon, representing that the respective region 106.. 108, 110.. 112 and 114.. 116 contains text that will not be readable when reduced to a small representation format.

In fig. 4a, all regions in the small representation 101a.. 116a are active regions. A browser or a device operating a device that is to display the display of the HTML page 1 may thus have examined at least some of the regions 101.. 116 and decide whether these regions are active regions or not, depending on selection criteria, such as criteria relating to the type or amount of information contained in the regions. Fig. 4a further depicts a dashed emphasis box indicating that the viewer is currently performing a user operation on the active area 106a, which operation is selected as a selection operation in the entire exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Subsequently, the selected area will always be identified by adding "s" after its label, so that the selection of area 106a results in the selected area 106 as. A accent frame that can be moved from one active area to another through a user interface such as a joystick is just one of several possible ways of selecting an active area. The active area may likewise be selected via a stylus or pointer on the touch screen display, via tracking of eye movements, via assigning numbers or symbols to the active area and selecting those numbers or symbols via a keyboard-entered voice command, or via a shortcut assigned to a particular selection operation, such as selection of an area to the left, right, above or below the currently selected or aggregated area or selection of a previously selected area.

Fig. 4b, 4c and 4d show three specific embodiments of the invention, wherein each embodiment provides a different way of displaying (representing) the selected area 106bs, 106cs or 106ds on the display 2 in a second representation, wherein the second representation is selected as a large representation throughout the exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4b shows, according to a first embodiment, that the selection area 106bs is displayed in a large representation, wherein a large representation in this embodiment means that the selection area 106bs is reduced to a width suitable for the display 2, and wherein in this embodiment only the selection area 106bs is displayed on the display 2. It is noted that although text icons are used in the small representation 106a of the area 106, a reduced version of the area in the original HTML page 1 in fig. 3 is now displayed. From the region 106bs displayed in the large representation, the viewer can now extract all information that may not be clearly visible in the small representation. Thus, according to a first embodiment of the invention, the viewer can first see an overview over the page structure according to fig. 4a, where all areas of the page are given in small representations, and then, after selecting the area of interest 106as, this area is displayed in an enlarged manner as the area 106bs, i.e. as enlarged as possible but without the need to use a horizontal scroll bar and/or a vertical scroll bar. To return to the small scale representation in fig. 4a, the viewer may remove the selection of the selected region 106bs, for example by pressing a select key.

Fig. 4c depicts the display of a selected area 106cs displayed in a large representation according to a second embodiment, wherein a large representation in this embodiment means that the selected area 106cs is much larger than the area 106a displayed in a small representation. The selection area 106cs displayed in large representation is displayed on the display 2 together with the other areas 104a, 108a, 112a and 113a.. 116a displayed in small representation. Basically, the selected area 106cs is three times its corresponding area 106as displayed in a small representation, thus covering the areas 101a.. 103a, 105a.. 107a and 109a.. 111 a. The content of the area 106 may then not be represented as large as in the first embodiment, but when the selection area 106cs displayed in large representation is displayed, the remaining area displayed in small representation on the display always represents the structure of the page clearly known to the viewer, so that when areas are selected and enlarged (large representation) or reduced (small representation), the orientation of the viewer can be supported.

According to a third embodiment, fig. 4d depicts the display of a selection area 106ds displayed in a large representation, wherein a large representation in this embodiment means that the selection area 106ds is much larger than the area 106a displayed in a small representation. The selection area 106ds displayed in the large representation is displayed on the display 2 together with the other areas 102d, 105d, 107d, 110d displayed in the large representation and the areas 101a, 103a, 109a displayed in the small representation. The effect of supporting the viewer orientation when switching between large and small representations is similar to the second embodiment. However, to avoid differences between the selected area 106ds and the areas 102d, 105d, 107d, 110d that are at least partially of the same height or width as the selected area, and to maintain the rectangular layout of the table, all of these areas are also displayed in a large representation, wherein the scaling of these areas 102d, 105d, 107d, 110d is related to the scaling of the selected area 106 ds. In addition, in this case, the magnification effect is accentuated by maintaining the contrast between the large and small representations on the same display.

Fig. 5a-5c pictorially depict representations of selection areas of an HTML page displayed in a large representation according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

In fig. 5a, an HTML page that has been divided into a plurality of areas is displayed on the display 2 in a small representation. The area displayed in small representation is denoted 501a.. 507 a. The area displayed in small representation may be obtained from the HTML page of the original representation size, for example, by dividing the HTML page and reducing the divided portion. As shown in fig. 5a, the HTML page displayed in small representation has a more complex structure than the simple table structure of the HTML page of fig. 1.

Fig. 5b depicts the display of the HTML page of fig. 5a when the user has selected area 502a (small representation) and will then be displayed as area 502es in a large representation. The selection area 502es displayed in large representation and the areas 501a, 503a.. 507a displayed in small representation are displayed on the same display 2. However, fill area 508.. 511 is created so that the relative basic arrangement of the areas of the HTML page is still visible. The filler regions 508.. 511 may, for example, be of the same background colour as the adjacent regions displayed in the small representation, or of a fixed colour, or may be transparent so that the standard background of the display is visible. The introduction of the filling area may be interpreted as a scaling in at least one dimension of the neighboring area of the area 502es displayed in a large representation. In fig. 5b, when the area 502es is displayed in the large representation, it is aligned to the upper left with the other areas displayed in the small representation so as to display them as close to each other as possible. In the selection area 502es displayed in the large representation, links and other HTML elements are selectable. This also applies to the region in the small representation.

In the example of fig. 5b, the respective area blocks of the HTML page in the small and large representations are aligned to the upper left corner of the display 2. Of course, alignment with respect to other sides or center alignment of the display 2 is equally possible. The areas 501a, 503a.. 507a in the small representation have the same size as the corresponding areas in the small representation of fig. 5a. Alternatively, when at least one of the regions is displayed in a large representation as shown in fig. 5b, the scale of the small representation may be slightly modified, for example to better match the size of the display.

Fig. 5c depicts the individual area blocks in the small representation and the large representation when the user selects area 503a (small representation) of fig. 5a and then displays it as area 503es in a large representation together with areas 501a, 502a, 504a.. 507 a. Here again, padding 512 and 516 are introduced to maintain the basic layout of the HTML page. It is noted that instead of selecting the region 503a in the display state depicted in fig. 5a (i.e. where all regions are displayed in small representation), it is also possible to select the region 503a in the display state depicted in fig. 5b (i.e. where at least one region is displayed in large representation and the remaining regions are displayed in small representation) in order to achieve the display state depicted in fig. 5 c. This may be accomplished, for example, using a highlight or focus that can be moved between regions (whether the regions are small or large representations or a mixture of large and small representations that are currently displayed), where selection is indicated by pressing a button or key when the desired region is currently highlighted or focused. The user may also be provided with a shortcut for zooming in on a particular area, e.g. the left or right area or the previous or next area.

Fig. 6 depicts a simplified example flowchart or algorithm for segmenting one or several HTML pages (2D objects) into multiple regions (2D sub-objects) according to the present invention. This algorithm may be performed, for example, in step 801 of the flowchart of fig. 8.

In step 601 of the flow chart of fig. 6, the HTML elements of one or several HTML pages are rendered and surveyed in the order in which they appear in the HTML source code of the page or pages. For example, in said step 601, the calculation of the pixel values corresponding to said HTML object is performed as if the HTML page were displayed in its original layout with a scaling factor of 100%. As a result, the maximum height and the maximum width are obtained among the pixels of the plurality of rendered HTML objects.

In step 602 it is then checked whether the product of said maximum height and said maximum width is larger than a predefined threshold, e.g. 100,000 pixels. If so, a rectangular area containing the HTML object rendered in step 601 is formed in step 603. Otherwise, the step 601 of rendering the HTML element continues until the condition of step 602 is satisfied.

It should be noted that the calculation of step 602 only has to be performed when the region grows vertically or horizontally; it does not have to be performed after each selection of a region or similar change.

In step 603 (and also in step 602), when forming a region (i.e. calculating the pixels of the display area that the generated region will occupy), table regions without information content (no text, no image, no input field or similar) should not be considered (i.e. should not be included in the formed region). In other words, in the table, the regions are formed according to the information content in the order in which the information content appears in the source code of the HTML page (e.g., HTML, XHTML, or similar source code).

In step 604 it is then checked whether the lower edge of the formed area will vertically slice elements that cannot be split (e.g. < image > or < object >). If so, the retry forms a portion according to step 603 such that the last HTML element that was attempted to be included in step 603 last is no longer included. This process is repeated until it results in a slightly lower edge of the region that does not cut any elements. This procedure can also be used for paragraphs (< p >, < div >) and frames (< form >) and small tables (< table >) in addition to elements that cannot be sliced.

This step can be optimized for performance by first repeating in a larger step and then element by element when a new region edge is almost found.

It is advantageous to leave a small padding between the area border and the content according to step 603, so that the area border and the content do not touch even when the area is in focus.

In step 605 it is checked whether the formed area no longer has a straight top boundary. If so, the algorithm returns to step 603 and attempts to form a new region with a straight top boundary. For example, if the first element of the region is in the middle of the left table column and the next element is at the top of the right table column, the end of the region should be created before the element that makes the top boundary not a straight line.

If not, the opportunity to combine the portions is checked in step 606.

For example, if the width of a region matches the width of the last region, if the two regions are similarly horizontally placed, and the number of pixels of the combined region obtained when the two regions are placed together is less than a threshold, e.g., 150,000 pixels, then the two regions are combined.

In addition, if forming a region will create empty space under the region, then this empty space is combined with one or more of the upper regions by vertically extending the region above it by a desired amount. In this special case, the empty space is not considered when checking the conditions for re-segmentation in step 607, as will be explained below.

If this process of vertically extending the regions to avoid white space still leaves white space between the regions, the vertical region boundaries are moved horizontally so that the white space disappears (i.e., becomes included in the regions). Also in this special case, the dummy empty space is not considered when checking the conditions for re-segmentation in step 607.

Finally, in step 607 it is checked whether a re-segmentation of the formed area is necessary, wherein in the re-segmentation step 603 is performed again in order to form a new rectangular area.

For example, if the number of pixels of the formed region after its generation is greater than a threshold of, for example, 300,000 pixels (e.g., because a script adds content or a large image arrives), the segmentation is re-performed for the region and the regions following it.

Also, if all the contents of the formed region disappear after its generation (because of the script or external CSS), the segmentation is performed again for the region and the regions thereafter.

As a result of the algorithm shown in fig. 6, a plurality of regions are output. These regions may become active and then displayed on the display in a small representation and can be displayed in a large representation when a selection is made. The region may be displayed on the display only after the next region has been generated. This is because successive regions may be combined in step 606.

An example flow diagram of an algorithm for rendering one or more HTML pages may be further refined by:

if the absolute size of an image is set in the HTML source code, then in said step 601 a placeholder of that size is rendered in place of said image. If the size is not set (or no image file has been received), then the image may be assumed to be a fixed size in step 601, e.g., 50 pixels high by 100 pixels wide.

If the script writes a series of elements to the HTML page, the entire sequence added by the script is kept inside the same area.

-if the script moves the focus to another region outside the currently active region, the region to which the focus is moved is scaled and the previously scaled region is shrunk.

If the pixels of an HTML element that cannot be segmented into smaller segments (e.g., < img > or < object >) are larger than a threshold of, for example, 300,000 pixels, then a self region can always be generated for that element. The height of this region will be the height of the element, the left edge will be near the region to the left (or the edge of the canvas if there is no region to the left), and the right edge will be near the region to the right (or the edge of the canvas if there is no region to the right). This rule can also be applied to large paragraphs (< p >, < div >) and forms (< form >) in addition to HTML elements that cannot be partitioned.

If the HTML element is hidden (using CSS), but if it is still set to reserve a corresponding space for itself (using CSS), it is processed in said step 603 of forming a rectangular area, as it is visible (i.e. it is taken into account when calculating said area).

It will be readily appreciated that if a 3D object, for example an XRML element, is rendered in step 601, if the product of maximum width, height and depth in step 602 is checked against the threshold values, and if a parallelepiped is formed in step 603, then the steps of the above algorithm for segmenting an HTML page into regions can basically also be used to segment the 3D object into 3D sub-objects or 3D blocks. Checking whether the parallelepiped cuts the 3D element, has non-straight edges, can be bonded or needs to be similarly re-split. In this algorithm, it is advantageous to allow the 3D sub-objects to overlap each other slightly to provide a better transition. If the 3D object does not have a hierarchical structure that allows the above segmentation algorithm, the 3D object may simply be segmented into a plurality of fixed-size parallelepipeds, for example into a plurality of cubes.

Fig. 7a depicts an example 3D map of town 7, originally of the indicated size, to be displayed on display 2 of the handheld device. The 3D map 7 is segmented into a plurality of 3D sub-objects according to the method of the invention, because the original representation size of the 3D map 7 is too large for the display 2 and shrinking the entire 3D map 7 to fit the display size will remove most of the detail contained in the 3D map 7.

FIG. 7b depicts the results of the following process: the 3D map 7 of fig. 7a has been segmented into 3D sub-objects (701a.. 707a) and displayed on the display 7 in a small representation. Since the 3D sub-objects, in this example the buildings of the 3D map, are scaled from the original representation size to a small representation, most of the details of the buildings are lost. However, since the 3D part objects 701a.. 701a are made active 3D part objects, the user can select them and then they are displayed on the display 2 in a large representation.

Fig. 7c depicts this 3D sub-object 701a in a large representation, now denoted 701fs, so that now all details of the 3D sub-object can be viewed by the user. It will be readily appreciated that there are different large scale representation modes for the case where a 3D object is represented on the display 2, for example, adjacent 3D sub-objects may also be displayed in a small representation or a large representation, at least in part, with the selected 3D sub-object 701 fs. It is thus possible to display simultaneously the selected 3D sub-object in the second (large) representation and the surrounding 3D sub-objects in the first (small) representation, so that the selected 3D sub-object is larger than the other 3D sub-objects and may for example cover the other 3D objects represented in the first representation, or to move the other 3D sub-objects represented in the first representation out in order to create space for the selected 3D sub-object represented in the second representation. It is also possible to scroll from one 3D sub-object to an adjacent 3D sub-object. In addition, it is also possible to perform various operations on 3D sub-objects that may have originally represented large-sized 3D objects, for example, if the 3D map of town 7 may be rotated or zoomed, which is also possible for selected 3D sub-objects 701fs represented in a large representation.

In addition, it is possible that the 3D map 7 of the town has been segmented into different types of sub-objects. In the present case, the town may be divided into a first type of sub-object, such as a house or a building, and a second type of sub-object, such as a room of a building house. After making the sub-object 701fs in fig. 7c a selectable sub-object, a room associated with the sub-object 701fs may be displayed, for example, by making the walls of the sub-object 701fs transparent, in response to a user interaction (e.g., selection of the sub-object 701 fs). Additionally, when the room is then selected, it may be made active and displayed exclusively on the display in an enlarged or more detailed manner.

It should be noted that the segmentation of the 3D map 7 into buildings is only one possible way of segmentation; the 3D map 7 may likewise be divided into parallelepipeds of the same or different sizes.

Fig. 8 depicts an example flow chart of a method according to the invention. When the viewer selects a new object to be displayed on the display, the object is suitably segmented into sub-objects in a first step 801. The partial object set is then examined in step 802 to determine which partial objects should be active partial objects and which partial objects should be inactive partial objects. The active sub-objects and the set of inactive sub-objects are then displayed on the display in a first representation, which may be, for example, a small representation, in step 803. This step may also include converting the sub-objects from the original representation size format to the first representation format, such as by shrinking, cropping, or using an icon. While the object is displayed in the first representation, the viewer may choose which different object he would like to view, which is determined in step 804. If the result of the determination is yes, steps 801 and 803 are repeated for the new object. Otherwise it is determined in step 805 whether the viewer has selected a sub-object represented in said first representation. If so, the sub-objects selected in step 808 are displayed in a second representation, such as a large representation. This step may also include scaling the selected sub-objects to a second representation format. It is then determined in step 809 whether the user has performed a deselection operation on the selected sub-object. If so, the method jumps back to step 803 to allow selection of another sub-object or the same sub-object. If the selected sub-object is not deselected, then a determination is made in step 810 as to whether the viewer wishes to scroll. If so, a scroll is performed in step 811 to explore the sub-objects, for example, in the vicinity of the selected sub-object. This scrolling may be performed seamlessly, or from sub-object to sub-object. If the scrolling operation in step 810 ends or if the user does not wish to scroll, the method jumps back to step 809 to allow the selected sub-object to be deselected. If no separate object is selected in step 805, it is determined in step 806 whether the viewer wishes to scroll, and if so, scrolling is performed in step 807. After the scrolling operation, or if scrolling is not desired, the method jumps back to step 804 to allow the user to select a new object.

Fig. 9 finally describes an exemplary setup of the device 9 according to the invention. The device 9 is for example a handheld device such as a mobile phone, comprising the standard components required for implementing the browsing function: the controller 904 controls the functionality of the browser and receives input 905, such as a new Markup Language (ML) object (e.g., an HTML page or VRML object) to be installed, from a viewer, for example, via a keyboard, touch screen, mouse interaction, or voice command. The ML client 903 provides services to the controller 904, in particular to obtain new ML objects via a network interface 902, which network interface 902 is connected to a remote server 901. If the device 9 is a handheld device, the connection will typically be a wireless connection. The ML interpreter 906 is responsible for displaying ML objects on the display 908, and the display 808 is controlled by the ML interpreter 906 via the display driver 907. The ML interpreter 906 parses the ML source code of the ML object and provides the corresponding results to the display controller 907. In the prior art, in particular, the rendering of the ML object to fit the display 908 is performed by the ML interpreter 906 and the display driver 907. As additional components, according to the present invention, a part object control instance 909 is included in the apparatus 9, the part object control instance 909 supports the ML interpreter 906 and the controller 904, and specifically adds a function of at least partially dividing at least one ML object into a plurality of part objects, causing the plurality of part objects to be displayed in a first representation, causing at least one part object of the plurality of part objects to be an active part object, and causing at least one active part object to be displayed in a second representation. The separate object control apparatus may further include a function of determining whether the separate object should be an active separate object or an inactive separate object. Together with the controller 904, the segment object control instance 909 may further check whether the active segment object has been selected by the viewer via the input interface 905 to be represented in said second representation, such that the segment object selected by the viewer has been deselected via the input interface 905. Likewise, scrolling initiated by the viewer via the input interface 905 may be controlled by the separate object control instance 909 and the controller 904.

Further advantages of embodiments of the present invention will now not be described explicitly with reference to the accompanying drawings.

According to the invention, at least two objects may be at least partially segmented into said plurality of sub-objects. The at least two objects may for example be interlinked web pages, or web pages of a text document, or represented pages, or 3D objects of a 3D structure, or similar information carrying objects. By at least partly segmenting these at least two objects into sub-objects, it is possible to represent the at least two objects (i.e. the respective sub-objects) simultaneously in the first representation, so that the structure of the objects is provided to the user faster and more comfortably. Thus a plurality of objects may be provided simultaneously, wherein the sub-objects into which the at least two objects are at least partially segmented may comprise parts of several objects, and/or the objects may be sub-objects, and/or each object may comprise a plurality of sub-objects.

According to the invention, in said second representation said selected sub-objects may be scaled to fit at least one dimension of the display. The selected sub-objects may be zoomed, for example, to the width or height of the display, or both. When zoomed into one dimension of the display, the component objects may still be larger than the display. In this case, the content may be scrolled within the sub-object.

According to the invention, in the second representation, the selected sub-object may be scaled to its original representation size. The representation of the selected sub-object scaled to its original representation size may require 1D, 2D or 3D scrolling (in one, two or three dimensions of a cartesian coordinate system or a circular coordinate system, respectively) as the original representation size may exceed the size of the display.

According to the present invention, the text content of the selected sub-object scaled to the original representation size can be forcibly overlapped to the width of the display.

According to the present invention, the contents of the selected sub-object scaled to the original representation size can be forcibly aligned to the left, right, or center. For example, it may be preferable to snap to right if the content is typically read from right to left.

According to the invention, only the selected sub-objects can be displayed in the form of the second representation. Sub-objects in the vicinity of the selected sub-object may then not be provided, whether they are represented in the second representation or in the first representation.

According to the invention, selecting one sub-object displayed in the first representation may result in all sub-objects being enlarged, e.g. displaying the whole object in its original layout in full size. In this case, the information of the selected segment object may be used to face the center of the display, thereby displaying the contents belonging to the selected segment object as much as possible.

According to the invention, the selected sub-object and at least one adjacent sub-object of the selected sub-object can be displayed in the second representation. The adjacent sub-object does not necessarily have to be directly adjacent to the selected sub-object, but sub-objects having a greater distance from the selected sub-object can also be understood as adjacent sub-objects. If the selected sub-object represented in the second representation does not completely cover the display, it may be advantageous to display the adjacent sub-object in the second representation, such that a gap on the edge of the selected sub-object may be avoided by filling the gap by at least partially displaying content from the adjacent sub-object.

According to the invention, at least the selected sub-object represented in the second representation and at least one of the plurality of sub-objects represented in the first representation can be displayed simultaneously on a display. Starting from the display of the partial objects in the first representation, it is then possible to select an active partial object from among them in order to enlarge the selected partial object (represented in the second representation), wherein the other partial objects of the partial objects remain in the first representation. Only the selected sub-object may then be displayed in the second representation, or the selected sub-object and the adjacent sub-objects may be displayed in the second representation. The user can move the focus on the edge of the sub-object displayed in the second representation mode to the sub-object displayed in the first representation mode. Then, if the user selects a sub-object represented in said first representation, the sub-object is enlarged to said second representation and at the same time one or more sub-objects previously displayed in said second representation may be returned to being displayed in said first representation.

According to the invention, sub-objects having at least partially the same height or width or depth as the selected sub-object can be scaled in at least one dimension according to the selected sub-object. If the sub-objects represented in the second representation and the first representation are displayed simultaneously, then in order to preserve the layout of the objects and to avoid that the sub-objects represented in the first representation are covered by the selected sub-object or an adjacent sub-object represented in the second representation, the sub-objects having the same arrangement in 2D or 3D space as the selected sub-object are scaled according to the selected sub-object, wherein the scaling may be performed in only one dimension, e.g. only the height or width or depth of the adjacent sub-object may be adapted to the height, width and depth of the scaled selected sub-object.

According to the invention, the method may further comprise 1D, 2D or 3D scrolling. Scrolling may be understood as moving the content currently visible in the display, i.e. the sub-objects represented in said first and/or second representation, such that adjacent sub-objects that cannot be displayed simultaneously with said content within the display by the limited size of a display become visible. The scrolling may be scrolling or grid based, such as a point object to point object basis. The scrolling may be controlled by the viewer through buttons, a joystick, a stylus or pointer in combination with a touch screen, a mouse pointer, or similar interaction techniques. Where 1D scrolling means scrolling with respect to one dimension of a cartesian coordinate system or a spherical coordinate system (e.g., an x, y, or z axis in a cartesian coordinate system, or an azimuth, a tilt angle, or a radius in a spherical coordinate system), 2D scrolling means scrolling with respect to two dimensions, and 3D scrolling means scrolling with respect to three dimensions.

According to the invention, the method may further comprise displaying a plurality of sub-objects in said first representation if said selected sub-object is deselected. The second representation of the selected sub-object can then be switched to the first representation.

According to the invention, the content of the selected sub-object represented by the second representation may be scaled by a first scaling factor. Thus, in addition to the representation of the sub-objects represented in the first and second representation, a further option may be provided to increase or decrease the proportion of sub-object content.

According to the invention, said scaling by said first scaling factor may be performed for the content in all sub-objects provided. In this way, when the content of the selected sub-object is scaled, the content in the adjacent sub-object can also be scaled by the same scaling factor.

According to the invention, the content of the sub-objects displayed in the first representation can be scaled with a second scaling factor. The value and range of this scaling factor may be the same as or different from the first scaling factor, e.g. values and/or ranges may be adapted to the first representation.

According to the present invention, if the at least one selected sub-object displayed in the second representation manner is simultaneously displayed with the at least one sub-object displayed in the first representation manner, and if at least one of the at least one sub-object displayed in the first representation manner is selected, the newly selected at least one sub-object may be displayed in the second representation manner and at least the previously selected sub-object may be displayed in the first representation manner.

According to the invention, after selecting the at least one active sub-object, the display may be positioned to display as much of the content of the at least one selected sub-object as possible.

According to the invention, the upper edge of the at least one selected sub-object may be located substantially on the upper edge of the display and/or in the horizontal direction the selected sub-object and the left or right edge or the middle point of the display may be scrolled to substantially the same horizontal position.

According to the invention, the elements within the at least one selected partial object displayed in the second representation may be selectable. The elements may be, for example, selectable links, hyperlinks, forms, or similar elements.

According to the invention, the at least one object may comply with the hypertext markup language HTML format or a derivative thereof. Such a derived format may be, for example, the extended html (xhtml) format or any other markup language.

According to the invention, the at least one object may comply with the virtual reality markup language VRML format or a derivative thereof.

According to the invention, said step of at least partially segmenting said at least one object (or part thereof) into a plurality of sub-objects may comprise drawing an element contained in said at least one object in terms of elements to obtain a drawn object having a maximum size, checking whether the size of said drawn object exceeds a threshold value, and forming a sub-object from said drawn object if said threshold value is exceeded. The elements may be, for example, HTML elements of one or more HTML pages. The elements may be rendered, for example, by determining corresponding pixel values assuming that the elements are to be displayed in their original layout, such that the rendered object is represented by the pixel values. The size of the drawn object may be, for example, the number of pixels included in the drawn object. The partial objects may be formed, for example, by setting the partial objects equal to the drawn object.

According to the invention, the step of at least partly segmenting the at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects may further comprise checking whether the formed sub-objects are to be sliced with further elements, and forming smaller sub-objects from the drawn object if further elements are to be sliced. The sub-objects may for example be repeatedly reduced until the elements contained therein are no longer severed.

According to the invention, said step of at least partially segmenting said at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects may further comprise checking if at least one edge of said formed sub-objects is not straight, and forming smaller sub-objects from said drawn object if one edge is not straight.

According to the invention, said step of at least partially dividing at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects may further comprise checking whether the formed sub-objects can be combined with previously formed sub-objects and, if they can be combined, combining the formed sub-objects with said previously formed sub-objects.

According to the invention, sub-objects can be combined if they have similar widths and placed similarly horizontally if their combined size does not exceed a threshold.

According to the invention, said step of at least partially segmenting said at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects may further comprise checking whether a formed sub-object has to be re-segmented and re-segmenting said formed sub-object if it has to be re-segmented. The re-segmentation may include forming new sub-objects that are smaller than the currently formed sub-objects.

According to the invention, a re-division may be necessary if the size of the formed sub-objects exceeds a first threshold value or if its size is below a second threshold value.

According to the invention, said at least partially segmenting said at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects may be based on a structure defined by said markup language, e.g. a table element and/or a paragraph and/or a frame of a 3D element such as a block of a 2D object or a 3D object.

According to the invention, in said at least partially segmenting said at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects, a frame element may be assigned to a sub-object as a whole. A frame element may for example comprise a plurality of mutually aligned input fields, selection buttons and text, so that it is advantageous not to further divide the frame.

It should be noted that there are alternative methods and variations of the present invention that are obvious to those skilled in the art that can be practiced without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. In particular, the invention is not limited to applications in handheld devices with small displays, but can equally be applied in various types of applications where content has to be displayed in a clearly structured way. It can be readily seen that the present invention should not be limited to HTML pages or VRML objects for the same reasons as previously described. Any other format for defining 2D or 3D content may be used, for example word processing or editing formats such as ". doc", ". rtf" or ". pdf" or image formats such as ". jpg", ". gif", ". ps" or ". pdf" or similar formats.

Claims (20)

1. A method of displaying at least a portion of an object, comprising:

-at least partially segmenting at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects;

-displaying the plurality of sub-objects in a first representation;

-determining at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects to be active sub-objects;

-making said at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects a movable sub-object; and

-displaying at least one of said at least one activity sub-object in a second representation in response to a user operation on said at least one activity sub-object.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one object and the sub-objects are 3D objects.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one object is a page, and wherein the sub-objects are regions.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the user operation at least one of the at least one active sub-object is selected and wherein at least the selected sub-object is displayed in the second representation.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two sub-objects of the plurality of sub-objects are made active sub-objects.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of at least partially segmenting the at least one object into the plurality of sub-objects is based on a structure of at least a portion of the at least one object.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of at least partially segmenting the at least one object into the plurality of sub-objects is based on a segmentation algorithm.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein, in the first representation, at least one sub-object of the plurality of sub-objects is reduced to a size that is less than an original representation size of the respective sub-object.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein in the first representation, at least one sub-object of the plurality of sub-objects is cropped.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein in the first representation, at least one sub-object of the plurality of sub-objects is indicated by an icon.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein sub-objects of the plurality of sub-objects having a size exceeding a size threshold and/or containing an amount of information exceeding an information threshold are made active sub-objects.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one active sub-object is automatically focused and/or selected according to a selection criterion.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein in the second representation, the at least one active sub-object is enlarged to a size larger than the size it is displayed in the first representation.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein in at least one of the sub-objects displayed in the first representation, an element is directly selectable by a user.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of sub-objects consists of different types of sub-objects, and wherein at least one group of sub-objects of a second type is associated with at least one sub-object of a first type.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one active sub-object displayed in the second representation is the at least one sub-object of the first type, and wherein the at least one group of sub-objects of the second type associated with the at least one sub-object of the first type is displayed in response to a further user operation on the at least one sub-object of the first type.

17. An apparatus for displaying at least a portion of an object, comprising:

a processor;

a display; and

a memory for storing a computer program that causes the processor and display to perform the following:

the processor at least partially segmenting at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects;

the display displays the plurality of sub-objects in a first representation mode;

the processor determines at least one sub-object of the sub-objects to be a movable sub-object, and makes the at least one sub-object of the sub-objects be a movable sub-object; and

in response to a user operation on the at least one activity sub-object, the display displays at least one of the at least one activity sub-object in a second representation.

18. An apparatus for displaying at least a portion of an object, comprising:

-means for at least partially segmenting at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects;

-means for displaying said plurality of sub-objects in a first representation;

-means for determining at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects to be active sub-objects;

-means for making at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects a movable sub-object; and

-means for displaying at least one of said at least one active sub-object in a second representation.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the sub-objects are displayed on a display of a portable electronic device.

20. A system for displaying at least a portion of an object, comprising:

-means for at least partially segmenting at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects;

-means for displaying said plurality of sub-objects in a first representation;

-means for determining at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects to be active sub-objects;

-means for making at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects a movable sub-object; and

-means for displaying at least one of said at least one active sub-object in a second representation.