US6597358B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for presenting two and three-dimensional computer applications within a 3D meta-visualization
Assignee: Intel Corp
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Filing: 1998-08-26
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Granted: 2003-07-22
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Expires: 2018-08-26
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for organizing two and/or three-dimensional computer applications on a display in a three-dimensional viewing perspective. A two-dimensional bitmap is created for each respective computer application and applied to a three-dimensional geometry (i.e., primitive). In one embodiment, the three-dimensional geometry is a cube and each respective computer application is mapped onto a respective surface of the cube. The computer user has the ability to manipulate the orientation of the cube, via a computer mouse, for example, to view the different surfaces, and, thus, different computer applications mapped thereon. The user is further given the capability to manipulate or interact with each computer application on each respective surface of the cube. In another embodiment, two or more cubes could be employed for displaying the various computer applications running on the computer's processor. The user could also allocate a particular group or category of applications to each respective cube to accomplish different tasks.
Inventors
- 👤 John David Miller
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 09:32
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F3/00; G06F3/01; G06F3/048; G06F3/0481; G06F3/04815; G06T; G06T15/00; G06T15/10; G09; G09G; G09G5/00; G09G5/14; G06F2203/00; G06F2203/048; G06F2203/04802
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 31
Claim 1
Independent Claim
158 words
A method comprising: launching at least one computer application in a windowing graphical user interface environment comprising three-dimensional windows; creating at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application; creating at least one three-dimensional geometry comprising a number of surfaces; and mapping bits from said at least one two dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application onto at least one of the number of surfaces of said at least one three-dimensional geometry; displaying, as a three-dimensional window in the windowing graphical user interface environment, said at least one three-dimensional geometry with the bits from the at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application mapped onto at least one surface of the three-dimensional geometry; and editing data of the at least one launched computer application, wherein the editing is performed on the at least one surface on which the at least one launched computer application was mapped.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
158 words
A method comprising: launching at least one computer application in a windowing graphical user interface environment comprising three-dimensional windows; creating at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application; creating at least one three-dimensional geometry comprising a number of surfaces; and mapping bits from said at least one two dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application onto at least one of the number of surfaces of said at least one three-dimensional geometry; displaying, as a three-dimensional window in the windowing graphical user interface environment, said at least one three-dimensional geometry with the bits from the at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application mapped onto at least one surface of the three-dimensional geometry; and editing data of the at least one launched computer application, wherein the editing is performed on the at least one surface on which the at least one launched computer application was mapped.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 1 wherein the editing comprises: issuing a command to said at least one launched computer application via a user-input device; and translating said command from a coordinate space of said three-dimensional geometry to a coordinate space of said two-dimensional bitmap.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 2 , further comprising: sending said translated command to said at least one launched computer application.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 1 , further comprising: altering the displayed orientation of said three-dimensional geometry from a first orientation to a second orientation in response to a first predetermined input received by a user-input device.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 1 , wherein said creating at least one three-dimensional geometry further comprises creating a three-dimensional geometry selected from the group of a cube and a plane-like shaped geometry.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 5 , wherein said mapping bits is performed such that each of said at least one launched computer applications occupies a respective surface of said cube-shaped geometry.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
105 words
A method comprising: rendering a two-dimensional bitmap of a launched software application onto a three-dimensional geometry; displaying the rendered three-dimensional geometry of the launched software application; issuing an interactive editing command to said launched software application while said launched software application is displayed on the three-dimensional geometry, wherein the issuing is performed by placing a user input pointer over a portion of the displayed three-dimensional geometry; and editing data of the at least one launched computer application based on the interactive editing command, wherein the editing is performed on the at least one surface on which the at least one launched computer application was mapped.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
105 words
A method comprising: rendering a two-dimensional bitmap of a launched software application onto a three-dimensional geometry; displaying the rendered three-dimensional geometry of the launched software application; issuing an interactive editing command to said launched software application while said launched software application is displayed on the three-dimensional geometry, wherein the issuing is performed by placing a user input pointer over a portion of the displayed three-dimensional geometry; and editing data of the at least one launched computer application based on the interactive editing command, wherein the editing is performed on the at least one surface on which the at least one launched computer application was mapped.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 7 , further comprising: translating said interactive editing command from a coordinate space of said three-dimensional geometry to a coordinate space of said two-dimensional bitmap.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 8 , further comprising: sending said translated command to said at least one launched computer application.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 7 , further comprising: altering the displayed orientation of said three-dimensional geometry from a first orientation to a second orientation in response to a first predetermined input received by a user-input device.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method of claim 7 , wherein said rendering a two-dimensional bitmap for the launched software application onto a three-dimensional geometry further comprises rendering said two-dimensional bitmap onto a 3D geometry selected from the group of a cube and a plane-like shaped 3D geometry.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
36 words
The method of claim 11 , further comprising: mapping bits form said two-dimensional bitmap to a respective surface of said cube-shaped geometry such that said launched software application occupies the respective surface of said cube-shaped geometry.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
142 words
An apparatus, comprising: a processor to execute at least one launched computer application comprising data, and to create at least one two-dimensional bitmap of said at least one launched computer application; a graphics rendering unit to create at least one three-dimensional geometry, and to map bits from said at least one two-dimensional bitmap of said at least one launched computer application onto at least one of the number of surfaces of said at least one three-dimensional geometry; a display to display said at least one three-dimensional geometry with said at least one launched computer application mapped thereon; and a user input device to receive input and to cause editing of said data of the at least one launched computer application, wherein the editing is performed on the at least one surface on which the at least one launched computer application was mapped.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
142 words
An apparatus, comprising: a processor to execute at least one launched computer application comprising data, and to create at least one two-dimensional bitmap of said at least one launched computer application; a graphics rendering unit to create at least one three-dimensional geometry, and to map bits from said at least one two-dimensional bitmap of said at least one launched computer application onto at least one of the number of surfaces of said at least one three-dimensional geometry; a display to display said at least one three-dimensional geometry with said at least one launched computer application mapped thereon; and a user input device to receive input and to cause editing of said data of the at least one launched computer application, wherein the editing is performed on the at least one surface on which the at least one launched computer application was mapped.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
46 words
The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein said processor to issue a command to said at least one launched computer application on said three-dimensional geometry, and to translate said command from a coordinate space of said three-dimensional geometry to a coordinate space of said two-dimensional bitmap.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
26 words
The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein said processor to send said command to said at least one launched computer application displayed on said three-dimensional geometry.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
39 words
The apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising a user-input device and wherein said sub-processor to change the displayed orientation of said three-dimensional geometry in response to a first predetermined input received by said processor via said user-input device.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
30 words
The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein said at least one three-dimensional geometry comprises at least one from the group of a plane-like shaped 3D geometry and a cube-shaped geometry.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
47 words
The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein said graphics rendering unit to apply bits from said at least one bitmap to each respective surface of said cube-shaped geometry such that each of said at least one launched computer applications occupies a respective surface of said cube-shaped geometry.
Claim 22
Independent Claim
164 words
An apparatus, comprising: means for launching at least one computer application in a windowing graphical user interface environment; means for creating at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application; means for creating at least one three-dimensional geometry comprising a number of surfaces; means for mapping bits from said at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application onto at least one of the number of surfaces of said at least one three-dimensional geometry; means for displaying, as a three-dimensional window in the windowing graphical user interface environment, said at least one three-dimensional geometry with the bits from the at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application mapped onto at least one surface of the three-dimensional geometry; and means for editing data of the at least one launched computer application, wherein editing is performed on the at least one surface on which the at least one launched computer application was mapped.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
164 words
An apparatus, comprising: means for launching at least one computer application in a windowing graphical user interface environment; means for creating at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application; means for creating at least one three-dimensional geometry comprising a number of surfaces; means for mapping bits from said at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application onto at least one of the number of surfaces of said at least one three-dimensional geometry; means for displaying, as a three-dimensional window in the windowing graphical user interface environment, said at least one three-dimensional geometry with the bits from the at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application mapped onto at least one surface of the three-dimensional geometry; and means for editing data of the at least one launched computer application, wherein editing is performed on the at least one surface on which the at least one launched computer application was mapped.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
167 words
A program storage device programmed with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs the method comprising: launching at least one computer application in a windowing graphical user interface environment; creating at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application; creating at least one three-dimensional geometry comprising a number of surfaces; mapping bits from said at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least launched one computer application onto at least one of the number of surfaces of said at least one three-dimensional geometry; displaying, as a three-dimensional window in the windowing graphical user interface environment, said at least one three-dimensional geometry with said bits from the at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application mapped onto at least one surface of the three-dimensional geometry; and editing data of the at least one launched computer application, wherein the editing is performed on the at least one surface on which the at least one launched computer application was mapped.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
167 words
A program storage device programmed with instructions that, when executed by a computer, performs the method comprising: launching at least one computer application in a windowing graphical user interface environment; creating at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application; creating at least one three-dimensional geometry comprising a number of surfaces; mapping bits from said at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least launched one computer application onto at least one of the number of surfaces of said at least one three-dimensional geometry; displaying, as a three-dimensional window in the windowing graphical user interface environment, said at least one three-dimensional geometry with said bits from the at least one two-dimensional bitmap of the at least one launched computer application mapped onto at least one surface of the three-dimensional geometry; and editing data of the at least one launched computer application, wherein the editing is performed on the at least one surface on which the at least one launched computer application was mapped.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
53 words
The program storage device of claim 20 , further comprising: issuing an interactive editing command to said at least one launched computer application mapped on said three-dimensional geometry via a user-input device; and translating said interactive command from a coordinate space of said three-dimensional geometry to a coordinate space of said two-dimensional bitmap.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
22 words
The program storage device of claim 21 , further comprising: sending said translated command to said at least one launched computer application.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
38 words
The program storage device of claim 20 , further comprising: altering the displayed orientation of said three-dimensional geometry from a first orientation to a second orientation in response to a first predetermined input received by a user-input device.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
34 words
The program storage device of claim 20 , wherein said creating at least one three-dimensional geometry further comprises creating a 3D geometry selected from the group of a cube and a plane-like shaped geometry.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
45 words
The program storage device of claim 24 , further comprising: mapping bits from said at least one bitmap to each respective surface of said cube-shaped geometry such that each of said at least one launched computer applications occupies a respective surface of said cube-shaped geometry.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
38 words
The apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising means for altering the displayed orientation of said three-dimensional geometry from a first orientation to a second orientation in response to a first predetermined input received by a user-input device.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2006-07-21 | 2007-01-20 | 2007-07-22 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2010-07-21 | 2011-01-20 | 2011-07-22 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2014-07-21 | 2015-01-20 | 2015-07-22 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |