Magnifying tool for viewing and interacting with data visualization on mobile devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9607570-B2
Application number	US-201213406357-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 27, 2012
Priority date	Dec 8, 2011
Publication date	Mar 28, 2017
Grant date	Mar 28, 2017

Abstract

In accordance with various embodiments, a magnifying tool is provided in a user interface for magnifying content displayed on a mobile device and any other device with a restricted or limited viewing screen. A mobile device, including a magnifying tool for magnifying content displayed on the mobile device, can comprise a computer readable storage medium and processor. The mobile device can include a touchscreen operable to receive input from a user and display content. When the mobile device receives a selection of a location on the touchscreen, the mobile device determines a position of the location on the screen, determines a portion of the screen to magnify, and magnifies the portion of the screen and overlays the magnified portion on the screen.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of magnifying content on a device having a touchscreen, the method comprising:
displaying a graph comprising a plurality of data elements arranged on one or more axis on the touchscreen of the device, wherein the device is a mobile device which includes a computer readable medium and processor;
enabling a magnification process in response to said displaying of said graph;
receiving a selection of a first location on the touchscreen by a finger touching the touchscreen at said first location;
determining a first position of the finger touching of the touchscreen;
calculating a first distance metric dependent upon a first density of data elements at the first position;
determining a first portion of the graph to magnify in response to the first position of the finger touching of the touchscreen based on the first position of the finger touching of the touchscreen and the first distance metric;
using said magnification process, enabled by said displaying of said graph, to magnify the first portion of the graph and overlay a first magnified portion of the graph over the graph on the touchscreen displaced from the first position such that viewing the first magnified portion is not obstructed by the finger;
automatically identifying a first single particular data element of the plurality of data elements centrally located in the first magnified portion of the graph;
automatically displaying on the touchscreen, in response to said automatically identifying said first single particular data element and without requiring further user action, entirely outside the first magnified portion of the graph, a tooltip for the identified first single particular data element which is centrally located in the first magnified portion of the graph, wherein the tooltip includes information about the first single particular data element wherein the information was not present in the graph;
receiving a selection of a second location on the touchscreen by tracking the finger while the finger is moving around the touchscreen in contact with the touchscreen;
determining a second position of the finger touching of the touchscreen while the finger is moving around the touchscreen in contact with the touchscreen;
calculating a second distance metric dependent upon a second density of data elements at the second position;
determining a second portion of the graph to magnify in response to the second position of the finger touching of the touchscreen based on the second position of the finger touching of the touchscreen and the second distance metric;
using said magnification process, enabled by said displaying of said graph, to magnify the second portion of the graph and overlay a second magnified portion of the graph over the graph on the touchscreen displaced from the second position such that viewing the second magnified portion is not obstructed by the finger;
automatically identifying a second single particular data element of the plurality of data elements centrally located in the second magnified portion of the graph; and
automatically displaying on the touchscreen, in response to said automatically identifying said second single particular data element step and without requiring further user action, entirely outside the first magnified portion of the graph, a tooltip for the identified second single particular data element which is centrally located in the second magnified portion of the graph, wherein the tooltip includes information about the second single particular data element wherein the information was not present in the graph.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first portion of the graph to magnify and the second portion of the graph to magnify are circular and the first distance metric and the second distance metric correspond to a first radius of the first portion of the graph to magnify and a second radius the second portion of the graph to magnify.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises, automatically displaying a plurality of different single particular tooltips for a plurality of different particular identified single particular data elements in response to tracking the finger touching the touchscreen through a plurality of locations while the finger is moving around the touchscreen in contact with the touchscreen and without requiring further user input beyond tracking the finger to select said plurality of different particular identified single particular data elements.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the magnified portion of the graph is displayed on the touchscreen above the position of the location of the finger touching of the touchscreen.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying a crosshair indicating said first single particular data element of the plurality of data elements in said first magnified portion of the graph overlayed over the graph on the touchscreen displaced from the first position such that viewing the crosshair and the first magnified portion is not obstructed by the finger; and
displaying the crosshair indicating said second single particular data element of the plurality of data elements in said second magnified portion of the graph overlayed over the graph on the touchscreen displaced from the second position such that viewing the crosshair and the second magnified portion is not obstructed by the finger.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the graph is one of a scatter graph and a bar graph.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a plurality of selections of a plurality of locations on the touchscreen in succession;
tracking the plurality of locations while the finger is moving around the touchscreen in contact with the touchscreen;
dynamically calculating a distance metric for each of the plurality of locations based on a density of elements appearing at each of the plurality of locations; and
automatically updating the magnified portion of the graph and the tooltip to correspond to each of the plurality of locations and distance metric as each of the plurality of selections are received without requiring further user action.

8. A mobile device including a magnifying tool for magnifying content displayed on the mobile device, the mobile device comprising:
a computer readable storage medium and processor;
a touchscreen operable to receive input from a user and display content comprising a plurality of data elements;
wherein said mobile device is configured to perform steps comprising
displaying a graph comprising a plurality of data elements arranged on one or more axis on the touchscreen of the mobile device,
enabling a magnification process in response to said displaying of said graph,
receiving a selection of a first location on the touchscreen by a finger touching the touchscreen at said first location,
determining a first position of the finger touching of the touchscreen,
calculating a first distance metric dependent upon a first density of data elements at the first position,
determining a first portion of the graph to magnify in response to the first position of the finger touching of the touchscreen based on the first position of the finger touching of the touchscreen and the first distance metric,
using said magnification process, enabled by said displaying of said graph, to magnify the first portion of the graph and overlay a first magnified portion of the graph over the graph on the touchscreen displaced from the first position such that viewing the first magnified portion is not obstructed by the finger,
identifying a first single particular data element of the plurality of data elements centrally located in the first magnified portion of the graph,
automatically displaying on the touchscreen, in response

Assignees

• Yoshimoto Brandon
• Zhang Hugh
• Singh Prashant
• Oracle Int Corp

Inventors

• Yoshimoto Brandon
• Zhang Hugh
• Singh Prashant

Classifications

• G01C21/367

  Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker · CPC title

• G06F3/0481

  based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance · CPC title

• G06F2203/04806

  Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation · CPC title

• G06F17/30994

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F2203/04805

  Virtual magnifying lens, i.e. window or frame movable on top of displayed information to enlarge it for better reading or selection · CPC title