Annotation Display System with Viewport-Linked Highlighting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for displaying annotations in electronic documents lack flexibility and user focus, making it difficult to distinguish and manage multiple annotations, especially when they are densely packed or scattered throughout the document.
Innovation Solution
A system that allows users to visually distinguish specific annotations within a selected portion of an electronic document by highlighting them in user-configurable colors, using machine learning algorithms to determine significance based on factors like location, temporal information, and content, and displaying these annotations in a separate pane for easier review.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If all annotations are displayed in the annotation pane, then complete annotation information is provided, but user focus is lost and visual distinction becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by visually distinguishing specific annotations based on their relationship to the viewport. Annotations linked to visible document portions are highlighted with distinct visual properties (such as bold text, icons, or background coloring), while annotations linked to hidden portions use different visual properties. This creates local visual differentiation that helps users focus on relevant annotations without losing access to complete annotation information.
2Ease of operation
If annotations are displayed in the annotation pane, then annotations are separated from the document, but linking annotations to their anchors becomes less clear
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by dynamically updating the annotation pane based on viewport changes. When the user scrolls or navigates the document, the system automatically detects viewport changes and updates the annotation display to reflect which annotations are currently relevant. This creates a feedback loop that maintains clear linkage between annotations and their anchors while keeping the annotation pane as a separate, manageable interface.
Solution Approach 2:
The annotation display is made dynamic by changing visual properties based on real-time viewport state. Annotations transition between different visual states (e.g., highlighted vs. dimmed, visible vs. hidden indicators) as the user navigates the document. This dynamic behavior maintains clear annotation-anchor linkage without requiring the annotations to be physically adjacent to their anchors in the document view.
3Loss of information
If multiple annotations are displayed with equal visual weight, then all annotation information is preserved, but user focus and identification of key annotations becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different visual properties to different annotations based on their relevance to the current viewport. Annotations linked to visible document portions receive enhanced visual properties (such as bold text, prominent icons, or background highlighting), while annotations linked to hidden portions use subdued visual properties. This creates natural visual hierarchy that guides user focus without losing any annotation information.
Data Source
AI summary
Described herein is a system and method for displaying annotation(s) of an electronic document. User input to review (e.g., scroll) the electronic document is received, until a selected portion of the electronic document is displayed within a viewport pane of a display. In response to the review input, annotation(s) (e.g., comment(s), comment thread(s), annotation thread(s)) anchored within the selected portion of the electronic document displayed within the viewport pane are identified. Which annotation of the annotation(s) to visually distinguish for a focus of the user is determined. The identified annotation(s) are displayed in an annotation pane, with the determined annotation visually distinguished (highlighted) for the focus of the user. In some embodiments, the anchor associated with the determined annotation is also visually distinguished to provide a contextual link to the user and/or hint(s) that provided a visual signal of annotation(s) associated with an anchor on a particular line are displayed.