Circular Icon Arrangement for Multimedia Content Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The abundance of multimedia content sources makes it difficult for viewers to efficiently locate desired content items due to the complexity of existing electronic guides, resulting in a poor user experience.
Innovation Solution
A multimedia display system that organizes content types and sub-types in approximately circular arrangements of icons, allowing users to navigate and select desired content through a hierarchical interface, enabling quick access to desired multimedia content.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If traditional electronic guides present a list of available content items, then the viewer can see what content is available, but the guide becomes difficult to navigate efficiently
Solution Approach 1:
The guide is segmented into multiple pages, with each page displaying a limited number of content items (e.g., 5-10 items per page). This breaks down the overwhelming list into manageable portions, allowing viewers to navigate efficiently through categories and subcategories rather than scrolling through a single exhaustive list.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a hierarchical navigation structure with multiple dimensions: main categories, subcategories, and content items. Viewers can navigate through these dimensions systematically, adding a structural dimension to the flat list and enabling more efficient location of desired content through organized browsing paths.
2Loss of information
If the guide displays all available content items, then complete information is provided, but the interface becomes complex and difficult to use
Solution Approach 1:
Content items are segmented and organized into a hierarchical structure with main categories, subcategories, and individual items. This segmentation allows the interface to display only relevant portions at each navigation level, reducing complexity while maintaining complete information availability through systematic browsing.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide interface is designed to be dynamic, adapting its display based on the viewer's navigation progress. As viewers move through categories and subcategories, the interface dynamically updates to show relevant content items, maintaining simplicity at each step while providing access to the complete content library through the navigation hierarchy.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of displaying available multimedia content items includes receiving a request to display a set of available content items. In response to the request, a first set of icons are provided for display, where each icon corresponds to a type of available multimedia content. The icons are displayed in an approximately circular arrangement, providing for easy viewing and manipulation. In response to selection of an icon, a second set of icons is displayed in an approximately circular arrangement, where each icon of the second set corresponds to a sub-type of the available multimedia content. The user can continue to select icons based on the type of desired multimedia content until a list of available multimedia content items are displayed. Accordingly, the user is able to quickly locate and view multimedia content of a desired type, resulting in an improved user experience.