Multimedia User Interface Stage Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing multimedia user interfaces obscure previous content items when navigating, making it difficult to access them due to the overlaying of pages, which hinders efficient navigation and content management.
Innovation Solution
A user interface system that generates a representation of a stage with multiple panes, allowing for a 'fly out' effect of selected elements and a spotlight to indicate focus, enabling seamless navigation and content management without obscuring other elements, and includes a video preview window that slides while content plays.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If pages are overlaid one on top of the other for navigation, then navigation between content items is enabled, but previous content items become obscured and difficult to access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional overlay paradigm to a three-dimensional stage paradigm. Content items are arranged on a virtual stage with depth positioning, where selected items move to the foreground (closer to user) and unselected items remain in the background. This dimensional change allows multiple content items to be simultaneously visible and accessible without obscuring one another, resolving the contradiction between navigation capability and content accessibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The interface implements dynamic repositioning of content items on the stage based on user interaction. When a user selects a content item, it transitions to the foreground; when deselected, it returns to the background. This dynamic behavior maintains clear visibility and access to multiple content items while enabling navigation, as items can be selectively brought into focus without permanently blocking others.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a back button is used to navigate to previous content items, then navigation history can be accessed, but the interface requires sequential page stepping which reduces efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-positions all content items on the virtual stage in advance, including those that would traditionally require navigation through intermediate pages. Users can directly access any content item on the stage without sequential stepping, as all items are simultaneously available in the navigable space. This eliminates the need for back-button sequential navigation while preserving access to all content in the navigation history.
3Area of stationary object
If content items are displayed in a limited view area, then the interface fits within the display, but the number of visible content items is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the display capacity beyond the physical screen boundaries by creating a virtual stage that accommodates more content items than can fit in a single traditional page view. The stage uses depth and spatial arrangement to display multiple content items simultaneously, allowing users to see and access more items at once without increasing the physical display area, effectively resolving the contradiction between display area utilization and content quantity visibility.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and machine readable media are disclosed for providing a user interface for a service distributing multimedia content. According to one embodiment, providing a user interface accessing a media service can comprise generating a representation of a stage for presenting graphical elements related to multimedia content provided by the media service and displaying a first view of the stage, wherein the first view of the stage includes a portion of the stage less than all of the stage. The first view of the stage can comprise at least a first pane and a second pane, the first pane and the second pane including different portions of the stage. The first pane can include a first plurality of graphical elements representing content items available through the media service.