Abstract: Collaboration space object model provides for a Place consisting of rooms. A room is made up of pages. Folders are used to organize pages. Members belong to rooms, and are those users authorized to access them. Place type controls the creation of a place, including how many rooms it has, for example. Room type controls the appearance and content of rooms. A form manages the display of data notes. A form can contain fields for containing data and employ scripts to process and compute data. A page is the basic vehicle for content. Content is created using an or importing content from an external source. A member is also a data note, and each place contains its own member directory. A place is created and managed from a client browser in on-line mode and in offline mode with respect to a replicated copy of the space. Room security is independently managed, and security and aesthetics characteristics of subrooms selectively inherited.

Abstract: A system, method and program are provided for listing activities in a graphical user interface in a collaborative work tool framework. An activity window having activity description data, activity start data, activity duration data, and an activity status data is displayed. Then, an activity is defined in response to user selection of a defined activity button and the defined activity is displayed in the activity window. Next, status for the defined activity is determined based on the start time and the duration for the defined activity. Finally, background information relevant to the defined activity is automatically acquired, including automatically obtaining the activity description when the start time is within a predetermined period, parsing and pattern matching the activity description to identify searchable components thereof, querying a plurality of sources across a network to obtain the background information, and receiving the background information in response to querying the plurality of sources.

Abstract: A user interface and method for interacting with a three-dimensional graphical environment is determined. Multiple viewing perspectives are provided to the user to allow the user to view and navigate through the environment at approximately eye level or “fly over” and view the environment from an overhead view. Labels corresponding to partitioned areas rotate to adjust to the changing perspective of the user and area color coding adjusts hierarchically dependent on the user's perspective. Partitions and the ceiling of the environment have variable translucency/transparency so as to provide the user with forward viewing capability of the environment and read labels in other areas. The interface controls the movement of the user's in a natural manner and movement is tracked to provide the user with a history of the user's previous navigation path. Addition information views are provided by the interface relating to different objects within the interface.

Abstract: A user's chatterbot participates in a chat session with other users and the other users' chatterbots. The originator of an incoming instant message is identified to such a degree that a buddy on a buddy list is able to determine that the instant message was sent by a user's chatterbot (e.g., “Jackie's chatterbot”), and not the user (“Jackie”). The chatterbots can communicate with other chatterbots while the chatterbots' users listen to the chatterbots converse. The chatterbots may respond to messages originated by other chatterbots' messages and buddies' (users') messages.

Abstract: Preferred implementations of the invention permit a user to seamlessly switch from a first media stream to a second media stream in a synchronized way, such that the second media stream picks up where the first media stream left off. In this way, the user experiences events chronologically but without interruption. In a preferred implementation, a user watching a skim video switches to a full length video when, for example, the skim video reaches a frame that is of particular interest to the user. The full length video begins at a point corresponding to the frame in the skim video that is of interest to the user, without skipping over video segments, so that the user does not experience any time gaps in the story line.

Abstract: An LCD display provides language-independent icons for identifying state and/or activity information about a processor-based system. The LCD display includes a distinct portion for connoting different functional aspects of the system. Icons identifying the power-on state, disk activity, LAN activity, WAN activity, and sensor conditions are supplied.

Abstract: A method, system and program for selectively applying translucent filters to graphical images according to visual disability needs are provided. An image is received at a receiver communicatively connected via a network to an image server and connected to a display device for output of the image. A translucent style is specified for a particular user at the receiver. A translucent filter overlay is applied over the image according to the translucent style for output to the display device, such that the image output to the display device is adjusted to specifically accommodate for a visual disability of the particular user.

Abstract: An image pickup system that is small in scale, handy to maneuver, easy to operate and advanced in editing capabilities is disclosed. A commander device is used both as a remote commander and as a microphone in operating a video camera for image pickup. Wearing a headset on the head, a user looks at images appearing on a headset display to monitor and verify recorded images without recourse to a view finder of the video camera. Functions of the components making up the system are changed by operation of a mode switch attached to the video camera.

Abstract: The present invention provides for an enhanced mouthstick device that allows. disabled individuals, having limited or no use of their hands, to independently, effectively and efficiently simulate computer mouse manipulation and input data in computer software applications. The present invention also allows disabled individuals, having limited or no use of their hands, to effectively utilize standard, commercially available, off-the-shelf GUI or windows-based software applications without requiring modification to the actual software application. The invention is comprised of three functional components mounted on a traditional mouthstick and a reception unit which is fitted to a computer display screen. The user manipulates the position of the cursor on the display screen by moving the StickMouse towards the desired position on the display screen. A signal transmitter unit transmits constant position signals which are received by the sensors on the reception unit.

Abstract: A system and method for dynamically saving the properties of transient controls in a general screen dialog and enabling these properties to be restored at a later time. In a typical GUI based computer program, a number of user interface objects or “controls” are presented graphically to a user on a form to allow the user to input information by interfacing these controls. The activation of the various controls on the form by a user is referred to as the screen dialog. The present invention allows a user of the computer system to save the current properties of a form's transient controls to a database, where this form can later be restored with its transient controls having the same properties as when the form was saved. A screen dialog save procedure loops through all of the controls on a form and inserts a record of each control type along with its respective property values into a database.

Abstract: Providing feedback concerning a content pane to be docked in a host window is disclosed. The method and system comprises providing a description of a position of a content pane within a host window and utilizing a diagram to indicate the position and the orientation of the content pane within the host window. Docking is allowed to occur anywhere in the host window, not only in the border regions. In addition, docking positions include the positions inside the split panes. Given a vertical splitter bar, for example, the left-top, left-bottom, right-top, and right-bottom positions are available. The thumbnail feedback when docking shows how existing docking panes will be moved and resized, as well as the orientation and relative size of the resulting docking pane.

Abstract: A system, method, and medium are disclosed for undocking content from a window into sub-windows. The undocked sub-windows may be redocked to the parent window. The sub-windows may continue to exist after an application providing the window has been closed.

Abstract: Client software may be used in conjunction with services offered by several entities such as network service providers. A user interface of the client software presents brand indicia relating to the network service provider that is currently being used by the software. The software is configured by selecting entities with which the software will be used. Once the entities are selected, an instruction server is queried to determine the location of branding data to be presented to the user, and a branding data server is queried to retrieve the branding data. The brand indicia are presented to the user according to the branding data each time the corresponding entity is accessed.

Abstract: A method and device for displaying history information are provided in which, when a plurality of image processings are carried out repeatedly, a plurality of images which have been subjected to image processing automatically remain as a history record, and this history record is displayed in image states which can be visually discerned, such that a desired image can be intuitively determined. When an image which has been subjected to image processing on an image-to-be-processed display screen is closed and subjected to another image processing, or is subjected to an additional image processing, images displayed on the image-to-be-processed display screen up to before a next image processing is carried out are displayed as icons in a past image icon display portion beneath the image-to-be-processed display screen. Thus, a function can be provided for listing up a history of image processings or providing a gallery stocked with image states which are results of intermediate processings.

Abstract: A graphical user interface for use in a data processing system for facilitating data entry for cluster analysis. In a preferred embodiment, the graphical user interface includes a source card list area, a participants area, a first sort area, and a second sort area. The source card list area allows entry, display of, and direct manipulation access to all of a plurality of items to be sorted. The participants area allows entry and display of participant names. The first sort area includes a plurality of first sections that each can contain a set of items dragged from the source card list area and represents a first-level of grouping of the items from the source card list area. The second sort area includes a plurality of second sections. Each of the plurality of second sections may contain items dragged from at least one of the first sections and represents a second-level of grouping of the items from the source card list area.

Abstract: A patient monitoring system includes a plurality of patient monitors, each for monitoring the physiological condition of a local patient connected with respective patient monitor, whereby the patient monitors provide a data-communication with each other. Each patient monitor comprises a display adapted for displaying information representative of the physiological condition of the local patient. The display of at least one of the patient monitors comprises an overview area for displaying status information from one or more of the other patient monitors.

Abstract: A visual display for an electronic device is partitioned into regions. Each of the regions is associated with a key on a keypad. One exemplary implementation is a 3×3 grid of regions corresponding to nine keys numbered 1-9 on a numbered keypad. A visual correspondence is provided for the user to associate choices illustrated in the regions with the numbered keys. The regions display visual information such as graphics and/or text to identify a selection option. The keys are associated with the regions such that when a key is selected the selection option associated with the region is chosen. In this fashion, a user may navigate through content, such as content from the Internet, to gain accesses to service, to obtain information and to purchase items.

Abstract: A method of human-computer interfacing provides efficient intuitive controls in a three-dimensional space. The method provides a three-dimensional space, characterized by a z dimension approximately parallel to the user's direction of view, and x and y dimensions approximately orthogonal thereto. A control has x and y coordinate sets, and a z coordinate set that spans a range of values. The range can be infinite, making the control accessible at all depths, or can be a finite range, making the control accessible from that range of depths. Movement of a cursor into the control's region initiates user interaction according to the control. The control depth reduces the precision of depth perception required to find the control. Once the user is in the control region, the effective depth for interaction can be relative to the depth when the user entered, providing control interaction independent of entering depth.

Abstract: A personal computer system provides a digital feedback display panel and supporting software to provide digital computer status feedback for a user. The digital feedback display panel is integrated with a computer housing of the computer system. The supporting software detects status notification messages which are processed and communicated to the digital feedback display panel. The digital feedback display panel provides display feedback to the user based on the detected status notification messages. The display feedback can take the form of status icons and blinking text messages displayed on the digital feedback display panel. Examples of status conditions of the computer system which can be communicated to the user include (i) a connection state of a peripheral device to the computer system, (ii) the computer system is connected to the Internet, (iii) an indication of how many unread e-mails for the computer system are available, and (iv) network time for a server coupled to the computer system.

Abstract: For a presentation comprising a plurality of presentation segments, timing is established through the combination of assigning a portion of a total presentation time to each of the plurality of presentation segments, displaying the time assigned to each of said presentation segments, enabling a user to change the time assigned to the segment being presented, and in response to a change in said time, dynamically reapportioning the remaining total time among the subsequent sequential presentation segments. The reapportioned times for said subsequent sequential presentation segments can further be displayed. There may also be means, responsive to the change in the time, for dynamically eliminating one of said sequential segments. In slide presentations, there may be means for displaying the reapportioned times for said subsequent sequential individual slides together with miniaturizations of each of said subsequent sequential individual slides.