Abstract: A method for presenting applications on a display screen, comprising: displaying a first presentation on the display screen, the first presentation including two or more icons; receiving a signal indicative of an icon, the icon being one of the two or more icons, the icon having an application associated therewith; initiating the application, the application having information associated therewith; generating a second presentation, the second presentation having a first area for presenting the information at least partially surrounded by a second area for presenting reduced-size versions of the two or more icons other than the icon; and, displaying the second presentation on the display screen to replace display of the first presentation.

Abstract: A method for generating a presentation of a region-of-interest in a terrain data representation for display on a display screen, comprising: translating each point of the representation within a lens bounds to a rotated plane being normal to a vector defined by a position for the region-of-interest with respect to a base plane for the representation and an apex above the base plane, the lens bounds defining a shoulder region at least partially surrounding a focal bounds defining a focal region in which the position is located, each point having a respective height above the base plane; displacing each translated point from the rotated plane by a function of the respective height and a magnification for the focal region, the magnification varying across the shoulder region in accordance with a drop-off function; rotating each displaced point toward a viewpoint for the region-of-interest to maintain visibility of each displaced point and each point of the data representation beyond the lens bounds when viewed f

Abstract: A method for presenting applications on a display screen, comprising: displaying a first presentation on the display screen, the first presentation including two or more icons; receiving a signal indicative of an icon, the icon being one of the two or more icons, the icon having an application associated therewith; initiating the application, the application having information associated therewith; generating a second presentation, the second presentation having a first area for presenting the information at least partially surrounded by a second area for presenting reduced-size versions of the two or more icons other than the icon; and, displaying the second presentation on the display screen to replace display of the first presentation.

Abstract: A method for presenting advertisement images on a display screen, comprising: subdividing a map image into a plurality of geographic regions; associating a first advertisement image with a first region and a second advertisement image with a second region, the first and second regions being ones of the plurality of geographic regions; receiving a signal indicative of a region-of-interest, the region-of-interest being another of the plurality of geographic regions; selecting an advertisement image for the region-of-interest from among the first and second advertisement images; generating a presentation of the region-of-interest, the presentation including a view of the advertisement image; and, displaying the presentation on the display screen.

Abstract: A method for generating a presentation of a region-of-interest in an elevation data representation for display on a display screen, comprising: calculating a displacement height for at least one point in the representation falling within a lens by inversely scaling a vertical height of the point from a viewpoint for the presentation by a magnification for the lens; if the point is within a shoulder region of the lens, scaling the displacement height by a value of the shoulder function evaluated at a value given by a distance between a projection point in the basal plane and a closest point on a perimeter of a focal region as projected onto the basal plane, the distance being scaled by a distance between the closest point and an intersection point on a perimeter of the shoulder region; and, displacing the point by the displacement height to generate the presentation.

Abstract: A method for generating a presentation of a region-of-interest in a terrain data representation for display on a display screen, comprising: translating each point of the representation within a lens bounds to a rotated plane being normal to a vector defined by a position for the region-of-interest with respect to a base plane for the representation and an apex above the base plane, the lens bounds defining a shoulder region at least partially surrounding a focal bounds defining a focal region in which the position is located, each point having a respective height above the base plane; displacing each translated point from the rotated plane by a function of the respective height and a magnification for the focal region, the magnification varying across the shoulder region in accordance with a drop-off function; rotating each displaced point toward a viewpoint for the region-of-interest to maintain visibility of each displaced point and each point of the data representation beyond the lens bounds when viewed f

Abstract: A method is for inverting a distorted surface presentation into an undistorted surface presentation in a detail-in-context presentation system including the steps of: selecting an input point on the undistorted surface; calculating a vector from the input point to a reference viewpoint; locating a starting point lying above the distorted surface and on the vector; locating a first bracketing point for a first intersection point of the vector and the distorted surface lying above the distorted surface and on the vector; locating a second bracketing point for the first intersection point lying below the distorted surface, and below the first intersection point, but above any subsequent intersection points of the vector and the distorted surface; locating a midpoint between the first and second bracketing points; and, determining if the midpoint is an acceptable approximation for the first intersection point thus being an inversion point corresponding to the input point.

Abstract: A method for generating a presentation of a region-of-interest in an elevation data representation for display on a display screen, comprising: calculating a displacement height for at least one point in the representation falling within a lens by inversely scaling a vertical height of the point from a viewpoint for the presentation by a magnification for the lens; if the point is within a shoulder region of the lens, scaling the displacement height by a value of the shoulder function evaluated at a value given by a distance between a projection point in the basal plane and a closest point on a perimeter of a focal region as projected onto the basal plane, the distance being scaled by a distance between the closest point and an intersection point on a perimeter of the shoulder region; and, displacing the point by the displacement height to generate the presentation.

Abstract: A method is for inverting a distorted surface presentation into an undistorted surface presentation in a detail-in-context presentation system including the steps of: selecting an input point on the undistorted surface; calculating a vector from the input point to a reference viewpoint; locating a starting point lying above the distorted surface and on the vector; locating a first bracketing point for a first intersection point of the vector and the distorted surface lying above the distorted surface and on the vector; locating a second bracketing point for the first intersection point lying below the distorted surface, and below the first intersection point, but above any subsequent intersection points of the vector and the distorted surface; locating a midpoint between the first and second bracketing points; and, determining if the midpoint is an acceptable approximation for the first intersection point thus being an inversion point corresponding to the input point.

Abstract: A method for generating a presentation of a region-of-interest in a terrain data representation for display on a display screen, comprising: translating each point of the representation within a lens bounds to a rotated plane being normal to a vector defined by a position for the region-of-interest with respect to a base plane for the representation and an apex above the base plane, the lens bounds defining a shoulder region at least partially surrounding a focal bounds defining a focal region in which the position is located, each point having a respective height above the base plane; displacing each translated point from the rotated plane by a function of the respective height and a magnification for the focal region, the magnification varying across the shoulder region in accordance with a drop-off function; rotating each displaced point toward a viewpoint for the region-of-interest to maintain visibility of each displaced point and each point of the data representation beyond the lens bounds when viewed f