Method of real-time incremental zooming

Abstract

A method for navigating a pointer on a graphical user interface (GUI) includes the steps of: scrolling an input device to locate the pointer corresponding to the input device on a point of interest within the GUI, depressing an actuating button associated with the input device on the point of interest, obtaining a detailed view of the point of interest while centering the point of interest on the GUI and maintaining a position of the pointer on the point of interest.

1 . A computer readable medium containing executable instructions which, when executed in a processing system, cause the system to perform a method comprising: 
 moving a cursor from a first display point on a user interface to a second display point on said user interface;    receiving a selection input associated with said second display point;    providing a detailed view of the second display point and centering the user interface around the second display point; and    maintaining a position of the cursor on the second display point.    
   
   
       2 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the detailed view of the point of interest is obtained while zooming in on the second display point and simultaneously panning over the user interface.  
   
   
       3 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the detailed view is obtained in a series of intermediate zooming levels.  
   
   
       4 . The computer readable medium of  claim 3 , wherein the cursor position is maintained over the second display point at each zooming level.  
   
   
       5 . The computer readable medium of  claim 3 , wherein the number of zooming levels is at least two.  
   
   
       6 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 computing a linear distance between the center of the user interface and the second display point;    drawing a virtual line representing the linear distance; and    animating a movement of the cursor along the virtual line in a series of intermediate zooming levels.    
   
   
       7 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface corresponds to a location information program.  
   
   
       8 . The computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the user interface corresponds to a menu selection in a pay per view environment.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising storing information for each intermediate zooming level as a history.  
   
   
       10 . A method for handling a cursor on a user interface, comprising the steps of: 
 moving a cursor from a first display point on a user interface to a second display point on said user interface;    receiving a selection input associated with said second display point;    providing a detailed view of the second display point and centering the user interface around the second display point; and    maintaining a position of the cursor on the second display point.    
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the detailed view of the point of interest is obtained while zooming in on the second display point and simultaneously panning over the user interface.  
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the detailed view is obtained in a series of intermediate zooming levels.  
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the cursor position is maintained over the second display point at each zooming level.  
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the number of zooming levels is at least two.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising: 
 computing a linear distance between the center of the user interface and the second display point;    drawing a virtual line representing the linear distance; and    animating a movement of the cursor along the virtual line in a series of intermediate zooming levels.    
   
   
       16 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the user interface corresponds to a location information program.  
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the user interface corresponds to a menu selection in a pay per view environment.  
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising storing information for each intermediate zooming level as a history.