Navigating programming content via multi-dimensional surfaces

Abstract

A method to separately assign and modify multiple attributes of information and structure to an individual block or to a larger unitary whole comprised of multiple blocks is disclosed. A number of block instances of a block is determined. Each block instance is associated with one or more structure attributes. A number of data elements is determined. Each data element is associated with one or more information attributes. The data elements are mapped to the block instances. The mapped block instances are displayed contiguously.

1 . A method, comprising:
 determining, by a computing device, a number of visually three-dimensional surfaces to be displayed in a programming guide;   determining, by the computing device, a number of data elements to be included in the programming guide;   determining, by the computing device, a mapping order associated with the one or more data elements;   displaying, by the computing device, one or more visually three-dimensional surfaces corresponding to the determined number of visually three-dimensional surfaces to be displayed; and   displaying, by the computing device, one or more data elements corresponding to the determined number of data elements to be included in the programming guide, the one or more data elements being mapped to the one or more visually three-dimensional surfaces based on the determined mapping order.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mapping order associated with the one or more data elements corresponds to a statistical usage of the one or more data elements. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mapping order associated with the one or more data elements corresponds to a popularity of the one or more data elements. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mapping order associated with the one or more data elements corresponds to a fixed order of the one or more data elements. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mapping order associated with the one or more data elements corresponds to an alphabetical order of the one or more data elements. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each three-dimensional surface is associated with at least one structure attribute, and wherein each data element is associated with at least one information attribute. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 selecting, by the computing device, based on the determined number of three-dimensional surfaces and the determined number of data elements, a mapping technique from a plurality of mapping techniques,   wherein the mapping of the one or more data elements to the one or more three-dimensional surfaces is also based on the selected mapping technique.   
     
     
         8 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to:
 determine a number of visually three-dimensional surfaces to be displayed in a programming guide;   determine a number of data elements to be included in the programming guide;   determine a mapping order associated with the one or more data elements;   display one or more visually three-dimensional surfaces corresponding to the determined number of visually three-dimensional surfaces to be displayed; and   display one or more data elements corresponding to the determined number of data elements to be included in the programming guide, the one or more data elements being mapped to the one or more visually three-dimensional surfaces based on the determined mapping order.   
     
     
         9 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the mapping order associated with the one or more data elements corresponds to a statistical usage of the one or more data elements. 
     
     
         10 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the mapping order associated with the one or more data elements corresponds to a popularity of the one or more data elements. 
     
     
         11 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the mapping order associated with the one or more data elements corresponds to a fixed order of the one or more data elements. 
     
     
         12 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the mapping order associated with the one or more data elements corresponds to an alphabetical order of the one or more data elements. 
     
     
         13 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein each three-dimensional surface is associated with at least one structure attribute, and wherein each data element is associated with at least one information attribute. 
     
     
         14 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 8 , having additional computer-executable instructions stored thereon that, when executed, further cause a computing device to:
 select, based on the determined number of three-dimensional surfaces and the determined number of data elements, a mapping technique from a plurality of mapping techniques,   wherein the mapping of the one or more data elements to the one or more three-dimensional surfaces is also based on the selected mapping technique.   
     
     
         15 . An apparatus, comprising:
 at least one processor; and   memory storing computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:
 determine a number of visually three-dimensional surfaces to be displayed in a programming guide; 
 determine a number of data elements to be included in the programming guide; 
 determine a mapping order associated with the one or more data elements; 
 display one or more visually three-dimensional surfaces corresponding to the determined number of visually three-dimensional surfaces to be displayed; and 
   display one or more data elements corresponding to the determined number of data elements to be included in the programming guide, the one or more data elements being mapped to the one or more visually three-dimensional surfaces based on the determined mapping order.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the mapping order associated with the one or more data elements corresponds to a statistical usage of the one or more data elements. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the mapping order associated with the one or more data elements corresponds to a popularity of the one or more data elements. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the mapping order associated with the one or more data elements corresponds to a fixed order of the one or more data elements. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the mapping order associated with the one or more data elements corresponds to an alphabetical order of the one or more data elements. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein each three-dimensional surface is associated with at least one structure attribute, and wherein each data element is associated with at least one information attribute. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the memory stores additional computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the apparatus to:
 select, based on the determined number of three-dimensional surfaces and the determined number of data elements, a mapping technique from a plurality of mapping techniques,   wherein the mapping of the one or more data elements to the one or more three-dimensional surfaces is also based on the selected mapping technique.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more visually three-dimensional surfaces and the one or more data elements are displayed as parts of a two-dimensional image. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more visually three-dimensional surfaces and the one or more data elements are displayed as parts of a three-dimensional image rendered by a three-dimensional graphics engine.