Chris Shichai Liu

US Patent:

60493364, Apr 11, 2000

Filed:

Aug 12, 1998

Appl. No.:

9/133025

Inventors:

Chris Shi-Chai Liu - San Jose CA
Bryan Lew Fong - San Diego CA
Kazuto Mugura - Kawasaki, JP

Assignee:

Sony Corporation - Tokyo
Sony Electronics Inc. - Park Ridge NJ

International Classification:

G06F 300

US Classification:

345353

Abstract:

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) are routinely used to provide visual interfaces between applications and users. Typically, a GUI displays on a screen a menu containing a plurality of menu items. A new menu may be invoked by selecting one of the menu items from the screen. Unfortunately, available GUIs do not provide satisfactory continuity in the transition from a current menu to a subsequent menu. To overcome the shortcomings of the available art, an improved GUI provides an animation in the transition from a current menu to a subsequent menu. Specifically, after a menu item has been selected from a display screen, the selected menu item is continuously moved to the top position of the display screen, while the menu selection is being processed. In the meantime, the subsequent menu items resulting from the menu selection are continuously moved into the display screen.

US Patent:

61884065, Feb 13, 2001

Filed:

Aug 12, 1998

Appl. No.:

9/133155

Inventors:

Bryan Lew Fong - San Diego CA
Chris Shi-Chai Liu - San Jose CA
Kazuto Mugura - Kawasaki, JP

Assignee:

Sony Corporation - Tokyo
Sony Electronics Inc. - Park Ridge NJ

International Classification:

G06F 314

US Classification:

345348

Abstract:

A typical conventional Graphical User Interface (GUI) displays multiple menu items, together with their respective icons (or symbols), on a display region. However, when a display region has a relatively small area, displaying icons (or symbols) together with their respective menu items makes the display region clustered, thus increasing the difficulty for a user to locate and select a desired menu item. To overcome this shortcoming, an improved GUI displays multiple menu items of a menu on a display region that contains a column window and row window. Each of the menu items contains a content field and a symbol field. The GUI only displays the symbol fields of the menu items that are scrolled into the column window and the content field of a menu item that is scrolled into the row window. In doing so, the improved GUI facilitates a user to select a desired menu item from the menu.

US Patent:

62229214, Apr 24, 2001

Filed:

Aug 12, 1998

Appl. No.:

9/133070

Inventors:

Katzuto Mugura - Kawasaki, JP
Bryan Lew Fong - San Diego CA
Chris Shi-Chai Liu - San Jose CA

Assignee:

Sony Corporation - Tokyo
Sony Electronics Inc. - Park Ridge NJ

International Classification:

H04M 100

US Classification:

379354

Abstract:

An apparatus and method for displaying a telephone directory. A main menu is used to display the names of a telephone directory, and each of the names is associated with a primary number. A sub menu is used to display the numbers associated with each of the names in the main menu. The primary number is denoted and automatically selected in the second menu.