Method and apparatus for passively browsing the internet

Abstract

A technique is provided for passively browsing the Internet or an intranet by displaying images from web pages on a user's display screen. The user can select an image by clicking on it using a pointer manipulated by a mouse or trackball. A mapping list is maintained that maps the image universal resource locator (URL) for each image to the URL of the web page containing the image. Using the mapping list, the user's web browser can be driven to the web page associated with the image selected by the user. A group of web pages may be defined based on the results of a search, by entering URLs for sites or web pages of interest, using a bookmarks file, based on the currently displayed web page in a web browser, or by determining which web pages are associated with the images stored in an image cache.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for use in a communications network in which a plurality of users at clients are connected to a data network, wherein the users access web pages that have associated web page images and are stored on servers connected to the data network, the method comprising the steps of: 
 obtaining a plurality of the images, each image being associated with one of the web pages;    displaying the images on one of the clients without displaying the associated web pages;    allowing the user to select an image from among the displayed images; and    accessing the web page associated with the selected image.    
     
     
         2 . The method defined in    claim 1    wherein the step of obtaining images further comprises the step of obtaining images from an image cache.  
     
     
         3 . The method defined in    claim 1    wherein the step of displaying the images comprises the step of displaying images in random positions.  
     
     
         4 . The method defined in    claim 1    wherein the step of displaying the images comprises the step of displaying images in a non-overlapping pattern.  
     
     
         5 . The method defined in    claim 1    wherein the step of allowing the user to select an image from among the displayed images comprises the step of allowing a user to click on a displayed image.  
     
     
         6 . The method defined in    claim 1    wherein the step of accessing the web page associated with the selected image comprises the steps of: 
 determining the URL of the web page associated with the selected image; and  
 driving a web browser to that URL.  
 
     
     
         7 . The method defined in    claim 1    further comprising the step of creating a snapshot of the displayed images.  
     
     
         8 . The method defined in    claim 1    wherein the data network is the Internet, the servers are web servers, and the images are inlined images.  
     
     
         9 . A system for use in a communications network in which a plurality of users at clients are connected to a data network, wherein the users access web pages that have associated web page images and are stored on servers connected to the data network, the system comprising: 
 means for obtaining a plurality of the images, each image being associated with one of the web pages;    means for displaying the images on one of the clients without displaying the associated web pages;    means for allowing a user to select an image from among the displayed images; and    means for accessing the web page associated with the selected image.    
     
     
         10 . The system defined in    claim 9    wherein the means for obtaining the images further comprises means for obtaining images from an image cache.  
     
     
         11 . The system defined in    claim 9    wherein the means for obtaining the images further comprises means for extracting image universal resource locators (URLs) from a group of web pages.  
     
     
         12 . The system defined in    claim 9    wherein the means for displaying the images comprises means for displaying images in random positions.  
     
     
         13 . The system defined in    claim 9    wherein the means for displaying the images comprises means for displaying images in a non-overlapping pattern.  
     
     
         14 . The system defined in    claim 9    wherein the means for allowing the user to select an image from among the displayed images comprises means for allowing a user to click on a displayed image.  
     
     
         15 . The system defined in    claim 9    wherein the means for accessing the web page associated with the selected image comprises: 
 means for determining the URL of the web page associated with the selected image; and  
 means for driving a web browser to that URL.  
 
     
     
         16 . The system defined in    claim 9    further comprising means for creating a snapshot of the displayed images.  
     
     
         17 . The system defined in    claim 9    wherein the data network is the Internet, the servers are web servers, and the images are inlined images.