Presentation of large objects on small displays

Abstract

A method for presenting at least a part of an object is shown, comprising at least partially dividing at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects, presenting the plurality of sub-objects in a first representation, making at least one sub-object of the plurality of sub-objects an active sub-object, and in response to a user operation on the at least one active sub-object, presenting at least one of the at least one active sub-objects in a second representation. The at least one object may be a 2D object, e.g. a Hypertext Markup Language HTML page or a page of a text document, or a 3D object, e.g. a Virtual Reality Markup Language VRML object, and said display may be integrated in a portable electronic device. The invention further relates to a device, a system, a computer program and a computer program product.

1 . A method for presenting at least a part of an object, comprising: 
 at least partially dividing at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects;    presenting said plurality of sub-objects in a first representation,    determining at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects to be made an active sub-object; and    making said at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects an active sub-object; and    in response to a user operation on said at least one active sub-object, presenting at least one of said at least one active sub-objects in a second representation.    
   
   
       2 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said at least one object and said sub-objects are 3D-objects.  
   
   
       3 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said at least one object is a page, and wherein said sub-objects are areas.  
   
   
       4 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein in said user operation, at least one of said at least one active sub-objects is selected, and wherein at least said selected sub-object is presented in said second representation.  
   
   
       5 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein at least two sub-objects of said plurality of sub-objects are made active sub-objects.  
   
   
       6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said at least partial division of said at least one object into said plurality of sub-objects is based on a structure of at least a part of said at least one object.  
   
   
       7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said at least partial division of said at least one object into said plurality of sub-objects is based on a sectioning algorithm.  
   
   
       8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein in said first representation, at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects is scaled to a size that is smaller than the original presentation size of said respective sub-object.  
   
   
       9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein in said first representation, at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects is cropped.  
   
   
       10 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein in said first representation, at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects is indicated by an icon.  
   
   
       11 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein sub-objects of said plurality of sub-objects with a size that is above a size threshold, or that contain an amount of information that is above an information threshold are made active sub-objects, or both.  
   
   
       12 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of said at least one active sub-objects is automatically focused, or selected according to a selection criterion, or both.  
   
   
       13 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein in said second representation, said at least one active sub-object is scaled to a size that is larger than its size in said first representation.  
   
   
       14 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein within at least one of said sub-objects presented in said first representation, elements can be directly selected by a user.  
   
   
       15 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said plurality of sub-objects is composed of different types of sub-objects, and wherein at least one group of sub-objects of a second type is associated with at least one sub-object of a first type.  
   
   
       16 . The method according to  claim 15 , wherein said at least one active sub-object that is present in said second representation is said at least one sub-object of said first type, and wherein in response to a further user operation on said at least one sub-object of said first type, said at least one group of sub-objects of said second type associated with said at least one sub-object of said first type is presented.  
   
   
       17 . A computer program with instructions operable to cause a processor to perform the method steps of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       18 . A computer program product comprising a computer program with instructions operable to cause a processor to perform the method steps of  claim 1 .  
   
   
       19 . A device for presenting at least a part of an object, comprising: 
 means for at least partially dividing at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects;    means for presenting said plurality of sub-objects in a first representation;    means for determining at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects to be made an active sub-object; and    means for making said at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects an active sub-object; and    means for presenting at least one of said at least one active sub-objects in a second representation.    
   
   
       20 . The device according to  claim 19 , wherein said sub-objects are presented on a display of a portable electronic device.  
   
   
       21 . A system for presenting at least a part of an object, comprising: 
 means for at least partially dividing at least one object into a plurality of sub-objects;    means for presenting said plurality of sub-objects in a first representation,    means for determining at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects to be made an active sub-object; and means for making said at least one sub-object of said plurality of sub-objects an active sub-object; and    means for presenting at least one of said at least one active sub-objects in a second representation.