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.

What is claimed is: 
     
         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.