[54] BACK AWAY NAVIGATION FROM THREEDIMENSIONAL OBJECTS IN THREEDIMENSIONAL WORKSPACE INTERACTIVE DISPLAYS
[75] Inventors: Richard Edmond Berry; Scott Harlan Isensee, both of Georgetown, Tex.; David John Roberts, Stockton, United Kingdom
[73] Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y.
[21] Appl. No.: 08/835,145 [22] Filed: Apr. 4, 1997
[51] Int. CI.7 G06F 3/00
[52] U.S. CI 345/427; 345/355; 345/422
[58] Field of Search 345/427, 419,
345/355, 438, 418
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
5,276,785 1/1994 Mackinlay et al 395/127
5.297,043 3/1994 Tuy et al 345/427
5,325,472 6/1994 Horiuchi et al 345/427
5.339,390 8/1994 Robertson et al 395/157
5,442,456 8/1995 Hansen 358/342
A system, method and computer program are provided for user navigation within a virtual reality three-dimensional workspace containing functional three-dimensional objects. The viewer navigates from an initial viewpoint interface through a sequence of viewpoints, which sequence the system records. When the viewer has completed his accessing of a functional object for whatever purpose, he has the option of triggering a backout sequence. If the viewer triggers such a sequence, the system will backout from the accessed objects through the sequence of recorded viewpoints in reverse order. At any one of these viewpoints during the backout, the viewer has the option of interrupting the reverse or backout sequence and proceeding to any viewpoint he may desire in another direction.
11 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets
