WO2000028407A1

WO2000028407A1 - Method and apparatus for showing user selectable options on the display screen of a data processing apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2000028407A1
Application number: PCT/GB1999/003685
Authority: WO
Inventors: Anthony Holmes
Original assignee: Ncr International, Inc.
Priority date: 1998-11-11
Filing date: 1999-11-08
Publication date: 2000-05-18
Also published as: GB9824763D0

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for showing user selectable options on the display screen of a data processing apparatus. The data processing apparatus includes a data processor, a display device incorporating a display screen, a display device driver, user entry means such as a mouse, keyboard or touch screen entry, and programming means to control the data processing apparatus. The programming is adapted to operate the display device driver to depict a control object or icon defining a data processing operation. The entry means is operable by the user to cause the system to perform the operation defined by the control object. The depiction of the control object comprises forward and reverse successions of images in which the amount of picture detail of the depiction is increased progressively through the succession of images and subsequently reduced progressively. The control object is thus made to appear to grow on the screen and subsequently to shrink from the screen.

Description

Method and apparatus for showing user selectable options on the display screen of a data processing apparatus.

Data processing apparatus in general use employs a data processor, a display device incorporating a display screen and a display driver to present images on the display screen. Such a general configuration of data processing apparatus is to be found in a wide variety of environments and is used for personal computers, self- service terminals, automated teller machines and the like. In many applications of such data processing apparatus the user is confronted by images on the screen which allow the user to choose from a succession of menus of options. Each menu will allow the user to select one or more options so as to cause the apparatus to perform the selected process or processes. The selection of an option may be made in a variety of ways including selection by a mouse, by keyboard or by touching the screen so as to select an icon representing the option.

The images which are presented to the user should give a clearly recognisable indication of the options that are being made available. In machines such as self-service terminals or automated teller machines used by the general public, the manner in which attention is drawn to the individual icons in the menu becomes important . The screen background, layout and design of individual icons all contribute to ease of use of the machine.

It is the aim of the present invention to provide an improvement in the operation of a display screen included in data processing apparatus to show different data processing options to the user.

According to the present invention, there is provided a method of operating a data processing system including a data processor, a display device incorporating a display screen, a display device driver, user entry means and programming means to control the data processing apparatus, the method comprising operating the display device driver to depict a control object defining a data processing operation, and controlling the system through the user entry means to perform the operation defined by the control object, the depiction of the control object comprising a forward succession of images in which the amount of picture detail of the depiction is increased progressively through the succession of images.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided data processing apparatus including a data processor, a display device incorporating a display screen, a display device driver, user entry means and programming means to control the data processing apparatus, the programming means being adapted to operate the display device driver to depict a control object defining a data processing operation, the entry means being operable by the user to cause the system to perform the operation defined by the control object, the depiction of the control object comprising a succession of images in which the amount of picture detail of the depiction is increased progressively through the succession of images . The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which;

Figure 1 shows a data processing system embodying the present invention,

Figure 2 is a diagram of programming for the system of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a flow diagram of steps used in the operation of the system of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 shows a progression of images produced on a display screen incorporated in the system of Figure 1.

In Figure 1, a central processor 10 incorporates a readonly memory 10a. The central data processor is connected to a data bus 11. A display device 12, a user interface 13, a random access memory 14 and a communications interface 15 are also connected to the data bus 11. The data processor 10 is programmed by an operating system accessible from the random access memory 14 and supplied to the ROM 10a by way of the data bus 11 in a manner which is generally well known in the art. The programming of the data processor includes drivers which enable the data processor to communicate with the display device 12, the user interface 13 and the communications interface 15 over the data bus 11.

The display device 12 is a cathode ray tube monitor although the invention may be practised with any suitable display device, including liquid crystal display devices, which are capable of providing the user with a display to monitor the operation of the apparatus. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the display device 12 is a touch screen display device which enables the user to make selections from menus of options displayed by the display device. Such touch screen display devices are well known in the data processing art.

The user interface 13, which includes a keyboard and mouse capable of operating a cursor displayed on the display, provide an additional means enabling the user to make selections from menus of options displayed by the display device. Other user interface options for practising the invention include voice actuated entry means enabling the user to make entries to the data processing means and speaker outputs providing the data processing means with the ability to communicate requests for information to the user.

The communications interface 15 includes a modem or other electronic communication device for electronically communicating data into the data processing apparatus or communicating data from the data processing apparatus.

Referring to Figure 2, it will be seen that the programming of the data processing apparatus of Figure 1 includes an operating system to control the basic operation of the apparatus together with drivers to operate the peripheral devices including the display device 12, the user interface 13 and the communications interface 15. One or more application programs are provided to perform the tasks required of the data processing system. The application programs include menu driven applications in which the user is presented on the display screen 12 with control objects or icons. Each control object or icon represents a choice which the user can make from the menu. In response to the selection by the user of one or more control objects or icons, the application program responds to the selection, completes the requested data processing step and moves to the next menu.

In a specific embodiment of the invention, the data processing system constitutes an automated teller machine at which the user can conduct financial transactions such as cash withdrawal . One menu displayed on the screen of the display device 12 includes control objects or icons representing choices to be made regarding whether the user wishes to withdraw cash or undertake alternative financial transactions . Another menu displayed on the screen of the display device 12 includes control objects or icons representing different amounts which can be selected for withdrawal. One such control object or icon is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 shows an individual control object or icon the picture detail of which changes progressively. In a first image 40a, no picture detail of the icon is presented. In successive images from the first image 40a through successive intermediate images 40b, 40c, 40d, 40e, 40f, 40g, 4Oh up to the final image 40i, the amount of picture detail increases progressively. The switch from the first image 40a to the final image 40i is effected progressively by stepping through the succession of intermediate images 40b - 4Oh in which the amount of picture detail of selectable options is changed progressively.

The control object or icon shown in Figure 4 could be the sole control object or icon displayed on the screen. Such an icon may represent a request to enter a PIN number into an automated teller machine. More usually, however, the control object or icon will constitute one of a number or group of different such icons each of which represents a different user selectable option in a menu of options. A background picture or image is displayed on the screen under the control of the application program and the progression of images of the control objects or icons is superimposed on the background image. By this means, each control object or icon is made to appear to the user as an animation in which the picture detail of the object or icon grows on the background image on the display screen instead of appearing instantaneously. The time period over which the object or icon appears to grow on the screen is a matter of design choice and depends on the capacity of the system to generate the data required to form the intermediate images in the animation. A suitable time scale includes a period of from 2 seconds to 10 seconds. The number of intermediate images relating to the same control object or icon, in the preferred embodiment, would make the animation appear to the human eye to be a continuously changing image without perceptible discontinuities . It is however within the contemplation of the invention that the number and timing of intermediate images represents a progression in which some discontinuity between successive images can be observed.

It is to be noted that the animation is not a mere increase in the size of the control object or icon. Nor is it a mere moving indication against a scale. The progression of images, importantly, concerns the actual picture detail in the control object or icon. This gives the images an important advantage in the eyecatching manner with which the images are presented. This significantly enhances the ability of the user to perceive the control objects or icons and so identify the options which are represented.

The progression shown in Figure 4 is of a control object or icon which is made to appear with progressively increasing picture detail . This will be referred to as a forward animation. The images in Figure 4 can however be animated so that the first image in the progression begins with the image 40i, proceeds through the intermediate images 40h, 40g, 40f, 40e, 40d, 40c and 40b in that order and concludes with the image 40a. Such an animation makes the picture detail of the control object or icon shrink from the display screen. An animation in this direction will be referred to as a reverse animation.

The forward and reverse animations are generated by means of animation program modules which are called up by the application program and are shown as linked to the application program in the diagram of Figure 2. The modules provide image formats which may be bitmap formats or digital video formats .

Control of the execution of the application program is linked with the execution of the animations and will now be described with reference to Figure 3. In step 20 the application program causes the system to initiate a request for an input from the user. Such a request may be for a single input such as a PIN number or may be a request to make a selection from a menu of options. In step 21, the application program calls for the relevant animation module. Control is passed to the requested animation module to run a forward animation sequence so as to make the picture detail of one or more control objects or icons appear to grow on the display screen. In step 22, the last image in the animation is put onto the screen and in step 23 control is passed back to the application program. The user is now able to make an entry through the control object or a selected one of a group of the objects on the screen.

In step 24 the application program checks whether the user has made an entry. Once a user selected object is identified, the control objects or icons on the screen are disabled in step 25 so as to prevent a mistaken double entry. In step 26 the application program calls up an animation module to run a reverse animation for the displayed control object or objects. Once the last image in the reverse animation is reached in step 27, the control is passed back to the application program once more so as to move on to the next request for user entry.

Claims

1. A method of operating a data processing system including a data processor, a display device incorporating a display screen, a display device driver, user entry means and programming means to control the data processing apparatus, the method comprising the steps of operating the display device driver to depict a control object defining a data processing operation, and controlling the system through the user entry means to perform the operation defined by the control object, the depiction of the control object comprising a forward succession of images in which the amount of picture detail of the depiction is increased progressively through the succession of images .

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, comprising the further step of operating the display device to display a reverse succession of images depicting the control object in which the amount of picture detail of the depiction is decreased progressively through the reverse succession of image .

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the depiction of the control object comprises a forward succession of images which appears to the human eye to be a continuously changing image without perceptible discontinuities .

4. A method as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the depiction of the control object comprises forward and reverse successions of images each of which appears to the human eye to be a continuously changing image without perceptible discontinuities.

5. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the control object constitutes one of a group of such control objects, each object defining a different selectively operable data processing operation.

6. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims applied to controlling the operation of a data processing system which constitutes an automated teller machine.

7. Data processing apparatus including a data processor, a display device incorporating a display screen, a display device driver, user entry means and programming means to control the data processing apparatus, the programming means being adapted to operate the display device driver to depict a control object defining a data processing operation, the entry means being operable by the user to cause the system to perform the operation defined by the control object, the depiction of the control object comprising a forward succession of images in which the amount of picture detail of the depiction is increased progressively through the succession of images .

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the programming means is further adapted to operate the display device to display a reverse succession of images depicting the control object in which the amount of picture detail of the depiction is decreased progressively through the reverse succession of image.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the depiction of the control object comprises a forward succession of images which appears to the human eye to be a continuously changing image without perceptible discontinuities .

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the depiction of the control object comprises forward and reverse successions of images each of which appears to the human eye to be a continuously changing image without perceptible discontinuities.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 10, in which the control object constitutes one of a group of such control objects, each object defining a different selectively operable data processing operation.

12. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 11 which constitutes an automated teller machine .

13. A method of operating a data processing system including a data processor, a display device incorporating a display screen, a display device driver, user entry means and programming means to control the data processing apparatus, the method being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings .

14. Data processing apparatus including a data processor, a display device incorporating a display screen, a display device driver, user entry means and programming means to control the data processing apparatus, the apparatus being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings .