GB2475669A - Animated progress indicator for smartphone - Google Patents

Abstract

Display of animation sequences for smart phone, which may have a touch screen display and a processing unit. The processing unit executes a series of predetermined animation sequences, the animation sequences each comprising a set of images, displayed on the device, the animation sequence forming a part of said series of predetermined animation sequences. The processing unit executes an animation sequence in the series as a current animation sequence, and subsequently executes a different animation sequence. The device may respond to touchscreen input of a first characteristic, to execute an animation sequence following the current animation sequence in said series; and displays a progress indicator, which may be a thumbnail, on the display to indicate a current state of progress within said series of predetermined animation sequences. A text caption may be superimposed on an image, on the basis of rendering instructions.

Description

Controlling the display of animation sequences on a smartphone

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of controlling the display of animation sequences on a smartphone, and computer software for conducting the method.

Background of the Invention

The display of animation sequences on smartphones is constrained by the lack of space on the display device of the smartphone. This has been ameliorated by recent developments in smartphones in which the smartphone includes a touchscreen interface, thus reducing the size of keypad required and providing for larger displays, however using the touchscreen input as a primary method of control does itself present challenges in terms of user experience.

Also, the provision of control means via the touchscreen interface can interfere with the display of the animation sequences, particularly if control indicia are used to provide for "play", "pause" "rewind" etc. A convenient and effective manner of controlling the display of animation sequences on a smartphone, whilst providing a satisfiing user experience, presents a formidable challenge.

It is an object of the invention to provide improvements in the display of animation sequences on smartphones.

Summary of the Invention

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling the display of animation sequences on a smartphone, the smartphone comprising a touchscreen display device and a processing unit, the method comprising: using the processing unit to execute a series of predetermined animation sequences, the animation sequences each comprising a set of images, the images being displayed in an image area on the display device, each said animation sequence forming a part of said series of predetermined animation sequences; defining a first touchscreen input characteristic on said display; using the processing unit to execute an animation sequence in said series as a current animation sequence, and subsequently to execute a different animation sequence in said series as a current animation sequence; responsive to touchscreen input according to said first touchscreen characteristic, using the processing unit to execute an animation sequence following the current animation sequence in said series; and displaying a progress indicator on the display to indicate a current state of progress within said series of predetermined animation sequences.

By providing animation sequences as a series of predetermined animation sequences, the control of the display of those sequences can be simplified, whilst the progress indicator indicates a current state of progress within the series of predetermined animation sequences, thus providing a surprisingly effective method of displaying animation sequences on a smartphone.

The invention also provides a computer readable medium comprising executable code arranged to conduct the method according to this aspect.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling the display of animation sequences on a smartphone, the smartphone comprising a display device and a processing unit, the method comprising rendering a progress indicator within the display device, the progress indicator comprising a series of discrete elements, each discrete element in the series corresponding to a predetermined animation sequence to be displayed in the display device, wherein each discrete element is capable of adopting a first display state and a second display state and the processing unit is arranged to configure the progress indicator in dependence on selection of an animation sequence such that the first display state is adopted by whichever discrete element corresponds to a selected animation sequence, the other discrete elements in the series adopting the second display state, wherein adopting said first display state includes rendering a thumbnail image within the display device, said thumbnail image corresponding to a selected animation sequence to be displayed in the display device.

By providing a plurality of discrete elements, each corresponding to an animation sequence within a series of predetermined animation sequences, the progress indicator can indicate a current state of progress within the series of predetermined animation sequences with reference to thumbnail images within a particular sequence. These images may be static or dynamic.

The invention also provides a computer readable medium comprising executable code arranged to conduct the method according to this aspect.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer readable medium comprising executable code for controlling the display of animation sequences on a smartphone, the smartphone comprising a display device and a processing unit, the executable code being arranged to render a progress bar within the display device, the progress bar comprising a series of discrete elements, each discrete element in the series corresponding to one of a series of predetermined animation sequences, wherein each discrete element is capable of adopting a first display state and a second display state and the processing unit is arranged to configure the progress bar in dependence on a selected animation sequence such that the first display state is adopted by whichever discrete element corresponds to a selected animation sequence, the other discrete elements in the series adopting the second display state.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention, given by way of example only, which is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 a schematically illustrates the components and communication links of a system for distributing information relating to animated sequences of images and for controlling display of said animated sequences on a smartphone.

Figure 2a shows an exemplary screen rendered by the operating system 118 of Figure 1 according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2b shows an exemplary screen rendered by the application store program 122 of Figure 1 according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 3 illustrates the components of which the sequence control program 130 of Figure 1 according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 4 shows an exemplary screen rendered by the episode selection component 302 of Figure 3 according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 5 illustrates the steps performed by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 of Figure 3 according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 6a illustrates an exemplary view of the electronic device 100 and its display device 116 according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 6b illustrates an exemplary view of the electronic device 100 and its display device 116 according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 7a shows an exemplary screen rendered by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 of Figure 3 according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 7b shows an exemplary screen rendered by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 of Figure 3 according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 8a shows an exemplary screen of an options menu provided by the sequence control program 130 according to an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 8b shows an exemplary screen of an authentication details entry screen provided by the sequence control program 130 according to an embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description of the invention

Figure 1 schematically illustrates the components and communication links of a system for distributing information relating to animated sequences of images and for controlling display of said animated sequences on a smartphone according to different embodiments of the present invention.

The system comprises an electronic device 100 that includes a microprocessor 102 that is able to transmit control messages to, receive status information from, and transmit data to and from components within the electronic device 100 that are connected to a system bus 104, where examples of these components include a non-volatile storage device 106, random access memory 108, user input interface 112, and graphics processing component 114.

The microprocessor 102 processes instructions stored in the random access memory (RAM) 108 that have been loaded from the non-volatile storage device 106 which could be for example a flash memory drive or a hard disk drive.

These instructions are in the form of computer software, in the form of one or more programs that implement an operating system 118, a browser application 120, an application store program 122, a video decoder program 124, and a sequence control program 130. The RAM 108 is also used by programs running on the microprocessor 102 as a means of storing and accessing data in the form of electronic signals where said data is used during the execution of said programs.

The operating system 118 is computer software in the form of a program or set of programs whose instructions are loaded from non-volatile storage 106 by the microprocessor 102 and executed when the electronic device 100 is turned on. The operating system 118 may start further programs automatically and/or may allow a user to start further programs (e.g. 120, 122, 130). The operating system 118 allows the sharing of the processing power provided by the microprocessor 102 between the programs (e.g. 118, 120, 122, 124, 130) running on it, provides a programmatic interface for these programs allowing them to access (i.e. to transmit control messages to, receive status information from, and transmit data to and from) components connected to the system bus 104, and manages the access of these other components by the programs.

The electronic device 100 includes a graphics processing component 114 that is able to render graphics according to commands made by programs running on the microprocessor 114 and output these to a display device 116 which may reside within the electronic device 100 or in alternative embodiments of the invention may be an external component coupled (for example electrically via a Video Graphics Array, Digital Visual Interface or High-Definition Multimedia Interface connection) to the electronic device 100. Programs running on the microprocessor 102 can process user input received via a user input interface 110 for accepting user input from a user input device or devices (not shown) which in preferred embodiments of the invention include a touch screen interface that may be embedded within the display device 116 such that this becomes a touchscreen display device 116, but may in alternative embodiments of the invention include a keypad and/or keyboard and/or a mouse.

The electronic device 100 also includes a network interface 112 (or a plurality of such interfaces) that allows programs running on the microprocessor 102 to transmit and receive data over data communications links to and from a number of other devices and systems over a communications network 140 (or a plurality of such networks). The network interface 112 may include a wireless network interface for use with a corresponding communications network 140 that may be a wireless network and/or a telecommunications network such as those provided by a mobile network operator such as Vodafone or AT&T, where the communications network 140 may also provide access to the Internet. The network interface 112 may also include a modem and/or an Ethernet card or interface for use with a corresponding communications network (or networks) such as the Internet and/or a private data communications network. Other devices and systems that programs running on the microprocessor 102 of the electronic device 100 may form data communications links with include a store system 150 (or a plurality of such systems).

In preferred embodiments of the invention the electronic device 100 may be a smartphone such as an iPhone, Blackberry Storm, or another smartphone produced by Apple, Research in Motion (RIM), Sony Erickson or Nokia.

The store system 150 consists of one or more computer servers which are accessible to the electronic device 100 over data communications links provided by the communications network 140. These one or more computer servers operate software which can facilitate the purchase and subsequent distribution of applications and content to the electronic device 150 or a plurality of such devices, such as for example by hosting a website or websites that provide this functionality, or by hosting data that may be accessed by an application store program (e.g. 122) running on the electronic device 100.

The system for distributing information relating to animated sequences of images and for controlling display of said animated sequences in a smartphone as illustrated in Figure 1 and summarised above is designed to allow a user to use an electronic device 100 to receive the sequence control program (or a plurality of such programs) 130 from the store system 150 if necessary, and to use the sequence control program 130 on the electronic device 100 in order to control the display of animated sequences of images, where information relating some or all of these animated sequences may also be received from the store system 150. Typically the sequence control program 130 allows the user to control the viewing of an animation sequence relating to the visual graphic story, the display of text relating to a visual graphic story (such as for example dialogue), and the viewing of further animation sequences relating to the visual graphic story, in order to allow the user view and read desired portions of a visual graphic story at a desired rate.

In order to provide the functionality summarised above, preferred embodiments of the system for distributing information relating to animated sequences of images and for controlling display of said animated sequences in a smartphone operate as described below and as illustrated in Figures 2 to 7.

Figure 2a shows an exemplary screen rendered by the operating system 118 of an application startup user interface. This application startup user interface may allow the user to start programs that are available (e.g. in non-volatile storage 106) on the electronic device. For example a user may select icon 200 in order to start the browser application 120, or icon 202 to start the application store program 122, or icon 204 to start the Stickmen Comic' program which is an example of the sequence control program 130 that has been customised to allow a user to control the display of a set of animated sequences relating to a Stickmen Comic', or icon 206 to start the Alex Comic' program which is another example of the sequence control program 130 that has been customised to allow a user to control the display of a set of animated sequences relating to a Alex Comic'.

The operating system 118 may display a new content notification to the user to indicate that new content such as a new episode is available at the store system 150 for a sequence control program 130, as shown in Figure 2a using the new content notification 208 for the Alex Comic' program. The operating system 118 may display a new content notification (e.g. 208) in response to a new content message transmitted to the operating system 118, the application store program 122 and/or the sequence control program 130 by the store system 150. The new content notification (e.g. 208) may display the number amount of new content available, for example if a number of new episodes are available the number of new episodes may be displayed in the new content notification 208.

A new content message may be transmitted by the store system 150 immediately upon the availability of new content at the store system 150, and/or at regular intervals by the store system 150, and/or in response to a request for content updates message which may be transmitted by the operating system 118, the application store program 122, and/or the sequence control program 130. A request for content updates message may also be transmitted to the store system by the operating system 118, the application store program 122, or the sequence control program 130 upon the startup of any of these programs, and/or at regular intervals, and/or in response to a input from a user indicating that a request for content updates message should be transmitted.

The user may select one of the icons 200, 202, 204, 206 by tapping on the touchscreen display device 116 of the electronic device 100, or by clicking on the appropriate icon with a mouse. This user input is received by the operating system 118 from the user input interface 110, and in response to this user input the operating system 118 may load the selected application from non-volatile storage 106 into RAM 108 and start execution of the selected application on the microprocessor 102.

If the user instructs the operating system 118 to start the application store program 122 by selecting icon 202, the application store program 122 may, once loaded, present the user with a searchable list of applications that the user may obtain from the store system 150 for use with the electronic device 100. Figure 2b shows an exemplary screen rendered by the application store program 122 of a searchable list of applications 210. This list of applications 210 may for example be obtained from the store system 150 by the application store program 122 via the communications network. In the displayed list 214 the user may find one or more versions (e.g. 212) of the sequence control program 130 that may for example have been customised to allow a user to control the display of a set of animated sequences relating to a particular visual graphic story, or a particular set of visual graphic stories. The application store program 122 allows the user to select an application from the displayed list 210 and purchase it (if necessary). The selected application may then be downloaded by the application store program 122 onto the electronic device 100, where the application may be stored in non-volatile storage 106 and installed by the operating system 118. An icon for the selected application may then be displayed in the application startup user interface by the operating system 118 which the user may use to start the selected application.

In alternative embodiments of the invention the user may also use a browser application 120 to acquire a version (or versions) of the sequence control program 130 from a website or websites that host applications for the electronic device 100. These websites may allow a user to browse a list of applications, select a desired application from such a list and purchase it (if necessary). The selected application may then be downloaded by the browser application 120 onto the electronic device 100, where the application may be stored in non-volatile storage. The user may then instruct the operating system 118 to install the downloaded application for use with the electronic device 100.

Thus using the application store program 122 or the browser application in this way a user may acquire a version (or versions) of the sequence control program 130 that may have been customised to control the display of a set of animated sequences relating to, for example, a particular visual graphic story.

Figure 3 illustrates the components of which the sequence control program 130 may be comprised in preferred embodiments of the invention. An episode selection component 302 is provided that allows the user to select a particular visual graphic story and/or a particular episode of a visual graphic story that the user wishes to use the sequence control program 130 to control the display of A sequence display and monitoring component 304 is provided that will display a series of predetermined animation sequences relating to a selected visual graphic story and/or episode, and will control and monitor the display of these animation sequences in accordance with input received from the user. A progress bar update component 306 is provided that updates a progress indicator that may be displayed to the user which indicates the user's position within a visual graphic story. A user interface component 308 is also provided that may display a customised user interface for the sequence control program 130 which may include customised images, buttons, lists, text, and layout in order to allow the sequence control program's 130 interface to be matched with the style of a visual graphic story.

If the user instructs the operating system 118 to start the sequence control program 130, for example by selecting icon 208, the sequence control program 130 may, once loaded, instruct the episode selection component 302 to load a list of episodes associated with a visual graphic story which the sequence control program 130 has been customised to allow the user to control the display of. In order to do this, the episode selection component 302 may access a visual graphic story data file, which may be embedded within the program data for the sequence control program 130 that has been loaded from non-volatile storage 106 into RAM 108, or may be a separate file in non-volatile storage 106.

The visual graphic story data file may comprise the title of the visual graphic story, information relating to custom user interface images, buttons, lists, text, and layout for use by the user interface component 308, and information relating to a set of episodes relating to the visual graphic story that the user may choose to display. The information relating to a set of episodes may comprise episode data file location data for each episode in the set of episodes, where this episode data file location data may indicate the location in non-volatile storage of an episode data file that contains the data required for an episode in the set of episodes. The information relating to a set of episodes may also comprise a list image for each episode in the set of episodes, the title of each episode, and an availability date for each episode, indicating when each episode may be available from the store system 150.

Once the episode selection component 302 has loaded the visual graphic story data file it may process information relating to the set of episodes relating to a visual graphic story and display a list of episodes on the display device 116.

The user may select one of the entries in the displayed list of episodes in order to begin the control of the display of animation sequences relating to a selected episode.

Figure 4 shows an exemplary screen rendered by the episode selection component 302. A list of episodes 400 containing an entry 401, 402, 404, 406 for each episode relating to the visual graphic story Alex' is displayed, and the user may select one of these entries in order to begin the control of the display of animation sequences relating to a selected episode. Each entry in the list of episodes 400 is linked to an episode (and hence a particular episode data file), and each entry shows the episode's list image (e.g. 408, 410) as well as the title of the episode, which may both have been loaded from the information relating to a set of episodes. Some of the episodes displayed in the list of episodes 400 may be currently available in the non-volatile storage 106 of the electronic device 100, whilst other episodes may not; this may be indicated in the user interface displayed for the list of episodes 400 by for example showing a colour image (e.g. 408) for the list entries that are available in non-volatile storage 106, and showing a black and white image (e.g. 410) for the list entries that are not available in non-volatile storage 106.

Episodes in the list 400 that are not currently available in non-volatile storage 106 may not be selected by the user in order to begin the control of the display of animation sequences relating to those episodes. Instead the user may need to wait until these episodes have become available at the store system 150 and then acquire these episodes so that they are available to the sequence control program 130 in non-volatile storage 106. Tf a new episode has become available at the store system 150, a new content notification is displayed in the entry in the list of episodes 400 to indicate this. A new content notification shown in the list of episodes 400 may for example take the form of a red dot shown in the corner of the image (e.g. 408, 410) for the episode that has become available, as shown for image 410 for the Short seller' episode in Figure 4.

The episode selection component 302 may display a new content notification (e.g. as shown in image 410) in response to a new content message transmitted to the operating system 118, the application store program 122 and/or the sequence control program 130 by the store system 150. As summarised above a new content message may be transmitted by the store system 150 immediately upon the availability of new content at the store system 150, and/or at regular intervals by the store system 150, and/or in response to a request for content updates message which may be transmitted by the operating system 118, the application store program 122, and/or the sequence control program 130. Additionally a request for content updates message may also be transmitted to the store system 150 by the operating system 118, the application store program 122, or the sequence control program 130 upon the startup of any of these programs, and/or at regular intervals, and/or in response to a input from a user indicating that a request for content updates message should be transmitted.

In order to acquire a new episode that is available at the store system 150 for a sequence control program 130 installed in the operating system 118 of an electronic device 100, the user may instruct the operating system 118 and/or the application store program 122 to update that sequence control program 130.

The user may do this via the application startup user interface shown in Figure 2a, for example by tapping on the new content notification (e.g. 208) shown next to the sequence control program's icon (e.g. 206). Alternatively the user may use the application store program 122 to view a list of updates available for installed applications by selecting an updates button 214, and the user may then select desired updates to download into non-volatile storage 106 and install into the operating system 118.

When the user selects an episode displayed in the list of episodes 400, for example by tapping on the touchscreen display device 116 of the electronic device 100 at the displayed location of the episodes entry in the list of episodes 400, or by clicking on the entry with a mouse, the episode selection component 302 may open an episode data file located in non-volatile storage 106 and instruct the sequence display and monitoring component 304 to begin accessing data in this file in order to allow the user to control the display of animated sequences of images relating to the selected episode using the electronic device 100.

Figure 5 illustrates the steps performed by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 in order to allow the user to control the display of animated sequences of images using the electronic device 100. Initially the sequence display and monitoring component 304 may begin accessing the episode data file located in non-volatile storage 106, in response to being instructed to do so by the episode selection component 302 (step 500). The episode data file contains data relating to animated sequences of images which may include a series of predetermined animation sequences, a set of still images, and/or one or more sets of translated text entries. The episode display data may also contain a still image identifier for each animation sequence in the set of animation sequences stored in the episode data file, where the still image identifier for an animation sequence indicates a selected image within that animation sequence, for example by indicating the index of the selected image within the sequence of images of which the animation sequence is comprised.

The episode display data may also link each animation sequence in the set of animation sequences to a still image in the set of still images and to one or translated text entries in the one or more sets of translated text entries.

Each animation sequence in the series of predetermined animation sequences comprises a set of images that may be displayed in order to reproduce the animation sequence. Additionally each animation sequence in the set of animation sequences may be stored within the episode data file in the form of a video file that may be decoded and displayed by a suitable video decoder program 124 installed on the operating system 118 of the electronic device 100.

For example, an animation sequence in the set of animation sequences may be stored within the episode data file in the form of an Apple QuickTime video file that may be played by using the video decoder program 124 which is an Apple QuickTime decoder. Alternatively an animation sequence in the set of animation sequences may be stored within the episode data file in the form of a Adobe Flash Video file that may be played by using the video decoder program 124 which is an Adobe Flash Video decoder such as the Adobe Flash Player.

The sequence display and monitoring component 304 may then detennine a first animation sequence from the series of predetermined animation sequences contained in the episode data file that should be displayed on the display device 116 of the electronic device 100. The first animation sequence may be the first animation sequence in the series of predetermined animation sequences stored in episode data file. The sequence display and monitoring component 304 may then load this first animation sequence contained in the episode data file and display it on the display device 116 using a the video decoder program 124, as described above (step 502).

The sequence display and monitoring component 304 may then monitor the display of the animation sequence that is being displayed by the video decoder program 124. Upon display of a selected image in the set of images that forms the animation sequence, the sequence display and monitoring component 304 may statically display the selected image on the display device 116 (step 504). The selected image may be the image identified by the still image identifier stored in episode display data for the displayed animation sequence. Hence the sequence display and monitoring component 304 may test whether an image currently being displayed by the video decoder program 122 is the selected image by monitoring the index of the displayed image and checking if this index is equal to that of the image identified by the still image identifier stored in episode display data for the displayed animation sequence.

Step 504 may be achieved by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 monitoring the display of the set of images by the video decoder program 124, and, when the video decoder program displays the image identified by the image identifier for the displayed animation sequence, instructing the video decoder program 124 to pause the display of the sequence of images at the displayed image which has been identified as the selected image.

Alternatively step 504 may be achieved by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 monitoring the display of the set of images by video decoder program 124, and, when the video decoder program displays the image identified by the image identifier for the displayed animation sequence, instructing the video decoder program 124 to stop the display of the sequence of images at the displayed image which has been identified as the selected image.

The sequence display and monitoring component 304 may then display on the display device 116 the still image linked to by the sequence display data for the animation sequence displayed in step 502, where the still image is loaded from the set of still images stored in the episode data file opened in step 500. The still image may be stored within the episode data file as for example a Portable Network Graphics (PNG) file, or a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) file. Displaying a still image loaded from a file within the episode data file may consume less of the processing power of the microprocessor 102 and hence less energy than pausing the video decoder program 124, depending on the software implementation of the video decoder program 124.

Once step 504 has been performed and the selected image is statically displayed on the display device 116, the sequence display and monitoring component 304 will wait for input from the user (step 506). This allows the user to view information displayed in the selected image, which is statically displayed on the display device in step 504, at his/her own pace. The sequence display and monitoring component 304 may wait to receive user input from an input device via the user input interface 110, for example the user may either tap on a touch screen interface embedded in the display device 116 of the electronic device 100 or enter a click using a mouse.

When the user is ready to continue viewing further animation sequences, the sequence display and monitoring component 304 can be instructed to display a second animation sequence, in order to allow the user to continue viewing a visual graphic story for example. The second animation sequence may be the animation sequence in the series of predetermined animation sequences that immediately follows the animation sequence that has just been displayed (i.e. the next animation sequence), or the second animation sequence may be the animation sequence in the series of predetermined animation sequences that is immediately previous to the animation sequence that has just been displayed (i.e. the previous animation sequence).

The sequence display and monitoring component 304 will then check whether user input received in step 506 indicates that the user wishes to view the next animation sequence or the previous animation sequence (step 508). For example, if the user tapped on the touchscreen display device 116 within a first touchscreen input area, such as for example the area on the right hand half of the display, this will be received by the user input interface 110 as a first touchscreen input characteristic, and the sequence display and monitoring component 304 may in response determine that the user wishes to view the next animation sequence. Alternatively, if the user tapped on the touchscreen display device 116 within a second touchscreen input area, such as for example the area on the left hand half of the display, this will be received by the user input interface 110 as a second touchscreen input characteristic, and the sequence display and monitoring component 304 may in response determine that the user wishes to view the previous animation sequence. Alternatively the user may use a mouse to click in either the first or second selection area defined above to indicate that either the next or previous animation sequence should be displayed, respectively.

If in step 508 it is determined that the user selected to view the next animation sequence, the sequence display and monitoring component 304 may then check whether there are any animation sequences in the series of predetermined animation sequences that appear after the animation sequence that has just been displayed (step 510). If the test in step 510 is not satisfied then the display of the episode whose episode data file was opened in step 500 is complete, hence the sequence display and monitoring component 304 may not display a further animation sequence, and may instead return the user to the list of episodes 400 displayed by the episode selection component 302, to allow the user to select another episode to control the display of using the electronic device 100.

If the test in step 510 is satisfied then the sequence display and monitoring component 304 may then determine a second animation sequence from the series of predetermined animation sequences contained in the episode data file that should be displayed on the display device 116 of the electronic device 100. The second animation sequence may be the animation sequence in the series of predetermined animation sequences that immediately follows the animation sequence that has just been displayed (i.e. the next animation sequence). The sequence display and monitoring component 304 may then load this second animation sequence contained in the episode data file and display it on the display device 116 using a the video decoder program 124, as described above (step 512). The sequence display and monitoring component 304 may then return to step 504 in order to monitor the display of the animation sequence that is being displayed by the video decoder program 124.

If in step 508 it is determined that the user selected to view the previous animation sequence then the sequence display and monitoring component 304 may then to determine a second animation sequence from the series of predetermined animation sequences contained in the episode data file that should be displayed on the display device 116 of the electronic device 100. The second animation sequence may be the animation sequence in the series of predetermined animation sequences that is immediately previous to the animation sequence that has just been displayed (i.e. the previous animation sequence). The sequence display and monitoring component 304 may then load this second animation sequence contained in the episode data file and display it on the display device 116 using a the video decoder program 124, as described above (step 514). The sequence display and monitoring component 304 may then return to step 504 in order to monitor the display of the animation sequence that is being displayed by the video decoder program 124.

It is thus possible for the user to use the sequence control program 130 running on the electronic device 100 to control the viewing of an animation sequence relating to a visual graphic story. The sequence control program 130 may display an animation sequence to the user which progresses the visual graphic story via animation to a new statically displayed image. The statically displayed image may contain dialogue text relating to dialogue within the visual graphic story and/or description text relating to a description of a scene or situation within the visual graphic story. The statically displayed image may also contain visual details. The user is able to read and/or view this text and/or visual detail at his/her own pace and proceed to the next animation sequence only when he/she is ready. Thus the user may be interrupted whilst viewing a statically displayed image, but may return to it and view it again before choosing to proceed to the next animation sequence.

Figures 6a and 6b illustrate exemplary views of the electronic device 100 and its display device 116, which in each case is statically displaying an image in accordance with step 504, and is waiting for user input in accordance with step 506 of Figure 5. n Figure 6a the statically displayed image comprises the image of a character 600 and text 602 relating to dialogue within a visual graphic story. The user may indicate that the next animation sequence may be displayed by entering appropriate input, for example by tapping the right hand half of the touchscreen display device 116. If the user does this the sequence display and monitoring component 304 will display the next animation sequence on the display device 116 in accordance with step 512. The next animation sequence may comprise animation showing the character 600 shown on the display device 116 in Figure 6a move to the position shown in Figure 6b, which shows the statically displayed image displayed on the display device 116 in accordance with step 504 after display of the next animation sequence. The next animation sequence may also show the character 600 move his mouth prior to the display of the statically displayed image shown in Figure 6b, which comprises further text 604 relating to dialogue within the visual graphic story.

The user may indicate that the previous animation sequence may be displayed by entering appropriate input, for example by tapping the left hand half of the touchscreen display device 116. If the user does this the sequence display and monitoring component 304 will display the previous animation sequence on the display device 116 in accordance with step 514, after which it will show the statically displayed image displayed on the display device 116 in Figure 6a in accordance with step 504.

The sequence control program 130 may display a progress indicator on the display device 116 in conjunction with the series of predetermined animation sequences which are displayed by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 in accordance with the steps in Figure 5. The progress indicator may be displayed throughout the display of the series of predetermined animation sequences by the sequence display and monitoring component 304, and may be used to indicate to the user a current state of progress within the series of predetermined animation sequences that relate to the current episode.

Alternatively the progress indicator may not always be displayed, but may be selectively displayed on the display device 116 in response to touchscreen input according to a third touchscreen input characteristic, where the touch screen input is entered on the touchscreen display device 116. This may be achieved by defining a third touchscreen input area on the display device 116, where this third touchscreen input area may be an area in the middle of the image area that is displayed on the display device 116, and such that the third touchscreen input characteristic comprises touchscreen input in the third touchscreen input area. For example, if the progress indicator is not currently displayed on the display device 116 the user may instruct the sequence control program 130 to display the progress indicator by tapping in the middle of the touchscreen display device 116 of the electronic device 100. Similarly if the progress indicator is currently displayed on the display device 116 the user may instruct the sequence control program 130 to stop displaying the progress indicator by tapping in the middle of the touchscreen display device 116 of the electronic device 100.

The display of the progress indicator on the display device 116 may be managed by the progress bar update component 306. In order to indicate to the user a current state of progress within the series of predetermined animation sequences that relate to the current episode, the progress indicator may comprise a series of discrete elements.

Each of the discrete elements of which the progress indicator is comprised may correspond to one of the animation sequences in the series of predetermined animation sequences that relate to the current episode, i.e. those animation sequences identified in the episode display data loaded during step 500. Additionally each discrete element is capable of adopting a first display state and a second display state.

When the sequence display and monitoring component 304 instructs the video decoder 124 to display an animation sequence in step 502, 512 or 514, it will also instruct the progress bar update component 306 to update the progress indicator in dependence on the selection of an animation sequence made by the user as follows. The progress bar update component 306 will update the progress indicator such that the first display state is adopted by whichever discrete element corresponds to the selected animation sequence made by the user (that is being displayed by the video decoder 124), i.e. where the selected animation sequence is either the animation that was selected by the user in step 508 or the first animation sequence in the series of predetermined animation sequences if step 502 has just been performed. The progress bar update component 306 wilt also update the progress indicator such that the other discrete elements in the series adopt the second display state. The difference between the first display state and second display state of a discrete element may be visually depicted in the progress indicator on the display device 116 by depicting a difference in the colour, size, and/or image of at least part of the discrete element.

Figure 7a shows an exemplary screen rendered by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 which is statically displaying an image in accordance with step 504, and is waiting for user input in accordance with step 506 of Figure 5. Also shown is the progress indicator comprising a series of discrete elements 702 that is being displayed by the progress bar update component 306. One of the discrete elements 704 in the series of discrete elements 702 that comprise the progress indicator has been configured to adopt a first display state by the progress bar update component 306 by depicting a change of colour in part of the discrete element, whilst the other discrete elements in the series 702 have been configured to adopt the second display state by the progress bar update component 306.

When, after the viewing the statically displayed image 700 shown in Figure 7a, the user enters input in step 506 in order to instruct the sequence display and monitoring component 304 to display a second animation sequence, the sequence display and monitoring component 304 will instruct the progress bar update component 306 to update the progress indicator in dependence on the selected animation sequence made by the user as summarized above. For example, if in step 508 it is determined that the user selected to view the next animation sequence (i.e. so step 512 is executed), the progress bar update component 306 will configure the discrete element after the discrete element 704 in the series of discrete elements 702 to adopt the first display state, and configure the other discrete elements in the series of discrete elements 702 to adopt the second display state. Similarly if in step 508 it is determined that the user selected to view the previous animation sequence (i.e. so step 514 is executed), the progress bar update component 306 will configure the discrete element before the discrete element 704 in the series of discrete elements 702 to adopt the first display state, and configure the other discrete elements in the series of discrete elements 702 to adopt the second display state.

The above embodiments are to be understood as illustrative examples of the invention. Further embodiments of the invention are envisaged as follows.

In alternative embodiments of the invention the user may select which animation sequence in the series of animation sequences to view next by using the progress indicator, for example by tapping the touchscreen display device 116 to enter touch input at the position of one of the discrete elements displayed within the progress indicator. In response to receiving this touch input within the progress indicator, the progress bar update component 306 will display the animation sequence corresponding to the discrete element at the position touched by the user.

In alternative embodiments of the invention a discrete element that has been configured to adopt the first display state may be depicted by rendering a thumbnail image within the progress indicator for that discrete element. This thumbnail image may correspond to one of the images within the set of images that comprises the animation sequence to which that discrete element belongs.

The thumbnail image may for example be the image in the set of images that comprise the animation sequence that is identified by the still image identifier in episode display data. When a discrete element that has been configured to adopt the first display state is configured to adopt the second display state, the thumbnail image rendered for the discrete element within the progress indicator may be deleted from the display.

Figure 7b shows an exemplary screen rendered by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 which is statically displaying an image in accordance with step 504, and is waiting for user input in accordance with step 506 of Figure 5. Also shown is the progress indicator comprising a series of discrete elements 712 that is being displayed by the progress bar update component 306. One of the discrete elements 714 in the series of discrete elements 712 that comprise the progress indicator has been configured to adopt a first display state by the progress bar update component 306 by depicting a thumbnail image for the discrete element, whilst the other discrete elements in the series 712 have been configured to adopt the second display state by the progress bar update component 306.

In alternative embodiments of the invention a discrete element that has been configured to adopt either the first or second display state may be depicted by rendering a thumbnail image within the progress indicator for that discrete element. This thumbnail image may correspond to one of the images within the set of images that comprises the animation sequence to which that discrete element belongs. The difference between the first display state and second display state of a discrete element may be visually depicted in the progress indicator on the display device 116 by depicting a difference in the colour and/or size of at least part of the thumbnail image for the discrete element.

In alternative embodiments of the invention where a discrete element may be depicted by rendering a thumbnail image within the progress indicator the thumbnail image may comprise an animation sequence comprised of at least two of the images within the set of images that comprises the animation sequence in the series of predetermined animation sequences to which that discrete element correspond.

In alternative embodiments of the invention the statically displayed selected image displayed in step 504 may contain no text, but may contain a blank or low detail area into which text is to be superimposed by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 in step 504. The text that is to be superimposed on each statically displayed selected image for an episode is loaded from the translated text entries stored in the episode data file. Each statically displayed selected image that may be displayed for an episode may be linked to several versions of text that are stored in the translated text entries.

These different versions of text may be used in order to provide text in different languages for each statically displayed selected image that may be displayed for an episode, for example. The translated text entries may be in the form of images containing text that may be superimposed over the statically displayed selected images by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 in step 504, or they may be in the form of digitally encoded text (i.e. in a text file, for example) that may be rendered as text and superimposed over the statically displayed selected images by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 in step 504. The episode data file may also comprise rendering instructions that for example indicate the position and size to be used when a translated text entry image is to be superimposed, and/or indicate the position, size, font and colour to be used when a translated text entry in the form of digitally encoded text is to be superimposed.

In alternative embodiments of the invention the set of images that comprises each animation sequence in the series of predetermined animated sequences may be dynamically rendered using the microprocessor 102 and graphics processing component 114 by the sequence display and monitoring component 304 during the display of an animation sequence. The sequence display and monitoring component 304 may for example use three-dimensional scene geometry data, scene texture data, scene movement data, and camera movement data in order to render each image within said set of images prior to the display of that image during the display of the animation sequence to which it belongs. The user may be able to affect the scene movement data and/or the camera movement data via input entered into the electronic device 100 that is received via the user input interface 110, for example via the touchscreen display device 116 or via motion sensors or accelerometers attached to or contained within the device 100 and coupled to the user input interface 110.

In alternative embodiments of the invention the sequence display and monitoring component 304 may not monitor the display of the set of images that forms the animation sequence by the video decoder program 122 in step 504, and may instead allow the video decoder program to display the video sequence in its entirety. Upon completion of the display of the set of images the video decoder program 122 may statically display the last image in the set of images that comprise the animation sequence whilst the sequence display and monitoring program 304 waits for user input in step 506.

In alternative embodiments of the invention episode data files and/or the sequence control program 130 may be encrypted by the store system 150 before they are downloaded to the electronic device 100. These files may be encrypted by the store system 150 using an equipment identifier belonging to the electronic device 100 such as for example the International Mobile Equipment Identity value assigned to a smartphone. Upon receipt of an encrypted sequence control program 130 the operating system 118 or application store 122 may decrypt the encrypted sequence control program at least in part using the equipment identifier belonging to the electronic device 100. Upon receipt of an encrypted episode data file the operating system 118 or application store 122 or sequence control program 130 may decrypt the encrypted episode data file at least in part using the equipment identifier belonging to the electronic device 100.

In alternative embodiments of the invention the electronic device may be one which does not comprise a touch screen interface embedded within the display device 116. In these embodiments of the invention the inputs required to select the next/previous animation sequence, show/hide the progress indicator and select an episode to be displayed may be entered via a keypad and/or keyboard and/or mouse or other input device connected to the user input interface 110.

In alternative embodiments of the invention new content messages may be pushed' from the store system 150 to the electronic device via for example a Short Messaging Service (SMS) message, an e-mail, or other messaging means.

Alternatively a new content message may be transmitted to the electronic device 100 and then processed by the operating system 118 and/or application store 122 and/or sequence control application 130 upon receipt of the new content message, wherein said step of processing comprising immediately displaying a new content notification on the display device 116 of the electronic device 100.

New content messages transmitted by the store system 150 may comprise the equipment identifier belonging to the electronic device 100 in order to allow the communications network 140 and/or the electronic device 100 to identify that the electronic device 100 is the intended recipient of the new content messages.

In alternative embodiments of the invention the visual graphic story data file may be updated in order to extend the number of episodes available from the store system 150 that relate to a visual graphic story. An update to the visual graphic story data file may be received as part of an update to the sequence control program 130 as described above, wherein said update to the sequence control program 130 may also comprise a new episode or episodes as described above.

In alternative embodiments of the invention the user may be able to configure whether the progress indicator is always displayed by the progress bar update component 306. The user may configure this by using an options menu provided by the sequence control program 130, an exemplary screen of which is shown in Figure 8a, accessible via an options button 416 on the episode list screen shown in Figure 4.

In alternative embodiments of the invention the user may use the sequence control program 130 to transmit a personal message relating to an episode shown in the episode list 400 by the episode selection component 302 by pressing on a transmit personal message button (e.g. 412 or 414). The personal message may be directly transmitted by the sequence control program 130 to a social networking website, for example such as Facebook or Twitter, via the communications network 140, by the sequence control program 130, and may contain message title data and/or message content data comprising information relating to the title of the episode and/or visual graphic story to which the message relates. The personal message may also comprise an image which relates to the list image (e.g. 408, 410) of an episode that is displayed in the list of episodes 400. The sequence control program 130 may receive user authentication details from the user, for example via an authentication details entry screen such as the exemplary screen shown in Figure 8b, and transmit these authentication details to the social networking website with or prior to transmitting the personal message.

In alternative embodiments of the invention the sequence control program 130 may be comprised of a single program and/or component or a selection of programs and/or components comprising the functionality of the episode selection component 203, sequence display and monitoring component 304, progress bar update component 306 and user interface component 308 as described above.

It is to be understood that any feature described in relation to any one embodiment may be used alone, or in combination with other features described, and may also be used in combination with one or more features of any other of the embodiments, or any combination of any other of the embodiments.

Furthermore, equivalents and modifications not described above may also be employed without departing from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the accompanying claims.

Claims (25)

1. Claims 1. A method of controlling the display of animation sequences on a smartphone, the smartphone comprising a touchscreen display device and a processing unit, the method comprising: using the processing unit to execute a series of predetermined animation sequences, the animation sequences each comprising a set of images, the images being displayed in an image area on the display device, each said animation sequence forming a part of said series of predetermined animation sequences; defining a first touchscreen input characteristic on said display; using the processing unit to execute an animation sequence in said series as a current animation sequence, and subsequently to execute a different animation sequence in said series as a current animation sequence; responsive to touchscreen input according to said first touchscreen characteristic, using the processing unit to execute an animation sequence following the current animation sequence in said series; and displaying a progress indicator on the display to indicate a current state of progress within said series of predetermined animation sequences.
2. 2. A method according to claim 1, comprising defining a second touchscreen input characteristic on said display, and responsive to touchscreen input according to said second touchscreen characteristic, using the processing unit to execute an animation sequence previous to the current animation sequence in said series.
3. 3. A method according to claim 2, comprising defining a first touchscreen input area on said display, said first touchscreen input area being in a first half of the image area, and a second touchscreen input area, said second touchscreen input area being in a second half of the image area, the first and second halves each being a different one of a left half and a right half of the image area, respectively, wherein said first touchscreen input characteristic comprises touchscreen input in said first touchscreen input area and said second touchscreen input characteristic comprises touchscreen input in said second touchscreen input area.
4. 4. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said progress indicator comprises a series of discrete elements, each discrete element corresponding to one of said series of animation sequences.
5. 5. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein execution of an animation sequence comprises superimposing a text portion on a selected image.
6. 6. A method according to claim 5, the method comprising rendering said text portion within said selected image on the basis of rendering instructions derived from storage local to said smartphone.
7. 7. A method according to any preceding claim, comprising loading said animation sequences from one or more files in non-volatile storage local to said smartphone.
8. 8. A method according to any preceding claim, comprising displaying a first series of animation sequences and a second series of animation sequences, wherein each of said first and second series of animation sequences is received as a separate episode from a server remote from said smartphone.
9. 9. A method according to claim 8, comprising decrypting a given episode at least in part using an equipment identifier associated with said smartphone.
10. 10. A method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein, in response to receipt of a new content message of a first type, relating to an episode not held in non-volatile storage local to said smartphone, the method further comprises displaying a new content notification in the display device.
11. 11. A method according to any preceding claim, comprising defining a third touchscreen input characteristic on said display, wherein said progress indicator is selectively displayed on the display device responsive to touchscreen input according to the third touchscreen input characteristic.
12. 12. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein said state of progress is depicted via at least one of colour, size, or shape of at least part of said progress indicator.
13. 13. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein said progress indicator comprises a thumbnail image corresponding to an image in one of said series of animation sequences.
14. 14. A method according to claim 13, wherein the method comprises, responsive to touch input within said progress indicator, displaying an animation sequence corresponding to the thumbnail image within the display device.
15. 15. A method according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the progress indicator animates between at least two thumbnail images corresponding to images in one of said series of animation sequences.
16. 16. A computer readable medium comprising executable code arranged to conduct the method of any preceding claim.
17. 17. A method of controlling the display of animation sequences on a smartphone, the smartphone comprising a display device and a processing unit, the method comprising rendering a progress indicator within the display device, the progress indicator comprising a series of discrete elements, each discrete element in the series corresponding to a predetermined animation sequence to be displayed in the display device, wherein each discrete element is capable of adopting a first display state and a second display state and the processing unit is arranged to configure the progress indicator in dependence on selection of an animation sequence such that the first display state is adopted by whichever discrete element corresponds to a selected animation sequence, the other discrete elements in the series adopting the second display state, wherein adopting said first display state includes rendering a thumbnail image within the display device, said thumbnail image corresponding to a selected animation sequence to be displayed in the display device.
18. 18. A method according to claim 17, wherein, responsive to selection of a different animation sequence to be displayed in the display device, the processing unit is arranged to render a different thumbnail image is rendered in the display device, said different thumbnail image corresponding to the selected different animation sequence.
19. 19. A method according to claim 17 or claim 18, wherein a rendered thumbnail image is reduced in size in the display device, whereby to adopt the second display state for the discrete element adopting the first display state.
20. 20. A method according to claim 17 or claim 18, wherein a rendered thumbnail image is deleted from the display device, the discrete element having the first display state thereby adopting the second display state.
21. 21. A method according to any of claims 17 to 20, wherein each discrete element is responsive to touch input whereby to effect the selection of an animation sequence and/or said rendering of a corresponding thumbnail image.
22. 22. A method according to any of claims 17 to 21, wherein the first and second display states are distinguished by any one of size, colour or shape of the discrete elements.
23. 23. A method according to any of claims 17 to 22, wherein each discrete element in the series corresponds to one of a series of predetermined animation sequences to be displayed in the display device, each said animation sequence comprising a set of images, and the processing unit is arranged to configure the progress indicator in dependence on a selected animation sequence such that the first display state is adopted by whichever discrete element corresponds to a selected animation sequence, said thumbnail image corresponding to a designated image in the animation sequence.
24. 24. A computer readable medium comprising executable code arranged to conduct the method of any of claims 17 to 23.
25. 25. A computer readable medium comprising executable code for controlling the display of animation sequences on a smartphone, the smartphone comprising a display device and a processing unit, the executable code being arranged to render a progress bar within the display device, the progress bar comprising a series of discrete elements, each discrete element in the series corresponding to one of a series of predetermined animation sequences, wherein each discrete element is capable of adopting a first display state and a second display state and the processing unit is arranged to configure the progress bar in dependence on a selected animation sequence such that the first display state is adopted by whichever discrete element corresponds to a selected animation sequence, the other discrete elements in the series adopting the second display state.