Patent ID: 6314426
Filing Date: 2001-11-06
Classification: G05G,G06F,Y10S

Abstract:
Information retrieval and output apparatus for retrieving and outputting information from storage means, comprising:information retrieval means for retrieving information from the storage means;output means for outputting to a user information retrieved from the storage means; andselecting means for selecting information for output in units by the output means in accordance with links between the units of information, said selecting means comprising a user input means for generating first, second, third and fourth respective control signals in response to first, second, third and fourth respective operator single actions and control means for controlling the information output by the output means in response to the control signals, wherein said user input means comprises a control member having first and second degrees of freedom and movable or actuable in first and second directions in each of said degrees of freedom, said first and second control signals being produced in response to movement or actuation in first and second directions respectively in said first degree of freedom with an extent of movement or actuation defining a value of the control signal for determining the speed of scrolling, and said third and fourth control signals being produced in response to movement or actuation in first and second directions respectively in the second degree of freedom, wherein said first and second degrees of freedom are movements or actuations along first and second orthogonal lines;and wherein:the control means is arranged so that:in response to the first control signal, information from a current unit being output by the output means is scrolled through in a first direction at a speed related to the value of the control signal set by the first operator action;in response to the second control signal, information from the current unit being output by the output means is scrolled through in a second direction, opposite to the first direction, at a speed related to the value of the control signal set by the second operator action;in response to the third control signal, information from a first further unit defined by a first link from the current unit is output by the output means; andin response to the fourth control signal, information from a second further unit defined by a second link from the current unit is output by the output means.