Patent ID: 7057612

Claim:
A system to interactively access and analyze temporal data relationships that change over time, the system comprising: one or more 4D portal storage mediums containing 4D portal information, the 4D portal information representing at least three spatial dimensions and a time dimension; one or more 4D browser programs adapted to access the one or more 4D portal storage mediums and convert the 4D portal information into one or more 4D objects to be rendered in a 3D scene, wherein the one or more 4D browser programs are further adapted to use the 4D portal information to render and manipulate at least one of a temporal and spatial manifestation of the one or more 4D objects independent of the 3D scene, and wherein the one or more 4D portal browser programs are further adapted to enable a user to simulate traveling back and forth through the time dimension to represent the 4D object at one or more particular times; and one or more 4D portal windows adapted to receive and display the 4D objects in the 3D scene.