Method and system for displaying an animated focus item

What is claimed is:

1. In a computer system including a memory, a display screen, and a user input device, a method for communicating to a user that a control item displayed on the display screen is in a state responsive to signals from said user input device, comprising the steps of:

displaying a first control item on the display screen;

determining that the first control item is to have the focus;

displaying a first focus item on the display screen in association with the first control item;

displaying a second control item on the display screen:

receiving a command to change the focus to the second control item;

determining a path on the display screen from the first control item to the second control item;

discontinuing the display of the first focus item in association with the first control item;

generating a transitory focus item for display along the path;

displaying the transitory focus item on the display screen moving along the path from the first control item to the second control item;

discontinuing the display of the transitory focus item; and

displaying a second focus item on the display screen in association with the second control item.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the first focus item further comprises animating the focus item.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of emitting a sound in association with the display of the first focus item on the display screen.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the first focus item comprises altering the appearance of the first control item.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the first focus item comprises displaying an image within the area defined by the boundaries of the first control item.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the first focus item comprises displaying an image in an area of the display screen adjacent to the area in which the first control item is displayed.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of displaying the first focus item comprises displaying an image partially in the area defined by the boundaries of the first control item and partially outside the area defined by the boundaries of the first control item.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the transitory focus item is animated.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of emitting a sound in association with the display of the transitory focus item on the display screen.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the command is a signal from the user input device caused by the action of the user.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of receiving a user command comprises the steps of:

displaying a cursor on the display screen;

manipulating the position of the cursor on the display screen in response to a signal from the user input device caused by the action of the user;

comparing the position of the second control item on the display screen and the position of the cursor on the display screen; and

determining whether the cursor is in a focus zone associated with the second control item.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of determining whether the second control item is enabled for receiving focus.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

calling an interface supported by a control object associated with said first control item, and

specifying parameters utilized by the control object to cause the control object to provide configuration defining information relating to the first control item.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the configuration defining information includes the size and shape of the first control item on the display screen.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the configuration defining information includes the location of the first control item on the display screen.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the configuration defining information includes information identifying an animation to be displayed in association with the first control item.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the configuration defining information includes information indicating that the transitory focus item should be displayed.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the second control item is a manifestation of at least one control object operative for receiving commands and causing the second control item to be displayed on the display screen in response to a predefined command.

19. A computer system operative for communicating to a user that a control item is in a state responsive to user commands, comprising:

a user input device for providing said user commands;

a memory;

a display screen for displaying said control item; and

a processing unit operative for:

determining that the first control item is to have the focus;

displaying a first focus item on the display screen in association with the first control item;

displaying a second control item on the display screen;

receiving a command to change the focus to the second control item;

determining a path on the display screen from the first control item to the second control item;

discontinuing the display of the first focus item in association with the first control item;

generating a transitory focus item for display along the path;

displaying the transitory focus item on the display screen moving along the path from the first control item to the second control item;

discontinuing the display of the transitory focus item; and

displaying a second focus item on the display screen in association with the second control item.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the first focus item is non static.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein said processing unit is further operative for emitting a sound in association with the display of the first focus item on said display screen.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein said processing unit is further operative for altering the appearance of the first control item in connection with displaying the first focus item.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the first focus item comprises an image displayed within an area defined by the boundaries of the first control item.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the first focus item comprises an image displayed in an area of the display screen adjacent to the area in which the first control item is displayed.

25. The system of claim 19, wherein the first focus item comprises an image partially in the area defined by the boundaries of the first control item and partially outside the area defined by the boundaries of the first control item.

26. The system of claim 19, wherein said transitory focus item is non static.

27. The system of claim 19, wherein said processing unit is further operative for emitting a sound in association with the display of said transitory focus item on said display screen.

28. The system of claim 19, wherein said command is a signal from said user input device caused by the action of the user.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein said processing unit is further operative for:

displaying a cursor on said display screen;

manipulating the position of the cursor on said display screen in response to a signal from said user input device caused by the action of the user;

comparing the position of said second control item on said display screen and the position of the cursor on said display screen; and

determining whether the cursor is in a focus zone associated with said second control item.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein said processing unit is further operative for determining whether said second control item is enabled for receiving focus.

31. The system of claim 19, wherein said processing unit is further operative for:

calling an interface supported by a control object associated with said first control item, and

specifying parameters utilized by said control object to cause said control object to provide configuration defining information relating to the first control item.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein said configuration defining information includes the size and shape of the first control item on said display screen.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein said configuration defining information includes the location of the first control item on the display screen.

34. The system of claim 31, wherein said configuration defining information includes information identifying an animation to be displayed in association with the first control item.

35. The system of claim 31, wherein said configuration defining information includes information indicating that the transitory focus item should be displayed.

36. The system of claim 31, wherein the second control item is a manifestation of at least one control object operative for receiving commands and causing the second control item to be displayed on said display screen in response to a predefined command.

37. In an interactive television system for bi-directional communication including a headend system, a memory, a display screen, and a user input device, a method for communicating to a user that a control item is in a state responsive to signals from the user input device for causing a communication to be transmitted from a user to the headend system and for manipulating the state of the control item, comprising the steps of:

displaying on the display screen a television program transmitted by the headend system;

displaying on the display screen a control item having a configuration;

receiving from the headend system configuration defining information relating to the television program;

generating a focus item that has a configuration based on the configuration of the control item and on the configuration defining information relating to the television program; and

displaying the focus item on the display screen simultaneously and in association with the control item.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the focus item is non static.

39. The method of claim 37, further comprising the step of emitting a sound in association with the display of the focus item on the display screen.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein the step of displaying the focus item comprises altering the appearance of the control item.

41. The method of claim 37, wherein the step of displaying the focus item comprises displaying an image within the area defined by the boundaries of the control item.

42. The method of claim 37, wherein the step of displaying the focus item comprises displaying an image in an area of the display screen adjacent to the area in which the control item is displayed.

43. The method of claim 37, wherein the step of displaying the focus item comprises displaying an image partially in the area defined by the boundaries of the control item and partially outside the area defined by the boundaries of the control item.

44. The method of claim 37, wherein the control item is a first control item and the focus item is a first focus item, and further comprising the steps of:

displaying on the display screen a second control item transmitted by the headend system;

receiving a command;

in response to the command:

discontinuing the display of the first focus item in association with the first control item;

determining that the second control item should receive focus;

generating a second focus item that has a configuration based on the configuration defining information relating to the television; and

displaying the second focus item on the display screen in association with the second control item.

45. The method of 44, further comprising the steps of:

determining a path on the display screen from the first control item to the second control item;

generating a transitory focus item for display along the path; and

displaying the transitory focus item on the display screen.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the transitory focus item is non static and has a configuration based on the configuration defining information relating to the television program.

47. The method of claim 45, further comprising the step of emitting a sound in association with the display of the transitory focus item on the display screen.

48. The method of claim 44, wherein the command is a directional command from the user input device caused by the action of the user.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the step of receiving a directional command comprises the steps of:

displaying a cursor on the display screen;

manipulating the position of the cursor on the display screen in response to a signal from the user input device caused by the action of the user;

comparing the position of the second control item on the display screen and the position of the cursor on the display screen; and

determining whether the cursor is in a focus zone associated with the second control item.

50. The method of claim 49, further comprising the step of determining whether the second control item is enabled for receiving focus.

51. The method of claim 44 further comprising the steps of:

calling an interface supported by a control object associated with the control item, and

specifying parameters utilized by the control object to cause the control object to provide control item defining information relating to attributes of the control item.

52. The method of claim 44, wherein the control item defining information includes the size and shape of the control item on the display screen.

53. The method of claim 44, wherein the control item defining information includes the location of the control item on the display screen.

54. The method of claim 44, wherein the control item defining information includes information identifying an animation to be displayed in association with the control item.

55. The method of claim 44, wherein the control item defining information includes information indicating that a transitory focus item should be displayed.

56. The method of claim 44, wherein the control item is a manifestation of at least one control object operative for receiving commands and causing the control item to be displayed on the display screen in response to a predefined command.

57. The method of claim 37, further comprising the step of:

receiving a signal from the user input device caused by the action of the user; and

in response to the signal, transmitting a message associated with the control item to the headend system.

58. The method of claim 57, wherein the focus item is non static.

59. The method of claim 57, further comprising the step of emitting a sound in association with the display of the focus item on the display screen.

60. The method of claim 57, wherein the step of displaying the focus item comprises altering the appearance of the control item.

61. The method of claim 57, wherein the step of displaying the focus item comprises displaying an image within the area defined by the boundaries of the control item.

62. The method of claim 57, wherein the step of displaying the focus item comprises displaying an image in an area of the display screen adjacent to the area in which the control item is displayed.

63. The method of claim 57, wherein the step of displaying the focus item comprises displaying an image partially in the area defined by the boundaries of the control item and partially outside the area defined by the boundaries of the control item.

64. The method of claim 57, wherein the control item is a first control item and the focus item is a first focus item, and further comprising the steps of:

displaying on the display screen a second control item transmitted by the headend system;

receiving a command;

in response to the command:

discontinuing the display of the first focus item in association with the first control item;

determining that the second control item should receive focus;

generating a second focus item that has a configuration based on the configuration defining information relating to the television; and

displaying the second focus item on the display screen in association with the second control item.

65. The method of 64, further comprising the steps of:

determining a path on the display screen from the first control item to the second control item;

generating a transitory focus item for display along the path; and

displaying the transitory focus item on the display screen.

66. The method of claim 65, wherein the transitory focus item is non static.

67. The method of claim 65, further comprising the step of emitting a sound in association with the display of the transitory focus item on the display screen.

68. The method of claim 64, wherein the command is a directional command from the user input device caused by the action of the user.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein the step of receiving a directional command comprises the steps of:

displaying a cursor on the display screen;

manipulating the position of the cursor on the display screen in response to a signal from the user input device caused by the action of the user;

comparing the position of the second control item on the display screen and the position of the cursor on the display screen; and

determining whether the cursor is in a focus zone associated with the second control item.

70. The method of claim 69, further comprising the step of determining whether the second control item is enabled for receiving focus.

71. The method of claim 64 further comprising the steps of:

calling an interface supported by a control object associated with the control item, and

specifying parameters utilized by the control object to cause the control object to provide control item defining information relating to attributes of the control item.

72. The method of claim 64, wherein the control item defining information includes the size and shape of the control item on the display screen.

73. The method of claim 64, wherein the control item defining information includes the location of the control item on the display screen.

74. The method of claim 64, wherein the control item defining information includes information identifying an animation to be displayed in association with the control item.

75. The method of claim 64, wherein the c control item defining information includes information indicating that a transitory focus item should be displayed.

76. The method of claim 64, wherein the control item is a manifestation of at least one control object operative for receiving commands and causing the control item to be displayed on the display screen in response to a predefined command.

77. In an interactive television system for bi-directional communication including a headend system, a memory, a display screen, and a user input device, a method for communicating to a user that a control item is in a state responsive to signals from the user input device for causing a communication to be transmitted from a user to the headend system and for manipulating the state of the control item, comprising the steps of:

displaying on the display screen a television program transmitted by the headend system;

displaying on the display screen first and second control items, each having a configuration;

receiving from the headend system configuration defining information relating to the television program;

generating a first focus item with a configuration based on the configuration of the first control item and on the configuration defining information relating to the television program;

displaying on the display screen the first focus item simultaneously and in association with the first control item;

displaying on the display screen at least one cursor under the control of the user via the user input device;

manipulating the position of the cursor on the display screen in response a signal from the user input device caused by the action of the user;

in response to a predetermined relation between the position of the second control item on the display screen and the position of the cursor on the display screen:

discontinuing the display of the first focus item;

generating a second focus item with a configuration based on the configuration of the second control item and on the configuration defining information relating to the television program; and

displaying on the display screen the second focus item simultaneously and in association with the second control item.

Description Submit all comments and votes

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a graphical viewer interface for an interactive medium of communication. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method in an interactive television system for using animation to indicate that a particular control item among a plurality of control items displayed on a graphical viewer interface is currently in a state responsive to commands from a user input device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cable television systems, sometimes referred to as community-antenna television (CATV) systems, are broadband communications networks of coaxial cable and optical fiber that distribute video, audio, and data signals to the homes or businesses of subscribers. In a typical CATV system, a single advantageously located antenna array feeding a cable network supplies each individual subscriber with a usable television signal.

CATV networks have experienced enormous growth and expansion in the United States, particularly in urban areas. It is estimated that CATV networks currently pass near and are accessible to approximately 90% of the population in the United States, with approximately 60-65% of all households actually being connected to such communications networks. While cable systems originally had very simple architectures and provided a limited number of different television signals, the increase in the number of television broadcasters, owners, and services over the last several decades has resulted in much more complex modern cable distribution systems.

A typical CATV system for the delivery of television programming to subscribers comprises three main elements: a headend, a distribution system, and subscriber drops.

The "headend" is a signal reception and processing center that collects, organizes, and distributes signals. The headend receives satellite-delivered video and audio programming, over-the-air broadcast television station signals, and network feeds delivered by terrestrial microwave and other communication systems. In addition, headends may inject local broadcast programming into the package of signals sent to subscribers, such as commercials and live programs created in a television studio.

The "distribution system" carries the signals from the headend to a number of distribution points in a community and, in turn, distributes these signals to individual neighborhoods for delivery to subscribers. A modern distribution system typically comprises a combination of coaxial cable and optical fibers, with trunk amplifiers periodically spaced to compensate for attenuation of the signals along the line.

"Subscriber drops" are taps in the distribution system that feed individual coaxial cable lines into subscribers' television sets or subscriber set-top terminals, often referred to as "subscriber premises equipment" or "customer premises equipment" ("CPE").

CATV distribution systems were originally designed to distribute television signals in the "downstream" direction only, i.e., from a central headend location to multiple subscriber locations, also referred to as the "forward" path. For downstream transmissions, typical CATV systems provide a series of video channels, each 6 MHz in bandwidth, which are frequency division multiplexed across the forward band, in the 50 MHz to 550 MHz region of the frequency spectrum. As optical fiber more deeply penetrates the service areas with hybrid optical fiber/coaxial cable (HFC) configurations, the bandwidth of the coaxial cable portion is expected to increase to over 1 GHz, thereby increasing the number of available channels for potential services.

The advent of pay-per-view services and other interactive television applications has fueled the development of bi-directional or "two-way" cable systems that also provide for the transmission of signals from the subscriber locations back to the headend via an "upstream" direction or a "reverse" path. By upgrading CATV systems employing relatively limited bandwidth coaxial cable with broadband distribution networks having HFC configurations, multiple service operators (MSOs) can use the additional channels gained by this wider bandwidth network to provide many new subscriber services. This ever-expanding deployment of fiber optic technology supports the implementation of an "interactive network" to allow a subscriber to obtain desired services or programming at a time and date specified by the subscriber. Indeed, it is feasible that this interactive network will have sufficient bandwidth to supply hundreds of channels of programming information, thereby leading to an explosion of program options available to subscribers. Potential subscriber services supported by this interactive network include Movies on Demand (MOD) or Video on Demand (VOD), interactive computing, shopping, entertainment, and other related services.

The delivery of a variety of interactive services via a broadband network distribution system raises the critical issue of defining an efficient mechanism for presenting both operation and program-related information to an audience of possible consumers representing diverse technological backgrounds and interests. From an ergonomic perspective, this "viewer interface" for such an interactive network should appeal to a "typical" viewer of standard broadcast television programs and should be easy for this imagined person to understand and to use. Because computer users reflect only a portion of the overall audience for interactive services, it is desirable that the features of this viewer interface be based upon the assumption that the typical viewer is not familiar with user interface customs that are otherwise acceptable and understood by the computer literate community. In addition, the functions of the viewer interface should be controllable with a control device familiar to this typical television viewer, such as a handheld remote control. This viewer interface also should be readily readable from an acceptable viewing distance that typically separates the viewer from a television screen.

The typical television viewer is accustomed to viewing sophisticated graphics within broadcast programs that are produced with complex and expensive production equipment. It is desirable for the viewer interface of an interactive television network to support similar graphical features, including visual objects having a 3-dimensional appearance, image transition effects such as wipes, dissolves, and tumbles, and a variety of colors and fonts. This viewer interface also preferably supports active animation of displayed objects to entertain the viewer and to focus the viewer's attention upon a particular interface object for controlling a service or feature. The viewer interface also should be sufficiently flexible in appearance to allow a service provider to design and implement objects having unique appearances for different applications, thereby permitting a viewer to distinguish these applications.

From a technical perspective, the delivery of video signals for presentation by a conventional television screen is limited by the display screen variations in the numerous models of televisions and the limitations inherent in the National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) standards for formatting video signals. The NTSC has established title and video safety standards to define a space within the television screen for readable text and images. The area of the television screen that is considered to support the most reliable presentation of text or title information, which is known as the "safe title" area, is approximately the center 80% of the horizontal and vertical space of a television screen. Likewise, the area of the television screen that is considered to support the most reliable presentation of moving images, which is known as the "safe action" area, is approximately the center 90% of the horizontal and vertical space of a television screen.

Because these NTSC standards suggest that the video performance of even modern televisions suffers from horizontal and vertical drift problems, the viewer interface for an interactive television network should support the video safety standards to ensure that objects intended for display are actually fully presented to the viewer. However, it will be appreciated that this implementation also effectively reduces "usable screen space" or display resolution for the user interface. This is dramatically different from the computer environment where the entire screen of a computer monitor can predictably be used to present static and dynamic objects to a user.

The design of the viewer interface for an interactive television network also must consider the well known phenomenon of "flicker" arising from the scanning of vertical and horizontal scan lines in a television screen. It would be desirable for the items displayed on a viewer interface for the interactive television network to be drawn with lines having a pixel width of more than one pixel to reduce flicker and to support a more readable presentation of the displayed items.

Unlike traditional television which is a unidirectional broadcast transmission medium, interactive television is a bidirectional communication medium. Interactive television combines traditional television technology with traditional computer technology and introduces new material specific to the interactive television environment. Interactive television may superimpose upon a traditional television display a number of "control items" that present selectable options to the viewer. Selection and subsequent execution of a control item by a viewer may cause an "action command" to be transmitted from the viewer to the headend. For example, a viewer may order goods, select programming, or respond to an interactive program through execution of control items.

Viewers of interactive television systems may be of varying degrees of sophistication. In particular, some viewers may have little or no computer background and may be unfamiliar with traditional computer graphical user interfaces. Therefore, in order to be effective, a graphical viewer interface for an interactive television system must be capable of communicating useful information to a viewer who is otherwise unfamiliar with computer protocols or the interactive television system itself. Typically, a viewer may be sitting several feet or even several yards away from the television screen and will have only a remote control for communicating with the interactive television system. The remote control may have significantly less communication capability than a traditional keyboard and mouse system used on conventional computer systems. Therefore, a graphical viewer interface for an interactive television system must provide a relatively simple, easy to read display within the capabilities of NTSC display devices, and a highly effective means of communicating control information to the viewer. Basically, an average viewer with minimal computer skills should be able to view the interactive television screen and understand from the information presented thereon how to use the system.

Graphical user interface systems for conventional computer systems have been in wide spread use for several years. Conventional graphical user interface systems utilize a variety of visual devices to display selectable options and executable commands to the user. For example, button displays such as "open" and "close" are in wide use, as are icons for selecting and initiating application programs. A user typically navigates a cursor on a screen display using a keyboard or a mouse, and selects a control item by placing the cursor in the same area on the screen as the control item, and then entering a predefined command such as a keyboard stroke or click of a mouse button. In many conventional systems, a "single click" of the mouse button selects a control item or menu item. A selected button is often indicated by placing a highlighting ring around the perimeter of the selected item, or changing the display of the item itself. When selected, a control item is in a state responsive to commands from the user input device. For example, the function associated with a selected item will typically be executed if a subsequent command is entered, typically a "double click" of the mouse button.

A selected control item responsive to input is said to have the "focus." As noted, the display of a control item that has the focus is typically altered, for example by highlighting the display of the item or surrounding the selected control item by a border to indicate to the viewer that the selected control item has the focus. Thus, the viewer can tell by looking at the display which one control item among a plurality of control items displayed on the screen has the focus.

For example, on a traditional computer with several applications running simultaneously, each application may appear as a frame with the selected frame in the foreground and the unselected frames in the background. In this context, the frame in the foreground has the focus and is capable of receiving input from the keyboard or mouse. Using a typical mouse system as an example, a user may point to an exposed portion of a background frame and click the mouse button once causing the background frame to move into the foreground and become the application with the focus. In this context, the focus is indicated by placing the application with the focus in the foreground, placing all non focused objects in the background, and typically displaying the background applications in a muted format.

A somewhat different method of indicating the focus is typically used when the user is selecting among icons in a traditional computer environment. When a user places the cursor over a particular icon and single-clicks the mouse button, the view of the icon usually changes indicating that the particular icon has the focus. A user may then double click or depress the "enter" key in order to invoke the application associated with the icon. In this context, the focus is usually indicated by changing the view of the icon with the focus.

Thus, in one conventional computer embodiment, the user must take some action, such as single-clicking the mouse button, in addition to navigating the pointer or cursor in order to change the focus. In another conventional computer embodiment, the focus automatically follows the cursor without the user having to enter a command such as a single click. In this embodiment, the focus automatically follows the cursor, moving among control items in response to relocation of the cursor.

Graphical user interface systems for traditional computer systems have a number of shortcomings when considered in the context of an interactive television system graphical viewer interface. In a traditional computer environment, the entire screen is available for providing information to the user, whereas there is a limited portion of the screen that can be used in an interactive television environment. In addition, the user of a traditional computer usually sits very close to the screen, perhaps only a foot or two away, and therefore can read relatively small print on the computer screen. By contrast, viewers in an interactive television environment may sit much further away, perhaps several feet or yards. Moreover, users of traditional computer systems are typically computer literate and willing to resort to a user manual to gain more information on how to use the system. Interactive television viewers, on the other hand, may be much less sophisticated in the use of computer systems and far less likely to resort to the use of a manual to determine how to use the system.

Therefore, a viewer of an interactive television system may require more explicit indications of a prompt and more explicit indications of how to respond. Accordingly, the meaning of control items displayed on the screen in an interactive television environment must be patently clear to the viewer based on the appearance of the control items alone.

To accommodate the needs of an interactive television system, it would be advantageous if a graphical viewer interface for an interactive television system embodied an improved means for conveying basic control related information to the viewer. In particular, it would be advantageous in an interactive television environment to have a more visible and more easily understood method for indicating the focus.

There are a number of other shortcomings associated with traditional computer graphical user interface techniques for controlling and displaying the focus in the context of an interactive television environment. First, a keyboard or mouse is typically required to navigate the cursor and perform the single-click and double-click functions necessary to change the focus and invoke items with the focus in traditional computer graphical user interface systems. In an interactive television environment, the viewer will typically not have a mouse or keyboard but will only have a remote control unit which typically will support only a limited set of commands, such as a directional navigation thumbpad and an action key. Therefore, the single-click method of indicating a viewer's desire to change the focus will typically not be available in an interactive television environment.

Second, the methods of indicating which control item has the focus in a traditional computer environment may be insufficiently communicative in an interactive television environment. Simply bringing items from the background to the foreground, or using a focus ring or illumination, may not be sufficient to impart focus related information to the viewer of an interactive television system where the background may appear very busy, which may be the case when a movie, television program, or video game is playing.

Third, programmers of applications running on traditional computer systems do not have a particularly strong motivation to attract a user's attention to a particular control item. In comparison, focus items in an interactive television environment may be called on to serve a promotional or advertisement related function. Similarly, application programmers of interactive television programs may want to customize the viewer interface in accordance with the theme of the underlying program. For example, a music program may use an animated musical instrument as a focus item, and a sports program may use an animated athlete as a focus item. Therefore, the method of indicating the focus in an interactive television environment will be improved over traditional computer graphical user interface focus methods if the focus items can be easily animated in accordance with the theme of the underlying program with a promotional motivation. In particular, it would be advantageous if sponsors or authors of individual application programs could customize the focus item that is displayed during a particular application or portion thereof.

In summary, for an interactive television environment, there is a need for a viewer interface having simplified viewer interface controls that are optimized for the television environment in both appearance and behavior. The viewer interface should be entertaining and have the look of a television program. The controls of the viewer interface are preferably operable with a handheld control device, such as a remote control. The viewer interface should support NTSC video safety standards to ensure that items intended for display are actually presented to the viewer in a manner that is easily readable on a variety of conventional television sets.

Moreover, there is a need in a graphical viewer interface for an interactive television environment for a more flexible, more communicative means of indicating which among a plurality of control items displayed on a screen has the focus, a need for a focus control mechanism that does not rely on a mouse or keyboard, and a need for a focus item that is easily programmable and amenable to serving customized promotional and advertising functions. In addition, there is a need for a focus item that is easily viewed and understood from the range of distances at which users will view interactive television systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses these issues by providing a viewer interface designed for use in the environment of an interactive television network and by providing an animated focus item. As used herein, an "animation" means any form of highligh