Tangible icon representing network objects

Abstract

A tangible icon is permanently encoded with a URL of a first network object. Links (“shortcuts”) to other network objects are assigned as the contents of the first network object. A person in possession of the tangible icon can gain access to the other network objects without having to remember or enter their URLs, but need only present the physical icon to a reader. The system and method uses the URL encoded on the tangible icon to access the network object and to resolve the links contained therein to provide the contents of the linked objects. The number and size of the other network objects the user can access are virtually unlimited. The user gains access to the current version of an object.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is a continuation under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 5828,763, filed on Apr. 9, 2001. The aforesaid patent application is incorporated by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to a tangible user interface, and particularly to a system and method for providing a user, by means of a tangible icon, with access to provider-selected arbitrary-sized objects on a data network. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] The present-day paradigm in which a person uses a discrete manifestation of “a computer” (workstation, desktop computer, laptop computer, palmtop computer, personal data assistant, game player, etc.) to relate to computation is beginning to give way to “pervasive computation”, in which computation becomes part of the environment. See W. Mark, Turning Pervasive Computing into Mediated Spaces,...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

This frees the user from having to navigate a network, but since a portable medium has an inherent maximum capacity for data, the size of an object that can be given to a user in this manner is inherently limited.

It may be desired to provide a user with easy access to such a presentation, but the method of providing it on a removable medium is inherently precluded.

While the graphical user interface (GUI), which enables a user to interact with a computer by manipulating graphical icons, has gone a long way to make computation easier for non-engineers, it still represents a level of abstraction that will become increasingly burdensome as computation becomes more distributed.

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