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PARC's Popout Prism Aids Web Navigation 140

Posted by CmdrTaco from the interesting-ideas dept.
sulo writes "Popout Prism is a Web Browser that reduces the amount of time users end looking for information in Web pages. By creating visual "popouts" that emphasize critical elements in Web pages, Popout Prism draws users' attention to the right information." Not a very complicated idea, but one that could be useful.
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PARC's Popout Prism Aids Web Navigation More

PARC's Popout Prism Aids Web Navigation

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  • Perhaps Microsoft could implement this in a future version of IE?

    Clippy: Were these the type of asian schoolgirl sluts you were looking for?

    Mike

  • view this short video (Score:5, Funny)

    by gokubi ( 413425 ) * on Monday July 14, 2003 @08:50AM (#6433435) Homepage
    To see the Popout Prism browser in action, view this short video demo. Popout Prism Demo mpg (27mb)

    The product download is only 900 kb, while the demo video is 30 times the size. No, really, ubiquitous multimedia on the web is right around the corner...

  • Popouts (Score:4, Funny)

    by deman1985 ( 684265 ) <dedwards@kappast3.14159one.com minus pi> on Monday July 14, 2003 @08:54AM (#6433474) Homepage
    Gah! My eyes!

  • I call fluff (Score:4, Insightful)

    by sunbeam60 ( 653344 ) on Monday July 14, 2003 @08:56AM (#6433491)
    This stuff wouldn't be necesary if web designers were better doing their jobs. Sure it might be warranted on all the poorly designed web pages, but when you arrive at one that is well designed, you know exactly where to go.

  • OMG! (Score:5, Funny)

    by pb ( 1020 ) on Monday July 14, 2003 @08:57AM (#6433500)
    I used Popout Prism on match.com, and those chicks looked *awesome*... Can I get some glasses that do this IRL, or do I just have to drink a lot of beer to get the same effect?
  • All this does is highlight your search terms within the webpage ala Googles Groups (formerly Dejanews).

    /Me thinks this could be added to Mozilla quite easily.

    • It's already in there. ctrl+f's search just selects the text, but if you use type ahead find (/text) its a bright green background.
    • With this, even the tech sites can seem suggestive...

      "...that these Xeons can outperform..."
      "...he calls extended instruction sets a waste of time..."
    • All this does is highlight your search terms within the webpage ala Googles Groups

      Considering Google sets up numerous cookies now, instead of good ol' NNTP, Prism can only be better.The simpe rule, though: Smarter the browser, Slower the response.
    • Thanks for informing all of us that skipped 1998 that Google Groups used to be DejaNews.
      • I believe I first saw this technique done on Dejanews, before they were bought by Google.

        I was merely highlighting the point that *I believe* Deja was the first search service that provided the technique and prior art, not Google.

    • that's not all... (Score:3, Interesting)

      by mblase ( 200735 )
      The "popout prism" itself is a kind of sidebar which displays the entire unscrolled page in thumbnail form, with a box highlighting the area you're currently looking at. If you use thumbnails in Adobe (Acrobat) Reader or the navigation panel in Photoshop, you've seen the same sort of thing.

      In addition, it lets you type in keywords above the thumbnail and highlight those words in the thumbnail for you to navigate to quickly. That's what makes the popout useful for pages that contain more words than images.
    • If that's all that it does (the page is slashdotted), then I would suggest that everyone using Internet Explorer takes a look at The Google Toolbar [google.com] which provides this functionality, in addition to loads of other neat features (popup blocker, one-click images/groups/news/google-search, automagical "find searched word in page" and "highlight searchwords in page" and auto complete for forms) ..

      If you haven't checked it out yet, do it now :)
    • Speaking of Google, the highlighting feature has already been available in both IE and Mozilla for some time, via the Google toolbar [google.com] or the workalike Googlebar [mozdev.org], respectively. Just type in your keywords, hit the "highlight all terms" button, and this highlighting comes up instantly. The toolbar takes up some space, but at least the feature is available as an extension.
    • Bookmarklets [bookmarklets.com] let you do something similar. See Highlight [squarefree.com]

  • A good application... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by GillBates0 ( 664202 ) on Monday July 14, 2003 @08:58AM (#6433514) Homepage Journal
    for this would be cellphones or PDA's, which have displays that are too small to view normal webpages designed for larger displays.

    If the user is looking for specific information/keywords that are too small to read on the display, the browser could "popout" a magnified/highlighted/easier to read version of the surrounding context.

    And rather than coming out with a whole new browser, maybe it could be incorporated into The Google Toolbar [google.com] or something similar....they've recently added new features to make searching within a webpage easier.

    • Re:A good application... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Brummund ( 447393 ) on Monday July 14, 2003 @09:05AM (#6433576)
      FWIW, Opera has a special version of their browser, with the ability to render the usual webduhsigners fixed width websites on small screens. Check out Opera's Small-Screen Rendering [opera.com].

      Qoute from the page:

      How do we do it?

      Opera's Small-Screen Rendering technology enables access to all the content available on the Internet today. Even before this innovation, it was of course possible to browse the Web with Opera. The problem is that most sites are designed with fixed widths that make them hard to navigate on small handheld devices.

      As an example, most news sites have a center column where the main article text is located. This column is usually 468 pixels wide (due to the standard ad-banner sizes) and the text is set to fill this width. This means that to read an article, you would have to scroll back and forth for every line of text.

      With Small-Screen Rendering?, the page is reformatted to fit inside the screen width and eliminate the need for horizontal scrolling. All the content and functionality is still available, it is only the layout of the page that is changed. This innovation is the key enabler for surfing on a mobile device.
      • FWIW, Opera has a special version of their browser, with the ability to render the usual webduhsigners fixed width websites on small screens. Check out Opera's Small-Screen Rendering.

        If you don't use Opera, then you can use some CSS to achieve pretty much the same [glazman.free.fr].

        • I think that's pretty much all it does, provide a built-in CSS with appropriate rules. "Built-in" is the key, as well as the fact that it's persistent - not all browsers handle user CSS very well. Opera 7 provides about a dozen built-in styles you can select when in user CSS mode, such as high-contrast and accessibility. Opera does more for the sight- and mobility-impaired user than any other browser currently available.

  • Finally, a solution to the age-old problem of viewing vertical centerfolds on a horizontal screen.

    Thanks Parc!

  • How long before this is hijacked for ads? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 14, 2003 @09:01AM (#6433532)
    If this becomes commonplace, the only thing it's going to really do is make popup ads into Popup Prism (tm) ads.

    Oh, and it will probably suck more bandwidth to do it, too.

  • Google cashe (Score:1, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    In event of further Slashdotting, here's Google's copy [216.239.57.104]

  • While the project site is slashdotted... (Score:4, Informative)

    by mblase ( 200735 ) on Monday July 14, 2003 @09:03AM (#6433550)
    ...you can still get some info and a download here [parc.com] (well, for the moment anyway).
  • Have we all lost the ability to scan for information that we need on a webpage or any other source. Next they'll develop books that have the "keywords" you enter into your pda come off the page and slap you in the face.
    Just another technology to help those of us with tech-driven ADD [slashdot.org][slashdot.org]

  • Curmudgeon's Corner (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Zontar The Mindless ( 9002 ) <(moc.liamg) (ta) (ofni.hsifcitsalp)> on Monday July 14, 2003 @09:03AM (#6433552) Homepage
    Those whose idea of a Web page is a Photoshop mockup or big fat Flash banner will hate this browser, and people using this browser will hate such pages.

    Those who produce well-structured and meaningfully-styled Web documents have nothing to fear from it... but people surfing such pages probably won't gain that much from using this browser.
    • Those who produce well-structured and meaningfully-styled Web documents have nothing to fear from it

      Most website designers excel in keeping the good info. as far away and as many clicks away as possible. Flash and VRML keep the bosses happy.

      News sites earn revenue from as Clicks, and meaningfully-styled Docs would drive them to Chapter 11!

  • Ok, the file you download from the website is in a.01[1] format! How do you run the darn thing? Help?
    • The download and Internet Explorer sometimes don't get along. Rename the file you downloaded to end in .exe, and it should work. Mozilla-based browsers do not have this problem.

  • JAVA incompetance (Score:3, Informative)

    by mydigitalself ( 472203 ) on Monday July 14, 2003 @09:05AM (#6433569)
    they appear to have fscked up their installation regarding JAVA.

    i have 3 or 4 different JVM versions on my box - and normally i can run just about everything without any problems. the highest version of JAVA I have is 1.4.1 and whenever i run their installer it tells me that JAVA is not found and then it installs JRE 1.3.1 and then does exactly the same thing.

    SYNOPSIS: if you have anything higher that 1.3.1, this probably won't work.

    • Re:JAVA incompetance (Score:5, Informative)

      by sbuckhopper ( 12316 ) * on Monday July 14, 2003 @09:30AM (#6433763) Homepage Journal
      If you are using windows its probably a path problems. I've noticed that some large name Java aplications (such as eclipse) completely ignore your JAVA_HOME variable and just look for the first JRE it can find in your path.

      Be very careful though because 1.4.1 installs a java wraper (javaw.exe) in your windows system directory. So in order for it to find the correct JRE you need to make sure that you put it first in your path infront of the windows system directory. If find this both obnoxious and dangerous.

      • Re:JAVA incompetance (Score:3, Insightful)

        by _xeno_ ( 155264 )
        I've run into stuff like this before. I blame Sun for making it next to impossible to locate the JRE on a given system without resorting to hacks like the JAVA_HOME environment, or querying the runtime environment of whatever answers to "java".

        What's really annoying is that Sun doesn't set the JAVA_HOME environment variable when you install J2SE. However, their J2EE SDK requires JAVA_HOME to be set. Various other Java utilities use the JAVA_HOME hack to make things work. You'd think Sun would - eventu

    • Heh, their incompetence is already shown by the fact that they code in Java, yet the installer is a Windows .exe file.
    • I'm familiar with the details of the development of this project.

      So, a couple of points:
      1) It's a research demo. Unfortunately, that means it won't work well on all platforms. But, it's available primarily so that you, the public, can see how the technology works.

      2) It's written in Java, but it embeds Internet Explorer. So, the installer is a Windows installer, because it wouldn't run anywhere else anyway.

      3) The installer is, unfortunately, not very robust. It's hard to find Java reliabily on a Windows s
  • Gimme Lynx or gimme death...

    Actually just gimme emacs-w3, that's close enough to death anyways.
  • Flaming red banners in 1-inch fonts flashing at 5 times a second. Boxes poping up all over the screen. Boxes that follow your browsing and won't get out of the way. And now...
  • That couldn't possibly have applications in the adult entertainment industry, right?
  • But we already have that. It's called BannerAddRemover. If you also disable java/javascript, automatic redirection, popups and asp, you are able to get straight to the interesting links.
  • Who are asking whether this will be implemented in future versions of IE are asking the right question, since it dominates the browser market. (Please note that I am not in any way implying that this is justified before you flame me.)

    When Google converts a PDF file to HTML it highlights your search terms in different colors. I myself have often resorted to the Edit, Find (on This Page) options in IE.

    I agree that this shouldn't be a necessary feature, that the web designers should construct their pages

    • Who are asking whether this will be implemented in future versions of IE are asking the right question, since it dominates the browser market.

      That the very reason why they won't do it.

      Since they won the battle against Netscape, look at how much stuff Microsoft added to IE. Not much, hey?

      Microsoft has nothing to gain (marketshare-wise, that's the way they think) in improving its browser. In a interview this spring was the announcement that IE6SP1 was the last standalone browser version. They don't car

      • You're right, of course. But I have faith that some day a new browser will come along that blows IE completely out of the water in looks, efficiency, features, etc. I don't think that it'll have a commercial potential any greater than the life expectancy of an icicle in hell, but it'll force IE to remodel in order to maintain its vice-like grip on the browser market. Microsoft will undoubtably crush the upstart into the dust, but not before some changes have been made. (Again, MS's triumph is probably un

  • Prediction (Score:5, Funny)

    by thung226 ( 648591 ) on Monday July 14, 2003 @09:19AM (#6433676)
    IE developers will wake up and smell new advertising opportunity.

    IE adds pop-out technology to browser

    Websites start using new pop-out technology.

    Mozilla/Opera adds following option:

    File > Preferences > Windows > Turn off pop-outs

    Going in circles is fun.

    -n-
  • Now this helps you actually find the content of a page, web advertisers are going to start kicking up a fuss that Popout Prism is perceptually downplaying the importance of their ads...

  • YYaaaawwn (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I'd check out the site, but it's already slashdotted. But, from the description given, it sounds like yet another useless idea. Why? How many times have you gone searching for some topic using google, or whatever search engine, only to get you to a page that does everything it CAN to try to draw your attentiona AWAY from the actual content you are looking for (which usually seems to be rahter minimal/useless anyhow) just to try to throw ads at you or get you to purchase/subscribe some product?

    This'll end u

  • You know what would be REALLY cool ... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Titusdot Groan ( 468949 ) on Monday July 14, 2003 @09:23AM (#6433710) Journal
    is if instead of all these windows and colour highlights it marked up the web page using the <blink>blink tag</blink>!

    That would REALLY let me find my important information quickly!

    Why don't more people use blink on their websites for drawing attention to important information?

  • Netscape already has this.... (Score:4, Informative)

    by Rahga ( 13479 ) on Monday July 14, 2003 @09:25AM (#6433722) Journal
    Just hit "/", type the word you are looking for, and *BAM*, it gets highlighted and jumps to the next instance of the word.

    Okay, so it may not be the same thing, but it is a superior alternative.
  • Popout Prism's next feature will be a rubber mallet that Pops Out of a drive bay and whacks you in the head when you've moused over the meaningful content.
    :)
  • Introducing Poopout Prism. When countless slashdot readers access the website, the important information becomes no longer accessible . . .
  • You're all just a bunch of cynical, (oh, hold on; gotta nuke stupid blinking head-ache generator at the top of Slashdot. . , taking microsecond to note which product or service I will never, ever patronize. Ah there we go. . . Nuked. Stress level falling. Mozilla, like drinking from a cool mountain stream.)

    Now where was I. . ?

    Oh yes!

    . . bastards!


    -FL --Image nuke should come with a mouse-over + keyboard shortcut option.

  • ...another attempt to save us from the need to learn to write well.

  • Ouch! (Score:1)

    by Kosi ( 589267 )
    WTF just hit my nose out of my display?!?
  • Their license is pretty restrictive - licensees have 90 days to evaluate the product and provide them with free feedback, then must delete the software. Maybe they'll eventually release a product that will be free or cost money, maybe they won't release anything. I can't wait to try it out!!
    • It isn't clear from the article, but Popout Prism is a technology demonstration of a research concept. It isn't intended to be a general purpose browser. It is intended to be a way of allowing those interested in the technology to try it out, and get a feel for how it works.

      And, yes, there are some problems with the installer. If you're having trouble, write to popoutprism-support@parc.com, and we'll see what we can do to help.

  • Use Opera to customize how websites are displayed (Score:5, Informative)

    by Post ( 113251 ) on Monday July 14, 2003 @10:22AM (#6434139)
    Opera [opera.com] has a lot of neat features when it comes to finding the goodies on a page. E.g., you can force your own stylesheets on a page, even multiple ("User Mode"). So I have a standard b/w stylesheet that underlines and colors links no matter what the designer intended, and another one to switch off all images (except those that are links).

    Also, you can zoom in and out pages: 25% gives a nice "thumbnail" style overview, while 400% should be enough for even the smallest, err, details. Bonus: Images and Flash movies are resized as well, so this is much better than IE's feature. Press "W" to move from headline to headline (assuming the designer actually used H1 and not just f****ng bold). Pressing [ctrl][j] brings up a window that shows all links on the page. Just select those you want and open them in a background window etc. etc.

    And just pressing F12 will give you a Popup menu to switch off all that nonsense that often keeps you from reading: GIF animation, background Audio, Java, Popups ...

    Also, Opera will allow heavy customization. Almost every element of the UI can be tweaked and moved around. Whether you want a minimalist, near-fullscreen browser or a large set of custom stylesheets, search engines etc. at your fingertips, new keyboard shortcuts or Google Toolbar style Bookmarklets: Just tweak a few INI files.

    PS: If it's only highlighting you want: When you're on Windows, the Google Toolbar is very helpful. Also, there's Text Spotlight [textspotlight.com], which does the same thing system-wide, not only in the browser.

  • I get the feeling that they're suggesting with their page that they're doing a trial of their algorithm, not providing some kind of web browser that will be released for popular use. The ideas I get from a license requesting feedback and from the page (after the 5 minute load time) don't necessarily point me in that direction of thinking. However, I see three paths for this tool to follow:

    • They're testing their algorithm and will be tweaking *this* when they've got adequate feedback. The algorithm will be
  • I'm usually not one for the Karma-whoring (TM) but the site seems to be on its knees.

    What is Popout Prism?
    Popout Prism is an intuitive, elegant tool to reduce the amount of time users spend looking for information in Web pages. By creating visual "popouts" that emphasize critical elements in Web pages, Popout Prism draws users' attention to the right information.

    How does it work?
    Using perceptual design principles based on PARC research into visual attention, Popout Prism makes critical information "pop

  • Wait a Minute.... (Score:4, Funny)

    by thelaw ( 100964 ) <.spam. .at. .cerastes.org.> on Monday July 14, 2003 @11:28AM (#6434692) Homepage
    Isn't web browsing innovation dead? [slashdot.org]

    jon
  • Use "Adblock" in Firebird or "Bannerblind" in Mozilla. And have all popup's blocked too. Guess what? You are now looking at relevant info, NO adds whatsoever and NO popups. Clean web browsing. Do this for a month, then try using IE on another computer one day and you will feel sick with ad-nauseum. Whenever I see a screen of the web with normal IE it amazes me, because I forget just how full the web is with crap ads all over. Block them and you start focusing on relevant data.

  • Did anyone else notice the copyright notice at the end of the video was 2001? And that the actual page is copyrighted 2002? Now come on guys, I know this is 'News for Nerds. Stuff that matters' but is a two year old project still 'news'?

    Sigh. I wish the submitters (and the editors) would stop for a moment, and check out a story before it gets posted. Hey, would it be too much to ask the same of posters? Sure, everyone wants to be the first with a good story / comment, but this seems to be at the expense of

  • Making keywords pop-out instead of simply highlighting them doesn't seem all that useful, but I can see using the thumbnail feature to find a site that has, say, a graph of something or a picture of something. Or maybe to find a site you've been to but forgot to bookmark, and could recognize easily by the layout.
  • Something that will make the blink tag even more irritating than before!

    (it would have been nice if /. supported the blink tag just this once.)

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