User interfaces

A method of displaying one or more moving graphical objects, the method being carried out in an electronic device, the device including processing circuitry, memory and a display device, the method comprising:

• (a) obtaining first image data, the first image data defining at least one two-dimensional graphical component;
• (b) for each of one or more instants during a predetermined time period,
• (b1) performing a transformation operation on the first image data to generate second image data, the second image data defining, for the or each graphical component, a modified form of the graphical component;
• (b2) using said second image data, displaying the modified form;
• thereby at one more of said instants generating a rendition of the or each graphical component so as to appear to having a component of dimension perpendicular the plane of the display device, whereby the two-dimensional graphical component appears to move within a three-dimensional space;
• and
• further including determining whether or not to merge the two-dimensional graphical component with another concurrently displayed, intersecting, two-dimensional graphical component based on whether or not an area of the merger is less than a product of a threshold factor multiplied by a sum of areas of the graphical components individually,
• wherein determining whether to merge the two-dimensional graphical component with the another concurrently displayed, intersecting, two-dimensional graphical component comprises:
• (c) determining if both of the two-dimensional intersecting graphical components comprise dirty regions;
• (d) if the determination in (c) is positive, then determining whether merging the concurrently displayed two-dimensional intersecting graphical components would be more efficient than leaving them as concurrently displayed, intersecting graphical components;
• and
• (e) if the determination in (d) is positive, then merging the two-dimensional intersecting graphical components to form a merged region that comprises a geometrical union of the first and second intersecting graphical components.

A computer-readable non-transitory storage having instructions thereon for executing a method of displaying one or more graphical objects, the method comprising:

• obtaining first image data, the first image data defining at least one two-dimensional graphical component;
• performing a transformation operation on the first image data to generate second image data, the second image data defining, for the or each graphical component, a modified form of the graphical component;
• and
• using said second image data, displaying the modified form whereby the or each graphical component has the appearance of having a component of dimension perpendicular the plane of the display device;
• wherein performing the transformation operation includes determining whether a first graphical component that is in modified form intersects with a concurrently displayed second graphical component that is in modified form and, if they are intersecting, determining whether to merge the first and second intersecting graphical components based on an area of the merged components;
• wherein determining whether to merge the first and second intersecting graphical components comprises:
• (a) determining if both of the first and second intersecting graphical components comprise dirty regions;
• (b) if the determination in (a) is positive, then determining whether merging the concurrently displayed first and second intersecting graphical components would be more efficient than leaving them as concurrently displayed, intersecting graphical components;
• and
• (c) if the determination in (b) is positive, then merging the first and second intersecting graphical components to form a merged region that comprises a geometrical union of the first and second intersecting graphical components.