초록 ▼

In one embodiment of the invention, a hot spot is normally centered in an area of contact between a user's finger and a touch screen to position the hot spot on an icon or other feature thereby selecting a program or function corresponding to the icon or feature. When the contact area is near an edg

In one embodiment of the invention, a hot spot is normally centered in an area of contact between a user's finger and a touch screen to position the hot spot on an icon or other feature thereby selecting a program or function corresponding to the icon or feature. When the contact area is near an edge, the hot spot is offset toward the edge so that it coincides more closely to the center of the users finger, thus allowing an icon or other feature adjacent the edge of the screen to be more easily selected. In another embodiment, a cursor is displayed on a touch screen at a location that is offset from the contact area between a finger and the screen. The cursor, which is used as the hot spot of the computer, is normally offset above the contact area except when the contact area is close to the bottom of the screen. The cursor is then offset to the left or right of the contact area depending on whether the contact are is to the left or right of the screen, respectively, so that icons or features adjacent the left or right edges of the screen can be selected. Similarly, when the contact area is very close to the bottom of the screen, the cursor is offset downwardly and to the right or left so that icons or features adjacent the bottom edge of the screen can be selected. Alternatively, a touch sensitive area incapable of displaying an image may be provided beneath a display area of the touch screen to allow icons or features adjacent the bottom edge of the display area to be selected.

대표청구항 ▼

In one embodiment of the invention, a hot spot is normally centered in an area of contact between a user's finger and a touch screen to position the hot spot on an icon or other feature thereby selecting a program or function corresponding to the icon or feature. When the contact area is near an edg

In one embodiment of the invention, a hot spot is normally centered in an area of contact between a user's finger and a touch screen to position the hot spot on an icon or other feature thereby selecting a program or function corresponding to the icon or feature. When the contact area is near an edge, the hot spot is offset toward the edge so that it coincides more closely to the center of the users finger, thus allowing an icon or other feature adjacent the edge of the screen to be more easily selected. In another embodiment, a cursor is displayed on a touch screen at a location that is offset from the contact area between a finger and the screen. The cursor, which is used as the hot spot of the computer, is normally offset above the contact area except when the contact area is close to the bottom of the screen. The cursor is then offset to the left or right of the contact area depending on whether the contact are is to the left or right of the screen, respectively, so that icons or features adjacent the left or right edges of the screen can be selected. Similarly, when the contact area is very close to the bottom of the screen, the cursor is offset downwardly and to the right or left so that icons or features adjacent the bottom edge of the screen can be selected. Alternatively, a touch sensitive area incapable of displaying an image may be provided beneath a display area of the touch screen to allow icons or features adjacent the bottom edge of the display area to be selected. 1. A hand-held pointing device for remotely controlling a cursor on a display device comprising: at least three infrared light emitting diodes (IRLEDs), each of said IRLEDs aimed off a main or pointing axis of the device in different directions;at least one activating device on said hand-held pointing device; anda circuit connected to each of said IRLEDs for sequentially pulsing said IRLEDs with pulse trains so as to cause the IRLEDs to individually and sequentially emit modulated infrared light signals to position said cursor.2. The hand-held pointing device of claim 1 wherein said activating device transmits a control signal to cause an action to occur.3. The hand-held pointing device recited in claim 2 further comprising a plurality of activating devices and wherein said circuit is additionally responsive to said plurality of activating devices to generate additional control signals.4. The hand-held pointing device recited in claim 1 wherein said circuit is responsive to said activating device to transmit a control code before said IRLEDs are sequentially pulsed, said control code indicating that position pulses are to follow.5. The hand-held pointing device recited in claim 1 further comprising an optical diffusing filter positioned to pass infrared light signals emitted from said IRLEDs to improve linearity.6. The hand-held pointing device recited in claim 1 wherein said circuit includes programmable means for storing calibration information for said plurality of IRLEDs, said circuit controlling an amplitude of pulse trains to individual IRLEDs according to the stored calibration data so as to cause said IRLEDs to emit approximately equal amplitude infrared light signals.7. A hand-held pointing device for remotely controlling a cursor on a display device as recited in claim 1 wherein a signal from each of said IRLEDs is identified by a position of said signal in a sequence of signals from said IRLEDs.8. A hand-held pointing device for remotely controlling a cursor on a display device as recited in claim 1 wherein an actual orientation of said hand-held pointing device is directly related to a position of said cursor.9. A remote pointing system for controlling a cursor location on a display device comprising: a hand-held pointing device for remotely controlling the cursor on the display device, said pointing device comprising:at least three infrared light emitting diodes (IRLEDs), each of said IRLEDs aimed off a main or pointing axis of the device in different directions; anda circuit connected to each of said IRLEDs responsive to a user input for sequentially pulsing said IRLEDs with pulse trains so as to cause the IRLEDs to individually and sequentially emit modulated infrared light signals;a receiver and controller located proximate to said display device, said receiver and controller comprising:an infrared detector and amplifier tuned to a predetermined pulse frequency;a demodulator to convert received signals to analog base-band pulses;an analog-to-digital convertor to digitize the analog base-band pulses; anda digital processor to process the digitized analog base-band pulses as data representing a point of aim on the display device by the hand-held pointing device, said digital processor determining the position of a cursor on the display device.10. The remote pointing system recited in claim 9 wherein said digital processor is programmed to calculate cursor position (Xc, Yc) as a function of rotation angles (Ax, Ay).11. The remote pointing system recited in claim 9 wherein the hand-held pointing device further comprises one or more activating devices and wherein said circuit is additionally responsive to said one or more activating devices to generate control codes, said circuit pulsing all or some of said IRLEDs with pulse trains in accordance with said control codes subsequent to first sequentially pulsing said IRLEDs with pulse trains.12. Th e remote pointing system recited in claim 11 wherein the activating devices of said hand-held pointing device comprise one or more pushbutton switches.13. The remote pointing system recited in claim 9 wherein said circuit of the hand-held pointing device includes programmable means for storing calibration information for said plurality of IRLEDs, said circuit controlling the pulse widths of said pulse trains to individual IRLEDs according to the stored calibration data so as to cause said IRLEDs to emit approximately equal power infrared light signals.14. A remote pointing system for controlling a cursor location on a display device as recited in claim 9 wherein a signal from each of said IRLEDs is identified by a position of said signal in a sequence of signals from said IRLEDs.15. A remote pointing system for controlling a cursor location on a display device as recited in claim 9 wherein an actual orientation of said hand-held pointing device is directly related to a position of said cursor.16. A remote pointing system for controlling a cursor location on a display device comprising: a hand-held pointing device for remotely controlling thecursor on the display device, said pointing device comprsing:at least three infrared light emitting diodes (IRLEDs), each of said IRLEDs aimed off a main or pointing axis of the device in different directions; anda circuit connected to each of said IRLEDs responsive to a user input for sequentially pulsing said IRLEDs with pulse trains so as to cause the IRLEDs to individually and sequentially emit modulated infrared light signals;a receiver and controller located proximate to said display device, said receiver and controller comprising;an infrared detector and amplifier tuned to a predetermined pulse frequency;a demodulator to convert received signals to analog base-band pulses;an analog-to-digital convertor to digitize the analog base-band pulses;a digital processor to process the digitized analog base-band pulses as data representing a point of aim on the display device by the hand-held pointing device, said digital processor determining the position of a cursor on the display device,said digital processor is programmed to calculate cursor position (Xc, Yc) as a function of rotation angles (Ax, AY) and to calculate cursor velocity (Vx(t), Vy(t)) as:Vx (t)=(Xc(t)−Xf(t−Ts)), andVY (t)=(Yc(t)−Yf(t−Ts)),where Xc(t) and Yc(t) are respectively cursor X and Y coordinates as a function of time, Xf and Yf are filtered X and Y coordinates, and Ts is a sampling time. 17. The remote pointing system recited in claim 16 wherein said digital processor is programmed to apply a digital filter to cursor position data, said digital filter having a degree of filtering which decreases smoothly with cursor velocity.18. The remote pointing system recited in claim 17 wherein said digital filter calculates X and Y filtered coordinates as:where Nx and Ny are calculated as: where for Vx>A, and where for Vy>A.