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Direct pointing apparatus for digital displays

 David G. Stork et al
An apparatus for presenting on-line documents is provided. The device is coupled to and for use with a network providing access to interconnected, on-line documents in response to document requests. The device comprises a cursor control device and at least one position sensor, wherein the...
Inventors: David G. Stork, Gregory J. Wolff
Assignees: Ricoh Company, LTD., Ricoh Corporation
Primary Examiner: Marthe Y. Marc-Coleman

U.S. Classification
345/158; 345/157; 345/156; 345/158; 345/302

International Classification
G09G 508

View patent at USPTO

Citations

Patent NumberTitleIssue date
4578674Method and apparatus for wireless cursor position controlMar 25, 1986
4654648Wireless cursor control systemMar 31, 1987
4688933Electro-optical position determining systemAug 25, 1987
4754268Wireless mouse apparatusJun 28, 1988
5375068Video teleconferencing for networked workstationsDec 20, 1994
5440326Gyroscopic pointerAug 8, 1995
5453758Input apparatusSep 26, 1995
5469193Cordless pointing apparatusNov 21, 1995
5517579Handwritting input apparatus for handwritting recognition using more than one sensing techniqueMay 14, 1996
5703623Smart orientation sensing circuit for remote controlDec 30, 1997
5748186Multimodal information presentation systemMay 5, 1998
5825350Electronic pointing apparatus and methodOct 20, 1998
5835078Information presentation apparatus and information display apparatusNov 10, 1998
5926168Remote pointers for interactive televisionsJul 20, 1999
5963145System for providing wireless pointer controlOct 5, 1999

Referenced by

Patent NumberTitleIssue date
6311177Accessing databases when viewing text on the webOct 30, 2001
6615239Automatic presentation exchangerSep 2, 2003
6642918Control of digital projection systemNov 4, 2003
6847353Multiple sensor device and methodJan 25, 2005
6911968Method and apparatus for controlling a pointer display based on the handling of a pointer deviceJun 28, 2005
7079452Time display system, method and deviceJul 18, 2006
7175079Method and system for online purchasingFeb 13, 2007

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A system comprising:

a display device;
a cursor control device having sensors to determine positioning of the cursor control device including at least one sensor to directly measure a distance between the cursor control device and the display device, the cursor control device further having a transmitter to transmit position data based output of the sensors;
control logic having a receiver to receive the position data, the control logic coupled to the display device to display a cursor on a portion of the display device in response to the position data received from the cursor control device.

2. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the control logic transforms sensor data into global coordinates representing the position of the cursor with respect to the display.

3. The system defined in claim 1 wherein the display device displays on-line documents in response to document requests made movement of the cursor by the cursor control device.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one sensor to directly measure the distance between the cursor control device and the display device comprises an optical sensor.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one sensor to directly measure the distance between the cursor control device and the display device comprises a focus adjustment.

6. A system for presenting on-line documents from a network providing access to intercinnected, on-line documents in response to document requests, the system comprising

a display device
a cursor control device having position sensors to determine positioning of the cursor control device including at least one sensor to directly measure a distance between the cursor control device and the display device, the cursor control device further having a transmitter to transmit position data based on output of the position sensors;
Wherein the display device has a receiver to receive the position data, the display device further displaying a cursor on a portion thereof, wherein the cursor is responsive to the cursor control device, the display device displaying on-line documents in response to document requests made via the cursor.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the network is the World Wide Web.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein the on-line documents comprise World Wide Web pages.

9. The system of claim 6 wherein the document requests comprise selection of hypertext links via the cursor control device.

10. The system of claim 6 wherein the position sensors comprise:

a plurality of gyroscopes to detect a pitch, a yaw, and a roll of the cursor control device; and
an optical sensor to detect a distance between the cursor control device and the display device.

11. The system of claim 6 wherein the position sensors comprise:

a plurality of gyroscopes to detect a pitch, a yaw, and a roll of the cursor control device; and
an focus adjustment sensor to detect a distance between the cursor control device and the display device.

12. A system for presenting on-line documents, the device coupled to and for use with a network providing access to interconnected, on-line documents in response to document requests, the device comprising: cursor control means for controlling a cursor having position sensor means for determining a position of the cursor control means; and

display means for displaying a cursor responsive to the cursor control means and on-line documents in response to document requests made via the cursors
wherein the cursor control means include means for directly measuring a distance between the cursor control means and the display means.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein the cursor control means comprises:

position monitoring means for monitoring a pitch, a yaw, and a roll of the cursor control means;
optical sensor means for determining a distance between the cursor control means and the display means; and
transmitter means for transmitting data from the position monitoring means and the optical sensor means.

14. A cursor control device comprising, at least one positioning sensor to determine positioning of the cursor control device;

a distance sensor to directly measure a distance between the cursor control device and a display device;
a transmitter coupled to the at least one positioning sensor and the distance sensor to transmit data describing positioning of the cursor control device and distance between the cursor control device and the display device, wherein the data transmitted is used to control a cursor displayed by the display device, and further wherein the cursor is responsive to the cursor control device.

15. The cursor control device of claim 14 wherein the at least one positioning sensor comprises gyroscopes to detect a pitch, a yaw, and a roll of the cursor control device.

16. The cursor control device of claim 14 wherein the distance sensor comprises an optical sensor to detect the distance between the cursor control device and the display device.

17. The cursor control device of claim 14 wherein the distance sensor comprises a focus adjustment to determine the distance between the cursor control device and the display device.

18. A cursor control sensor comprising:

a receiver to receive positioning data from a cursor control device, wherein the positioning data comprises positioning data and distance data, wherein the distance data describes the distance between the cursor control device and a display device based on a direct measurement made by the cursor control device;
a processor coupled to the receiver, the processor to convert the positioning data received from the cursor control device to cursor control information to control positioning of a cursor on the display device.
a display interface coupled to the control circuitry, the display interface to communicate the cursor control information to the display device.

19. The cursor control sensor of claim 18 wherein the positioning data comprises a pitch, a yaw, and a roll of the cursor control device.

20. The cursor control sensor of claim 18 wherein direct measurement is made with an optical sensor.

21. The cursor control sensor of claim 18 wherein the direct measurement is made with a focus adjustment.