Wristwatch type device and method for moving pointer

• US 20020027547A1
• Filed: 07/11/2001
• Published: 03/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Inoue, Tadanobu, Kishimoto, Kohichiro, Kamijo, Noboru
• Granted Patent: US 7,215,319 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/157
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 21/00 Input or output devices integrated in time-pieces
• CPC Class Codes: G04G 21/08 Touch switches specially adapted for time-pieces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1686 the I/O peripheral being an integrated camera
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/169 the I/O peripheral being an integrated pointing device, e.g. trackball in the palm rest area, mini-joystick integrated between keyboard keys, touch pads or touch stripes G06F1/1643 takes precedence; constructional details of pointing devices G06F3/033
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1637 Sensing arrangement for detection of housing movement or orientation, e.g. for controlling scrolling or cursor movement on the display of an handheld computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/0339 Touch strips, e.g. orthogonal touch strips to control cursor movement or scrolling; single touch strip to adjust parameter or to implement a row of soft keys
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0338 with detection of limited linear or angular displacement of an operating part of the device from a neutral position, e.g. isotonic or isometric joysticks
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0485 Scrolling or panning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0487 using specific features provided by the input device, e.g. functions controlled by the rotation of a mouse with dual sensing arrangements, or of the nature of the input device, e.g. tap gestures based on pressure sensed by a digitiser
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04892 Arrangements for controlling cursor position based on codes indicative of cursor displacements from one discrete location to another, e.g. using cursor control keys associated to different directions or using the tab key arrangements for controlling cursor position based on coordinate signals G06F3/038

Abstract

A feature of the present invention includes a device having a display controller for controlling a display position of the pointer on the display screen, a displacement detector for detecting a displacement of the device itself, and a pointer mover for moving the pointer on the display screen based on the detected displacement of the device itself.

Claims

1. A device providing for a display screen and performing predetermined processing by operating a pointer displayed on the display screen, the device comprising:

a display controller for controlling a display position of the pointer on the display screen;

a displacement detector for detecting a displacement of the device itself; and

a pointer moving device for moving the pointer on the display screen based on the detected displacement of the device itself.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the displacement detector comprising an image sensor, wherein an image sensed by the image sensor is processed to obtain a displacement of the device itself.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the image sensor comprising a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor or a charge coupled device.

4. The device according to claim 2, wherein the image sensor comprising an infrared sensor.

5. The device according to claim 2, further comprising an operator for activating the image sensor.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the operator further includes the function for directing a selection of an object pointed to by the pointer or for the execution of predetermined processing defined for the object, whereby the operator has a plurality of functions.

7. The device according to claim 1, wherein the device is of a wristwatch type.

8. A wristwatch type device, comprising:

a display for displaying a screen;

a case for supporting the display;

an attached belt attached to the case; and

a touch sensor mounted in the case or the attached belt for performing a predetermined operation on an object displayed on the screen.

9. The wristwatch type device according to claim 8, wherein the touch sensor is provided on both sides of the display.

10. The wristwatch type device according to claim 8, further comprising:

displacement detection section for detecting a displacement of the display; and

pointer position changing device for changing a display position of a pointer based on the detected results, thereby moving the pointer displayed on the screen.

11. A method for moving a position of a pointer displayed in a display of a device, comprising:

a first step of taking an image of a physical object facing the device continuously and detecting a relative displacement between the taken object and the display; and

a second step for changing a display position of the pointer displayed on the display based on the detected displacement.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first step further comprising the steps of:

calculating a motion vector at a certain place in an image based on the movement of the image that was taken multiple times; and

obtaining a relative displacement between the object and the display based on the calculated motion vector.

13. The method according to claim 12, when moving the device relative to the object, the relative displacement between the object and the display is obtained by inverting a sign of the motion vector.

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first step comprising the steps of:

generating a time-series moving pattern of a certain place based on a position of the certain place in a principal image and a position of a place corresponding to the certain place in a plurality of other images that were taken apart in time from the principal image; and

comparing the generated time-series moving pattern with a plurality of model patterns registered in advance to select a most approximate model pattern;

wherein the second step comprising the steps of changing a display position of the pointer based on a moving pattern that was defined for the selected model pattern.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising the steps of starting to detect a displacement of the device when a predetermined startup operation is performed by a user.

15. A method for moving a pointer displayed in a display of a device, comprising the steps of:

detecting a displacement of the device when moving the device; and

changing a display position of the pointer displayed in the display based on the detected displacement.