Autonomic control of calibration for pointing device

• US 20070146319A1
• Filed: 12/28/2005
• Published: 06/28/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Pagan, William, Masselle, Eric
• Granted Patent: US 7,986,300 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/157
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0418 for error correction or compensation, e.g. based on parallax, calibration or alignment

Abstract

A computer system includes a computer, a calibration module, an event detection module, and an application interface module. The computer executes one or more applications and receives pointing device events generated by a pointing device connected to the computer. The calibration module modifies a rate of movement of a cursor displayed by the computer in response to the pointing device events. The event detection module detects a less-than-optimal calibration indicator from the pointing device events and modifies the rate of movement of the cursor. The application interface module communicates with the application being performed on the computer. A storage module for storing calibration information may also be included.

Claims

1. A pointing device interface module for receiving pointing device events generated by a pointing device connected to a computer, comprising:

a calibration module for modifying a rate of movement of a cursor displayed by the computer;

an event detection module for

detecting a less-than-optimal calibration indicator and

modifying the rate of movement of the cursor; and

an application interface module for communicating with an application being performed on the computer.

2. The pointing device interface module according to claim 1, further comprising a storage module for storing calibration information.

3. The pointing device interface module according to claim 2, wherein the storage module stores calibration information for a class of applications.

4. The pointing device interface module according to claim 1, wherein the event detection module automatically reviews the received pointing device events and automatically modifies the rate of movement of the cursor based upon the detected indicator.

5. The pointing device interface module according to claim 1, wherein the application interface module receives calibration information from the application.

6. A method for calibrating a rate of movement of a cursor displayed by a computer in response to a pointing device connected to the computer, comprising the steps of:

requesting a user to operate the pointing device to indicate a natural range of motion of the user while operating the pointing device;

receiving pointing device events from the pointing device while the user is operating the pointing device;

defining the natural range of motion of the user from the pointing device events;

calculating a dimension from the defined natural range of motion; and

defining the rate of movement of the cursor using the dimension.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein a plurality of dimensions are calculated from the defined range of motion.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein a plurality of rates of movement of the cursor are defined.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the rate of movement is defined using a number of pixels in a display device of the computer.

10. The method according to claim 6, wherein the dimension is calculated using diameters of a plurality of cross-sections of the defined range of motion.

11. A computer system, comprising:

a computer for executing one or more applications and receiving pointing device events generated by a pointing device connected to the computer;

a calibration module for modifying a rate of movement of a cursor displayed by the computer in response to the pointing device events;

an event detection module for

detecting a less-than-optimal calibration indicator and

modifying the rate of movement of the cursor; and

an application interface module for communicating with an application being performed on the computer.

12. The pointing device interface module according to claim 11, further comprising a storage module for storing calibration information.

13. The pointing device interface module according to claim 12, wherein the storage module stores calibration information for a class of applications.

14. The pointing device interface module according to claim 11, wherein the event detection module automatically reviews the received pointing device events and automatically modifies the rate of movement of the cursor based upon the detected indicator.

15. The pointing device interface module according to claim 11, wherein the application interface module receives calibration information from the applications.

16. A method for autonomously modifying a rate of movement of a cursor displayed by a computer in response to a pointing device connected to the computer, comprising the steps of:

receiving pointing device events from the pointing device;

detecting a less-than-optimal calibration indicator for the pointing device events; and

autonomously modifying the rate of movement of the cursor based upon the detected indicator.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein

the indicator is defined by the cursor moving beyond a boundary of a display area of the computer;

and

the modification of the rate of movement of the cursor is to decrease the rate of movement.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein

the indicator is defined by a plurality of successive long strokes in substantially the same direction;

and

the modification of the rate of movement of the cursor is to increase the rate of movement.

19. The method according to claim 16, wherein

the indicator is defined by a stroke greater than a dimension describing a normal range of motion for a user of the pointing device;

and

the modification of the rate of movement of the cursor is to increase the rate of movement.

20. The method according to claim 16, wherein

the modification step occurs after a defined number of similar indicators have been detected.