Gyroscopic pointer
First Claim
1. A graphical input device for providing a signal to control translational movement of a cursor on an interactive computer graphics display comprising:
- a housing adapted for being held by one hand in free space;
a first angular position gyroscope for providing a first signal responsive to the rotation of the housing about a first axis;
a second angular position gyroscope for providing a second signal responsive to the rotation of the housing about a second axis not parallel to the first axis;
the first signal being responsive to the yaw of the housing for controlling translation movement of the cursor along a horizontal Cartesian coordinate of the display; and
the second signal being responsive to the pitch of the housing for controlling translational movement of the cursor along a vertical Cartesian coordinate of the display.
21 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vertical gyroscope is adapted for use as a pointing device for controlling the position of a cursor on the display of a computer. A motor at the core of the gyroscope is suspended by two pairs of orthogonal gimbals from a hand-held controller device and nominally oriented with its spin axis vertical by a pendulous device. Electro-optical shaft angle encoders sense the orientation of a hand-held controller device as it is manipulated by a user and the resulting electrical output is converted into a format usable by a computer to control the movement of a cursor on the screen of the computer display. For additional ease of use, the bottom of the controller is rounded so that the controller can be pointing while sitting on a surface. A third input is provided by providing a horizontal gyroscope within the pointing device. The third rotational signal can be used to either rotate a displayed object or to display or simulate a third dimension.
847 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A graphical input device for providing a signal to control translational movement of a cursor on an interactive computer graphics display comprising:
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a housing adapted for being held by one hand in free space; a first angular position gyroscope for providing a first signal responsive to the rotation of the housing about a first axis; a second angular position gyroscope for providing a second signal responsive to the rotation of the housing about a second axis not parallel to the first axis; the first signal being responsive to the yaw of the housing for controlling translation movement of the cursor along a horizontal Cartesian coordinate of the display; and the second signal being responsive to the pitch of the housing for controlling translational movement of the cursor along a vertical Cartesian coordinate of the display. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A graphical input device for providing signals to manipulate a cursor on an interactive computer graphics display comprising:
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a housing adapted for being held by one hand in free space; an inertial gyroscopic element rotatably mounted for spinning about a spin axis; a gimbal pivotally supporting the gyroscopic element within the housing; a sensor disposed for providing the first signal in response to rotation of the housing relative to the spin axis; a second inertial gyroscope element adapted for spinning about another spin axis; a second gimbal supporting the second gyroscopic element within the housing with the spin axis of the second gyroscopic element not parallel to the spin axis of the first gyroscopic element; and a sensor disposed for providing a second signal in response to rotation of the housing relative to the spin axis of the second gyroscopic element. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6)
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7. A graphical input device for providing signals to control the translational movement of a cursor on an interactive computer graphics display comprising:
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a first inertial gyroscopic element having an inertial axis; a housing adapted for being held by one hand in free space; a first gimbal supporting the first gyroscopic element within the housing; a first pendulous device disposed with respect to the first gimbal for tending to vertically align the inertial axis of the first inertial gyroscopic element with gravity; a first sensor for providing a first signal in response to pitch of the housing relative to the inertial axis for controlling the translation of the cursor along a vertical Cartesian coordinate of the display; a second inertial gyroscopic element having another inertial axis; a second gimbal supporting the second gyroscopic element within the housing; a second pendulous device disposed with respect to the second gimbal for tending to horizontally align said another inertial axis of the second gyroscopic element with gravity; and a second sensor for providing a second signal in response to yaw of the housing relative to said another inertial axis of second gyroscopic element for controlling the translation of the cursor along a horizontal Cartesian coordinate of the display. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A method for providing a signal to control the translational movement of a cursor on an interactive computer graphics display using a hand-held graphical input device including an inertial gyroscopic element comprising the steps of:
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supporting the inertial gyroscopic element within the device; actuating the gyroscopic element to exhibit inertia relative to a first inertial axis; detecting rotational movement of the device relative to the first inertial axis of the gyroscopic element; providing a first signal responsive to the rotation of the device relative to the first inertial axis; supporting a second inertial gyroscopic element within the device with an inertial axis of the second gyroscopic element not parallel to the inertial axis of the first gyroscopic element; actuating the second gyroscopic element to exhibit inertia relative to a second inertial axis; detecting a rotational movement of the device relative to the second inertial axis of the second gyroscopic element; providing a second signal responsive to the rotation of the device about the second inertial axis of the second gyroscopic element; controlling the translation of the cursor along a horizontal Cartesian coordinate of the display in response to the first signal; and controlling the translation of the cursor along a vertical Cartesian coordinate of the display in response to the second signal.
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11. A method for controlling the translational movement of a cursor on an interactive computer graphics display using a hand-held graphical input device including an inertial gyroscopic element that includes a gyroscopic element that spins about an axis, comprising the steps of:
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supporting the gyroscopic element within the device; spinning the gyroscopic element about the spin axis thereof; detecting rotational movement of the device relative to the spin axis of the gyroscopic element; providing a first signal responsive to the rotation of the device relative to the spin axis; controlling the translation of the cursor along an axis of the display in response to the first signal; supporting a second gyroscopic element within the device to spin about another axis not parallel to said spin axis; spinning the second gyroscopic element about said another axis; detecting rotational movement of the device relative to said another spin axis for providing a second signal responsive to the rotation of the device about said another spin axis; and controlling translation of the cursor along an orthogonal axis of the display in response to the second signal.
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Specification