Electronic whiteboard with multi-functional user interface

• US 5,790,114 A
• Filed: 10/04/1996
• Issued: 08/04/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 10/04/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Steelcase Incorporated
• Original Assignee: MicroTouch Systems, Inc. (3M Company)
• Inventors: Sprague, James, Geaghan, Bernard O., Atwood, Stephen P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jackson, Chadwick A.
• Application Number:
  US08/725,458
• Time in Patent Office: 669 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173, 345/177, 345/179, 345/180, 345/340, 345/341, 345/342, 345/348, 345/156, 345/174, 345/326, 178/18, 178/19
• US Class Current: 715/763
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/041 Digitisers, e.g. for touch screens or touch pads, characterised by the transducing means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/045 using resistive elements, e.g. a single continuous surface or two parallel surfaces put in contact
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures

Abstract

An electronic whiteboard is coupled to a computer which receives information from the whiteboard indicative of graphical user inputs entered via a writing region of the whiteboard and control inputs entered via a control region of the whiteboard. A driver executing on the computer receives the information transmitted by the whiteboard, performs certain actions on the received information and causes an application program to retrieve the information and store the information to a session file. The application provides a user interface which allows a user to view images generated on the whiteboard, store such images, view previously stored images and to manipulate the images in a variety of ways.

Claims

1. A whiteboard comprising:

a drawing area on the whiteboard'"'"'s surface upon which a user may draw using a writing instrument of a type generally used with whiteboards;

a plurality of touch-selectable control areas on the whiteboard'"'"'s surface, the plurality including at least

a first control area which, when selected, indicates a color and

a second control area which, when selected, indicates a view mode;

means, responsive to drawing activity by said user in said writing area for causing transmission of information representing said drawing activity to a computer;

means, responsive to selection of said first control area for causing transmission of pen color information to said computer which is indicative of a pen color selected by said user for said drawing activity in said information subsequent to said selection; and

means, responsive to selection of said second control area, for causing transmission of a command to said computer which causes said computer to display a current image made from said information on a display.

2. A whiteboard as set forth in claim 1 further wherein

said user may erase a drawing in the drawing area using an erasing instrument of a type generally used with whiteboards and the whiteboard further comprises:

a third control area which, when selected, indicates an erase mode; and

means, responsive to selection of said third control area, for causing transmission of a command to said computer to interpret subsequent said drawing activity as erasure of an area in said writing area and to respond thereto by erasing a corresponding area in said current image.

3. A whiteboard as set forth in claim 2 wherein

said third control area indicates a narrow erase mode when selected and said whiteboard further comprises:

a fourth control area which, when selected, indicates a broad erase mode; and

means, responsive to selection of said fourth control area, for causing transmission of a command to said computer to interpret subsequent said drawing activity as erasure of an area in said writing area, said computer interpreting said subsequent said drawing activity in said information as causing erasure of a larger area and a larger corresponding area than if said subsequent drawing activity had been subsequent to selection of said third control area.

4. A whiteboard as set forth in claim 1 further comprising:

a fifth control area which, when selected, indicates a snapshot,

means, responsive to selection of said fifth control area, for causing transmission of a snapshot command to said computer to cause said computer to store marker information which causes said computer to interpret a portion of said information designated by said marker information as comprising a snapshot image.

5. A whiteboard as set forth in claim 4 further comprising:

a sixth control area which, when selected, indicates a snapshot and erasure of a display of said current image; and

means, responsive to selection of said sixth control area, for causing transmission to said computer of said snapshot command, and for causing transmission to said computer of a command which causes said current image to be entirely erased in said display.

6. A whiteboard as set forth in claim 1 further comprising:

a seventh control area which, when selected, indicates that said drawing activity being displayed in said display is to be printed on a printer accessible from said computer; and

means, responsive to selection of said seventh control area, for causing transmission to said computer of a command which causes said computer to cause printing of an image corresponding to said current image.

9. The white board set forth in any one of claims 1 through 6 wherein:

said surface of said whiteboard is touch-sensitive.

7. Apparatus for responding to first inputs received from a touch sensitive white board and second inputs, the whiteboard having a drawing area on the whiteboard'"'"'s surface upon which a user may draw using a writing instrument of a type generally used with whiteboards and a plurality of touch-selectable control areas on the whiteboard'"'"'s surface, the control areas including at least a view mode selection area, a color selection area, and a print selection area, the apparatus comprising:

means for causing generation of a window for display on a display responsive to said apparatus, said window including a current board region which contains a current image corresponding to current drawing inputs of the first inputs by a user upon said drawing area of said whiteboard, a snapshot region which contains a plurality of snapshots viewable by said user, each of said snapshots representative of past drawing inputs on said drawing area of said whiteboard, and a selection region which shows a snapshot image corresponding to a snapshot selected by said user from said snapshot region;

means, responsive to user size change inputs of the second inputs, for causing the size of said current board region, said snapshot region and said selection region to be changed in accordance with said user size change inputs;

means, responsive to an input of the first inputs entered in said view mode selection area for causing said window to be displayed as a foreground window on said computer screen;

means, responsive to an input of the first inputs in said color selection area, for causing storage and display of subsequent said current drawing inputs in a color selected by said input in said color selection area; and

means, responsive to a print selection input of the first inputs in said print selection area, for causing printing of said current image.

8. Apparatus for responding to first inputs received from a touch sensitive white board and second inputs, the whiteboard having a drawing area on the whiteboard'"'"'s surface upon which a user may draw using a writing instrument of a type generally used with whiteboards and a plurality of touch-selectable control areas on the whiteboard'"'"'s surface, the control areas including at least a display mode selection area, a color selection area, and a print selection area, the apparatus comprising:

means for storing current drawing inputs of the first inputs by a user upon said drawing area to a computer file, and for periodically storing time stamps in said file to provide an indication of a date and time at which said current drawing inputs are stored to said computer file;

means, responsive to control area inputs of said first inputs received from said touch-selectable control areas, for causing display of a current image corresponding to said current drawing inputs in a graphical window on a display responsive to the apparatus, and means responsive to a subsequent user generated view input of said second inputs for causing enlargement of said window, comprising,

means responsive to a color selection control area input, for displaying an image corresponding to subsequent current drawing inputs in a color corresponding to said color selection control area input;

means responsive to a wide erase control area input, for causing existing current drawing inputs to be erased in accordance with subsequent current drawing inputs;

means responsive to a narrow erase control area input, for causing existing current drawing inputs to be erased in accordance with subsequent current drawing inputs, said narrow erase input causing erasure of said existing current drawing inputs along a path which is narrower than said erasure caused in accordance with said wide erase input; and

means, responsive to an erase board control area input for causing all existing current drawing inputs to be erased;

means, responsive to a bookmark control area input, for causing a bookmark to be stored in said computer file among said drawing inputs;

means, responsive to a print control area input, for causing said apparatus to transmit to a printer data for causing said printer to print said current image;

means, responsive to a retrieve input of the second inputs, for causing display of an image corresponding to said drawing inputs which are stored between a pair of said bookmarks; and

means, responsive to initiation of said means for causing display of said current image, for causing a plurality of thumbnail size images of sets of prior drawing inputs, each of said sets comprising drawing inputs which are stored between a pair of said bookmarks, to be displayed in said window.

10. A touch-sensitive whiteboard which may be coupled to a computer that has a display and that responds to inputs from the whiteboard, the white board comprising:

a drawing area on the whiteboard'"'"'s surface upon which a user may draw using a writing instrument of a type generally used with whiteboards;

a plurality of touch-selectable control areas on the whiteboard'"'"'s surface, the plurality including at least

a first control area which, when selected, indicates a color and

a second control area which, when selected, indicates a view mode; and

means for causing transmission of positions of touch inputs to the computer, the computer responding when the whiteboard is coupled thereto

to a touch input positioned in the first control area by associating the color indicated by the first control area with subsequent touch inputs in the drawing area and

to a touch input positioned in the second control area by displaying a current image made using touch inputs from the drawing area.

11. The whiteboard set forth in claim 10 wherein

the user may erase what has been drawn in the drawing area using an erasing instrument of a type generally used with whiteboards;

and

the whiteboard further comprises;

a third control area which, when selected, indicates an erase mode, the computer responding to a touch input positioned in the third control area by interpreting subsequent touch inputs as erasures of an area in said writing area and erasing a corresponding area in the image.

12. The whiteboard set forth in claim 11 wherein

the third control area indicates a narrow erase mode when selected;

and

the whiteboard further comprises;

a fourth control area which, when selected, indicates a broad erase mode, the computer responding to a touch input positioned in the fourth control area by interpreting subsequent touch inputs as erasures which are broader than erasures made in response to selection of the third control area.

13. A whiteboard as set forth in claim 10, the whiteboard further comprising:

a fifth control area which, when selected, indicates a snapshot, the computer responding to a touch input positioned in the fifth control area by storing a sequence of the touch inputs for use in making a snapshot image.

14. A whiteboard as set forth in claim 13, the whiteboard further comprising:

a sixth control area which, when selected, indicates a snapshot and erasure of the current image, the computer responding to a touch input positioned in the sixth control area by storing a sequence of the touch inputs used to make the current image for use in making a snapshot image and deleting the current image from the display.

15. A whiteboard as set forth in claim 10 further comprising:

a seventh control area which, when selected, indicates that the current image is to be printed, the computer responding to a touch input positioned in the sixth control area by causing the current image to be printed on a printer accessible to the computer.