Three-dimensional cursor control interface with force feedback
First Claim
1. An interactive device for use in conjunction with a host computer, wherein images are displayed on a computer display apparatus coupled to said host computer, said interactive device comprising:
- a user manipulatable object engaged by a user'"'"'s hand to allow dexterous manipulations by fingers of said user;
a mechanical linkage coupled to a fixed surface by a base rotary joint and coupled to said user manipulatable object by an object rotary joint, said linkage for supporting said object allowing at least five degrees of freedom in motion of said object with respect to said fixed surface, wherein said mechanical linkage provides said degrees of freedom through a structure of substantially rigid members joined by a plurality of rotary joints, said mechanical linkage providing said user the ability to manipulate both the location and orientation of said object in three dimensional space, and wherein a configuration of said degrees of freedom allow said user to rotate said object about a fixed point in space when three degrees of freedom closest to said fixed surface are held fixed and when remaining ones of said degrees of freedom are moved;
one or more sensors for producing an interactive object locative signal which is responsive to and corresponding with the position of the user manipulatable object, said object locative signal providing information about the location of said user manipulatable object for use by said host computer to manipulate images displayed by said computer display apparatus in accordance with said location of said user manipulatable object, said images including a cursor whose position on said computer display apparatus is influenced by said user manipulatable object locative signal; and
a force generator for generating a force on said user object in at least one of said five degrees of freedom in response to force signals provided to said interactive device, said force signals correlated to information displayed on said computer display apparatus including interaction of said cursor with other images on said computer display apparatus.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for use with a computer for providing commands to a computer through tracked manual gestures and for providing feedback to the user through forces applied to the interface. A user manipulatable object is coupled to a mechanical linkage which is, in turn, supportable on a fixed surface. The mechanical linkage or the user manipulatable object is tracked by sensors for sensing the location and/or orientation of the object. A multi-processor system architecture is disclosed wherein a host computer system is interfaced with a dedicated microprocessor which is responsive to the output of the sensors and provides the host computer with information derived from the sensors. The host computer runs an application program which responds to the information provided via the microprocessor and which can provide force-feedback commands back to the microprocessor, the force feedback being felt by a user via the user manipulatable object.
294 Citations
30 Claims
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1. An interactive device for use in conjunction with a host computer, wherein images are displayed on a computer display apparatus coupled to said host computer, said interactive device comprising:
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a user manipulatable object engaged by a user'"'"'s hand to allow dexterous manipulations by fingers of said user; a mechanical linkage coupled to a fixed surface by a base rotary joint and coupled to said user manipulatable object by an object rotary joint, said linkage for supporting said object allowing at least five degrees of freedom in motion of said object with respect to said fixed surface, wherein said mechanical linkage provides said degrees of freedom through a structure of substantially rigid members joined by a plurality of rotary joints, said mechanical linkage providing said user the ability to manipulate both the location and orientation of said object in three dimensional space, and wherein a configuration of said degrees of freedom allow said user to rotate said object about a fixed point in space when three degrees of freedom closest to said fixed surface are held fixed and when remaining ones of said degrees of freedom are moved; one or more sensors for producing an interactive object locative signal which is responsive to and corresponding with the position of the user manipulatable object, said object locative signal providing information about the location of said user manipulatable object for use by said host computer to manipulate images displayed by said computer display apparatus in accordance with said location of said user manipulatable object, said images including a cursor whose position on said computer display apparatus is influenced by said user manipulatable object locative signal; and a force generator for generating a force on said user object in at least one of said five degrees of freedom in response to force signals provided to said interactive device, said force signals correlated to information displayed on said computer display apparatus including interaction of said cursor with other images on said computer display apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A cursor control interface for use in conjunction with a host computer, said interface enabling a user to control the position of a cursor displayed by said host computer, said interface also enabling said host computer to convey force feedback to a user in accordance with cursor position, said interface comprising:
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a user manipulatable object engaged by a user'"'"'s hand to allow dexterous manipulations of said user manipulatable object; a mechanical linkage coupled to a fixed surface by a rotary joint and coupled to said user manipulatable object, said linkage for supporting said object while allowing at least five degrees of freedom in the motion of said object with respect to said fixed surface, said mechanical linkage providing said degrees of freedom through a structure of substantially rigid members joined by rotary joints, said mechanical linkage providing said user the ability to manipulatable both a location and orientation of said object in three dimensional space; a force generator for generating a force on said user object in at least one of said five degrees of freedom in response to signals provided by said host computer, said force signals correlated to information displayed on said computer display apparatus; a device microprocessor separate from said host computer, said device microprocessor enabling communication between said cursor control interface and said host computer; one or more sensors coupled to said device microprocessor for producing an interactive object locative signal which is responsive to and corresponding with the position of said user manipulatable object in three dimensional space, said object locative signal for use by said host computer to manipulate images displayed by said computer display apparatus in accordance with said location of said user manipulatable object, said displayed images including a cursor whose position on said computer display apparatus is influenced by said object locative signal; memory local to said device microprocessor and separate from memory of said host computer for locally storing a representation of said locative signal; and a communication bus connecting said device microprocessor and said host computer, said bus used in conveying force feedback commands from said host computer to said local microprocessor, said bus also used in conveying a representation of said object locative signal from said cursor control interface to said host computer. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A cursor control interface for use in conjunction with a host computer, said interface enabling a user to control the position of a cursor displayed by said host computer, said interface also enabling said host computer to convey force feedback to a user in accordance with cursor position, said interface comprising:
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a user manipulatable object engaged by a user'"'"'s hand to allow dexterous manipulations of said user manipulatable object; a mechanical linkage coupled to a fixed surface by a rotary joint and coupled to said user manipulatable object, said linkage for supporting said object while allowing at least five degrees of freedom in the motion of said object with respect to said fixed surface, said mechanical linkage providing said degrees of freedom trough a structure of substantially rigid members joined by rotary joints, said mechanical linkage providing said user the ability to manipulatable both a location and orientation of said object in three dimensional space; a force generator for generating a force on said user object in at least one of said five degrees of freedom in response to signals provided by said host computer, said force signals correlated to information displayed on said computer display apparatus; a device microprocessor separate from said host computer, said device microprocessor enabling communication between said cursor control interface and said host computer; one or more sensors coupled to said device microprocessor for producing an interactive object locative signal which is responsive to and corresponding with the position of said user manipulatable object in tree dimensional space, said object locative signal for use by said host computer to manipulate images displayed by said computer display apparatus in accordance with said location of said user manipulatable object, said displayed images including a cursor whose position on said computer display apparatus is influenced by said object locative signal; memory local to said device microprocessor and separate from memory of said host computer for locally storing a representation of said locative signal; and a communication bus connecting said device microprocessor and said host computer, said bus used in conveying force feedback data from said host computer to said local microprocessor, said bus also used in conveying a representation of said object locative signal from said cursor control interface to said host computer. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification