Pointing device and cursor for use in intelligent computing environments
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented process for selecting an object within a space by a user causing a laser beam to be shone on the object, comprising using a computer to perform the following process actions:
- directing a laser beam generated by a cursor device to shine on said object, wherein the cursor device comprises a laser which when activated projects said laser beam into the space and a pair of servos connected to laser, wherein the first of the servos is configured so as to move the laser in a manner that controls the yaw direction of the laser beam and the other of the servos is configured so as to move the laser in a manner that controls the pitch direction of the laser beam;
determining whether the laser beam is being shone on the object, said determination comprising,modeling the location of objects within the space as the particular pitch and yaw angles associated with the laser that cause the laser beam to shine on approximately the center of the object being modeled,modeling the extent of said objects as being a circle which is centered on the location representing said approximate center of the object being modeled; and
whenever the laser beam is being shone on the object, selecting that object for future control actions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system and process for directing a laser beam within a space is presented. The system includes a pointing device which periodically outputs orientation data indicative of the direction it is pointing and a cursor device which projects a laser beam. The orientation data is used to compute the direction the pointing device is pointing in terms of yaw and pitch angles. The laser beam is directed to locations in the space relative to the amount of movement of the pointing device. In an absolute mode, the pointed device and the laser beam of the cursor device are pointed at the same location in the space, whereas in a relative mode, the pointing device does not point at the same location as the laser beam. The position of the laser can be used to select a variety of hardware devices known to be in a room for future control actions.
107 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented process for selecting an object within a space by a user causing a laser beam to be shone on the object, comprising using a computer to perform the following process actions:
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directing a laser beam generated by a cursor device to shine on said object, wherein the cursor device comprises a laser which when activated projects said laser beam into the space and a pair of servos connected to laser, wherein the first of the servos is configured so as to move the laser in a manner that controls the yaw direction of the laser beam and the other of the servos is configured so as to move the laser in a manner that controls the pitch direction of the laser beam; determining whether the laser beam is being shone on the object, said determination comprising, modeling the location of objects within the space as the particular pitch and yaw angles associated with the laser that cause the laser beam to shine on approximately the center of the object being modeled, modeling the extent of said objects as being a circle which is centered on the location representing said approximate center of the object being modeled; and whenever the laser beam is being shone on the object, selecting that object for future control actions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A computer-implemented process for selecting an object within a space by a user causing a laser beam to be shone on the object, comprising using a computer to perform the following process actions:
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directing a laser beam generated by a cursor device to shine on said object, wherein the cursor device comprises a laser which when activated projects said laser beam into the space and a pair of servos connected to laser, wherein the first of the servos is configured so as to move the laser in a manner that controls the yaw direction of the laser beam and the other of the servos is configured so as to move the laser in a manner that controls the pitch direction of the laser beam; determining whether the laser beam is being shone on the object, said determination comprising modeling objects within the space as polygons, wherein the user shines the laser beam on points associated with an object being modeled to identify them as vertices of the polygon; and whenever the laser beam is being shone on the object, selecting that object for future control actions. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer-implemented process for selecting an object within a space by a user causing a laser beam to be shone on the object, comprising using a computer to perform the following process actions:
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directing a laser beam generated by a cursor device comprising a laser which is capable of projecting a laser beam into the space to shine on said object or whenever a user directs the laser beam to point at a location within the space that is within a prescribed threshold distance from a modeled object, automatically redirecting the laser beam to shine on the object; determining whether the laser beam is being shone on the object; and whenever the laser beam is being shone on the object, selecting that object for future control actions.
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14. A system for directing a laser beam within a space to act as a cursor, comprising:
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a pointing device which periodically outputs orientation data indicative of the direction it is pointing; a cursor device which comprises a laser which when activated projects said laser beam into the space and a pair of servos connected to laser, wherein a first of the servos is configured so as to move the laser in a manner that controls the yaw direction of the laser beam and the other of the servos is configured so as to move the laser in a manner that controls the pitch direction of the laser beam; a general purpose computing device which is in communication with the pointing device and the cursor device; and a computer program comprising program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the computer program to, receive the orientation data output by the pointing device and compute the direction the pointing device is pointing from the received orientation data in terms of yaw and pitch angles, and direct the laser beam generated by a cursor device to a particular location in the space as determined by the direction the pointing device is pointing, such that the laser beam is directed in an absolute pointing mode wherein the location in the space where the laser beam is pointed is substantially the same location that the pointing device is pointed, said directing in the absolute pointing mode comprising, computing a set of offset angles for the laser of the cursor device comprising respective yaw and pitch angles that define the angular distance between the origin of the spherical coordinate system associated with the cursor device and a prescribed origin of the spherical coordinate system for the space, computing a set of offset angles for the pointing device comprising respective yaw and pitch angles that define the angular distance between the origin of the spherical coordinate system associated with the pointing device and a prescribed origin of the spherical coordinate system for the space, computing aligning pitch and yaw angles that define how far the cursor device must move the laser in order to point the laser beam at approximately the same point in the space that the pointing device is pointing at, wherein the aligning pitch angle is defined as the sum of the offset pitch angle of the laser and the computed pitch angle of the pointing device less its offset pitch angle, and wherein the aligning yaw angle is defined as the sum of the offset yaw angle of the laser and the computed yaw angle of the pointing device less its offset yaw angle, and directing the laser to move to the computed aligning pitch and yaw angles so as to point the laser beam at approximately the same location in the space that the pointing device is pointing to. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A system for directing a laser beam within a space to act as a cursor, comprising:
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a pointing device which periodically outputs orientation data indicative of the direction it is pointing; a cursor device which projects a laser beam in the space; a general purpose computing device which is in communication with the pointing device and the cursor device; and a computer program comprising program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the computer program to, receive the orientation data output by the pointing device and compute the direction the pointing device is pointing from the received orientation data in terms of yaw and pitch angles, and direct the laser beam generated by a cursor device to a particular location in the space as determined by the direction the pointing device is pointing, such that the laser beam is directed in a relative pointing mode wherein the location in the space where the laser beam is pointed is not the same location that the pointing device is pointed, and wherein the relationship between where the pointing device is pointing and where the laser beam is pointing is allowed to vary over time.
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25. A system for directing a laser beam within a space to act as a cursor, comprising:
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a pointing device which periodically outputs orientation data indicative of the direction it is pointing; a cursor device which projects a laser beam in the space; a general purpose computing device which is in communication with the pointing device and the cursor device; and a computer program comprising program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the computer program to, receive the orientation data output by the pointing device and compute the direction the pointing device is pointing from the received orientation data in terms of yaw and pitch angles, and direct the laser beam generated by a cursor device to a particular location in the space as determined by the direction the pointing device is pointing, such that the laser beam is directed in a relative pointing mode wherein the location in the space where the laser beam is pointed is not the same location that the pointing device is pointed, and wherein a fixed relative pointing condition is created between the pointing device and the laser beam wherein the difference between the direction that the pointing device is pointing and the direction that the laser beam is pointing remains substantially constant over time. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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29. A system for establishing a 3D model of a space wherein objects within the space are modeled as a group of vertices defining polygons, comprising:
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a pointing device which periodically outputs orientation data indicative of the direction it is pointing and which comprises a manually-operated switch which is activated and deactivated by a user for the purpose of instructing the computing device to implement a function, and wherein the state of the switch in regard to whether it is activated or deactivated at the time orientation data is output is included in that data; a cursor device which projects a laser beam in the space; a general purpose computing device which is in communication with the pointing device and the cursor device; and a computer program comprising program modules executable by the computing device, wherein the computing device is directed by the program modules of the computer program, for each polygon being established in the model of the space, to, initiate a training mode in response to a user-specified command to do so; input the orthogonal coordinates of the cursor device and the pointing device in terms of an orthogonal coordinate system of the space, receive the orientation data output by the pointing device and compute the direction the pointing device is pointing from the received orientation data in terms of yaw and pitch angles, direct the laser beam generated by a cursor device to point at the same location in the space that the pointing device is pointed toward, determine if the pointing device'"'"'s switch has been activated by the user each time the orientation data is received, wherein said user activates said switch whenever the cursor device'"'"'s laser beam is shining on a point in the space that corresponds to a vertex of a polygon that is being used to model an object in the space; and whenever the pointing device'"'"'s switch has been activated when the training mode is active, compute the orthogonal coordinates of the point in space that the pointing device and the laser beam are pointed at in view of the orthogonal coordinates of the pointing device and the direction it is pointing and the orthogonal coordinates of the cursor device and the direction it is pointing, and associate the computed orthogonal coordinates of the point in space with the corresponding vertex of the object being modeled, repeat the determining, computing and associating actions until all the vertices of the polygon representing the object being modeled are determined. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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Specification