Force effects for object types in a graphical user interface
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method, comprising:
- determining a force effect to be output at least partially based on user preference information, the user preference information including information associated with at least one type of graphical object from a plurality of types of graphical objects, the at least one type of graphical object being associated with a graphical user interface, the user preference information further including information associated with a least one force effect from a plurality of force effects, each force effect from the plurality of force effects being associated with a type of graphical object from the plurality of types of graphic objects;
outputting a signal configured to cause the at least one force effect to be output when a cursor displayed in the graphical user interface interacts with a graphical object having a first type from the at least one type, the graphical object being associated with an application program from a plurality of application programs configured to run simultaneously, each application program from the plurality of application programs being configured to associate a force effect from the plurality of force effects with a graphical object from a plurality of graphical objects associated with that application program, each application program from the plurality of application programs providing information to a background application program about graphical objects associated with that application program.
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Abstract
Force effects for a graphical user interface of a computer are provided based on user preference information, which indicates the types of graphical objects in the graphical user interface which are to have force effects associated with them, and at least one particular force effect assigned to each of those types of graphical objects. An output of a force sensation by a haptic feedback device to the user is based on those assigned force effects and occurs when a displayed cursor controlled by a user interacts with a graphical object having one of the types. An architecture for a host computer allowing multi-tasking application programs to interface with a feedback device is also disclosed.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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determining a force effect to be output at least partially based on user preference information, the user preference information including information associated with at least one type of graphical object from a plurality of types of graphical objects, the at least one type of graphical object being associated with a graphical user interface, the user preference information further including information associated with a least one force effect from a plurality of force effects, each force effect from the plurality of force effects being associated with a type of graphical object from the plurality of types of graphic objects;
outputting a signal configured to cause the at least one force effect to be output when a cursor displayed in the graphical user interface interacts with a graphical object having a first type from the at least one type, the graphical object being associated with an application program from a plurality of application programs configured to run simultaneously, each application program from the plurality of application programs being configured to associate a force effect from the plurality of force effects with a graphical object from a plurality of graphical objects associated with that application program, each application program from the plurality of application programs providing information to a background application program about graphical objects associated with that application program. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A system, comprising:
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means for determining a force effect to be output at least partially based on user preference information, the user preference information including information associated with at least one type of graphical object from a plurality of types of objects, the at least one type of graphical object being associated with a graphical user interface, the user preference information further including information associated with at least one force effect from a plurality of force effects, each force effect from the plurality of force effects being associated with a type of graphical object from the plurality of types of graphical objects;
means for outputting a signal configured to cause the at least one force effect to be output when a cursor displayed in the graphical user interface interacts with a graphical object having a first type from the at least one type, the graphical object being associated with an application program from a plurality of application programs configured to run simultaneously, each application program from the plurality of application programs being configured to associate a force effect from the plurality of force effects with a graphical object from a plurality of graphical objects associated with that application program, each application program from the plurality of application programs being configured to interact with a background application program, the background application program being configured to associate a force effect from the plurality of force effects with at least one application program from the plurality of application programs. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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5. A processor-readable medium comprising code representing instructions to cause a processor to:
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determine a force effect to be output at least partially based on user preference information, the user preference information including information associated with at least one type of graphical object from a plurality of types of graphical objects, the at least one type of graphical object being associated with a graphical user interface, the user preference information further including information associated with at least one force effect from a plurality of force effects, each force effect from the plurality of force effects being associated with a type of graphical object from the plurality of types of graphical objects;
output a signal configured to cause the at least one force effect to be output when a cursor displayed in the graphical user interface interacts with a graphical object having a first type from the at least one type, the graphical object being associated with an application program from a plurality of application programs, configured to run simultaneously, each application program from the plurality of application programs being configured to associate a force effect from the plurality of force effects with a graphical object from a plurality of graphical objects associated with that application program, each application program from the plurality of application programs being configured to interact with a background application program, the background application program being configured to associate a force effect from the plurality of force effects with an application program from the plurality of application programs.
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6. A method, comprising:
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receiving a signal associated with a first application program, the first application program running during a first time period;
receiving a signal associated with a second application program, the second application program running during a second time period that overlaps with the first time period in a multi-tasking environment;
sending a first signal in response to receiving the signal from the first application program, the first signal configured to cause a force sensation associated with the signal associated with the first application program; and
sending a second signal in response to receiving the signal from the second application program, the second signal configured to cause a force sensation associated with the signal associated with the second application program. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 12, 13, 14)
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- 9. The system of 6, wherein the first signal is sent only when the first application program is indicated as active within the graphical user interface and the second signal is sent only when the second application program is indicated as active within the graphical user interface.
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15. A processor-readable medium comprising code representing instructions to cause a processor to:
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associate a context with a first application program from a plurality of application programs operating in a multi-tasking environment, the context defining at least one force effect corresponding to an event associated with the first application program;
send a signal associated with the at least one force effect after detecting the corresponding event; and
load the context into memory after the first application program becomes active. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. An article of manufacture for use in a digital processing system, the article of manufacture comprising a digital processing system usable medium having readable program code embodied in the medium, the program code comprising:
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associate a context with a first application program from a plurality of application programs operating in a multi-tasking environment, the context defining at least one force effect corresponding to an event associated with the first application program; and
send a signal associated with the at least one force effect after detecting the corresponding event, wherein the signal associated with the at least one force effect is sent only if it is determined that the first application program is active.
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24. An apparatus, comprising:
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a device configured to output force sensations, the device being configured to communicate with a second processor; and
a first processor configured to send the second processor a first signal and to receive a second signal, the first signal indicating relative position information of the apparatus if force feedback functionality is not enabled, the first signal indicating absolute position information of the apparatus if force feedback functionality is enabled. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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28. A method, comprising:
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sensing a movement of a device;
sending relative position information of the device to a processor if force feedback functionality associated with the device is not enabled; and
sending absolute position information of the device to the processor if the force feedback functionality is enabled. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification