Methods and apparatus for graphical display interaction

• US 6,664,989 B1
• Filed: 10/18/2000
• Issued: 12/16/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/18/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Original Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
• Inventors: Woltkamp, John, Snyder, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cao (Kevin)
• Application Number:
  US09/691,387
• Time in Patent Office: 1,154 Days
• Field of Search: 345/856, 345/857, 345/860, 345/862, 345/145, 345/146, 345/157, 345/159, 345/859
• US Class Current: 715/856
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/038 Control and interface arrangements therefor, e.g. drivers or device-embedded control circuitry
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04812 Interaction techniques based on cursor appearance or behaviour, e.g. being affected by the presence of displayed objects

Abstract

The present invention includes systems and methods which overcome the shortcomings of the prior art by providing improved control of cursor commands directed by a user (such as a pilot). Various embodiments of the invention include such user interface cursor control enhancements as caging, snapping, hysteresis, combinations of ‘relative’ and ‘absolute’ cursor data, integration of discrete button movement with continuous cursor movement, and different gain algorithms. The invention may be implemented in a cockpit display, a flight simulator, a graphical flight planning application, or in any other application having a graphical user interface.

Claims

1. A system for providing feedback on a graphical display to a user, the system comprising:

a control device responsive to user inputs;

a processor configured to receive said user inputs from said control device and to generate an output in response to said user inputs, said output being based at least in part upon a distance algorithm; and

a display configured to produce said feedback and said graphical display comprising a cursor and at least one button in response to said output from said processor;

wherein said processor is further configured to process said output with an enhanced cursor control technique such that said cursor is positioned on said display in response to said user inputs, and wherein said enhanced cursor control technique comprises skewing said distance algorithm when said cursor is positioned in proximity to said at least one button to slow the rate at which the cursor passes over the button to thereby form a hysteresis effect.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said enhanced cursor control technique comprises caging.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein said graphical display feedback comprises a selectably-activated menu and wherein movement of said cursor is restricted to said menu when said menu is activated.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein said enhanced cursor control technique comprises snapping.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein said enhanced cursor control technique comprises absolute cursor movement.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein said enhanced cursor control technique comprises absolute cursor movement in combination with relative cursor movement.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein said enhanced cursor control technique comprises variable sensitivity of said cursor to said user inputs.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein said control device comprises a touchpad and a plurality of buttons, and wherein said output is produced such that said enhanced cursor control technique is applied to said user inputs emanating from said buttons but not to said user inputs emanating from said touchpad.

9. A method of displaying feedback information to a user, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining a user input indicative of a desired cursor movement from a controller device;

processing said user input to generate a display image comprising a cursor and at least one button, wherein the position of the cursor is based at least in part upon a distance algorithm;

skewing said distance algorithm when said cursor is positioned in proximity to said at least one button to slow the rate at which the cursor passes over the at least one button to thereby form an enhanced cursor control technique; and

displaying said display image comprising said cursor to said user to provide said feedback information;

wherein said display image is processed with at least one enhanced cursor control technique such that said cursor exhibits said desired cursor movement.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said enhanced cursor control technique comprises caging.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein said display image comprises a selectably-activated menu and wherein movement of said cursor is restricted to said menu when said menu is activated.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein said enhanced cursor control technique comprises snapping.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein said enhanced cursor control technique comprises absolute cursor movement.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said enhanced cursor control technique comprises absolute cursor movement in combination with relative cursor movement.

15. The method of claim 9 wherein said enhanced cursor control technique comprises variable sensitivity of said cursor to said user inputs.

16. The system of claim 9 wherein said controller device comprises a touchpad and a plurality of buttons, and wherein said display image is produced such that said enhanced cursor control technique is applied to said user inputs emanating from said buttons but not to said user inputs emanating from said touchpad.

17. A method of implementing hysteresis in a graphical display having a cursor and at least one object of interest, the method comprising the steps of:

initializing a track speed of the cursor to an initial value;

decreasing the track speed of the cursor while the cursor is located in proximity to the object of interest to thereby slow the speed at which the cursor passes over the object of interest; and

restoring the initial value of the track speed of the cursor when the cursor is no longer located in proximity to the object of interest.