User interface utilizing a computer pointing device with infrared bridge
OwnerDavid D. Bohninventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A pointing device integrates an IR transceiver into the pointing device. An infrared communication link may then be established between another device and the IR transceiver on the pointing device. The pointing device then relays communication between the host computer and the other device along its cable to the host computer. A user interface involves placing the cursor of a graphical user interface over an icon or other area of the screen. Communications initiated by the user are then sent to that area of the screen, or an action indicated by the icon is taken.
Claims18
A computer operable method, comprising:
- initiating communication between an IR equipped device and a computer pointing device with an IR bridge;
- determining what graphical object of a graphical user interface a cursor is positioned over;
- and,
- processing data according to what said graphical object represents.
A program storage medium readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computer to perform method steps for transferring data via a computer pointing device with an integrated IR bridge, said method steps comprising:
- initiating communication between an IR equipped device and said computer pointing device with said integrated IR bridge;
- determining what graphical object of a graphical user interface a cursor is positioned over;
- and,
- processing data sent via said integrated IR bridge according to what said graphical object represents.
An user interface for transferring data between a host computer and another device via an infrared link, comprising:
- an infrared bridge integrated into a pointing device communicating with said host computer;
- a graphical user interface running on said host computer wherein said graphical user interface executes at least one function of a plurality of possible functions relating to data that is transferred via said infrared link in response to the initiation of a data transfer over said infrared link.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.