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US 2004/0104932 A1Published application
Context input device
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorGavin Brebner
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AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorGavin Brebner
Estimating the term…
The invention provides for context detecting apparatus which includes a housing shaped to allow the apparatus to be positioned in a plurality of orientations each corresponding to at least one particular context, means adapted to detect the orientation and communications means for communicating the orientation that thus context to a device. The housing may a cube, triangular pyramid or a regular or irregular solid and the detection means correspond to one or more sensors adapted to sense the orientation of the apparatus. The apparatus may be used to sense and communicate the context of a users activity and/or environment to a recipient computer in order to change the operating state of the computer. Changes in operating state may include causing the computer to go to standby, filtering email/messages and similar functional characteristics.
A context detecting apparatus including a housing shaped to allow the apparatus to be positioned in a plurality of orientations each corresponding to at least one particular context, means adapted to detect the orientation and communications means for communicating the orientation that thus context to a device.
A context detecting apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the detection means corresponds to one or more sensors adapted to sense the orientation of the apparatus.
A context detecting apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the orientation is transmitted to the device by means of a cable.
A context detection system including a peripheral device, adapted to output a signal corresponding to its orientation, and a computer adapted to change its operating state in response to the signal thereby allowing the control of the operating state of the computer by means of the orientation of the peripheral.
A method of detecting user context, the method comprising the steps of a user orienting a context detection sensing means in a physical orientation corresponding to a chosen context, a device interpreting the context as communicated to it by the context detection means and modifying its behaviour accordingly.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.