Ergonomic man-machine interface incorporating adaptive pattern recognition based control system

An image information retrieval apparatus, comprising:

• a user input, receiving a control input from a user;
• a memory for storing compressed data representing a plurality of images;
• a data storage system for retrieving compressed data representing at least one of said plurality of images;
• a memory for storing characterization data representing a plurality of abstract image types, each abstract image type representing a set of different characteristics;
• and
• an image processor, operating on data stored in said data storage system and said characterization data memory, and selectively producing a signal corresponding to a relation between at least one of said plurality of images of said compressed data and at least one of said image types of said characterization data, said signal varying in dependence on the control input.

An adaptive programmable apparatus having a plurality of states, being programmable to execute program instructions by a programmer through a programmer input and operating in an environment in which a plurality of possible external events occur, each of the events being associated with different data, comprising:

• a data input for receiving data, said data being related to events and said programmer input;
• a feedback device for providing information relating to said programmer input and a current status of the apparatus to the programmer;
• a memory for storing program instructions associated with said programmer input;
• and
• a processor for controlling the response of said apparatus to events, for:
• (a) abstracting information from said data related to said events to reduce an information storage requirement while substantially retaining an abstract portion of said information;
• (b) storing a quantity of said abstracted information representing distinct events;
• and
• (c) processing said abstracted information in conjunction with said stored quantity of abstracted information to alter an execution of the stored program instructions.

An adaptive programmable interface, interacting with a user to define and control a desired operational mode, comprising:

• a user input, receiving a user information input from the user representing aspects of a desired operational mode;
• a memory, for storing representations defining a series of desired operational modes based on said received user information, including a presently desired operational mode;
• a user output, presenting to the user a state of the programmable interface, including a presently defined operational mode and a status of the interface, said user output presenting information to the user in dependence on said stored representations;
• a data input, receiving data generated external to the programmable interface, the data having a structure capable of representing a distinction between a plurality of external events;
• a processor for controlling the response of the adaptive interface to said data based on said stored desired operational mode information, said processor:
• (a) abstracting information from said data to reduce an information storage requirement while substantially retaining an abstract significance of said information;
• (b) storing a quantity of said abstracted information representing a plurality of events;
• and
• (c) processing said abstracted information in conjunction with said stored quantity of abstracted information to control said desired operational mode.