Human-computer interface including haptically controlled interactions

In a computer system providing display of a computer representation of a document, and user selection of the portion of the document to be displayed, a method of providing user control of scrolling among portions of the document comprising:

• a) From the boundaries of the portion of the document displayed, determining which correspond to limits of the document;
• b) For each boundary, establishing a haptic boundary in the range of motion of an input device approximately coincident with the visual boundary in the display;
• c) Determining the position of a haptic cursor and, if the haptic cursor is near a haptic boundary that does not correspond to a limit of the document, then
• i) Applying a force to the input device resisting motion of the input device toward said haptic boundary;
• ii) Determining a user force applied by the user directed toward said haptic boundary;
• iii) Scrolling the visual display of the document in the direction of said user force.

In a computer interface comprising a display and a haptic space, a method of providing user control of interactions, comprising:

• a) Displaying a portion of an item;
• b) Providing a control portion of the haptic space;
• c) Determining if a user-positioned haptic cursor is within the control portion, and if so, then determining if the haptic cursor is within a threshold distance from a controllable boundary of the control portion, and if so, then:
• i) applying a feedback force to a user input device affecting additional motion of the cursor relative to the boundary;
• ii) determining an input force applied by the user to the input device;
• iii) changing display of the item, wherein the rate of change is determined from the input force.

In a computer interface comprising a display and a haptic space and adapted to display a document, a method of providing user control of the display of the document comprising:

• a) Detecting user activation of a control mode of interface;
• b) When not in control mode, providing a computer interface suitable for interaction with the document;
• c) When in control mode:
• i) establishing haptic boundaries relative to the position of a user-controlled cursor when the user activated the control mode of the interface;
• ii) determining the position of a user-controlled cursor in the haptic space, and, if the cursor is within a threshold distance of a haptic boundary, then applying a feedback force to a user input device affecting further motion of the cursor relative to said haptic boundary;
• iii) determining the magnitude of a user-input force applied by the user to the user input device, and changing the display of the document in a direction according to the haptic boundary nearest the cursor at a rate determined from the magnitude of the user-input force.