Microsoft's US 7,830,359, Foot-based interface for interacting with a computer
First claim:
A method of using a foot-based interface device to interact with a personal computer, said method comprising:
executing a first application program and a second application program on said personal computer, the first application program comprising a first plurality of functions and a first plurality of user interface elements, the first functions invocable by user interaction with the first user interface elements, respectively, the second application program comprising a second plurality of functions and a second plurality of user interface elements, the second functions invocable by user interaction with the second user interface elements, respectively;
receiving from said foot-based interface device user inputs directed to the first application program and user inputs directed to the second application program, said foot-based interface device comprising an electromagnetic wave sensor and a projecting device projecting an image comprising a plurality of sections that are activated by the electromagnetic wave sensor sensing physical movement of the user's feet within the image and generating, the user inputs, which correspond to the sections;
mapping said user inputs to the program functions of the first and second application program, by: for the user inputs directed to the first application program,
activating a first of the first program functions whenever the foot-based interface device determines that one of the user's feet has activated a corresponding particular single section,
activating a second of the first program functions whenever the foot-based interface device determines that the user's feet have activated a corresponding pair of sections concurrently, and
continuously activating a third of the first program functions as long as the foot-based interface device determines that one of the user's feet is activating a particular section, and for the user inputs directed to the second application program, activating a first of the second program functions whenever the foot-based interface device determines that one of the user's feet has activated a corresponding particular single section, activating a second of the second program functions whenever the foot-based interface device determines that the user's feet have activated a corresponding pair of sections concurrently, and continuously activating a third of the second program functions as long as the foot-based interface device determines that one of the user's feet is activating a particular section; generating outputs corresponding to activations of the program functions; and displaying said outputs to said user, wherein the mapping is performed by a module available to any application executing on the personal computer.
A method of using a foot-based interface device to interact with a personal computer, said method comprising:
executing a first application program and a second application program on said personal computer, the first application program comprising a first plurality of functions and a first plurality of user interface elements, the first functions invocable by user interaction with the first user interface elements, respectively, the second application program comprising a second plurality of functions and a second plurality of user interface elements, the second functions invocable by user interaction with the second user interface elements, respectively;
receiving from said foot-based interface device user inputs directed to the first application program and user inputs directed to the second application program, said foot-based interface device comprising an electromagnetic wave sensor and a projecting device projecting an image comprising a plurality of sections that are activated by the electromagnetic wave sensor sensing physical movement of the user's feet within the image and generating, the user inputs, which correspond to the sections;
mapping said user inputs to the program functions of the first and second application program, by: for the user inputs directed to the first application program,
activating a first of the first program functions whenever the foot-based interface device determines that one of the user's feet has activated a corresponding particular single section,
activating a second of the first program functions whenever the foot-based interface device determines that the user's feet have activated a corresponding pair of sections concurrently, and
continuously activating a third of the first program functions as long as the foot-based interface device determines that one of the user's feet is activating a particular section, and for the user inputs directed to the second application program, activating a first of the second program functions whenever the foot-based interface device determines that one of the user's feet has activated a corresponding particular single section, activating a second of the second program functions whenever the foot-based interface device determines that the user's feet have activated a corresponding pair of sections concurrently, and continuously activating a third of the second program functions as long as the foot-based interface device determines that one of the user's feet is activating a particular section; generating outputs corresponding to activations of the program functions; and displaying said outputs to said user, wherein the mapping is performed by a module available to any application executing on the personal computer.
posted by Lawrence B. Ebert at 6:48 AM
1 Comments:
The nearly-five-year lag in issuance of this patent seems to have rendered it little more than quaint. However, it may still prove useful as a piece of the puzzle in the growing movement toward full-body motion-based computer interfaces. As one aspect of this, Microsoft's technology may prove valuable, and could even earn it significant sums in patent enforcement.
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