Patent · US Expired

Force effects for object types in a graphical user interface

US7168042B2 · kind B2 · utility

141Cited by
197References
33Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 9, 2001
Grant dateJan 23, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 9, 2021

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L69/329
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Force effects for a graphical user interface of a computer are provided based on user preference information, which indicates the types of graphical objects in the graphical user interface which are to have force effects associated with them, and at least one particular force effect assigned to each of those types of graphical objects. An output of a force sensation by a haptic feedback device to the user is based on those assigned force effects and occurs when a displayed cursor controlled by a user interacts with a graphical object having one of the types. An architecture for a host computer allowing multi-tasking application programs to interface with a feedback device is also disclosed.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.