Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Catherine N Boulanger

Steven Nabil Bathiche

John G A Weiss

Ralf Groene

Hua Wang

Paul Henry Dietz

Anthony Reed

Sarah Graham Williams

Vincent L Ball

Yann Florian Daniel Riche

Timothy Andrew Large

Neil Emerton

Jinha Lee

John Ga Weiss

John GA Weiss

A canvas (e.g., a digital page or sheet of paper) on which a user can input data is displayed on a display device of a computing device in response to the canvas being invoked. The canvas can be invoked in different manners, such as by the user activating a switch or button at an 'eraser' end of a stylus that mimics a pen/pencil configuration. The user can input any digital data such as notes, drawings, and so forth on the canvas that he or she desires. In response to the canvas being dismissed (e.g., by the user again activating a switch or button at an 'eraser' end of a stylus that mimics a pen/pencil configuration), display of the canvas ceases. The digital data input by the user is saved or otherwise processed by the computing device.

Computing device canvas invocation and dismissal

The description relates to color information. One example can include a computing device having a display and a digital stylus configured to capture colors from an operating environment. The digital stylus can be configured to wirelessly communicate data relating to an individual color from the operating environment to the computing device. The computing device can be configured to identify a context of the communicated individual color and to control the computing device based upon the individual color and the context.

Color control

This document describes techniques and apparatuses enabling affinity-based page navigation. These techniques and apparatuses enable page navigation, such as page flipping, page searches, and other navigation based on affinities associated with various pages. These affinities can include a reference to a page, such as a link or quotation in a social networking service, an encyclopedia, a webpage, an article, a newspaper, or a blog. These affinities can also or instead include usage, such as how many users have read, highlighted, dog-eared, or bookmarked a page.

Affinity-based page navigation

This document describes techniques and apparatuses enabling bookmarking for electronic books. The techniques and apparatuses enable a user of an electronic book to bookmark pages of the electronic book and navigate based on these bookmarks as well as bookmarks made by other users.

Bookmarking for electronic books

This document describes techniques and apparatuses for implementing an object-detecting backlight unit for a display device. An object-detecting backlight unit includes two or more light sources configured to provide light to a display to form an image, and a light sensor configured to receive reflected light when an object is near the display and determine that the reflected light originated from a region of the display. The reflected light is caused by light from the image reflecting off of the object back towards the display. The backlight unit is configured to detect a position of the object based on the region of the display from which the reflected light originated.

Object-detecting backlight unit

Input device configurations are described. In one or more implementations, an input device includes a connection portion, protective case, and one or more controls. The connection portion is configured to provide a removable physical connection to a computing device. The protective case is coupled to the connection portion and configured to support rotational movement of the protective case in relation to the computing device when the connection portion is physically connected to the computing device. The one or more controls are disposed on the protective case such that at least one control is accessible to a user when the protective case is positioned behind the computing device and the computing device and the input device are grasped by one or more hands of a user.

Input device configurations

This document describes techniques and apparatuses for implementing a transparent display device. A transparent display device includes a transparent or translucent screen to render images on the screen, and to render virtual objects that appear to be in a three-dimensional (3D) space behind the screen. The transparent display device also includes a hand tracker to sense movement of a user's hands to interact with one or more of the virtual objects, and to generate 3D-input based on the movement. The transparent or translucent screen enables the user to see the user's hands behind the screen as the user's hands interact with the one or more virtual objects. The transparent display device is controlled to modify the rendering of the images on the screen or the virtual objects behind the screen based on the 3D-input.

Transparent display device

Photosensor array gesture detection techniques are described. In one or more embodiments, a computing device includes an array of photosensors. The photosensor array can be configured in various ways to measure changes in the amount of light that occur based upon a user's hand position above the photosensor array. In at least some embodiments, capacitance associated with the photosensors is charged and data regarding discharge rates for the sensors is collected that is indicative of the amount of incident light. Sequential changes in the amount of light that is measured across the array of photosensors can be used to determine positioning and/or movement of the user's hand in three dimensions (e.g., track position/motion in three-dimensional (3D) space relative to the computing device.) Accordingly, various gestures can be defined in terms of input obtained via the photosensor array and recognized to trigger corresponding operations by the computing device.

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Redmond, WA, United States of America

Catherine N Boulanger