The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 23, 2002
Filed:
Jan. 11, 2000
Robert W. Jeffway, Jr., Leeds, MA (US);
Gary Silverman, North Andover, MA (US);
Howard R. Tarnoff, New Berlin, WI (US);
Lynn Tarnoff, New Berlin, WI (US);
Other;
Abstract
A self-contained electronic unit includes a physically manipulable housing such as a mouse, a feedback device, and processing electronics. The housing is constructed to be moved in its entirety during use by a user. The feedback device is incorporated into the housing and is configured to communicate, to the user, movement of a virtual object within a virtual environment. The processing electronics are incorporated into the housing, and are configured to generate the virtual environment, to respond to movement of the housing in its entirety, without regard to relative movement of the housing with respect to any stationary attached hardware, by causing movement of the virtual object within the virtual environment. A trackball is contained within the mouse housing, and the processing electronics are configured to respond to direct physical manipulation of the trackball by a user to cause movement of the virtual object within the virtual environment.