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:
Nov. 02, 2004
Filed:
Jun. 30, 1999
John Martin Mullaly, Austin, TX (US);
Richard Edmond Berry, Georgetown, TX (US);
Winslow Scott Burleson, Palo Alto, CA (US);
International Business Machines Corp., Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A system for communication with addressable electronically-controllable appliances using a generalized pointing device is provided. The system includes a pointing device that can communicate with dissimilar types of target appliances from a position remote from those appliances and an appliance interface that makes the target appliances compatible with the pointing device. Use of the system is believed to allow the convenience associated with use of a computer's graphical user interface (GUI) to be realized in communication with physical objects, i.e. the target appliances. In an embodiment for one-way communication from a pointing device to a target appliance, the pointing device may comprise an actuator, an input-output interface, and a transmitter. In an embodiment configured for two-way communication between the pointing device and an appliance, the pointing device may further include a receiver. The appliance interface may include a receiver, an input/output interface, and a driver to convert received pointer command signals to corresponding functions of the appliance. In an embodiment configured for two-way communication, the appliance interface may further include a transmitter. The system may be configured for transmission using optical signals, radio-frequency signals, or both.