JP2535340B2 - Cursor control system - Google Patents

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to computer systems,
More specifically, it relates to a system for controlling cursor movement on a computer display screen.

Prior Art Graphic computer display devices are very useful for understanding types of information that would otherwise be difficult to understand. With the advent of bit-mapped graphics, high quality computer graphics displays are becoming commonplace. An automatic design system, a data processing system, etc. are operated by displaying graphics or by drawing on a computer screen, and a user changes or asks a question by moving an indicating device on the display device. be able to.

A user can indicate an object or a position on the graphics display device by moving an indicator called a cursor on the screen. This is often done by physically moving an optical or mechanical device such as a mouse, joystick, trackball. The movement of the physical device is detected by the computer system and the cursor moves in a corresponding manner on the display device.

Computer displays often show three-dimensional objects or data. Shown on the display is a two-dimensional projection of the three-dimensional structure stored in the computer system. When it is desired to indicate each part of the displayed three-dimensional structure, it is necessary to move the cursor in three dimensions. For many applications, mapping the 2D motion of a physical positioning device onto the 2D device.
Doing so will give ambiguous information about the three-dimensional position of the cursor. Thus, there must be some way to enter physical cursor movement information so that the display device can detect movement in a three-dimensional, typically X, Y, Z coordinate system.

Currently, three-dimensional cursor movement control signals are provided by inputting three separate signals into the display system. These signals are generated, for example, by a separate X, Y, Z controller, or by a control-directed movement in a plane, such as a mouse or joystick, which is increased by another control for three dimensions. Therefore, movement of the mouse is used to indicate position in the XY plane, along with another dial control that indicates movement along the Z axis.

It is desirable to control the three-dimensional cursor movement using standard two-dimensional physical controls known to computer system users. It is desirable that such a controller be used for unambiguous three-dimensional cursor movement in such a way that the match between the movement of the physical device and the display screen is intuitively natural.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a two-dimensional physical input device that provides three-dimensional cursor control on a computer display device.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a two-dimensional physical input device provides an input signal to an interpreter for a computer display system. This interpreter system logically divides the plane of movement into six regions corresponding to positive and negative motion along three coordinate axes. These areas are arranged such that movement of the input element in a direction that approximates the angle of the major axis shown on the computer display causes movement of the cursor along that axis.

The novel features of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The foregoing objects and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the embodiments with the accompanying drawings, but are not limited thereto.

Example FIG. 1 is a simple three-dimensional block diagram displayed on a computer display system. This structure is simplified to show a simple rectangular parallelepiped 10, although the display object or data structure is usually more complex when used in practice. In FIG. 1, the origin of the Cartesian coordinate system is the upper left front corner of the rectangular parallelepiped 10, the X direction extends rightward along the edge 12, and the Y direction extends rearward and upward along the edge 14. And extends downward along the edge 16 in the Z direction. A cursor 18 is shown in the rectangular parallelepiped in FIG. Three cross lines 20 penetrate the cursor 18 in a direction parallel to the three coordinate axes, and end on the wall surface of the rectangular parallelepiped 10. By using this configuration, the user can
You can definitely find the cursor 18.

When a user operates the system, the intuitive way to move along the positive direction of the X-axis is to move it to the lower right, and to the left to the negative. This is a direction that clearly follows the direction of the coordinate axis.
This intuitive intuitive pointing device is easy to use.

FIG. 2 will be described. Multiple areas with flat surface 30
It is divided into 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26. This flat surface is, for example, the one on which the mouse is moved. Drawing on the surface 30 are lines 32, 34 and 36, respectively showing the two-dimensional projections of X, Y and Z shown in FIG. The angle between the projected axes 32, 34, 36 is bisected by a dotted line 38. Area 2 bounded by this dotted line 38
1, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 are named to correspond to the direction of movement along the axis contained within that area.

The lines 32, 34, 36, 38 drawn on the surface 30 are not actually drawn on the moving surface of the mouse. These are simply logical areas bounded by the interpreter in the system into which the mouse at the intersection can move.

The mouse is first thought to be located at the intersection of the three axes 32,34,36. When the mouse is moved, the scanner in the system senses the movement and calculates its direction using known techniques. The interpreter in the system then calculates the logical area that the mouse moved. The interpreter is
Move the cursor along the axis that corresponds to the area where the mouse has moved. Thus, for example, when the user moves the first cursor in the positive Y direction, the mouse is moved in the upper right direction and brought to the + Y area 21 by a single operation. Even if a slight inaccuracy occurs in accurately tracking the angle of that axis, it is not important. This is because any movement of the + Y area 21 changes to movement only in the + Y direction. Thus, by moving the two-dimensional mouse in a direction substantially corresponding to the direction of the two-dimensional projection 34 of the three-dimensional configuration, a three-dimensional movement occurs along that axis. As the cursor 18 moves, so does the crosshair 20 to indicate its new position.

As mentioned above, the lines 32, 34, 36, drawn on the surface 30,
38 is only a logical product of the interpreter and does not actually exist on surface 30. At all times, the interpreter considers the mouse to be currently located at the intersection of the axes. Thus, the direction of movement from the current position to the new position is one of the six regions 21-26, and the interpreter will properly move the cursor on the display.

FIG. 3 will be described. A block diagram of system 40 is shown. The display device 42 includes a physical display device such as a CRT, a central processor, memory, a video driver, and the hardware and software necessary to drive it, such as an operating system. This hardware and software are common in computer systems and are well known in the art. As used herein, the term display device is intended to include all computer systems in addition to the interpreter, scanner, and mouse as described below. The mouse device 44 physically moves on a plane. This mouse device
It is connected to a scanner 48 which is a standard device for computer systems incorporating a mouse device as an indicator. The scanner 48 reads an electric or optical signal from the mouse 44 and determines a two-dimensional component in the moving direction of the mouse 44. This information is sent to the interpreter 50 to determine which logical area 21 to 26 the mouse is moving to, signal the display 42 and move the cursor 18 as described above.

This interpreter is implemented in hardware in a computer system or mainly in software. The calculations performed by interpreter 50 are actually quite simple. This interpreter
The movement angle is calculated from the mouse movement information from the scanner 48,
An internal storage table showing which range of angles corresponds to movement about which axis is compared with the calculated angles. The two-dimensional projection of this three-dimensional movement is then calculated in a known manner and signals are sent to the appropriate display driver routines to reposition the cursor 18 and crosshairs.

Although the mouse 44 is used as the physical positioning device in the preferred embodiment, other pointing devices that provide two-dimensional movement information, such as geoi sticks and trackballs, can be used.

Most graphic systems are rectangular solids of three-dimensional objects.
Changing the viewing angle to see 10. This rectangular parallelepiped can be rotated so that it can be seen from any direction. When you do this,
Interpreter 50 limits the angular range corresponding to movement along each axis. That is, the directions of the axes 32, 34, 36 and the angles they make are changed.

If a cube 10 of a three-dimensional object is viewed directly along one axis, the spatial information along that axis is lost and the cube appears two-dimensional. Thus, the movement of the cursor on the screen of the display device becomes a normal two-dimensional plane movement. In the preferred embodiment, the interpreter allows the cursor to move freely along only one axis at a time in this mode instead of limiting movement.

Interpreter 50 can be implemented in many different ways.
The addendum is Texas Instruments Explorer that describes the software driver for the interpreter.
Instruments Explorer) is a program written in LISP. Of course, other software or hardware interpreters are also possible.

Effect of the Invention By naturally and naturally moving a two-dimensional indicator device such as a mouse, the system of the present invention positions the cursor three-dimensionally on a computer display screen. In this way, the three-dimensional movement is extremely simplified and easily realized on all current standard graphics display systems.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments as described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made. Such modifications fall within the spirit of the invention, the scope of which is limited to the appended claims.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional structural diagram shown on a two-dimensional computer display device, FIG. 2 is a diagram in which a moving plane of a physical device is divided into six logical areas, and FIG. 3 shows a cursor control system according to the present invention. It is a block diagram. 10 ... Box, 12, 14, 16 ... Edge, 18 ... Cursor, 20
...... Cross line, 30 …… Surface, 44 …… Mouse device, 46 …… Plane.

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A computer system for displaying a two-dimensional projection of a three-dimensional structure, a display device for displaying a two-dimensional projection of a three-dimensional structure, and controlling a movement of a cursor within the three-dimensional structure. A fixed surface having a plurality of areas, each of which is uniquely defining one of the three dimensions, and movable in two dimensions. An input device positionable on a fixed surface and movable within each of the areas, and a scanner coupled to the input device for providing a signal indicative of the distance and direction of movement of the input device on the surface. And an interpreter coupled to the display device and the scanner, responsive to the signal indicative of movement of the input device over the area of the fixed surface, the interpreter comprising: A dimension corresponding to the region is defined, the movement of the input device is converted into a three-dimensional movement in the structure, and the movement of the input device is cursor in a corresponding selected direction in the three-dimensional structure. A computer system characterized by being converted into the movement of a computer. 2. The scanner has a function of detecting a moving speed of the input device, and the interpreter has a function of converting the moving speed of the input device into a moving speed within a three-dimensional structure. The system according to claim 1. 3. The surface is flat, and the input device has a hand-sized object coupled to the scanner and adapted for movement on the surface, with respect to the flat surface. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system generates a signal indicating a moving direction of the object sized to be held by the hand. 4. A patent in which the interpreter divides a two-dimensional space into six regions, and the six regions correspond to six moving directions of an object sized to be held by the hand on the flat surface from an origin. The system according to claim 1.