US20060097987A1

US20060097987A1 - Method and/or apparatus for user selection of signals to be sent to a computer

Info

Publication number: US20060097987A1
Application number: US11/312,889
Authority: US
Inventors: Michael Hughes
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-08-13
Filing date: 2005-12-20
Publication date: 2006-05-11
Also published as: EP1661115A4; WO2005020128A2; WO2005020128A3; CN1860523A; US20050035945A1; US6992656B2; EP1661115A2

Abstract

The present invention is a method and/or apparatus for user selection of signals to be sent to a computer for the purpose of initiating functioning macros, inputting specified user data, or launching user pre-selected commands, and are associated with electronic switches that allow for at least three input stages; depressing and holding, pressing at least once, and pressing at least twice. In one embodiment, the present invention is a pointing device including a housing, electronic circuitry within the housing, means for pointing control, and a plurality of externally mounted buttons that are in addition to the standard depressible buttons currently available on a pointing device, which are exposed on the housing and are electronically connected with circuitry.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims priority to U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 10/604,718 filed Aug. 13, 2003, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The present invention is a method and/or apparatus for user selection of signals to be sent to a computer for the purpose of initiating functioning macros, inputting specified user data, or launching user preselected commands, and are associated with electronic switches that allow for at least three input stages; depressing and holding, pressing at least once, and pressing at least twice.
In one embodiment, the present invention is a pointing device including a housing, electronic circuitry within the housing, means for pointing control, and a plurality of externally mounted buttons that are in addition to the standard depressible buttons currently available on a pointing device, which are exposed on the housing and are electronically connected with circuitry.
There are a variety of known computer input devices. At one time, the most popular and commonly used computer input device was the keyboard. The recent development and increased use of graphical user interface products, however, have served to highlight the inherent limitations of the conventional computer keyboard as an input device. For example, the conventional keyboard is designed primarily for textual input and allows limited control of cursor movements and data input flexibility. Unfortunately, data input and cursor control of such a limited nature often fails to take full advantage of the wide range of graphical functions provided in current graphical user interface products and thus frustrates the efficient and effective use of such products.
The functional and operational limitations of a conventional keyboard as a computer input device led to the development of alternative, more graphically oriented and user friendly computer input devices such as the joystick, gaming device, mouse and trackball. Such alternative input devices require less direct attention (for example, eye contact) thus allowing the user to concentrate on the computer screen and the task at hand. These devices are specially designed to facilitate precision cursor movements, at varying speeds, and in virtually any desired direction, thus allowing the user to easily take full advantage of the enhanced graphical functions provided in current graphical user interface products.
However, common graphically oriented computer input devices typically retain an important limitation which is not present in the conventional computer keyboard: the inability to efficiently, and effectively, input the wide selection of user selected data that is many times requested and used in a repetitious manner in the data input fields of many graphical user interface products without depending on a secondary data input device, such as the conventional keyboard. For example, most current mouse devices, trackballs, joysticks, gaming devices or remote controls are not large enough to have defined keys used for typing said data; and if did, would make the device too large and impractical.
One disadvantage to this limitation is that the operator has to move his fingers from the input device to the keyboard in order to complete the data input fields of many displayed documents on a screen, which is inefficient, time consuming, and can break the user's flow and concentration if done on a repetitive basis.
Another disadvantage is that using two computer input devices simultaneously requires more direct attention (for example, eye contact) which distracts the user from concentrating on the computer screen and the task at hand. This can be aggravating when dealing with repetitive data such as personal data, credit card information and usernames.
Kensington has a product called the “Expert Mouse Pro Trackball” that has a text store & paste feature, but it is for one field of general text only and is not specified data. It also does not allow for a quick and efficient method of pasting multiple different fields of specified user data that are often requested by many graphical user interface products today. It also does not allow for data to be stored for multiple users simultaneously. This limits its usefulness.
In these respects, an apparatus and/or method that specifically addresses the use of front mounted buttons for initiating functioning macros, inputting specified user data, or launching user pre-selected commands substantially departs itself from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus and/or method developed for the purpose of effectively and efficiently inputting user selected data that is many times requested and used in a repetitious manner in the fields of many displayed documents on a display device without depending on a secondary data input device, such as the conventional keyboard.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Various other objects, features and attendant advantages of the present invention will become fully appreciated as the same becomes better understood when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the several views, and wherein:
FIG. 1 is an angled view of the mouse embodiment of the present invention having a body 2 with main function buttons 4, a wheel 6 and additional front mounted buttons 8-11.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the mouse embodiment of the present invention having a body 2 with main function buttons 4, a wheel 6 and additional front mounted buttons 8-11.
FIG. 3 is a front view of the mouse embodiment of the present invention having a body 2 with main function buttons 4, a wheel 6 and additional front mounted buttons 8-11.
FIG. 4 is a view of the administrator sign-in screen of the software designed for the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a view of the new user sign-in screen of the software designed for the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a view of the user's personal information template screen of the software designed for the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a view of the user's username and password template screen of the software designed for the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a view of the user's credit card template screen of the software designed for the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a view of the user's custom settings template screen with a drop down list of custom commands for the software designed for the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a view of the administrator's preferences of the software designed for the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 displays the button summary screen of the software designed for the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a view of the display device confirmation pop-ups that are activated when user changes templates or disables macros of the software designed for the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a diagram displaying the mouse embodiment of the present invention being used with a standard computer system.
FIG. 14 is a graphical display showing the mouse pointer hovering over a first name label.
FIG. 15 is a graphical display showing the mouse pointer at the first name text input gadget.
FIG. 16 is a graphical display showing the mouse pointer hovering over the username label.
FIG. 17 is a graphical display showing the mouse pointer at the text input gadget for the username.
FIG. 18 is a graphical display showing the mouse pointer hovering over the credit card label.
FIG. 19 is a graphical display showing the mouse pointer at the text input gadget for the credit card.
FIG. 20 is a view of the button 1 autofill template screen of the software designed for the for the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 21 is a view of the button 1 autofill template screen with additional autofill data of the software designed for the for the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 22 is a view of an alternate button summary screen of the software designed for the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 23 is a view of an alternate administrators preferences screen of the software designed for the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 24 is a view of a popup help window of the alternate administrator's preferences window of the software of the mouse embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 25 is a view of a popup alternate administrator's preferences window of the software for the present invention to customize the definition of the input fields.
FIG. 26 is a top view of the remote control embodiment of the present invention, showing the four frontal macro buttons.
FIG. 27 is a view of the users personal information template screen of the software designed for the remote control embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 28 is a top view of the gaming device embodiment of the present invention, showing the four frontal macro buttons.
FIG. 29 is a view of the character 3 template screen of the software designed for the gaming device embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 30 is a top view of the wireless PDA phone device embodiment of the present invention, showing the four frontal macro buttons.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. In addition, the improved method and apparatus for user selection of signals to be sent to a computer for the purpose of initiating functioning macros, inputting specified user data, or launching user pre-selected commands as taught herein can be shaped into different appearances including different buttons, different number of buttons, and different button locations. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of the description and should not be regarded as limiting.
The present invention, in one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, is an improved computer control mouse 1 including a housing/body 2, electronic circuitry within the housing, a user manipulatable rotatable ball, a wheel 6, optical technology, or other means for pointing control, wire or wireless, and a plurality of front mounted buttons 8-11 that are in addition to the standard depressible buttons 4 currently available on a computer control mouse, which are exposed on the housing and are electronically connected with circuitry. The frontal buttons 8-11 are mounted in such a way as to provide for easy access by the operator. At least some or all of the frontal finger depressible buttons 8-11 are for user selection of signals to be sent to the computer 12 for the purpose of initiating functioning macros, inputting specified user data into a displayed document, or launching user pre-selected commands. In one embodiment, the pointing device is a trackball. A displayed document can be a form, webpage, document, graphical user interface, query, video, interactive videogame, slideshow, animation or any interface on a display device which receives data.
In one embodiment, the plurality of front mounted buttons 8-11 on the present improved mouse 1 are associated with electronic switches that allow for at least three input stages; depressing and holding, pressing at least once, and pressing at least twice.
The circuitry is structured to read an immediate, instant or current state or value of the electronic switches and to communicate representative control signals to the associated specialized computer software 16 developed for this purpose.
In one embodiment, the pointing device would be ergonomically designed for left/right hand users.
FIG. 4 shows the screen wherein one embodiment, a user logs into the software 16, which after verifying the username and password, selects the user's templates 51-55 and saved data to be loaded into the computer's resident memory 26 to be used with the frontal buttons 8-11 of the pointing device 1. There is a username drop down menu 3 for the user to select a username from usernames that have been previously entered. The user then goes to the password field 13 and inserts the password. If the user can not remember the password, they simply check the “I forgot my password” box 5 and press the enter button 15. If the user is a new user without a username already, they would check the New User box 7, then click the enter button 15. In one embodiment, the initial or main user would be named the “Administrator” and would be privileged to certain administrative features that all other users would not have access to, such as deleting a username and all saved data associated with that username, and turning on and off the username and password features. In one embodiment, a user can log in and load their personal templates 51-55 into the computer's resident memory 26 to be used with the frontal buttons 8-11 of the pointing device 1 by simply pressing a sequence on the frontal buttons 8-11 on the mouse device 1 or the keyboard 23 that represents the password. In one embodiment, if no user is “logged on” and no user's templates 51-55 are loaded in the computers resident memory, the log in screen in FIG. 4 will appear on the users display device 20 when the user presses any of the frontal buttons 8-11 of the mouse device 1. In one embodiment, a user will be automatically be logged off after a period of time of non-activity.
FIG. 5 displays a New User screen. In the new username field 17 the user types in with the keyboard 23 a desired username. In the password field 13, the user types in with the keyboard 23 a desired password. In the retype password field 19, the user then retypes the password to confirm it's accuracy. Next, the user would have to agree to the terms and agreements 22 to use the mouse device software 16 by checking the I agree box 27 then pressing the enter button 15 on the screen. If a user wanted to first read the terms and agreements 22 for using the software 16, the user would click on the link terms and agreements 22, which would bring up a pop-up box containing such.
FIG. 6 displays the personal information template screen 51 of the software 16 designed for the mouse embodiment of the present invention where a user types in with the keyboard 23 their personal data into the first name field 28, last name field 29, Address field 31, City field 32, state field 33, zip code field 34, phone number field 35, and email address field 36, which is saved into a database 40 by the user clicking on the save button 37. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIG. 6 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
After being saved, when the user intends to input this personal data into a displayed document 47, the user holds down frontal button 8 on the computer mouse device 1 for a period of time, to load the data from the personal data template 51 into the computer's resident memory 26. A period of time is within a range of 0.25 to 10 seconds.
In one embodiment, another way in which the personal data template 51 is loaded into the computer's resident memory 26 for use by the four frontal buttons 8-11 is to move (drag) the mouse pointer 50 over the FIRST NAME field label 56 in a displayed document 47 and let it hover for a period of time as seen in FIG. 14, while software 16, matches the FIRST NAME field label 56 in a displayed document 47 with the personal template field definition FIRST NAME 38. The same method of loading the personal data template 51 or any of the other templates 52-55 into the computer's resident memory 26 for use by the frontal buttons 8-11 of the pointing device 1 can be done by dragging the pointer 50 over any of the other field definitions 56 in a displayed document 47, such as LAST NAME, ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP CODE, PHONE, E-MAIL, USERNAME, PASSWORD, CREDIT CARD, etc. Any data field definitions 38 on a template of the software 16 matched with a word or symbol hovered upon for a period of time in a displayed document 47 will load the associated template 51-55 into the computer's resident memory 26 for use by the frontal buttons 8-11 of the mouse device 1. In one embodiment, to avoid template loading conflicts, identical data field definitions 38 would only be permissible on the same template 51.
Once the data from the personal information template 51 is loaded in the computer's resident memory 26, the eight fields of user personal data, as shown in FIG. 6, can be inserted into a desired field 48 on a displayed document 47 such as in FIG. 14 by the user moving and placing the cursor in the desired field 48, and clicking or double clicking any of the four frontal buttons 8-11 which will insert the corresponding data. For example as seen in FIG. 15, by pressing the frontal button 8 once (clicking) on the pointing device 1, it inserts the user's stored first name “Mitch”. Press button 8 twice (double clicking) to automatically insert the user's last name. Notice the insertion cursor is positioned at the end of “Mitch” after the “Mitch” text has been inserted. Then by pressing any of the other three buttons 9-11 either single or double click, the software 16 will input the corresponding information that was saved on the personal data template 51 in the database 40.
In one embodiment, the user inserts their personal data into a displayed document 47 after loading the data into the computer's resident memory 26 by the user simply placing the pointer 50 in the desired field 48 on the displayed document 47, and clicking or double clicking each of the four frontal buttons 8-11. In one embodiment, a user can move the cursor from one field 48 on a displayed document 47 to another field 49 by pressing and releasing one of the plurality of frontal buttons 8-11, traditional mouse buttons 4 or the wheel 6 by utilizing software 16 with options designed for this purpose.
FIG. 7 displays the username template 52 of the software 16 where the user would enter up to four specific usernames and passwords, which is saved into a database 40 by the user clicking the save button 37 at the bottom of the template 52. The user fills in the information accordingly. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIG. 7 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
After being saved, when the user intends to input this username data into a displayed document 47 on a displaying device 20, the user holds down frontal button 9 on the computer mouse for a period of time to load the saved data of the username template 52 into the computer's resident memory 26, which is then accessible by the user simply placing the cursor in the desired displayed document field 48 and dicking or double clicking each of the four frontal buttons 8-11. Another way in which the username template 52 is loaded into the computer's resident memory 26 for use by the pointing device's four buttons 8-11 is to move (drag) the mouse pointer 50 over the USERNAME field label 58 on a displayed document 47 and let it hover for a period of time as seen in FIG. 16 while software 16, matches the USERNAME field label 58 with the username template 52 field label USERNAME 60. Also in the same way, the username template 52 can be loaded by dragging the pointer 50 over the PASSWORD field label 57 while the software 16 matches “PASSWORD” with username template definition or label “PASSWORD” 61. In one embodiment, to avoid conflicts, identical data field definitions 38 would only be permissible on the same template 52.
Once the data from the username template 52 is loaded in the computer's resident memory 26, the eight cells of username and password data, as shown in FIG. 7, can be inserted into a field 48 on a displayed document 47 by the user simply placing the cursor in the desired field 48, and clicking or double clicking each of the four frontal buttons 8-11. For example as seen in FIG. 17, by pressing (clicking) button 8 once, the software 16 automatically inserts the username “Mitch” in the field 48 the cursor is in. Press button 8 twice (double clicking) to automatically insert the user's first password in the field 49 the cursor is in. Then by pressing any of the other three buttons 9-11 either single or double click, the software 16 will input the corresponding information that was saved on the username template 52 from the database 40.
FIG. 8 displays the credit card template screen of the software 16 where the user would store up to four credit, debit or charge cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Debit Card, Etc.) by choosing the type of card from the card dropdown menu 62, entering up to four specific credit card numbers and up to four specific expiration dates, which is then saved into a database 40 by the software 16 by the user clicking the save button 37 at the bottom of the credit card template 53. The user would fill in the information accordingly. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIG. 8 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
After being saved, when the user intends to input this credit card data into a displayed document 47, the user holds down frontal button 10 on the computer mouse for a period of time to load the credit card data template 53 into the computer's resident memory 26, which is then accessible by the mouse's four frontal buttons 8-11. Another way in which the credit card data template 53 is loaded in the computers resident memory 26 for use by buttons 8-11 is to move the mouse pointer 50 over the CREDIT CARD label 63 on a displayed document 47 as seen in FIG. 18 and let it hover for a period of time while software matches the CREDIT CARD field label 63 of the displayed document 47 with the credit card template definition “CREDIT CARD” 64 or matches the “VISA” label 65 in the displayed document with the “VISA” field definition 66.
Once the data from the credit card template 53 is loaded in the computer's resident memory 26, the eight cells of credit card number data and expiration date data, as shown in FIG. 8, can be pasted or inserted into a displayed document 47 such as FIG. 20 by the user simply placing the cursor in the desired recipient text field, and dicking or double dicking each of the four frontal buttons 8-11. For example as seen in FIG. 19, by pressing button 8 once (single click), it automatically inserts the user's first credit card number “4500001612344500” in the field 48 the cursor is in. In one embodiment, the single dick of button 8 when over or near the selection list field 65 of the displayed document 47 will automatically select the users type of credit card “VISA” that was saved in the credit card template 53. By pressing button 8 twice the expiration date of that card will be inserted in the expiration date field 115. Then by pressing any of the other three buttons 9-11, either single or double dick, the software 16 will input the corresponding information that was saved on the credit card template 53 from the database 40. In one embodiment, there is an additional column located on the credit card template 53 for each credit card's CID security number. Once saved in the template 53, a user can insert the CID number that was saved on the credit card template 53 from the database 40 by the user simply placing the cursor in the desired text field 48, and triple dicking a selected one of the four frontal buttons 8-11.
FIG. 9 displays the custom settings template 54 of the software 16 where the user would choose up to eight specific commands from a drop down menu 67 containing such commands as pasting custom text, opening a favorite website, open an internet browser, check email, compose a message, open a software program, launch instant messenger, print, open a file, paste a signature, dose a pop-up menu, etc., which is then saved into the database 40 by the software 16 by the user dicking on the save button 37 at the bottom of the template 54.
In one embodiment, the software 16 will allow the user to customize and add any command, combination of commands, and combination of commands and data insertion that the user would want. In one embodiment, the drop down list commands 67 can be customized and used multiple times with similar or different settings on each. For example, the user may want to customize all eight commands on the custom settings template to open eight different websites. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIG. 9 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
After being saved, when the user intends to initiate one of the said commands, the user simply holds down frontal button 11 on the mouse device 1 for a period of time to load the custom settings template 54 into the computer's resident memory 26, which is then accessible by the frontal buttons 8-11 of the pointing device.
Once the data from the custom settings template 54 is loaded in the computer's resident memory 26, the eight cells of commands, as shown in FIG. 9, can be initiated by the user simply clicking or double clicking each of the four frontal buttons 8-11 with the pointer 50 anywhere on a displayed document. For example, if the following commands were stored in the computer's resident memory 26, pressing button 8 once would automatically open the users chosen internet browser. Pressing button 8 twice would launch the user's chosen website. If any of the selected commands involve pasting or inputting information (such as general text, or signature) into the displayed document 47, the user would first place or drag the cursor to the desired field 48, and then click or double dick the corresponding frontal button 8-11. Then by pressing any of the other three frontal buttons, either single or double click, the software 16 will activate the corresponding information or command that was saved on the custom settings template 54 in the database 40.
FIG. 10 displays the Administrator Preferences template screen of the software. The screen would allow the administrator control over the options of the software 16. In one embodiment of the software, the administrator has such options by placing a checkmark in the appropriate box, as disabling the login feature 69 (appropriate for single users only), automatically disabling the macros after a chosen length of time of non-activity 70, changing the user's username and password 71, and completely deleting usernames. In one embodiment, at the bottom of the screen there are directions for displaying the mouse software, launching the summary page, disabling the macros (log off), logging back in, and other features. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIG. 10 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting. In one embodiment, only the administrator or owner would have access to the screen of FIG. 10, and other users would have access to a limited preferences screen without features that may effect other users.
FIG. 11 displays a button summary template which gives the user a summary of the data they've saved in the database 40 for each of the four main templates 51-54 in one screen view. In one embodiment, when logged in, a user can view this screen simply pressing on the wheel 6 of the pointing device 1 for at least two seconds. When not logged in, pressing on the wheel 6 of the pointing device 1 for at least two seconds would activate the user sign-in screen of FIG. 4. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIG. 11 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
FIG. 12 displays a sample of confirmation pop-ups of the loaded template. In one embodiment, each loaded template 51-55 has a pop-up confirmation window 68 which appears briefly for a time (approximately for 1 second) on the display device 20 then automatically doses whenever the user changes the template 51-55 loaded in the computer's resident memory 26 by pressing the chosen frontal buttons 8-11 on the computer mouse 1 for a period of time, or when the pointer 50 hovers over one of the identifier labels 56 in the personal, username or credit card templates 51-53 for loading that template, or when the user logs off and removes all templates loaded into the computer's resident memory 26 by pressing any two of the frontal buttons 8-11 at the same time for approximately 3 seconds. In one embodiment, the pop-ups are replaced with a chime or signature tone (such as the one that is played when Microsoft Windows is opened) that plays to inform the user that a template has been loaded. In one embodiment, the loading of each template & logging on and off by a user activates a different chime or signature tone. In one embodiment, a user can customize or select a different chime or signature tone for the leading of each template or for logging on and off. In one embodiment, each user identified with a username and password has a different one or set of chimes or signature tones.
FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a representative computer system 12 that is used with the improved mouse embodiment 1 of the current invention, and displays a multi-conductor cable 30 having a cord end which plugs into a port on a computer 12 that is common with conventional desktop mice. In one embodiment, a cable 30 would not be present on the improved mouse 1, which communicates with a computer 12 through wireless communication such as infrared light for example only, and which contains a battery to provide electrical power to the circuitry of mouse's circuit board. The computer system 12 may include a display device 20, a chassis 21, and one or more user input devices, of which one of these is the mouse device 1 and a keyboard 23. The mouse device 1 is connected to the computer system 12 by a cable 30. The chassis 21 may house a permanent storage system 24, such as a hard disk drive, optical disk drive, tape drive, flash drive, or the like, which may store one or more software applications such as a web browser application 25, and the mouse software 16. The client computer system 12 may have a memory 26 resident therein and the software application(s) from the disk 24 may be transferred to the memory 26 to be executed by a CPU 18 in the computer system 12. The browser application 25 may be configured to connect the client computer system 12 with other machines 12 in the network 14 and receive graphical information (i.e., web pages) that may be displayed on the display device 20 to a user. The browser application 25 may also permit the client computer systems 12 to interact with the other machines 12. The mouse software 16 may have one or several databases 40 that will be stored in the permanent storage system 24, on a removable storage system, or on a server 73 and may be accessed by at least one pointing device 1 connected to the network 14. In one embodiment, the database 40 will be encrypted for consumer and system protection.
In one embodiment, the software 16 is designed for multiple users each having their own interchangeable data in a template database 40 with password protection.
With regard to FIGS. 4 and 5 and the discussion above, each time a new user is created by the administrator or new user, a new template database 40 is created. Each of these template databases 40 can be used separately to create, store and load (assign) different templates of stored data into the computer's resident memory 26 to be activated by the frontal buttons 8-11 of the improved mouse device 1. Thus even a single user may create, as in FIG. 5, multiple sets of templates or template databases for different uses or purposes, for example, one for work and one for home addresses and passwords. Then all that user has to do to in order to quickly or conveniently switch between them is to log out one of them and log in another, as shown in FIG. 4.
FIGS. 20-21 Another embodiment of the invention is to incorporate a method of conveniently inserting macro data into specific input fields 48 on a displayed document 47 that have been marked with a tag or similar markup language. One example of these tags is defined in the ECML (Electronic Commerce Modeling Language) proposed standard, found in the document at http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3106.txt, hereby incorporated by reference. The ECML language or similar script or computer language works like HTML in providing markup document tags that go beyond known HTML functions by providing the location and identification of input fields and form field fill-ins.
Thus, in one embodiment an autofill template 55 is in the software 16, and contains four autofill sub-templates 74-77 for a user to program and store up to four different sets of autofill data (for example, home address, business address, vacation home address, parent's home address, children's home address, different credit cards, etc). FIG. 20 illustrates where a user types in with the keyboard 23 their personal data 79, such as name, address, city, state, zip code, phone number, country, email address, and their credit card data 80, such as credit card number, name on card, type of card, expiration date and verification code, which is saved into a database 40 represented as the data of “button #1 autofill” 74 by the user clicking on the save button 37. The user can save three additional “sets” of autofill information by clicking button #2 autofill sub-template 75, button #3 autofill sub-template 76, button #4 autofill sub-template 77. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIGS. 21-22 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
In each of the autofill sub-templates, the user has the option to store an alternate shipping address by clicking in the add/edit alternate address button 78. and filling in the alternate shipping address pop-up template 108 as seen in FIG. 21.
In one embodiment, after being saved, when the user intends to input this autofill data into a displayed document 47, the user holds down frontal button 8 on the mouse device 1 for a period of time, to load the data from the autofill data template 55 into the computer's resident memory 26, which contains the data of the four different sub-templates, and is accessible by the user clicking or double clicking buttons 8-11 on the computer mouse 1. A period of time is within a range of 0.25 to 10 seconds.
Then, the field labels in the sub-templates 74-77 activated by the first, second, third and fourth frontal mouse buttons 8-11 are matched with the marked language or ECML like tags in the displayed document 47 to be filled in. When a match is made data from the sub-template that matches the field is automatically filled in (or inputted) into the corresponding input fields by the user single clicking or double clicking a selected one of the mouse frontal buttons 8-11. It is not necessary that all the field labels in a sub-template page of the database have a match with the marked language or ECML like tags. In that case the input field will stay blank and the user still has the opportunity to fill in with text via keyboard or activation of the macro buttons in the other methods discussed above.
FIG. 20 illustrates that each of the sub-templates 74-77 controlled by the mouse frontal buttons 8-11 have a separate section of macro data to be created, stored, loaded and activated for a single click 79 and a double click 80 of each of the mouse frontal buttons 8-11. In this embodiment, a user can autofill their personal information 79 in a displayed document with a single click without entering their credit card information 80. The separation of personal and credit card data insertion acts as an additional safety mechanism.
If the user has decided they want to insert their credit card information, they simply double dick a selected one of the frontal buttons 8-11 to insert the corresponding credit card data 80. In addition, by separating the personal data 79 and credit card data 80 into different clicks, a user may choose to autofill the personal data of one sub-template 74 and the credit card of another sub-template 75. For example, once the autofill template 55 is loaded into the computer's resident memory 26, a user could insert the autofill personal information 79 of the button #1 autofill sub-template 74 by single clicking the frontal button 8 on the mouse device 1, and could insert the autofill credit card information 80 of the button #3 autofill sub-template 76 by double clicking the frontal button 10 on the mouse device 1.
FIG. 22 is an alternate button summary screen as described in FIG. 11. In FIG. 22, a user can see the data they stored in the autofill sub-templates 74-77 by clicking each of the summary button links 81-84. Upon clicking each of the mentioned links 81-84, the user would be brought directly to the corresponding sub-template page 74-77 showing their stored data. In one embodiment, the autofill sub-template data would appear directly on the screen of FIG. 22. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIG. 22 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
FIG. 23 illustrates an alternate administrator preferences screen as described in FIG. 10. In one embodiment as seen in FIG. 23 the administrator has the option 85 to create a password or code representing a password which is on the keyboard or is a sequence of the four frontal buttons 8-11 pressed in an order that will allow immediate logging in of the user for his stored templates in the database. For example, with four buttons 8-11 on the mouse device 1, a code such 3-4-1-3 maybe entered as a password in FIG. 4 or 5. Then, while using the mouse the user can load the template database accessible by the user by simply clicking on the buttons (3)10-(4)11-(1)8-(3)10 which are the third, fourth first and third frontal mouse buttons. In one embodiment, only the administrator or owner would have access to the screen of FIG. 23, and other users would have access to a limited preferences screen without features that may effect other users.
FIG. 23 also illustrates another alternative way of logging in a new user. In one embodiment, the mouse device 1 or the computer system 12 contains a biometric sensor that can be tied to trigger the immediate login of a particular user. The administrative preference page of FIG. 23, provides a check box 86 for using the biometric sensor for logging in. Another embodiment as seen in FIG. 23 is the checkbox option 87 to activate the feature of automatically loading the templates 51-54 containing field definitions 38 matched with field definitions 58 hovered over by the pointer 50 on a displayed document 47, and the check box option 88 to highlight the fields 48 of a displayed document 47 that have been marked with a tag or a marked language that the software 16 recognizes and has successfully matched with the field labels of the sub-templates 74-77. Another embodiment as seen in FIG. 23 is the checkbox option 89 to disable the template change confirmation pop-ups as described in FIG. 12. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIG. 23 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
FIG. 24 displays a view of a popup help window 109 of the alternate administrators preferences window of FIG. 23, which pops up on the display device 20 when the “HELP” button 90 in FIG. 23 is clicked to provide further instructions regarding the software and the administrator's instructions.
FIG. 25 is a view of an alternate administrator preferences window of FIG. 23 showing an additional feature allowing the user to modify the names of the templates 51-54 and field labels 38 of the templates for each of the buttons 9-11 on the mouse. As shown in FIG. 23, the first template customization button 91 is shown ghosted because it is the button for activating and creating the autofill data, and does not need to be modified. The screen in FIG. 25 is useful for changing the organization of the data to be stored and identified with the field labels or data definitions 38 in each template 51-54. Also, the screen in FIG. 25 is useful for providing new field labels 38 in the templates 51-54 which when matched with the field labels 58 or selected words of a displayed document, loads the matched template data into the buttons 8-11 as mentioned above with regard to FIGS. 6-8. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIG. 25 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
The present invention, in one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 26-27, is an improved remote control device 92 including a housing/body 93, electronic circuitry within the housing, signal projecting technology 94 for sending signals to a receiver, standard depressible buttons 95 currently available on a remote control and a plurality of externally mounted buttons 8-11 that are in addition to the standard depressible buttons 95, which are exposed on the housing and are electronically connected with circuitry. The external buttons 8-11 are mounted in such a way as to provide for easy access by the operator. At least some or all of the external finger depressible buttons 8-11 are for user selection of signals to be sent to the computer 12 for the purpose of initiating functioning macros, inputting specified user data into a displayed document, or launching user pre-selected commands. A displayed document can be a form, webpage, document, graphical user interface, query, video, interactive videogame, slideshow, animation or any interface on a display device which receives data.
In one embodiment, the plurality of front mounted buttons 8-11 on the present remote control 92 are associated with electronic switches that allow for at least three input stages; pressing and holding, pressing at least once, and pressing at least twice. In one embodiment, the software 16 is designed whereby the buttons that are for user selection of signals to be sent to the computer 12 for the purpose of initiating functioning macros, inputting specified user data into a displayed document, or launching user pre-selected commands are the standard depressible buttons 95 already available on a remote control.
The circuitry is structured to read an immediate, instant or current state or value of the electronic switches and to communicate representative control signals to the associated specialized software 16 developed for this purpose.
FIG. 27 shows a screen similar to FIG. 6 whereby data is to be programmed, stored, however upon selection is loaded into the computer's resident memory 26 to be used with the frontal buttons 8-11 of the remote control 92 by entering a username and password as explained with the computer mouse embodiment in FIGS. 4-5. In one embodiment, the software 16 is designed to provide all of the similar functionalities with the frontal buttons 8-11 of the remote control 92 as with the frontal buttons 8-11 of the mouse device 1, as previously explained in the computer mouse embodiment 1 of the present invention. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIG. 28 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
In one embodiment of the current invention the database 40 of the software 16 is stored on a permanent storage system 24 or server 73 and would be accessible to all pointing devices connected to the network 14 or server 73 via usernames and passwords or other security related features. This will allow a user access to their database anywhere on the network 14 regardless of which pointing device they were using, providing the design of the device incorporated the present invention.
FIG. 27 In one embodiment, the remote control 92 or wireless pointing device is assigned a unique MAC ID address or similar unique identifier and is recognizable by the software 16 through wireless means. Once recognized by the software 16, the user will have the option to assign a name to the device 92, for example “Remote control 1” 97 and can access, load and activate their database 40 of personal data through this particular device 92 into a displayed document 47 by selecting the device 92 in a drop down box 96 on a screen of the software 16.
Once selected in the drop down box 96, when the user is logged in and presses a selected one of the frontal buttons 8-11 on the remote control, the associated MAC ID address of the remote control 92 is attached to the signaled command and once the software 16 recognizes and matches the attached MAC ID address or other identifier with the one of the device 92 chosen in the drop down box 96 of the software 16, it facilitates the desired command. In this embodiment, several remote controls 92 can be used by several users with different databases 40 simultaneously on the same network or server to program, access, load, and activate their databases of data without compromising security or usability. In one embodiment, a user can select more than one pointing device to access their information on simultaneously by pressing and holding the control key on the keyboard 23 while selecting the devices 92 from a list in the pointing device drop down box 96 and saving their selection by clicking on the save button 37 at the bottom of the screen of the software 16. This would allow a user the convenience to access, load, and activate their database of data from a computer mouse, trackball, remote control, gaming device, or any device with external buttons designed to work with the software 16 simultaneously, without the task of changing approved devices 92 in the drop down box 96 of the software 16.
In one embodiment, a user can log into the software 16 by pressing a sequence of buttons on the remote control 92 which represents a password. In one embodiment, the remote control 92 contains a biometric sensor that can be tied to trigger the immediate login of a particular user.
The present invention, in one embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 28-29, is an improved gaming device 98 including a housing/body 103, electronic circuitry within the housing, signal projecting technology 94 for sending signals to a receiver, battery or similar power means, standard depressible buttons 95 currently available on a remote control and a plurality of externally mounted buttons 8-11 that are in addition to the standard depressible buttons 95, which are exposed on the housing and are electronically connected with circuitry. The external buttons 8-11 are mounted in such a way as to provide for easy access by the operator. At least some or all of the external finger depressible buttons 8-11 are for user selection of signals to be sent to the computer 12 device for the purpose of initiating functioning macros, inputting specified user data or launching user pre-selected commands within interactive games on multimedia devices, video game machines, personal computers, and games played over a global computer network.
In one embodiment, the software 16 is designed whereby the buttons that are for user selection of signals to be sent to the computer 12 for the purpose of initiating functioning macros, inputting specified user data or launching user pre-selected commands within interactive games on multimedia devices, video game machines, personal computers, and games played over a global computer network are the standard depressible buttons 95 already available on a gaming device. In one embodiment, the gaming device 98 contains the CPU 18, power source, permanent storage system 24, resident memory 26, software 16, and display device 20 and is a stand-alone, independent gaming device.
In one embodiment, the computer 12 is a multimedia device, or is designed primarily for the function of games and houses a CPU 18, and a permanent storage device 24 and is connected to a display device 20, such a Sony's Playstation and Microsoft's X-Box. In one embodiment, the software 16 is designed primarily for operating interactive games on multimedia devices, video game machines, personal computers, and games played over a global computer network. The gaming device 97 can be connected to the computer either through a multi-conductor cable 30 or through wireless means.
In one embodiment, the plurality of front mounted buttons 8-11 on the present gaming device 98 are associated with electronic switches that allow for at least three input stages; pressing and holding, pressing at least once, and pressing at least twice.
The circuitry is structured to read an immediate, instant or current state or value of the electronic switches and to communicate representative control signals to the associated specialized software 16 developed for this purpose.
FIG. 29 shows the screen where a user programs and saves their data in templates 99-102, which function similar to the templates 51-55 described in the computer mouse embodiment of the present invention, where saved data can be loaded into the computer's resident memory 26 to be used with the frontal buttons 8-11 of the gaming device 98 by entering a username and password as explained with the computer mouse embodiment in FIGS. 4-5.
In one embodiment, the software 16 is designed to provide all of the similar functionalities with the frontal buttons 8-11 of the gaming device 98 as with the frontal buttons 8-11 of the mouse device 1, as previously explained in the computer mouse embodiment of the present invention.
In one embodiment of the current invention the database 40 of the software 16 is stored on a permanent storage system 24 or server 73 and would be accessible to all pointing devices connected to the network 14 or server 73 via usernames and passwords or other security related features. This will allow a user access to their database anywhere on the network 14 regardless of which pointing device they were using, providing the design of the device incorporated the present invention.
FIG. 29 In one embodiment, the gaming device 98 is assigned a unique MAC ID address or similar unique identifier and is recognizable by the software 16 through wireless means. Once recognized by the software 16, the user will have the option to assign a name to the gaming device 98, for example “Gaming device 1,” 104 and can access, load and activate their database 40 of personal data through this particular device 98 into a game on a multimedia device, video game machine, personal computer 12, and game played over a global computer network 14 by selecting the identified device 98 in a drop down box 96 on a screen of the software 16. Once selected in the drop down box 96, and saved 37 by the user, when logged in, the user presses a selected one of the frontal buttons 8-11 on the gaming device 98, the associated MAC ID address of the gaming device 98 is attached to the signaled command and once the software 16 recognizes and matches the attached MAC ID address or other identifier with the one of the gaming device 98 chosen in the drop down box 96 of the software 16, it facilitates the desired command. In this embodiment, several gaming devices 98 can be used by several users with different databases 40 simultaneously on the same network 14 to access, load, and activate their databases 40 of data without compromising security or usability. For example several users can participate in the same computer game and compete against each other on a single computer 12 or on a network 14, each using their own gaming device 98 and accessing their own database 40 of character templates 99-102 and stored characteristics 105 simultaneously.
In one embodiment, a user can select more than one gaming device to access their information on simultaneously by pressing and holding the control key on the keyboard 23 while selecting the devices 98 from a list in the device drop down box 96 and saving their selection by clicking on the save button 37 at the bottom of the screen of the software 16. This would allow a user the convenience to access, load, and activate their database of data from multiple devices with external buttons designed to work with the software 16 simultaneously, without the task of changing approved devices 98 in the drop down box 96 of the software 16.
In one embodiment, a user can log into the software 16 by pressing a sequence of buttons on the gaming device 98 which represents a password. In one embodiment, the gaming device 98 contains a biometric sensor that can be tied to trigger the immediate login of a particular user.
FIG. 29 In one embodiment, the software 16 is designed specifically to enhance the use of computer games on a multimedia device, video game machine, personal computer 12, and game played over a global computer network 14, and is designed for a user to choose from a pre-created list or to create their own characters with characteristics that can be stored in the database 40 through customized templates 99-102 designed for this purpose.
FIG. 29 displays the Character 3 template screen 101 of the software 16 designed for the gaming device embodiment of the present invention where a user chooses up to eight characteristics to store from a drop down box 105, or from another form of a database of characteristics, for example weapons or super powers that will be associated with character 3 in the computer game, which is saved into a database 40 by the user clicking on the save button 37.
In one embodiment, a user is given the ability to customize, combine, mix, or create up to eight different characteristics, for example, customized weapons or super powers, that will be saved into a database, and accessible in the computer game through the use of the frontal buttons 8-11 of the gaming device 98.
In one embodiment, the choices of characteristics a user can choose from are in the form of text, graphics, music, sounds, video, animation, game or animation sequences, additional characters, or a combination thereof. In one embodiment, The user is given the ability to modify the names of the templates 99-102, and field labels 106 of the templates for each of the buttons 8-11 on the gaming device 98.
In one embodiment, the templates 99-102, field options 105, and field definitions 106, can be customized to each computer game. For example, in one game the templates 99-102, field options 105, and field definitions 106 consist of characters and weapons abilities, and in another game the templates 99-102, field options 105, and field definitions 106 consist of sports cars and racing abilities. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIG. 29 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
After being saved, when the user starts a computer game designed to work with the software 16 and frontal buttons 8-11 of the gaming device 98, logs in with a password, and desires to be loaded into the computer game as character 3 in the computer game, the user holds down frontal button 11 on the gaming device 98 for a period of time, to load the saved characteristics 105 from the character 3 template 101 into the computer's resident memory 26, which is then accessible by the user dicking or double clicking each of the four frontal buttons 8-11. A period of time is within a range of 0.25 to 10 seconds.
In one embodiment, another way in which the character templates 99-102 are loaded into the computer's resident memory 26 for use by the four frontal buttons 8-11 is to move (drag) the pointing device 50 (or a similar pointing indicator that determines where the control point of a user is on a display device 20) over a predetermined identifier or activation mark, such as a certain colored rock which will periodically appear in the screen of the computer game sequence, and let it hover over it for a period of time while software 16, matches the identifier or activation mark field label with a field label of the template 101. The same method of loading any of the other templates 99-102 into the computer's resident memory 26 for use by the frontal buttons 8-11 of the gaming device 98 applies; each template having it's own distinct identifier or activation mark.
In one embodiment, the user is given the option to choose from a list of identifiers or activation marks to match with the loading of the templates 99-102. In one embodiment, the identifier or activation mark is an event that occurs in the computer game. In one embodiment, the user can create their own customized identifier or activation mark or event through specialized buttons and templates on the preferences screen 107 designed for this purpose. In one embodiment, to avoid template loading conflicts, identical activation marks for the different templates 99-102 would not be permissible in the same computer game for a single username.
Once the data from the character 3 template 101 is loaded in the computer's resident memory 26, the eight fields of characteristics 105, as shown in FIG. 29, can be activated by the user clicking or double clicking any of the four frontal buttons 8-11 which will activate the corresponding stored characteristic, then utilizing the characteristic in the computer game through the use of the traditional buttons 95 of the gaming device 98. For example, once character 3 is loaded in the computer's resident memory, pressing the frontal button 8 once (single clicking) on the gaming device 98, it inserts an axe for the character to use in the computer game. Press button 8 twice (double clicking) to automatically insert a handgun for the character to use in the computer game.
If the user desires to manually change characters during the process of the computer game (and not wait for an activation mark or event), the user would simply hold down a different frontal, for example button 9 on the gaming device 98 for a period of time, to load the saved characteristics 105 from the character 2 template 100 into the computer's resident memory 26, which is then accessible by the user clicking or double clicking each of the four frontal buttons 8-11. A period of time is within a range of 0.25 to 10 seconds.
The present invention, in one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 30, is an improved PDA device 110 with internet access including a housing/body 111, electronic circuitry within the housing, signal projecting/receiving technology 112 for receiving signals and for sending signals to a receiver, at least one pointing device integrated into the PDA, a display device 114, standard depressible buttons 113 currently available on a PDA device and a plurality of externally mounted buttons 8-11 that are in addition to the standard depressible buttons 113, which are exposed on the housing and are electronically connected with circuitry. The external buttons 8-11 are mounted in such a way as to provide for easy access by the operator. At least some or all of the external finger depressible buttons 8-11 are for user selection of signals to be sent to the CPU 18 of the PDA 110 for the purpose of initiating functioning macros, inputting specified user data into a displayed document on the display device 114, or launching user pre-selected commands. A displayed document can be a form, webpage, document, graphical user interface, query, video, videogame, slideshow, animated presence or any presence on a display device which receives data.
In one embodiment, the plurality of front mounted buttons 8-11 on the present improved PDA device 110 are associated with electronic switches that allow for at least three input stages; pressing and holding, pressing at least once, and pressing at least twice.
The circuitry is structured to read an immediate, instant or current state or value of the electronic switches and to communicate representative control signals to the associated specialized software 16 developed for this purpose.
In one embodiment, the software 16 is designed whereby the buttons that are for user selection of signals to be sent to the CPU 18 of the PDA device 110 for the purpose of initiating functioning macros, inputting specified user data into a displayed document, or launching user pre-selected commands are the standard depressible buttons 113 currently available on a PDA.
In one embodiment, the PDA device is a wireless phone, whereby the pressing and holding of select buttons loads different templates of data into the phone's resident memory 26 for use by the standard buttons 113 or by the frontal buttons 8-11 of the wireless phone device 110. For example, many wireless phones give the user an option to “speed-dial” a phone number by pressing and holding a selected one of the traditional number buttons 113 for a period of time. However, users are typically limited to only storing 9 speed-dial numbers (button 0-button 9), and have to use multiple “slots” to dial different numbers of the same person (work, home, cell etc.). In this embodiment of the present invention, a user can press and hold a selected frontal button 8-11 for a period of time to load a template, (for example, work numbers template, friends template, family template, etc.) upon when loaded into the phone's resident memory will activate the speed-dial data, for example, of 9 people. Once the data is loaded, the user can speed-dial the stored phone number of a chosen person (for example, home phone number) with at least a single dick on one of the traditional buttons (button 0-button 9) of the phone. A user can then speed-dial a second phone number of the same chosen person (for example, cellular phone number) with at least a double click on one of the traditional buttons (button 0-button 9) of the phone. A user can even speed-dial a third phone number of the same chosen person (for example, work phone number) with at least a triple click on one of the traditional buttons (button 0-button 9) of the phone through circuitry and software designed for this purpose.
FIG. 30 shows the display device 114 of the improved PDA device 110 where a user selects their templates 51-55 and saved data to be loaded into the PDA's resident memory 26 to be used with the frontal buttons 8-11 of the PDA device 110. In one embodiment, the software 16 is designed to provide all of the similar functionalities with the frontal buttons 8-11 of the PDA device 110 as with the frontal buttons 8-11 of the computer mouse 1, as previously explained in the computer mouse embodiment of the present invention. The number and format of fields and templates presented in FIG. 30 should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
In one embodiment of the current invention the database 40 of the software 16 is stored in a permanent storage system 24 within the PDA device. In one embodiment, the database 40 of the software 16 is stored on a network 14 or server 73, and would be accessible to all devices utilizing software 16 designed for this purpose which are connected to the network 14 or server 73 via usernames and passwords or other security related features. This will allow a user access to their database anywhere on the network 14 regardless of which PDA 110 or device they were using, providing the design of the device 110 incorporated the present invention.
The previously described version of the present invention has many advantages. A pointing device or PDA that specifically addresses the use of front mounted buttons for initiating functioning macros, inputting user data, or launching user pre-selected commands substantially departs itself from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus developed for the purpose of effectively and efficiently inputting user data that is many times requested and used in a repetitious manner in displayed documents without depending on a secondary data input device, such as the conventional keyboard.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other versions are possible. Therefore, the point and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
The process of using the pointing device system to input data from a database to a displayed document through first loading the data into a computer's resident memory, is also presented for the purpose of the description and should not be viewed as fixed or limiting.
As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided.
With respect to the above description, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a computer pointing device having a plurality of buttons;

a press and hold of a selected one of the buttons for a period of time loads a selected one of a plurality of templates;

the selected one of the templates defines at least a single dick macro data for each one of the plurality of buttons;

at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends macro data to an input on a displayed document controlled by an indicator moved by the computer pointing device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the period of time is in a range between 0.25 to 10 seconds.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the indicator is a selected one of a pointer and a point of control on the displayed document by the pointing device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the pointing device is a selected one of a computer mouse, trackball, joystick, gaming device, PDA and remote control.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein pressing a selected one of the plurality of buttons moves the indicator of the computer pointing device from one field on the displayed document to another field.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the macro data is a selected one of text data, image data, audio data, video data, and programming code.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the displayed document is a selected one of a form, webpage, GUI, document, query, animated sequence, video sequence and interactive game.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends macro data to an input on a displayed document based on a position of an indicator moved by the computer pointing device.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each one of the templates defines the at least one single click and a at least one double click macro data for each one of the plurality of buttons;

each one of the at least one single click and at least one double click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends macro data to the input on the displayed document controlled by the indicator moved by the computer pointing device.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plurality of templates are programmed by storing macro data into data fields of a database having unique definitions for each data field and associated rows and columns for each of the number of clicks and number of the buttons.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein a markup language is recognized in the displayed document and;

the unique definitions in at least one of the plurality of templates are matched with tags in the markup language and the corresponding macro data of the template is sent to the input on the document associated with the tag with at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the unique definitions for each data field in the plurality of templates can be modified.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein at least one of the templates in a database is selected by logging in a user with a username and password.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein at least one of the templates in a database is selected by clicking on a sequence of buttons on a selected one of a keyboard and the pointing device representing the password.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein at least one of the templates in a database is selected by input to a biometric sensor.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein at least one database of templates is stored on a selected one of a permanent storage system, a removable storage system, and an online server with security features and is accessible by other devices on a network.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the pointing device is assigned a unique identity and signals sent from the pointing device are connected to the unique identity;

at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons determines the macro data to input on a displayed document controlled by an indicator moved by the pointing device.

18. An apparatus comprising:

a computer pointing device having a plurality of buttons;

a movement of the indicator controlled by the pointing device over an identifier on a displayed document is recognized and matched with identifiers unique to one of a plurality of templates to select a template;

the selected template defines at least a single click macro data for each one of the plurality of buttons;

at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends macro data to an input on a displayed document controlled by an indicator moved by a computer pointing device.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the indicator is a selected one of a pointer and a point of control on the displayed document by the pointing device.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the identifier on the displayed document is a selected one of at least one word of text, an activation mark and a graphical image.

21. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the occurrence of an event in a videogame sequence is recognized and matched with identifiers unique to one of a plurality of templates to select a template;

at least a single dick on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends macro data to the input on the displayed document controlled by the indicator moved by the computer pointing device.

22. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein each one of the templates defines the at least one single and a at least one double dick macro data for each one of the plurality of buttons;

23. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the macro data is a selected one of text data, image data, audio data, video data, and programming code.

24. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the displayed document is a selected one of a form, webpage, GUI, document, query, animated sequence, video sequence and interactive game.

25. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the pointing device is a selected one of a computer mouse, trackball, joystick, gaming device, PDA and remote control.

26. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein pressing a selected one of the plurality of buttons moves the indicator of the computer pointing device from one field on the displayed document to another field.

27. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the plurality of templates are programmed by storing macro data into data fields of a database having unique definitions for each data field and associated rows and columns for each of the number of clicks and number of the buttons; and

wherein the identifiers unique to each one of the plurality of templates are data definitions of each field.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein at least one of the templates in the database is selected by logging in a user with a username and password.

29. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein at least one of the templates in the database is selected by clicking on a sequence of buttons on a selected one of a keyboard and the pointing device representing the password.

30. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein at least one of the templates in a database is selected by input to a biometric sensor.

31. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein a markup language is recognized in the displayed document and;

the unique definitions in the plurality of templates are matched with tags in the markup language and the corresponding macro data of the template is sent to the input on the document associated with the tag with at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons.

32. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the unique definitions for each data field in the plurality of templates can be modified.

33. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein at least one database of templates is stored on a selected one of a permanent storage system, a removable storage system, and an online server with security features and is accessible by other devices on a network.

34. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein the pointing device is assigned a unique identity and signals sent from the pointing device are connected to the unique identity;

at least a single dick on a selected one of the plurality of buttons determines the macro data to input on a displayed document controlled by an indicator moved by the pointing device.

35. A method for filling in a displayed document with a computer pointing device having a plurality of buttons comprising:

assigning and storing a first unique macro data to each one of the plurality of buttons;

assigning and storing a second unique macro data to each one of the plurality of buttons;

clicking at least once on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends a first unique macro data corresponding to the selected one of the plurality of buttons to an input in the displayed document controlled by an indicator moved by the computer pointing device and;

clicking at least twice on a selected one of the plurality of buttons sends a second unique macro data corresponding to the selected one of the plurality of buttons to an input in the displayed document controlled by an indicator moved by the computer pointing device.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the indicator is a selected one of a pointer and a point of control on the displayed document by the pointing device.

37. The method of claim 35 wherein the pointing device is a selected one of a computer mouse, trackball, joystick, gaming device, PDA and remote control.

38. The method of claim 35 comprising:

moving the indicator controlled by the computer pointing device from one field on the displayed document to another filed by pressing a selected one of the plurality of buttons.

39. The method of claim 35 wherein the steps of assigning and storing the first and the second unique macro data are repeated for a plurality of templates the number of which corresponds to the number of the plurality of buttons and comprising:

a pressing and holding for a time and release of a selected one of the buttons loads an assigned one of the plurality of templates.

40. The method of claim 35 wherein the steps of assigning and storing the first and the second unique macro data are repeated for a plurality of templates the number of which corresponds to the number of the plurality of buttons and comprising:

organizing the plurality of templates in a database;

programming the plurality of templates by storing macro data into data fields of a database having unique definitions for each data field and having associated rows and columns for each of the number of clicks and number of buttons;

recognizing an identifier in the displayed document under the pointing device indicator;

matching the identifier with the unique definitions corresponding to one of the templates and;

loading the matched template.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein the identifier on the displayed document is a selected one of at least one word of text, an activation mark and a graphical image.

42. The method of claim 40 comprising:

recognizing the occurrence of an event in a videogame sequence;

matching the event with the unique definitions corresponding to one of the templates and;

loading the matched template.

43. The method of claim 35 comprising:

organizing the plurality of templates in a database and;

programming the plurality of templates by storing macro data into data fields of a database having unique definitions for each data field and having associated rows and columns for each of the number of clicks and number of buttons.

44. The method of claim 43 comprising:

selecting at least one template from the database for a user by entering a username and password.

45. The method of claim 44 comprising a step of entering the password by pressing a sequence of buttons on a selected one of a keyboard and the pointing device representing the password.

46. The method of claim 43 comprising:

selecting at least one template from the database for a user by entering his biometric data.

47. The method of claim 43 comprising:

recognizing an identifier in the displayed document under the indicator moved by the pointing device and;

matching the identifier with the unique data field definitions corresponding to one of the templates;

loading the matched template.

48. The method of claim 43 comprising:

recognizing a markup language in the displayed document;

matching the unique data field definitions in at least one of the plurality of templates with tags in the markup language and;

sending the corresponding macro data of the template to the input on the document associated with the tag with at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons.

49. The method of claim 43 comprising:

modifying the unique definitions for each data field in the plurality of templates.

50. The method of claim 35 wherein the macro data is a selected one of text data, image data, audio data, video data, and programming code.

51. The method of claim 35 wherein the displayed document is a selected one of a form, webpage, document, GUI, query, animated sequence, video sequence and interactive game.

52. The method of claim 35 wherein the steps of assigning and storing the first and the second unique macro data are repeated for a first and second one of a plurality of templates and comprising:

organizing the first and second plurality of templates in a database such that the number of the first and second plurality of templates correspond to the number of buttons;

programming the first and second plurality of templates by storing macro data into data fields of a database having unique definitions for each data field and having associated rows and columns for each of the number of clicks and number of buttons;

when a markup language is recognized in the displayed document;

matching the unique definitions in the second plurality of templates with tags in the markup language;

sending the corresponding macro data of the second plurality of template to the input on the displayed document associated with the tag with at least a single click on a selected one of the plurality of buttons;

when a markup language is not recognized in the displayed document a pressing and holding for a period of time and release of a selected one of the buttons loading an assigned one of the first plurality of templates;

matching the identifier with unique definitions corresponding one of the first plurality of templates and;

loading the template in the first plurality that has the definition that matches.

53. The method of claim 40 wherein the unique definitions corresponding one of the first plurality of templates represent data definitions of each field.

54. The method of claim 40 wherein the period of time is in a range between 0.25 to 10 seconds.

55. The method of claim 40 comprising:

storing at least one database of templates on a selected one of a permanent storage system, a removable storage system, and an online server with security features and is accessible by other devices on a network.

56. The method of claim 35 wherein the steps of assigning and storing the first and the second unique macro data are repeated for a plurality of templates the number of which corresponds to the number of the plurality of buttons comprising:

organizing the plurality of templates in a database;

programming the plurality of templates by selecting at least one pointing device with a unique identity to receive commands from;

receiving commands attached with the unique identifier from at least one pointing device to send macro data of the template to the input on the document;

matching the attached unique identifier with one selected in the template programming step and;

sending the corresponding macro data of the template to the input on the document.