WO2016018331A1

WO2016018331A1 - Cursor locator

Info

Publication number: WO2016018331A1
Application number: PCT/US2014/049021
Authority: WO
Inventors: Cruz L. MARTINEZ; Juan Martinez
Original assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Priority date: 2014-07-31
Filing date: 2014-07-31
Publication date: 2016-02-04

Abstract

Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture are disclosed herein for a cursor locator. An example apparatus includes a system monitor to detect a status change of a system including a cursor device to control a cursor; a cursor device monitor to detecting user interaction with the cursor device; and a cursor location indicator to display a location of the cursor on a display device based on at least one of detecting the status change or detecting the user interaction.

Description

BACKGROUND

[0001] Users use cursors to select icons and/or control a computing device (e.g., a computer, a server, etc.). In many instances, users control cursors using a cursor device, such as a mouse, a trackball, a touchpad, etc. The example cursor devices may use optical sensors, mechanical sensors, haptic sensors, etc. to detect movement and/or user interaction to control the cursors. The example devices send information corresponding to the control and/or location of the movement to a computer and/or display to present the cursor and its corresponding location on the display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] FIG. 1 illustrates an example display system including an example cursor locator constructed in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure.

[0003] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example cursor locator that may be used to implement the cursor locator of FIG. 1.

[0004] FIGS. 3A-3B illustrate example gestures that may be made by a mouse and/or other input device that may be detected by the cursor locator of

FIGS. 1 and/or 2.

[0005] FIGS. 4-5 illustrate example cursor locator displays that may be implemented by the cursor locator of FIGS. 1 and/or 2 to indicate a location of a cursor.

[0006] FIGS. 8-9 are flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions and/or respective sets of machine readable instructions that ma be executed to implement the cursor locator of FIGS. 1 and/or 2.

[0007] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example processor platform capable of executing the instructions of FIGS. 8, 7, 8, and/or 9 to implement the cursor locator 1 10 of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0008] Example methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture disclosed herein involve locating and indicating a location of a cursor on a display. Examples disclosed herein involve monitoring at least one system associated with a cursor, monitoring a cursor device associated with a cursor, and/or monitoring a length of time without interacting with a cursor to trigger an indication of a location of the cursor on at least one display device.

[0009] In many instances, computing devices (e.g., personal computers (such as laptop and/or desktop computers), tablet computers, smartphones, etc.) present images, graphical user interfaces, applications, programs, etc. on large displays for user interaction. Generally speaking, the larger the display device and/or the more display devices that are used, the more difficulty a user may have in locating a cursor for controlling the computing device and/or various applications running on the computing devices. For example, if a user is using three monitors, in some instances the cursor may be on different monitor than a user believes the cursor to be located. As another example, if using a large display for a presentation (which may be the size of a wall, whiteboard, etc.), a user may have difficulty in quickly locating the cursor to continue the presentation because of the size of the display. Accordingly, examples disclosed herein, provide methods, apparatus, and/or articles of manufacture to automatically indicate a location of a cursor on a display to more efficiently enable a user to operate a computing device and/or cursor device associated with the cursor and/or the display.

[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates an example display system 100 including an example cursor locator 1 10 constructed in accordance with the teachings of this disclosure. The example computer system 100 further includes a computing device 120, a display device 122, and a cursor device 124. in the illustrated example of FIG. 1 , the cursor device 124 may be used to control a cursor 130 on the display device 122 via the computing device 120. The example cursor locator 1 10, as disclosed herein, monitors and/or identifies a location of the cursor 130 and indicates the location of the cursor 130 in response to user interaction with the cursor device 124 and/or a status/status change of the display system 100 (or a system operating on the computing device 120).

[0011] In the illustrated example of FIG. 1 , the example computing device 120 may be a personal computer (e.g., a laptop computer, a desktop computer, etc.), a tablet computer, a server, or any other type of computing device. The example display device 122 of FIG. 1 may be a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display (CRT), a touchscreen, a tactile output device, a light emitting diode (LED), a projector, or any other type of display device.

[0012] In the illustrated example of FIG. 1 , the example display device 122 may be a computer monitor or a television/presentation monitor. In some examples, the display device 122 may include 2 or more monitors, televisions, projectors. For example, multiple display devices 122 may be used in extended display implementations, in dual display implementations, etc. Accordingly, the example cursor locator 1 10 may be used to indicate a location of the cursor on the display device 122 and/or multiple display devices 122. In some examples, methods and/or graphics used to indicate a location of the cursor 130 on the display device 122 may be based on a determined size of the display device 122 and/or a number of display devices 122 implemented or associated with the computing device 120 and/or the cursor device 124.

[0013]The example cursor device 124 of FIG. 1 may be at least one of a mouse, a trackball, a touchpad, etc. The example cursor device 124 may include optical sensors, mechanical sensors, haptic sensors, accelerometers, etc. to detect and/or user interaction (e.g., touching, moving, activating, clicking, scrolling, etc.) with the cursor device 124. In some examples, the cursor device may use such sensors to defect a gesture of made by the cursor device 124 (e.g., due to a user moving the cursor device 124 in a designated pattern), in such examples, the cursor device 124 may send a signal and/or instructions to the computing device 120 and/or the display device 122 to indicate a location of the cursor 130.

[0014] In the illustrated example of FIG. 1 , the cursor locator 1 10 is collocated with the computing device 120 (e.g., stored on the computing device 120). In some examples, the cursor locator 1 10 may be stored and/or collocated on the display device 122, the cursor device 124, or another device in

communication with the display system 100. The example cursor locator 1 10 monitors the display system 100 to determine when to indicate a location of the cursor 130 on the display device 122. More specifically, the cursor locator 1 10 may monitor the computing device 120 and/or the cursor device 124 to determine when to indicate a location of the cursor 130. For example, the cursor locator 1 10 may indicate the location of the cursor 130 when the computing device 120 returns from a sleep/hibernate state, from idle, etc. and/or the when the cursor device 124 makes a designated gesture (e.g., a circular pattern, a zigzag pattern, a pattern with frequent changes in direction, etc.).

[0015] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example cursor device 1 10 that may be used to implement the cursor device 1 10 of FIG. 1 . The cursor device 1 10 in the illustrated example of FIG. 2 includes a system monitor 210, a cursor device monitor 220, and an example cursor location indicator 230. As disclosed herein, the example system monitor 210 monitors the computing device 120 and/or display device 122, the cursor device monitor 220 monitors the cursor device 124, and the cursor location indicator 130 instructs the display device 122 to display a location of the cursor 130 based on information from the system monitor 210 and/or the cursor device 220.

[0018] The example system monitor 210 of FIG. 2 monitors the computing device 120 and/or the display device 122 of FIG. 1 . For example, the system monitor 210 determines a state of the computing device 120 and/or display device 122 (e.g., idle, sleep, hibernate, shutdown, active/awake, etc.) and/or a status change (a transition) in the state of the computing device 120 and/or display device 122 (e.g., transitioning from sleep/hibernate to awake,

transitioning from shutdown to power up, transitioning from powered-off to powered-on, transitioning from inactive (idle) to active, etc.). The example system monitor 210 of FIG. 2 indicates the status and/or status change

(transition) to the cursor location indicator 230. In some examples, the system monitor 210 monitors a length of time in between user interactions (e.g., a length of time the system is idle). For example, the system monitor 210 may use a timer to determine a length of time between inputs from any and/or all input devices (e.g., the cursor device 124, a keyboard, a microphone, etc.) in communication with the computing device 120.

[0017] The example cursor device monitor 220 of FIG. 2 monitors the cursor device 124 of FIG. 1 to detect user interaction with the cursor device 124. User interaction with the cursor device 124 may include a user moving the cursor device 124, a user touching the cursor device 124, a user making a gesture with the cursor device 124, etc. In some examples, the cursor device monitor 220 may monitor location coordinates of the cursor 130 from cursor data managed by the computing device 120 and/or the display device 122 to detect user interaction with the cursor device 124. in some examples, the cursor device monitor 220 may monitor movement of the cursor device 124 based on sensors (e.g., optical, mechanical, haptic, accelerometers, etc.) of the cursor device 124 and/or information received from the cursor device 124 corresponding to movement of the cursor device 124 to detect user interaction with the cursor device 124. The cursor device monitor 220 may determine gestures (e.g., designated patterns of movement) from the movement of the cursor device 124 of FIG. 1 due to user control of the cursor device 124. in such examples, when a particular gesture is detected, the cursor device monitor 220 may indicate that a gesture (e.g., a gesture indicating a request to display the location of the cursors 130 on the display device 122) was made. Accordingly, the cursor device monitor 220 may provide data and/or information to the cursor location indicator 230 that corresponds to activity of the cursor device 124, movement of the cursor device 124, user interaction with the cursor device 124, etc.

[0018] Referring now to FIGS. 3A-3B, the example cursor device monitor 220 may detect the cursor device 124 and/or the cursor 130 being moved (e.g., repeatedly) back and forth (FIG. 3A) and/or in a circular motion (FIG. 3B). For example, in FIG. 3A the cursor device monitor 220 may determine that the cursor device 124 (and/or a corresponding cursor (e.g., the cursor 130 of FiG. 1 )) is being laterally moved back and forth a designated number of times (e.g., 3 times, 4 times, etc.) within a designated time limit (e.g., 1 second, 2 seconds, 5 seconds, etc.). As another example, in FIG. 3B, the example cursor device monitor 220 may determine that the cursor device 124 (and/or a corresponding (e.g., the cursor 130 of FIG. 1 )) was moved in a circular motion at least one time. [0019] Referring back to FIG. 2, the example cursor location indicator 230 uses coordinate information of the cursor 130 of FIG, 1 from the computing device 120 to indicate a location of the cursor 130. The example cursor location indicator 230 may indicate a location of the cursor 130 using any suitable techniques to graphically change a display of the cursor 130 and/or an area of the display surrounding the cursor 130. For example, the cursor location indicator 230 may adjust display settings of the cursor 130 by at least one of increasing/decreasing the size of the cursor 130 for a period of time, changing the color of the cursor 130, and/or may graphically highlight the cursor 130 and/or an area surrounding the cursor for a period of time. The example cursor location indicator 230 may repeatedly perform the above example adjustments (e.g., cause the cursor to repeatedly increase and decrease in size, cause the cursor to repeatedly change colors to appear to be blinking, cause a surrounding area of the cursor to repeatedly change, highlight, animate, etc.). In some examples, the cursor location indicator 230 may indicate the location of the cursor 130 based on a size of the display device 122 and/or a number of display devices 122 in communication with the computing device 120. For example, the cursor location indicator 230 may receive specifications (e.g., dimensions) of the display device(s) 122 from the display device(s) 122 and/or the computing device 120. in such an example, the cursor location indicator 230 may determine appropriate methods (e.g., graphics, cursor display settings, etc.) based on the received specifications to indicate the location of the cursor 130.

[0020] In some examples, a user may access the cursor locator 1 10 via a user interface (e.g., the interface circuit 1020 of FIG. 10, an interface of the computing device 120, etc.) to adjust settings of the cursor locator 1 10. In such examples, timer settings, system status settings, gesture settings, indicator settings, etc. may be adjusted for the cursor locator 1 10. For example, a user may set that the cursor location indicator 230 increases a size of the cursor 130 by 700% and repeatedly changes a color of the cursor 130 (see FIG. 4) within the first 10 seconds of a system resume and/or detection of a circular gesture made by the cursor device 124 and/or the cursor 130. in some examples, the cursor location indicator 230 may gradually increase and/or decrease the size of the cursor 130 with each iteration of changing the display settings. For example, the cursor size may go from norma! size to 400% to 700% to 400% to normal size,

[0021] While an example manner of implementing the cursor locator 1 10 of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIG. 2, at least one of the elements, processes and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 2 may be combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way. Further, the system monitor 210, the cursor device monitor 220, the cursor location indicator 230 and/or, more generally, the example cursor locator 1 10 of FIG. 2 may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, for example, any of the system monitor 210, the cursor device monitor 220, the cursor location indicator 230 and/or, more generally, the example cursor locator 1 10 could be implemented by at least one of an analog or digital circuit, a logic circuit, a programmable processor, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD) and/or a field programmable logic device (FPLD). When reading any of the apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely software and/or firmware implementation, at least one of the system monitor 210, the cursor device monitor 220, and/or the cursor location indicator 230 is/are hereby expressly defined to include a tangible computer readable storage device or storage disk such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Biu-ray disk, etc. storing the software and/or firmware. Further still, the example cursor locator 1 10 of FIG. 2 may include at least one element, process, and/or device in addition to, or instead of, those illustrated in FIG. 2, and/or may include more than one of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes and devices.

[0022] FIGS. 4-5 illustrate example cursor locator displays (e.g., cursor display adjustments, animations, etc.) that may be implemented by the cursor locator 1 10 of FIGS. 1 and/or 2 to indicate a location of a cursor (e.g., the cursor 130 of FIG. 1 ). in the illustrated examples of FIGS. 4 and/or 5, three display frames are shown at corresponding times Ti, T2, T3, respectively, where Ti < T2 < T3 illustrating a cursor 130 and a corresponding location of the cursor 130 a display device 122. For example, if the display device 122 of FIG. 1 presents images at 30 frames per second, time Ti may take place approximely.033 seconds before time T2, which may take place .033 seconds before time T3. In other examples, the time T2 may take place .033 seconds after time T , while time T3 takes place 3 seconds after time T2. in the illustrated examples of FIG. 4 and/or 5, time Ti may take place immediately following a system resuming on the computer device 120, a designated length of time that passed between interactions with a user, and/or a gesture performed by the cursor device 124. In some examples, at least one of the displays at times Ti, T2, and/or T3 may be iteratively repeated (e.g., the display settings of the cursor may alternate between the settings displayed at times T2 and T3, for a designated period of time).

[0023] In the illustrated example of FIG. 4, at time Ti, the display device 122 presents the cursor 130. At time J 2, the cursor locator 1 10 (e.g., via the cursor location indicator 230) changes the display settings of the cursor 130 by increasing the size (e.g., by 200%, 400%, 500%, etc.) of the cursor 130 and changing the color of the cursor 130 (represented by changing from white to black in FIG. 4, though other colors may be implemented). At time T3, the cursor 130 may return to its previous size and/or color settings. Accordingly, such a display change attempts to draw a user's attention to the cursor 130 as the remainder of the display device 122 (represented by the white background of the display device 122 in FIG. 4) may not change and/or drastically change relative to the cursor 130. Upon a user recognizing the size change and/or color change of the cursor 130, the user may then more quickly and/or easily identify the location of the cursor 130 relative to the cursor 130 remaining the same in size and/or color.

[0024] In the illustrated example of FIG. 5, at time Ti, the display device 122 presents the cursor 130. At time J 2, the cursor locator 1 10 (e.g., via the cursor location indicator 230) presents a graphic/animation 500 (illustrated by a starburst in FIG. 5) surrounding the cursor 130 and/or its determined

corresponding location. Other example graphics (e.g., a graphical explosion, a designated shape, etc.) may be illustrated and/or animated in any way at and/or during time T2. At time T3, the cursor locator 1 10 removes the graphic 500. Accordingly, such a display change attempts to draw a user's attention to the cursor 130 as the remainder of the display device 122 (represented by the white background of the display device 122 in FIG. 5) may not change and/or drastically change relative to the display surrounding the cursor 130. Upon a user recognizing the graphic and/or animation surrounding the cursor 130, the user may then more quickly and/or easily identify the location of the cursor 130 relative to the cursor 130 being presented without a graphic and/or animation.

[0025] Flowcharts representative of example machine readable

instructions for implementing the cursor locator 1 10 of FIG. 2 are shown in FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and/or 9. In this example, the machine readable instructions comprise at least one program/process for execution by a processor such as the processor 1012 shown in the example processor platform 1000 discussed below in connection with FIG. 10. The program/process may be embodied in software stored on a tangible computer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a Biu-ray disk, or a memory associated with the processor 1012, but the entire program/process and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executed by a device other than the processor 1012 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further, although the example program is described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in FIGS. 6, 7, 8, and/or 9, many other methods of implementing the example cursor locator 1 10 may alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined. The example programs/processes presented by the flowcharts of FIGS. 6, 7, 8, and/or 9 may be iteratively executed and/or executed at the same time, substantially the same time, or at different times to implement the cursor locator 1 10 of FIG. 2.

[0026] FIG. 8 illustrates an example process 600 that may be executed to indicate a location of a cursor (e.g., the cursor 130 of FIG. 1 ) based on (e.g. in response to) monitoring a cursor device (e.g., the cursor device 124) of FIG 1 . The example process 600 of FIG. 8 begins with an initiation of the cursor locator 1 10 (e.g., upon startup of the computing device 120, upon startup of the cursor device 124, upon movement of the cursor device 124, after the computing device 120 is inactive for a period of time, etc.) of FIG. 2. In FIG. 8, at block 810, the cursor device monitor 220 determines whether cursor device 124 made a designated gesture representing a request to display a location of the cursor 130. For example, the cursor device monitor 220 may monitor a series of coordinates of the cursor 130 on the display device 122 to track movement of the cursor 130 and/or recognize the designated gesture. Additionally or alternatively, the cursor device monitor 220 may monitor sensors (e.g., optical sensors, mechanical sensors, etc.) of the cursor device 124 to detect movement and/or that the cursor device 124 made a designated gesture. If no gesture is detected, the cursor device monitor 220 continues to monitor the cursor device 124.

[0027] If, at block 610 of FIG. 6, a gesture is detected, at block 620, the cursor location indicator 230 displays a location of the cursor 130 (block 620). For example, at block 620 the cursor location indicator 230 may display the location of the cursor 130 by changing the display settings of the cursor 130 (e.g., see FIG. 4) and/or the cursor location indicator 230 may illustrate an example graphic and/or animation surrounding the cursor 130 and/or the location of the cursor 130 (e.g., see FIG. 5). After block 620, the process 600 ends, in some examples, after block 620, control may return to block 610 to continue to monitor the cursor device 124 of FIG. 1.

[0028] FIG. 7 illustrates an example process 700 that may be executed to indicate a location of a cursor (e.g., the cursor 130 of FIG. 1 ) based on monitoring a system associated with the cursor (e.g., an operating system executing on the computing device 120 of FIG. 1 , a power system of the computing device 120 of FIG. 1 , a system of the display device 122 of FIG. 1 , etc.). The example process 700 of FIG. 7 begins with an initiation of the cursor locator 1 10 of FIG. 2. At block 710 of FIG. 7, the system monitor 210 of FIG. 2 determines whether a system status change has occurred. For example, the system monitor 210 may determine whether a system (e.g., a computer system of the computing device 120, a display control system of the display device 122, etc.) goes from an inactive state (e.g., sleep, hibernate, shutdown, etc.) to an active state (e.g., startup, system resume, system restore, awake, etc.). At block 710, the system monitor 210 may monitor at least one of an example operating system, an example basic input-output system (BIOS), a power system, etc. of the computing device 120 and/or an example display control system, power system, etc. of the display device 122. If a designated status change that is to cause the cursor locator 1 10 to indicate a location of the cursor 130 has not occurred, the system monitor 210 continues to monitor corresponding systems of the computing device 120 and/or the display device 122 (control returns to block 710).

[0029] if. at block 710 of FIG. 7, a designated system status change does occur within the computing device 120 and/or the display device 122, the cursor location indicator 230 displays a location of the cursor 130 (block 720). For example, at block 720 the cursor location indicator 230 may display the location of the cursor 130 by changing the display settings of the cursor 130 (e.g., see FIG. 4) and/or the cursor location indicator 230 may illustrate an example graphic and/or animation surrounding the cursor 130 and/or the location of the cursor 130 (e.g., see FIG. 5). After block 720, the process 700 of FIG. 7 ends, in some examples, after block 720, control may return to block 710 to continue to monitor a system associated with the cursor 130 and/or cursor device 124 of FIG. 1.

[0030] FIG. 8 illustrates an example process 800 that may be executed to indicate a location of a cursor (e.g., the cursor 130 of FIG. 1 ) based on (e.g. in response to) a period of inactivity of a computing system (e.g., a system of the computing device 120of FIG. 1 ) and/or a cursor device (e.g., the cursor device 124) associated with the cursor. The example process 800 of FIG. 8 begins with an initiation of the cursor locator 1 10 of FIG 2. At block 810 of FIG. 8, the system monitor 210 and/or the cursor device monitor 220 determine whether a threshold period of time has passed without user interaction (e.g., an amount of time the system has been idle, inactive, in sleep mode, etc.). For example, at block 810, the system monitor 210 and/or the cursor device monitor 220 determine whether a user has interacted with a system of the computing device 120 (e.g., an operating system) and/or the cursor device 124 by using an input device and/or communicating with the system or cursor device 124 in any way (e.g., clicking a button, moving a mouse, touching a touchscreen, typing on a keyboard, etc.). If a threshold of time representative of a users inactivity does not pass, the system monitor 210 and/or the cursor device monitor 220 continue to monitor systems of the computing device 120 and/or the cursor device 124 (control returns to block 810). If the threshold of time has passed without user interaction, the cursor device monitor 220 begins to monitor the cursor device 124 to determine whether user interaction with the cursor device is detected (block 820). If no interaction is detected (e.g., the cursor device 124 is not moved, touched, tapped, etc.), cursor device monitor 220 continues to monitor the cursor device (control returns to block 820).

[0031] If, at block 820, the cursor device monitor 220 determines that a user has interacted with the cursor device 124 (e.g., the cursor device 124 is moved, is touched, is tapped, a designated gesture is performed with the cursor device 124, etc.) based on sensors of the cursor device 124 and/or changed display coordinates of the cursor 130, the cursor location indicator 230 displays a location of the cursor 130 (block 830). For example, at block 830 the cursor location indicator 230 may display the location of the cursor 130 by changing the display settings of the cursor 130 (e.g., see FIG. 4) and/or the cursor location indicator 230 may illustrate an example graphic and/or animation surrounding the cursor 130 and/or the location of the cursor 130 (e.g., see FIG. 5). After block 830, the process 800 of FIG. 8 ends, in some examples, after block 830, control may return to block 810 to continue to monitor a system associated with the cursor 130 and/or cursor device 124 of FIG. 1 .

[0032] FIG. 9 illustrates an example process 900 that may be executed to indicate a location of a cursor (e.g., the cursor 130 of FIG. 1 ) based on (e.g., in response to) a status change of system associated with cursor and use of the cursor device 124. The example process 900 of FIG. 9 begins with an initiation of the cursor locator 1 10 of FIG. 2. AT block 910 of FIG. 9, the system monitor 210 of FIG. 2 determines whether a system status change has occurred (e.g. similarly to block 710 of FIG. 7). If, at block 910, a system status change has not occurred, the system monitor 210 continues to monitor the system for a status change (control returns to block 910). If, at block 910, a system status change has occurred, at block 920, the cursor device monitor 220 begins to monitor the cursor device 124 to determine whether user interaction with the cursor device is detected (e.g., similarly to block 820 of FIG. 8). if no user interaction is detected at block 820, the cursor device monitor 220 continues to monitor the cursor device 124 (control returns to block 920).

[0033] If, at block 920, the cursor device monitor 220 detects user interaction with the cursor device 124 (e.g., sensors of the cursor device indicate that the cursor device 124 was touched, tapped, moved, etc., and/or display coordinates of the cursor 130 change), the cursor location indicator 230 displays a location of the cursor 130 (block 830). For example, at block 930 the cursor location indicator 230 may display the location of the cursor 130 by changing the display settings of the cursor 130 (e.g., see F!G. 4) and/or the cursor location indicator 230 may illustrate an example graphic and/or animation surrounding the cursor 130 and/or the location of the cursor 130 (e.g., see FIG. 5). After block 930, the process 900 of FIG. 9 ends. In some examples, after block 930, control may return to block 910 to continue to monitor a system associated with the cursor 130 and/or cursor device 124 of FIG. 1 .

[0034] As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 8, 7, 8, and/or 9 may be implemented using coded instructions (e.g., computer and/or machine readable instructions) stored on a tangible computer readable storage medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), a compact disk (CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a cache, a random-access memory (RAM) and/or any other storage device or storage disk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended time periods,

permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the term tangible computer readable storage medium is expressly defined to include any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and to exclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media. As used herein, "tangible computer readable storage medium" and "tangible machine readable storage medium" are used

interchangeably. Additionally or alternatively, the example processes of FIGS. 8, 7, 8, and/or 9 may be implemented using coded instructions (e.g., computer and/or machine readable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/or machine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a readonly memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, a random-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the term non-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to include any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and to exclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media. As used herein, when the phrase "at least" is used as the transition term in a preamble of a claim, it Is open-ended In the same manner as the term

"comprising" is open ended,

[0035] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1000 capable of executing the instructions of FIGS. 8, 7, 8 and/or 9 to implement the cursor locator 1 10 of FIGS. 1 and/or 2. The example processor platform 1000 may be any type of apparatus or may be included in any type of apparatus, such as a server, a personal computer, a mobile device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a personal digital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, a digital video recorder, a Biu-ray player, a gaming console, a set top box, or any other type of computing device. The example processor platform 1000 may be the example computing device 120 and/or may be implemented by the example computing device 120.

[0036] The processor platform 1000 of the illustrated example of FIG. 10 includes a processor 1012. The processor 1012 of the illustrated example is hardware. For example, the processor 1012 can be implemented by at least one integrated circuit, logic circuit, microprocessor or controller from any desired family or manufacturer.

[0037] The processor 1012 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 1013 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1012 of the illustrated example is in communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1014 and a nonvolatile memory 1016 via a bus 1018. The volatile memory 1014 may be implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM) and/or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatile memory 1016 may be implemented by flash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1014, 1016 is controlled by a memory controller.

[0038] The processor platform 1000 of the illustrated example also includes an interface circuit 1020. The interface circuit 1020 may be

implemented by any type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a universal serial bus (USB), and/or a PCI express interface.

[0039] In the illustrated example, at least one input device 1022 (e.g., the cursor device 124) is connected to the interface circuit 1020. The input device(s) 1022 permit(s) a user to enter data and commands into the processor 1012. The input device(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, a microphone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voice recognition system. The example input devices may include the cursor device 124 of FIG. 1.

[0040]At least one output device 1024 (e.g., the display device 122) may also be connected to the interface circuit 1020 of the illustrated example. The output device(s) 1024 can be implemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emitting diode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystal display, a cathode ray tube display (CRT), a touchscreen, a tactile output device, a light emitting diode (LED), a printer and/or speakers). The interface circuit 1020 of the illustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip or a graphics driver processor.

[0041]The interface circuit 1020 of the illustrated example also includes a communication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, a modem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network 1026 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

[0042] The processor platform 1000 of the illustrated example also includes at least one mass storage device 1028 for storing software and/or data. Examples of such mass storage device(s) 1028 include floppy disk drives, hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAID systems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

[0043]The coded instructions 1032 of FIGS.8, 7, 8, and/or 9 may be stored in the mass storage device 1028, in the local memory 1013 in the volatile memory 1014, in the non-volatile memory 1018, and/or on a removable tangible computer readable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

[0044] From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the above disclosed methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture involves indicating a location of a cursor to a user, in examples disclosed herein, a cursor location is

automatically indicated to a user in response to at least one of a status change of a system associated with the cursor, a length of inactivity of a system and/or the cursor, and/or a gesture made by the cursor (and/or by a user controlling the cursor or corresponding cursor device). Accordingly, an example user can more quickly and efficiently identify a location of a cursor on a display and/or multiple displays.

[0045] Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the claims of this patent.

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Claims

CLAIMS What Is Claimed is:

1. A method comprising:

monitoring, via at least one processor, a cursor device to identify a gesture made by a user, the gesture comprising interaction with the cursor device that causes a cursor controlled by the cursor device to make a corresponding cursor gesture; and

displaying a location of the cursor on a display device in response to identifying the gesture.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the monitoring for the physical gesture occurs in response to a system resume.

3. The method as defined in claim 2, wherein the system resume occurs after a system has been inactive for a threshold period of time.

4. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the gesture is determined by tracking display coordinates of the cursor.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the gesture is determined using sensors of the cursor device.

6. The method as defined in claim 5, wherein displaying the location of the cursor is based on instructions from the input device.

7. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

monitor a system to detect a status change of the system; and

display a location of a cursor on a display device in communication with the system in response to detecting the status change.

8. The non-transitory storage medium as defined in claim 7, wherein the system comprises an operating system of a computing device and the status change comprises at least one of a transition from sleep to awake, a transition from shutdown to startup, or a transition from hibernate to awake.

9. The non-transitory storage medium as defined in claim 7, wherein the system comprises at least one of a display control system of the display device or a power system of the display device and the status change comprises at least one of a transition from inactive display to active display, a transition from standby to active display, or a transition from powered-off to powered-on.

10. The non-transitory storage medium as defined in claim 7, wherein the instructions, when executed further cause a machine to monitor a cursor device that controls the cursor, wherein user interaction with the cursor device cause the status change.

1 1 . An apparatus comprising:

a system monitor to detect a status change of a system including a cursor device to control a cursor;

a cursor device monitor to detect user interaction with the cursor device; and

a cursor location indicator to display a location of the cursor on a display device in response to at least one of detecting the status change or detecting the user interaction.

12. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 1 , wherein the cursor location indicator displays a location of the cursor in response to detecting the user interaction, wherein the user interaction comprises a gesture made with the cursor device by the user.

13. The apparatus as defined in claim 12, wherein the apparatus comprises a cursor locator located on at least one of a cursor device or a computing device in communication with the display device.

14. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 1 , wherein the cursor iocation indicator displays the location of the cursor in response to detecting the status change, wherein the status change comprises the system transitioning from idle after a designated period of time to active.

15. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 1 , wherein the cursor Iocation indicator displays the location of the cursor by adjusting display settings of the cursor.