TARGET POINTING SYSTEM FOR USE IN GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE

摘要

The present invention is concerned with a cursor and a fan-shaped cursor. The cursor may not be visible by a user. When not visible by a user it is called an Implicit Fan Cursor or IFC. The IFC is a novel type of area cursor that couples the cursor's activation area with its velocity, i.e., its speed and direction of motion. The cursor allows a user to capture a target item more easily with minimal or at least lesser cursor motion. Spanning angle of the cursor's activation area grows as a function of its speed to a maximum span of <360 degrees, and the orientation of the activation area is determined by the cursor's moving direction. At a lower speed, the fan cursor behaves as and resembles a spotlight cursor, enabling the user to precisely acquire distant targets. At higher speed, it behaves as a semi-circular area cursor, allowing the user to easily approach the targets along the specified rough orientation.

主权项

1. A target pointing system for use in graphical user interface, comprising a fan-shaped area cursor with variable spanning angle, range for capturing target items on the user interface and/or orientation, wherein the spanning angle of the area cursor ranges from >0° but <360°, and wherein the spanning angle, the range of the area cursor for acquiring target items and/or the orientation of the area cursor is dependent on velocity of movement of the area cursor.