Method and apparatus for obtaining navigation information from a ball mounted in a stylus

摘要

An apparatus for generating navigation information indicative of translational movement of a stylus including a ball rotatably mounted at an end of the stylus, a sensor system and a processor. The ball has an orientation-indicating property and the sensor system is arranged to sense the orientation-indicating property of the ball. The processor is coupled to the sensor system. In response to successive sensings of the orientation-indicating property, the processor is operable to determine changes in the orientation of the ball and to derive the navigation information from the orientation changes.