Optical pointing device with inertial properties and no mechanical elements

摘要

Apparatus (1) for controlling the position of a screen pointer for an electronic device which has a display screen. It includes imaging surface(5) against which a portion of the tip (6) of a finger (7) may be placed. A light source (2) illuminates the portion of the finger placed on the imaging surface, generating reflected images which are focussed on a motion transducer (9). This in turn generates digitized image and subsequently a first set of movement data. A controller produces a second set of movement data when the finger is removed. This second set of data can be indicative of the way that finger has moved (i.e. whether it has flicked fast or slow). The controller can simulate a kind of inertia into the pointer movement which resembles the response usually taken from the pointing devices which have mechanical parts when they are imparted a flicker by user's finger, (i.e a decelerating movement of pointer on the screen). The decelerating response can be adjusted by the user through the controller.